Wednesday, August 6, 2014

What's Up Wednesday


WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY



I’ve been following What’s Up Wednesday through the blogs of Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk for a few months now, and I’m happy to join in this week.

WHAT I’M READING

I’m just about to start We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I’ve heard and read great things about this book and can’t wait to dive in. I think it will be a quick read, which will please my teen daughter anxiously waiting for me to hand it over to her. We often trade books back and forth—she is currently reading my copy of The Diviners by Libba Bray.  Meanwhile, she just bought Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and I’ll be next in line for those.

Also on the go is a reread of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This time around I am listening to it as an audiobook with my husband while following along with a hard copy. I picked up a few poetry books from the library yesterday, among them My Letter to the World and Other Poems by Emily Dickinson—a read-over-and-over little book gorgeously illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.





WHAT I’M WRITING

Over the last several months, I’ve worked on a few rounds of major revisions on my YA contemporary novel.  I am now in that final edit phase. Most of my writing time is focused on sharpening my cover letter and synopsis. I’m also dedicating a small amount of time every week to the writing of songs that will be included in my other completed YA novel as a part of the main character’s songbook. My poetry critique group has been a great support and source of inspiration for that project.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Trees. I have always been a lover of trees, but I am rediscovering them this summer. Trees play a small but meaningful role in the YA novel I am about to start pitching to agents. I’ve been taking a little time each day, even if only 15 or 20 minutes, for forest bathing. I’ve been noticing the different sounds they make and have been focused on identifying a few of the trees, before I see them, by the noise their leaves make. Poplar, for example, sounds very different in the wind than the maple or oak.
I’ve been photographing trees all summer.







WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my mom. I could have included this point in the paragraph above as she has been a major source of inspiration for me. She is beautiful, wise, hilarious, generous, and grateful. She is so strong—a survivor. I continue to be blown away by the lessons she passes on to me.



Wishing you a wonderful and productive week!