Dear Old Friends, AKA Childhood Books

During one of my most recent trips visiting my mom, I had the pleasure of going through an old box of books.

It felt like reuniting with old friends!

These were just some of the familiar faces I saw. I wanted to hug them.

Perhaps my favorite discovery was the very first book I'd ever read on my own (besides picture books and early readers): Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

I remember sitting at my desk in first grade and opening this book for the first time. My teacher (one of the best teachers I'd ever had) praised me for challenging myself and reading above grade level. She pointed out that I was the only one in my class who wasn't reading a picture book during silent reading time.

This beloved book has my name on the inside cover AND includes little check marks next to each chapter title in the table of contents. It must have been quite a task to finish my very first non-picture book!

Which books were special to you when you were little? Did you happen to keep any books from your childhood?

(Please note that this is a scheduled post. I'm not around today to visit blogs, but I'll see you guys as soon as I can.)

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Writing With Chronic Illness

Hey everyone, before I point you in the direction of Misha Gericke's blog, where I'm a guest today, I'd like to share one thing:

My book, Wishing for Washington, has been entered in a contest held by IndieReCon. The category is Best Middle Grade Book of 2014. If you feel like voting for Wishing for Washington, that would be way awesome and I'd be your friend forever: http://indiereconlive.com/?contestants=wishing-for-washington

Anyway, onto today's topic...

I'm at Misha Gericke's blog today, talking about ways I manage to keep writing while chronically ill. Please feel free to check it out at: http://sylmion.blogspot.com/.

Misha's got a very engaging and popular blog, so I encourage you guys to check out the other posts, too!

See you over there!

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Hello from the Revision Cave

It's dark in here.

I knew my manuscript needed work, but I didn't realize how much.

So. Much.

It's funny, before I started writing seriously, back when I was just scribbling down stories for fun and only sharing them with a few people, I didn't realize how exhausting and arduous the editing process is. I thought it was just like the editing process we had in English class:

Step 1: The teacher reads what you've written and crosses out misspelled words, adds in punctuation marks you missed, etc.
Step 2: You write a new draft, incorporating those changes.
Step 3: You're done.

Right?

I had a conversation recently, in the past few months, with someone who thought the same thing. This person isn't a writer, and they thought when I said I was editing for days, that all I was doing was checking for minor errors. Which is a part of the revision process, yes. But what I happened to be working on was not as simple. It's more like:

Step 1: Receive notes from critique partners and consider their suggestions.
Step 2: Rewrite your first chapter.
Step 3: Take out that scene later in the story that your CPs said wasn't working and write something new in its place.
Step 4: Rewrite your first chapter again.
Step 5: Change your character's reaction to an event based on the new scene you wrote.
Step 6: Now revise all of the later chapters based on the character's new reaction.
Step 7: Rewrite your first chapter again.

And it keeps going.

Never mind all the grammatical edits that happen later on.

But you know, I'm okay with being smack in the middle of this misunderstood and complicated process. I'm okay with wanting to rip my hair out because I can't think of a way to make this scene work. (Please remind me later that I said this, okay?) It's part of my job.

If this is a "rough day at work," I'll take it. Because this is something that writers can, and do, get through.

Anyone have any tales from the revision cave?

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All Of Your Questions, Answered!

This week, my critique partner and friend, Kristi Wientge, interviewed me on her blog. She's a fantastic person and everything you could hope for in a CP, so I encourage you all to go visit her at Moments-n-between: http://moments-n-between.blogspot.com.

It was SO kind of her to do this, and she came up with some superb questions! Just a warning: my answers are a little on the long and rambling side. But we've covered pretty much everything. If there's anything you've wanted to know about the process of publishing Wishing for Washington, this interview is where you'll find it!

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The Way You Talk

Have you ever been in a conversation -- or overheard a conversation -- and heard someone say a phrase or word that just sticks with you?

When I was in college, I had a philosophy professor who had a very quirky way of describing things. He was an older gentleman, very kind and easy-going (and very forgetful... he gave us the same assignment a few times in a row... oops.)

We worked in groups in that class, and when my group (3 other girls and myself) was finished with our work, we'd talk and talk. Sometimes our discussions got lively and full of dramatic storytelling. Every time our professor walked by and heard us gabbing away, he'd always say the same thing:

"So much drama! What is this, the soaps?"

And we'd all laugh with him.

The soaps?

I love it. It was such a part of my professor's character to describe things like that. I wouldn't have immediately thought of soap operas when overhearing college students talking dramatically, but he did.

Something made me think of that class the other day, and I realized how we all have our ways of talking that are specific to us. I'm sure I have plenty of quirks that I'm not aware of. And if you're a writer, it's a good idea to be mindful of characters' vocabularies and preferred phrases, too.

What are some peculiar or interesting phrases that you've heard?

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Review of WISH YOU WEREN'T by Sherrie Petersen

If you love Middle Grade, love science and space, and love to be taken on an adventure, then please -- read this book!

A summary of the book, taken from Goodreads.com:

Marten doesn't believe in the power of wishes. None of his have ever come true. His parents ignore him, his little brother is a pain and his family is talking about moving to Texas. Not cool. So when he makes an impulsive wish during a meteor shower, he doesn't expect it to make any difference.

Until his annoying brother disappears.

With the present uncertain and his brother’s future in limbo, Marten finds himself stuck in his past. And if he runs out of time, even wishes might not be enough to save the ones he loves.

WISH YOU WEREN'T by Sherrie Petersen is the kind of book that stays in my mind long after I've read it. The characters were very real to me and their dialogue was fun and humorous. Marten, the main character, is easy to relate to, and his little brother is exactly the kind of little brother you'd see in real life (you know, cute and annoying at the same time.) I think my favorite character was Marten's best friend, Paul, who reminds me a bit of myself. I enjoyed the characters' adventure and can't wait to read more by the author!

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and highly recommend it!

Check out the book on Amazon here, or learn more at Sherrie's website.

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The Paperback Is Out!

Just letting you guys know that Wishing for Washington is now available as a paperback!

(Yup, those are my copies!)
The back cover is all pretty with clouds and stars and stuff. And it feels amazing. Like, the smoothest book I've ever touched. But I might just be biased.

Anyway, if you or someone you know would like a copy, you can find it on Amazon!

Now that my book baby is out of my hands, I'm focusing on other projects. Editing one manuscript while drafting another. Fun!

What is everyone working on this summer?

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