Currently: Trusting My Gut

LOVING

My head is not misshapen. I mean, it could be misshapen—I’ve never shaved my hair to find out—but I’m pretty sure it’s just round. Which is why I’m severely annoyed each time I put on a headband only to have it slip off a few minutes later. But I have finally discovered one that stays put all day. With glasses. And without inducing a migraine. So, yeah, I’m loving Athelta’s Thin Sparkly Headband.

READING

I’ve been trying this thing where I wait for an entire series to be published before beginning book one. This has to do with my love for binge reading, my inability to remember the details of a book a year later, and my extreme impatience during the wait between books.

So anyway, I never read Becky Wallace’s The Storyspinner when it came out. But The Skylighter, the second book in the duology, released on March 22, so I began the series. It has so many elements I love: hidden identities, hate-to-love romance, a world that comes to life, and great character arcs. Both books are told from multiple POVs, and I have a hard time picking a favorite. This is a fast-paced fantasy with characters who feel real and romances that are compelling and (for my two favorites) incredibly sweet.

 

WATCHING

Eleven-year-old Tracey is rolling her eyes right about now. It’s just that, well, I tried to do the Fuller House thing. I really, really did. But not even nostalgia could get me through that cringe-fest.

(I know, I know … how rude!)

LISTENING TO

So my WIP has absolutely nothing in common with Cinderella, but the song itself is inspiring some later scenes in the novel.

THINKING ABOUT

Nova Ren Suma’s blog post about getting unstuck. She talks about her struggle while drafting The Walls Around Us (am I the only one who loves hearing successful writers talk about the struggle they had writing their books?)—specifically the struggle to just get words on the page. She says she started thinking about all of the things the book should be, all of the books it should be like, instead of trusting her gut.

It’s a great read, and one that spoke to me as I was struggling with my novel’s opening. When I stopped thinking about what the beginning of my book should do and trusted what I wanted it to do, I finally found the words again.

ANTICIPATING

I can’t wait until Friday, when Elizabeth Brigg’s YA sci-fi novel, Future Shock, hits shelves. Two words: time travel.

WISHING

I used to think I was a fast drafter, but that was back when I spent millions of years revising my quick drafts. It was … not ideal. With my last book, I wrote so slow I was basically inactive.

I hated my book, then I realized it wasn’t my book’s fault, so I hated myself. I still do sometimes, especially now that I’m drafting again. I’m constantly wishing I was a fast drafter. But I try to remind myself: What works for one writer, doesn’t have to work for me.

More than that, I tell myself this: Writing Gray Wolf Island may have been excruciatingly slow, but revising was so very fast. It’s what’s saving me from crazy as I write Carnival Novel.

MAKING ME HAPPY

I mean, Pinterest is always making me happy because it’s basically procrastination in picture form, but I’m loving the board for my current WIP. I’ve been finding so much inspiration in images. Here’s the board if you want to check it out.

 

What’s new with you?