Wednesday, August 28, 2013

What's Up Weds and Final Ready. Set. Write!


What's Up Wednesday! Check Jaime's blog for more deets.
 
What I've Been Reading
 
I'm going through Once Upon a Quinceanera: Coming of Age in the USA as research for my current WIP. I was laughing about how 3 out of 4 book references the author made I've read on my own (Reviving Ophelia, The Warrior Woman, The Body Project. So basically, this is the type of book I'd read regardless of the research angle). Also reading Kody Keplinger's Shut Out which surely is on a banned list somewhere given the plot is the football team's girlfriends go on a hook-up strike to force an end to their endless feuds with the soccer team. Keplinger is really great at taking an edgy topic and showing real people behind it, along with consequences, humor, and shedding stereotypes. Go Kody! In the car I'm listening to Meg Cabot's Underworld.  

 
What I've Been Writing





So, it's the last check in for Ready. Set. Write! And... I wrote next to nothing this week. I might have written last Wednesday... BUT the good news is I wrote 2/3 of a first draft during the summer challenge, and I have this group to thank for the motivation! Thanks everybody. Looking forward to keeping up with you all on Wednesday posts.



 
What Inspires Me/ What I've Been Up To
 
Vacations! Just a long weekend, really, but it was so nice to get away to a rented house, hang out with the girls, go shopping, swim in the pool, and cruise the Mississippi. The only drawback is we weren't there long enough!


Girls Weekend!
Mississippi Riverboat
We ate fabulously; the first night we dined at a restaurant featuring local produce and regional wines and drinks. After the riverboat cruise, we started to eat at a diner next door, but one meek voice piped up--Are you sure you all want to eat here? She pointeed out that water was dripping onto the table from an ancient window-mounted A/C unit. I volunteered to tell the waitress we were leaving--we hadn't even gotten water yet, it wasn't like we'd been there long. A few girls felt bad, but why? We walked in, the place smelled kind of musty, and we determined to spend money elsewhere. A good reminder to speak up, especially since the place we found for lunch after that was phenomenal! (Everyone busted out their phones and looked for eateries with high ratings on Yelp, which took us through a curious tour of Dubuque but led to a gem with food we weren't going to find at that diner).
 
Check out other bloggers' final Ready. Set. Write! linked here. And then tell me how your week went!

 

12 comments:

  1. I'd love to go on a holiday like that! I'd want it to last longer than one weekend too.

    I think I wrote 7,000ish words since last Wednesday, and I'm really getting more confident I might be able to finish my first draft without going much over my guesstimated final projection. It's going to be awhile before I'm up to writing such a long single-volume book again!

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  2. What a beautiful river boat! Glad to hear the place you did eat at was wonderful. Hopefully that other place will work out what the problem is before they go bust.

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  3. Your long weekend sounds great! I'm so looking forward to my holiday!

    Congratulations on getting 2/3 of your draft down! How this week goes well.

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  4. I wrote about 2/3 of my first draft this summer too, Steph! Yay for Ready.Set.Write! and tons of productivity! Love your photo from Girls' Weekend... sounds like you all had a blast. Best of luck with your writing this week. :-)

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  5. It sounds like you had a great time! I've got a holiday coming up soon, I can't wait :)
    Congratulations on all the writing you got done this summer :)

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  6. Your girls weekend sounds like it was lovely :) How nice to just get away and relax, even for a short period of time.

    I've been meaning to read SHUT OUT, but I didn't enjoy THE DUFF all that much so I've been putting it off...I might have to bump it up my TBR again!

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    1. I was not ever interested in reading The Duff, but I liked A Midsummer's Nightmare.

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  7. Love the pics! I want to go on a river boat cruise now!

    Also, I'm a huge Kody fan and I loved SHUT OUT. I just love the way she retells old classics in modern day with such an edge! Great voice too.

    And so glad RSW helped you write two-thirds of a draft! That's AWESOME!!! I look forward to progress updates through WUW!

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  8. Aww! You and your friends are so cute! Sounds like you had a great time, and good for you for walking out on that place!

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  9. I've read DUFF I need to pick up SHUT OUT. Reading research books is always fun. Well, it is for me. Ha. Congrats on getting 2/3 of your draft down. Have a great weekend!

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  10. I guess if they banned SHUT OUT, they would have to ban LYSISTRATA by the sound of it! :)

    Have a great writing week, Steph. :)

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    1. Shakespeare is one thing, but TEENS doing grown up things--oh no! :D

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