Tag: life

May in Review

~ EMM ~ 2 Comments

May was a bit crazy this year. It didn’t feel much like a birthday month, and I didn’t get much writing or swimming accomplished due to a massive road-trip vacation that took up most of the second half of the month. But, I did read a lot and think a lot. So, even if I feel like I’ve fallen behind on everything, I feel rested and a little more grounded going into the second half of this year.

Below are the books I read this month (links take you to my reviews on Goodreads).

May2016

  • A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (Kindle, pre-order) — I was worried that I would be disappointed by this book because I had some issues with the first book in this series. But, I loved it! Feyre is only annoying through the first third of this book. Then she really comes into her own with a little help from her new friends and her swoon-worthy soul mate. I’m so much happier with the romance plot in this book compared to the first.
  • Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (Kindle, library) — I’m a sucker for Jane Austen retellings, and I also like this author. So when I saw this book announced, I knew I had to read it immediately. Luckily, I got a digital copy from the library within weeks of the release, and it turned out to be everything I’d hoped it would be. I had some issues with the ending, but other than that, highly recommend for Austen fans looking for a modern spin on a classic.
  • The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski (Kindle) — This one did not live up to the hype for me, unfortunately. I couldn’t get past what felt like a character inconsistency that contributed to a weakness in the plot and the romance aspect of the story.
  • Lady Susan by Jane Austen (Kindle) — I couldn’t fit this into the photo above, but I also read this short, unfinished Austen story in preparation for seeing Love & Friendship at some point (hopefully soon).
  • The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Kindle) — It took me forever to finally get around to reading this book, but it definitely lived up to the hype. I only wish the ending wasn’t such a massive cliff-hanger.
  • Serpentine by Cindy Pon (Kindle) — I’ve had this book on my TBR forever and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. It’s a short, fast read with unique world-building and an excellent female friendship at the core of the plot.
  • Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein (audiobook, library) — I’m probably not the right audience for this book, because I’m not really a fan of Sleater Kinney or Portlandia. It’s not that I don’t like her band or her show, it’s just not my thing. I think I just missed the Riot Grrl craze (a little too young), and I never heard of Sleater Kinney until I moved to the PNW. I’ve watched a few episodes of Portlandia. It’s really funny, but it didn’t hook me enough to keep watching. So, I’m not even sure why I picked up this book except that I’d heard on several blogs that it was really good. I enjoyed it because I love learning more about the punk movement and reading about the creative process. I’d highly recommend this book if you’re a fan of punk and/or Sleater Kinney, or if you’re a music geek. If you’re thinking of picking it up because of her role in Portlandia, you’ll be disappointed because there’s almost nothing of that in here.

I’m not sure how much reading I’ll get done in June, but these are the books I’d really like to read if I can find some time:

June2016TBR

A couple roll-over titles from previous TBRs (Lagoon, Slow Bullets), and a few new titles to shake things up a bit. I’ve been craving a novel with a solid mystery / thriller element, so I decided to add The Swimmer and Three Parts Dead to my TBR. I’ve also been neglecting my comics, so I added Vol 1 of Storm, which will (hopefully) compliment the new X-Men movie I’m looking forward to seeing this weekend. I added George because I’ve been meaning to read it for a while, and I thought June, since it’s Pride month, might be a good time to do that.

Now that I’m back from vacation and refreshed, I’m looking forward to diving back into my writing (and into the pool). I’m hoping to finish edits on “Godda’s War” (which really needs a new title) and then get to work on finishing a draft of my 2014 NaNoWrMo story (“Augmented“). I had some pretty decent ideas for both of these over vacation and I’m eager to start making progress again.

It may be a bit quiet around here in June, but I have a few blog post ideas planned. So, stay tuned! Oh, and if you’re disappointed that I stopped posting my “MayIGAuthor” photos here, you can check them out on Instagram. It was easier to just post them there while I was on vacation (vs. posting to both locations).

