Wednesday, December 10, 2014

What's Up Wednesday

Welcome  to What's Up Wednesday, a blog hop to check in with other writers. See Jaime Morrow's blog for details.

What I'm Reading

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image: Goodreads
I finished a holiday romance Sleigh Bells in the Snow which was nominated for a Romance Writers of America RITA award this year. It got me in a sufficient holiday mood.

Now I'm reading an agency-mate's urban fantasy Dangerous Calling by A.J. Larrieu. The first book Twisted Miracles was an excellent start to a series, setting up the world of shadowminds and exploring Cass' past. I used to read a lot of UF, and the world building here is really good with some unique takes on fantasy elements I hadn't seen before.

What I'm Writing

I'm on a break after Nano to catch up on reading and holiday stuff. I have a few different projects to choose from, so deciding what to tackle next.

What Works for Me

Speaking of that time off ... I spent almost the entire last year working on two different manuscripts on and off, so it's strange to not be working on something. My brain goes into story mode daily, so I can't really shut it off. I just want to be really mindful on what I take on next, so I'm giving it time.

What Else is New

photo credit: Stephanie Scott
Holiday shopping, wrapping, planning! I need to mail stuff and I'm getting together with my Mom early this year so I have days not weeks.

Friday was my RWA chapter's holiday party. The picture shows me with two writers from our smaller critique group--the third couldn't come. We have a little program time to acknowledge people's accomplishments and contributions. Really good stuff this year--multiple book deals for our members, with Big 5/NYC, small press, and some self publish successes. Contest wins, and Nanowrimo conquerors. Also, we recognize those who serve the chapter.

What hits me every time is none of these people are not busy. Everyone has families, many have full or part-time jobs, and other commitments. Writing is what they love and they make time. Serving the organization is all on top of that.

Tell me how your week is going! And please check out the other What's Up Wednesday posts!


9 comments:

  1. Time off is such an undervalued thing for creative people! It's amazing how burnt out one can get being constantly in the thick of a story! That being said, even when I'm taking time off from writing things down, I'm always plotting in my head!
    Happy Holidays Stephanie!

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  2. Good luck deciding on your next project!

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  3. I'm sort of stalled out on the Christmas reads after weeks of reading serious Christmas cheese. Still hoping to get sucked into MY TRUE LOVE GAME TO ME, which is not cheesy at all. As for deciding on your next project, taking a little break over the holidays to mull it over sounds like a great idea. I don't know about you, but I always find the holidays are always tough for accomplishing anything anyway. Hope you have a wonderful week with lots of great (future) stories ideas to choose from! :-)

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    1. I laughed at "Christmas cheese." The romance I read had a little cheese, though the main character hated Christmas and was only at a ski resort place for her job. It made me want to go skiing, so job well done.

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  4. Time out after NaNo is always a good idea. Good luck working out your next project.

    That's the thing that unites us all as writers - we make time because we *have* to write.

    Have a great week!

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  5. Time off is always a great thing. I do it usually between revision drafts and it totally helps me reorganize and get ready to do more work, again. Good luck working on your next project.

    Sounds like the RWA Holiday party was fun! I love how involved you are in that stuff. (I also think you are in the same RWA chapter as my friend Erin Brambilla?) Small world :)

    Have a wonderful week, Steph!

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    1. Rachel--I do know Erin! Though she is in Chicago North since our area has two chapters. We have overlapping members. I'm fairly sure I met Erin randomly at a book signing or on twitter first, then in person at the book event. I think it was before RWA.

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  6. Giving it time is a good idea - I tend to come up with new story ideas when I'm not actively looking for them. Have a great week!

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  7. Taking time off is good. I did that after I sent my new WIP to my agent. I'm taking my time with what I'm working on now since I'm waiting to hear back from him what he thinks. I think next year I would like to get involved in a local writing group. It sounds like a lot of fun. Have a great week!

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