What’s Up Wednesday

 

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. Should you wish to join us, you will find the link widget at the bottom of Jaime or Erin’s blog.

What I’m Reading

I am still reading Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce. I am about halfway through, and still loving it. I would have finished it by now (probably even in one sitting), but everything else has been so crazy lately I haven’t had much time for reading.

What I’m Writing

The past couple of weeks I’ve been getting ready for DFWCON, which is this weekend (eek!). I’ve rewritten my pitch and query about 10,000 times and been frustrated with my MS. Then, I had some deep talks with one of my CPs, and she said that I was trying to put it in the wrong genre, that it felt much more like a fantasy. I realized I had been trying to force it into sci-fi, when it really wasn’t, but when I made it into a science fantasy (it’s a thing) suddenly everything fit! So first I went back and rewrote my query/pitch (again) so those would be ready for DFWCON. Now that I’ve got those done, I’m in the process of making revisions on my MS to change the sci-fi and add fantasy elements. And so far, I’m loving it 🙂 I got to keep the integrity of the story, and it turned out 10x cooler, more interesting, and unique! Bye, bye dystopian, and yay genius CPs!

What Inspires Me

My fabulous CP Stephanie (she’s amazing, check out her blog here) has been unbelievable as far as brainstorming. She is also 100% honest and challenges me to be better, which I love. We have come up with some genius ideas together! I have been inspired and productive in art, I did a couple pieces this week (watercolor) and even some poetry. I went through a bunch of my old writing journals–three years worth–and dug through for the parts worth keeping. I was pleasantly surprised (especially since I wrote it when I was 13-15 years old) and reinspired by some gems I found in there. Little me was very melodramatic, but I had my occasional moments of greatness 😉 Some even have book potential, so I typed them into my laptop to save for later!

What Else I’m Up To

End of the semester, Pitch Slam, and DFWCON. Finals are in two weeks, and I’m scrambling to finish all the projects and papers that come before. I just finished the Pitch Slam pitch contest, which I will write a detailed post about after DFWCON this weekend. And DFWCON–I’ve reached panic mode! Two days left. I feel horribly unprepared, but I’ve done all the research and preparations I can. I am somewhat of a control freak, and definitely a huge planner, so I hate not really knowing what to expect since it is my first conference ever. Thankfully I’ll have the majority of my amazing writing group there for support and networking. That’s a huge part of my nerves, I think. I have social anxiety already, but especially in big groups or crowds. Plus this will be the first time I have to really “network”. I’m not the person who can just go up and strike a conversation. I tend to get nervous and blurt out nonsensical things/overshare about my life in order to fill up the awkward silence. But, it is my first conference and will be a great opportunity to learn and grow and get connected in the writing community. I’m just going to keep telling myself that, so I don’t panic 🙂

Happy Wednesday!