I’m here and ready to Celebrate the Small Things! If you are new to this blog hop, all you have to do is sign up on the linky below if you want to join! If you already have, then go around to each blog that signed up and congratulate or just say YAY to everyone and their accomplishments for this week! (Full instructions at our host Vikki’s post here!)
Coming Out of the Writer’s Closet
So I’ve kind of been a closeted writer for over a year now and I’m thinking it’s time to come out.
There are a lot of reasons why people don’t shout from the rooftops that they are a writer and I am no exception to that. People have expectations when they hear “writer” …the questions that always come are, “When will your book be published?” or “Will you be going on a book tour?” or “Are you writing the next Fifty Shades of Grey?”
UGH.
Writing is a long and tedious process as is the publishing industry. Nothing moves fast at all. Also, people think once you have this massive first draft in your hands then it should be on it’s way to sitting pretty on the book store shelves in no time. SO WRONG.
And don’t even get me started on when people ask me what my book is about.
Usually I sound something like, “Well there’s this guy and he feels guilty about this accident he was in…but then there’s this girl…and you know, well they don’t really get along at first and…” YEAH, it usually doesn’t end up sounding much like a story you’d want to read. But I swear, it’s way better than my lame explanation 🙂
However, even if I do suck at explaining my own stories and even if I do get bombarded with questions from others about when they can buy my book (at best it will be years from now, people), it’s not really an excuse anymore to hide. I have a finished book. IT IS COMPLETED. Yeah, I’m still editing it here and there based on feedback I get from early readers but it’s a whole story. I’m proud of it. I’m delighted at this accomplishment. And you know what, that’s not something I should take lightly or hide away. It’s something I should share.
Maybe it will be two years until you see my book on a shelf, maybe it will be ten years. Who knows – but I have to believe if I don’t give up, the dream will be accomplished. To start that dream off right, I have to be open and honest with those around me about what I am.
I’m a writer.
There, I said it.
Celebrate the Small Things Hop
I’m here and ready to Celebrate the Small Things! If you are new to this blog hop, all you have to do is sign up on the linky below if you want to join! If you already have, then go around to each blog that signed up and congratulate or just say YAY to everyone and their accomplishments for this week! (Full instructions at our host Vikki’s post here!)
The Writer Diaries Giveaway
Hello everyone! I don’t want to take too much of your time, I just wanted to make sure you all knew that the group writer blog I started (The Writer Diaries) is doing a huge giveaway for our 1 year anniversary! Yippee! The grand prize is a KINDLE FIRE along with other great goodies like signed books and critiques of queries and first pages! If you have any interest in winning any (or all) of these prizes, head on over to the Anniversary post here and enter to win!
Okay, done with my promotion. Good luck! 🙂
That Time I Wrote a Novel
I will have a more serious post about this going up on The Writer Diaries in about a week but right now, I’m too tired for that. All I want to do is post what I said I was going to post when I finished the first draft of my novel. And that includes MERMAIDS and STRIPPERS.
This is how accomplished I feel, like a giant wave could surface behind me and make me look all majestic and hot while wearing a bikini made of sea shells.
And this one is just, well, I’m pretty sure it’s obvious. I think it captures my mood and excitement rather well. HAH!
Ugh, but I am tired after almost 12 hrs of editing and it is currently in my very capable CP hands to give me feedback, so there’s nothing more I can do for it now. Except shout: OMG I FINALLY FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT OF MY FIRST NOVEL EVER!!! Okay, I’m done now I swear.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTT!!
Celebrate the Small Things Hop
I’m here and ready to Celebrate the Small Things! If you are new to this blog hop, all you have to do is sign up on the linky below if you want to join! If you already have, then go around to each blog that signed up and congratulate or just say YAY to everyone and their accomplishments for this week! (Full instructions at our host Vikki’s post here!)
Top 10 Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2014
So, my TBR list is already jam-packed full of so many reads I still need to get to that have already been published. But as every avid reader knows, getting excited for shiny new releases is an obsession I will never quite conquer. That being said, I’ve got some top books I’m looking forward to in 2014 that I CANNOT WAIT to get my grubby hands on. Click on the cover to check out the Goodread listing for each book!
1. RAVEN BOYS III (UNTITLED) by Maggie Stiefvater
NO COVER – but click for Goodreads listing!
You knew this was coming and that it would be at the top of the list, right? If you didn’t then you don’t know me AT ALL. I adore Maggie Stiefvater to pieces and the second book in the Raven Cycle (THE DREAM THIEVES) left me absolutely captivated. (See my review here if you don’t believe me). So it’s no surprise I’m all in for the third book and can’t wait to get my hands on it.
2. SKYLARK III (UNTITLED) by Meagan Spooner
NO COVER – but click for Goodreads listing!
I feel like this series has been a little more under the radar but I’m still in love with it. The world is built around magic being comparable to a person’s life source and if you take it away, you die …or become a Shadow Person which is worse. The first book had a few twists that I didn’t see coming and totally broke my heart!! The second book was more foreseeable but still loved the characters and the journey they found themselves on. Can’t wait for Book #3 to make my collection complete!
3. SINNER by Maggie Stiefvater
This is probably my MOST anticipated book of 2014. 1) Because, Maggie Stiefvater ..2) Because Cole St.Clair ..3) Because LA!! I’ve made this a no-brainer for you, yes? Continue reading
2014: The Year of the Writer
So looking back at my New Year’s Resolution post from a year ago, I want to do things a little differently. Last year, I was really analytical with my resolutions and I don’t think that is the way to go with writing goals. Maybe it works for some people but it didn’t really work at all for me. I accomplished a few of the items but some I didn’t even touch.
This year is going to be different. I’ve already accomplished something that has been one of the biggest achievements for me YET. I completed a first draft of a novel. It is a REAL story. It might suck big time in it’s massive, unmanageable first draft format, but it is a story from start to finish. When I first started writing, I thought that would be easy, finishing a book. I thought what would be hard would be finding time to write the hundreds of ideas I have for books. No, sticking to a story and pouring your heart and soul into it is exhausting and emotionally draining and lots of hard work. LOTS. A TON. Way more than I expected. But guess what?
I love it. Continue reading
Top 10 Series Everyone Has Read But Me (And I’d Like to Change That)
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
2013: A Writerly Year in Review
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!
J.A. Ward Writes 