#MayIGAuthors Day 3: #WhereIWrite

~ EMM

image

Technically, I have a desk, but this has been where I’ve been doing most of my writing and editing recently. It’s comfy, but not too comfy. It’s close to my hubby’s work space (for company) and to the kitchen (for tea refills and snacks). I have my awesome headphones for music, or just to muffle noises so I can focus. And, these days at least, I have a printed copy of the edit letter for the novel I’m working on. Besides my trusty laptop, that’s basically all I need.

April in Review

~ EMM

April was supposed to be a huge month for swimming. In fact, right now I was supposed to be racing in North Carolina at US Masters Nationals. Instead, I threw all my competition plans out the window so I could focus on my writing. I’m a little sad that I’m missing all the racing fun, but I’m also really happy with the edits I made to The Lost Empire this month.

My April writing calendar doesn’t look super impressive, but those silver dots are hiding a TON of work.

Writing-April2016

Each dot means that I edited at least one chapter that day. Sometimes “editing” included writing new scenes and/or heavily overhauling old ones. By the time I was done, I think I added about 8k *new* words to The Lost Empire. That long break between 4/18 and 4/27 was my well-deserved, post Pitch to Publication contest, break. Now, on to the next manuscript…

Even though I spent nearly every spare minute in April working on edits, I did manage to read some books.

Reading-April2016

One sci-fi novella (Binti), one non-fiction audiobook (Pirate Hunters), one paperback ARC from one of my Indiespensible shipments (Fever at Dawn), and a contemporary new adult romance by one of my favorite romance authors (Trade Me). I might have given everything except the ARC five stars (but the ARC was outside my wheelhouse from the start, so it shouldn’t count). Either I was feeling generous (writing and editing a book is HARD, people), or they were amazing and hit me at just the right time to leave a mark. Highly recommend. Links above take you to my Goodreads reviews.

So, that was April, now let’s talk about May. I can’t believe it’s May already! In case you didn’t know, May is my favorite month, and not just because it’s my birthday month. I have a lot of cool stuff to look forward to this month, but I also have a lot of hard work in front of me, as well. As a reward for hard work and my birthday, I’ve gone a little crazy with the pre-orders…

So far, I’ve ordered these four beauties:

2016 Pre-Orders

A Court of Mist and Fury comes out on Tuesday. I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series, but the world-building was just amazing. SJM gets all the gold stars for building rich magical worlds that make you want to keep coming back for more. This is why I also have book five in the Throne of Glass series on pre-order (Empire of Storms <– what a great title!). I’ve had some issues with the romanic sub-plots in both of these series from time to time. But, book four in the Throne of Glass series made it all worth it for me and gave me hope that book two in the Court of Thorns and Roses series would be better (please let it be better…).

As much as I love SJM’s world-building and swoon-worthy heros, nothing beats Victoria Schwab for examining complicated aspects of human nature. Vicious was one of my favorite books I read last year, and I haven’t even started her most popular series (first book: A Darker Shade of Magic). Her latest, This Savage Song, comes out in July and I can not wait to read this book.

The blurb for Laini Taylor’s new book, Strange the Dreamer, sounds heartbreakingly beautiful. If her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series is any indication, I will love this one, too. Laini Taylor is another writer who is top notch at world-building and romantic sub-plots that add just the right amount of heat to an already edge-of-your-seat adventure.

You know it’s a good year for reading (and a bad year for your book budget) when three of your most favorite YA authors are all releasing new books!

Since only one of those comes out in May, here’s what I put on my May TBR:

May2016TBR

You may notice a few repeat offenders on this list… oh, who am I kidding? This is basically the same list as last month. I did add Lagoon to the list after finishing Binti this month. I’ve had Lagoon on my Kindle since October, and I’ve had my eye on it since around this time last summer. So, it’s about time I read it.

But first, I have to do some edits on Godda’s War (which may also need a new title…), and I really want to start working on the outline for a new book that’s been bouncing around in my head for far too long. Maybe I can add some stars to May’s writing calendar in addition to the silver dots…

Since this post is now epic-length, I should get back to work. Happy May, everybody!

