Monthly Archives: December 2013

Top 10 Series Everyone Has Read But Me (And I’d Like to Change That)

Posted in Misc., Series by

Here is a list of books coming out in 2014 that are part of a series. They all interest me and I want to dig in and read every single one of them. Here’s the problem. They are each a part of a series that I have not read AT ALL. And sorry, I don’t read books out of order. It’s an OCD thing that I must read them from #1 to the end. I’m also kind of impatient, so that’s usually why I wait for there to be a few books out in the series before I begin. Who wants to wait for a whole year, especially when a lot of them leave you hanging off a very high and confusing cliff??

With that said, here are the top 10 books coming out in 2014 that are part of a series and I’m interested in reading. I’m wondering if you guys can help me pick which series to tackle first??

1. CRESS (THE LUNAR CHRONICLES) by Marissa Meyer

Cress (Lunar Chronicles, #3) Continue reading →

2013: A Writerly Year in Review

Posted in Inspiration, Resolutions by

This year has been big for me in writing. I think it was the first full year that I really took my writing seriously and worked at it as often as time would allow. I also reached out beyond my own little writing cave to other writing craft opportunities. So for this post, I thought I would recap all the major happenings of my writing life and hope to top that in 2014!

In February of 2013, I was selected as a FREE participant in literary agent Mandy Hubbard’s class on Writing and Selling the Young Adult Novel. Wow, was that class an eye-opener for me. And I met sooo many talented writers there that I’m still in contact with today! It was a great way to kick start my year of writing, even though it led me to morph my WIP idea to something completely different, I think it turned out pretty well!

writing-and-selling-young-adult-113 Continue reading →

10 Writing Tips I Wish I Would Have Known: Volume 2

Posted in Inspiration, On Editing, On Writing by

So I said I was going to re-cap what I’ve learned this year in my little writing world. I have done that and listed is as a Volume 2 for my 10 Writing Tips I Wish I Would Have Known. (If you’re looking for Volume 1, I have it right here!)

1. End a writing session and KNOW what is going to happen next.

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I used to wrap up my writing sessions by ending a scene. I would then be stuck on where the story was going next so what did I do? I stopped writing. Ugh, do you know how hard it is to go back into your next writing session without knowing where the story is going? Try stopping in the middle of a scene where you know what will be happening next. It makes starting up again easier. Continue reading →

Top 10 Reads of 2013

Posted in Book Review, Inspiration, Top 10 by

So I know I’ve been absent from posting on my blog. I admit it and I accept the punishment of barely any traffic. I’m on the cusp of finishing up my FIRST DRAFT of my FIRST full length novel EVER. So yeah, I’ve been busy doing other things. You know, the things I TALK about doing on my blog posts.

Anyway, I promise January will be more active. If you missed it, I will be reading the Harry Potter series for the FIRST TIME starting in January. I’ll be posting my thoughts and reactions to one book in the series per month, so if you haven’t read them either or are up for a re-read, join me! I also will be posting about my final drafting and querying journey here and at YAStands for my bi-weekly post there, so if you are in the same boat or interested in seeing how I take this rough first draft to the finish line and (maybe, hopefully, possibly??) snag an agent, then stay tuned for those!

To get back into my blog skills, I wanted to cover my top reads of 2013. This doesn’t mean the books were all published in 2013, only that I read them during this time.  Also, they are in no particular order. Without further ado, here we go! Continue reading →