Random writing thoughts

~ EMM

I saw this post on Twitter last week and LOVED it because it felt like exactly what I’ve been thinking for the past month while I’ve been working on the Pitch to Publication edits for The Lost Empire.

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I think that sometimes the longer I spend looking at anything I’ve written, the more I become convinced that it’s terrible and I have no idea what I’m doing.

Then I stumbled on this YouTube video and realized this is totally normal…

I’ve watched several of her videos and am not convinced that she’s a freaking genius.

What I’m trying to say here is that this writing stuff is HARD, people.

March in Review

~ EMM

March was mostly a writing month. I didn’t get much reading done. In fact, I didn’t touch my Kindle for the entire month. Instead, I read one comic and one audio book.

Books:

March2016

I never got to read the one book I wanted to read in March (The Story of a New Name), and I had to return it to the library. 😦 I’m now going to have to go back to the bottom of the hold list at the library. But it’s okay. I don’t have time to read it now anyway.

My TBR for April is basically the same as my TBR for March. I’ve filled it with a bunch of short books that I think will be fast reads. I’m hoping I can use them as distractions from my writing projects when I need a break.

April2016TBR

TV and movies:

I haven’t had a ton of time to watch TV and movies this month. But I did manage to get caught up on The 100 and Super Girl. I’m not as worked up about The 100 and I LOVED the Super Girl / Flash cross-over episode. I don’t watch The Flash, but those two were so cute together I feel like this should be a regular thing. I’m still watching The Magicians, and I still think it’s better than the book (at least the first book in the series, which is all I’ve read so far). I need to get caught up on the rest of the season, and I need to catch up on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., if for no other reason then to finally decide that I no longer need to watch that show.

Swimming:

Something had to give this month. For the first time since I started swimming competitively again, it ended up being swimming. I’ve bailed on all the in-season swim meets this year (except for two ill-advised races at Rinconada). I’m still training hard, but I’ve cut it back to about 4x per week, and I decided that giving up my weekends for all-weekend swim meets is not the best use of my time right now. This means no more races for me until July or August. It’s not a huge sacrifice, considering that I plan to keep racing for as long as I’m alive. I’m planning on being one fast 90+ age-group breaststroker. But right now, I need that time for writing.

Writing:

Something unexpected (and really good) happened that has kept me VERY busy with writing this month. I entered The Lost Empire (my YA epic fantasy novel) into a contest, and I was selected to work with an editor (we’re name twins) in preparation for an “agent round” in April! I still can’t believe it.

I also started using a new way of tracking (and rewarding) my writing. I’m dabbling with the “calendar method” (borrowed from V. E. Schwab) where you give yourself a sticker on the calendar to represent writing days. Each sticker is supposed to stand for a certain number of words written. This is what March looked like:

Writing-March2016

I decided to give myself a foil star for any days with over 500 words written. I gave myself a foil circle for days I edited at least one chapter. I may be more generous next month and make each star worth 500 words and each circle worth one chapter of edits. Then I’d give myself more than two stars if I wrote 1000 words, or two circles if I edited two chapters, etc. But that just seems like overkill at this point.

As you can see from the calendar, I got some writing done in the first half of the month, and I spent the second half working on edits for TLE. I like the changes I’m making and I think the novel is getting better. But I probably won’t be done with edits until mid-April.

If I have time for writing in April, I’ll probably be working on a short story for Camp NaNoWriMo. But I also plan on trying to post more short blog posts in April. So stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying your spring!

February in Review

~ EMM

Once again, I haven’t been posting much. Don’t worry. I’m still here. I’ve just been busy. Mostly the usual stuff (swim, work, read, write, repeat). Except, this month, I’ve been watching TV and movies a bit more than I’ve been reading.

Books I read this month (links take you to my reviews on Goodreads):

February2016

I’m not making any big reading promises for March. I have exactly one book that I really want to read/finish (The Story of a New Name). But, this is my full March TBR:

March2016TBR

You can see, I’m off my non-fiction kick and moving towards some serious sci-fi, with a little fantasy and contemporary romance to balance things out.

TV and movies I’ve been enjoying:

  • The 100 is back! Yes! Okay, fine. Maybe you gave up on this show sometime in the middle of the first season. But, something made me stick with it, and I love it. There’s just something about the world-building and the story that keeps me coming back. It scratches an itch in my story-writing brain, and the plot keeps going in different directions. Some people may think that’s a bad thing, but I like that it’s not entirely predictable. Like, I have no idea what they’re doing with this whole City of Light thing, and what the hell, Bellamy? And the languages! Did you know it’s the same guy who does the languages for Game of Thrones? He’s so awesome.
  • The Magicians show is so much better than the book. I almost never say that, but there it is. That said, I’m only a few episodes in. I really need some time to catch up on this show, but I started watching it with my husband and now I feel bad watching it without him.
  • I still love Supergirl. I may only be watching it for the Ally McBeal business woman truth bombs, but Calista Flockhart is amazing in this show, and that’s more than enough for me.
  • I watched the first episode of Fuller House. Nostalgia! That one episode was all I really needed, but I’ll probably watch a few more to see where they go with this.
  • Have you seen the movie Dope? It is everything. I loved it.
  • And the movie Chef almost felt like an ad for Twitter (in an awesome way), but it also made me want to pack up and hit the road following my dreams.

Swimming:

I swam more miles in February than I have in any of the past three years, but I swam fewer days than I’d planned.

I didn’t go to any swim meets this month. I haven’t wanted to sacrifice my weekends when I know I’m tired from training hard and not likely to swim as fast as I’d like. I’m going to do a mid-season meet in March, and based on that meet, I’ll decide if I’m going to travel to North Carolina for Nationals.

Writing:

I’ve been editing and polishing my YA fantasy novel and my NA paranormal romance novel. And, I’m getting ready to dive into something new in April. Originally, I thought I would finish “Augmented” or “Falling” (my 2014 and 2013 NaNoWriMo novels) before I wrote something new. But… I’ve had a story in mind for a while now, and I really want to write it. So, I’m thinking I may use the April Camp NaNoWriMo as a motivator and start work on a new WIP.

And there you have it. That was February. 🙂

Accomplished women

~ EMM

During a conversation this evening I was reminded of this scene from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice:

“All young ladies accomplished! My dear Charles, what do you mean?”

“Yes all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover screens, and net purses. I scarcely know anyone who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished.”

“Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,” said Darcy, “has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse, or covering a screen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.”

“Nor I, I am sure,” said Miss Bingley.

“Then,” observed Elizabeth, “you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished women.”

“Yes; I do comprehend a great deal in it.”

“Oh! certainly,” cried his faithful assistant, “no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.”

“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.”

“I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.”

I am posting this here to remind me that sometimes I am way too hard on myself.

Random Tuesday odds and ends…

~ EMM

Some random thoughts (and links) from my commute today…

Finally watched Hank Green’s vlogbrothers post from last Thursday — turned out to be timed perfectly for where my head’s at right now… sometimes when I’m grumpy, only music can make me feel better… and sometimes what I really need is a little John in the Morning… sometimes I need to be reminded of my own mental toughness moments…  sometimes I just really wish I had a dog…

I found out that The Replacements are going back on tour this summer but the tickets are expensive and will probably sell out in minutes… but at least I can look forward to the fact that I’m getting Laggies from Netflix this week due to perfect video return timing on my part…

The first tweet I see after getting on the bus to go home reminds me that I should be writing… then I found some new music for my commute home — Lindsey Stirling’s “Electric Daisy Violin” — wow!… I finished The Basic Eight and learned (via “about the author” at the end) that the author of this book is also Lemony Snicket… back to Twitter, and John Stewart is leaving The Daily Show!?!… Found another Lindsey Stirling album to listen to and admired the sunset while my bus crossed the Golden Gate Bridge…