Write Stuff [26] - Trashed

Write Stuff  is based on the Wannabe Writers meme hosted by Sarah at Confessions of the Un-Published. This meme is what prompted me to start Writer Quirk, so I am thankful to Sarah for creating it.

I use this meme to talk about the ups and downs of writing, what I'm working on, and, in November, to chronicle my NaNoWriMo journey.


I did something a couple days ago that I have never done. I warned in my last Write Stuff post that the beginning of my novel was subject to change, and it did. I was reading over the 19 new pages I had written for my revision, all of them at the beginning. There were some good bits, but in those 19 pages, the story wasn't really moving. There was some back story, some moments between characters to show relationships, a bit of a glimpse at the magic in the world I was building.

But it wasn't working. The place where everything really starts is when my main character arrives at her latest boarding school. All the back story and her relationships with her family and the people she knows before arriving at this school are important, but they aren't exactly the focus of what she has to do. My character is struggling with how to be at this school, and for the first time, not get expelled on purpose. She has to be good, or what she wants she will never get. That is her motivation and her challenge. She is used to being the brat and making trouble, but now she can't. That is where the story really is.

So I cut those 19 pages. Moved every word of my revision to the trash. I was expecting to feel some dread that now I had to start over (again!), but it was such a weight off. I think I have known for a long time where my story should start, but I was afraid to get rid of all those words that felt important, even if they weren't as necessary as I thought. Now I have 5 pages done, and in my opinion, they are better. Not perfect, of course, but the story definitely feels like it is happening instead of coming up soon.

If you want, compare my old beginning with my new one. The old one had some info and some insight about my character, and this one does as well, just in a different way. This new opening also puts us right at the beginning of my character's journey instead of acting as a prelude to the action.

Have you had to delete a bunch of your novel?

How did you feel and do you think it helped? 

Let me know in the comments! ^_^

Spring Blog Carnival: Ticket Booth Giveaway WINNERS!

I hope you all had tons of fun at the Spring Blog Carnival! I'm sorry it took me so long to get the winners posted, but thanks to Random.org, they have been chosen!

The winner of Giveaway #1 (US) will receive a hardback copy of Heist Society by Ally Carter, a Lunar Chronicles bookmark, a Team Cinder button, a signed The Madman's Daughter bookmark, and a signed The Archived bookmark.

And the Giveaway #1 winner is:

KATRINA MARIE!

The winner of Giveaway #2 (INTL) will get his or her choice of YA book from The Book Depository.
 
And the Giveaway #2 winner is:

BRANDY GRAVES!

A huge thank you to everyone who hosted and participated in the Spring Blog Carnival! I hope you had fun and congratulations to the winners!

*CLOSED* Spring Blog Carnival: Ticket Booth

Welcome one and all to the Spring Blog Carnival! Here at Writer Quirk I am hosting the TICKET BOOTH. Why did I choose the ticket booth? Because it is where all the fun begins. You can't ride those crazy rides without tickets!

Since ticket booths are where you start your fun at a carnival, I've decided that the prizes for this booth are BOOKS where the fun begins, also known as the first books in a series.

So what can you win here at the Ticket Booth?

Giveaway #1 (US ONLY)
A hardback copy of Heist Society by Ally Carter, a Lunar Chronicles bookmark, a Team Cinder button, a signed The Madman's Daughter bookmark, and a signed The Archived bookmark.

Giveaway #2 (INTERNATIONAL)
Your choice of YA book from The Book Depository (the book must be YA, the first book in a series, and $11 or under). Below are some examples (you don't have to pick just from these, but whatever you choose needs to match the requirements above):

 

Before you enter:
~ Please review my Giveaway Rules.
~ The carnival runs from May 6th to May 12th.
~ Please note that Giveaway #1 is US ONLY and Giveaway #2 is INTERNATIONAL so long as The Book Depository ships to your country.

How to enter:
~ Leave a comment on this post with your answer to the challenge question.
~ You must include which giveaway (#1 US / #2 INTL) you are entering (you may enter both if you qualify for both).
~ If you are entering Giveaway #2, you must leave the title and author of the book you would like from The Book Depository.
~ You must include an email address so that I may contact you if you win.
~ Failure to follow these instructions may result in disqualification.

And now for the challenge question:
 

If you had the opportunity to give up all of your carnival tickets to meet one author,

who would he/she be?

Don't forget to visit all the other amazing booths! You can find the full list here.

Good luck and enjoy the carnival!

Reading Challenges Update [April 2013]

Hey quirks! I've decided to split up my reading updates due to how many challenges I am participating in this year. In 2012, I was only keeping up with my Goodreads Reading Challenge and I liked how I did that one and all the stats I kept up with, but I'm going to call them something different. The new title for those updates will be "2013 Goodreads Rundown" and they will appear bimonthly.

This series of posts I'm calling Reading Challenges Update is for all the other challenges I am trying to complete. These updates will be less detailed as far as stats go because I will just be listing the individual challenges and which books fit under them that I read during the previous month.

*Completed*

April: 7 --- Total: 25/24

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (Unearthly #2)
Nevermore by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #8)
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2)
The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa (Blood of Eden #2)
Reunion by Meg Cabot (The Mediator #3)
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #2)
 City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #3)


*Completed*

April: 8 --- Total: 31/25+

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (Unearthly #2)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Nevermore by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #8)
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles #2)

 City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #3)

*Completed*

April: 1 --- Total: 5

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

April: 1 --- Total: 4/12

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott [Keyword: Little]

April: 5 --- Total: 21/36

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (Unearthly #2)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2)

Reunion by Meg Cabot (The Mediator #3)
 The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

April: 1 --- Total: 4/12

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #2) [Creature: Demon]

Ink Anticipation [11] - May 2013

This old feature has a new use! Ink Anticipation is now for sharing what books I am looking forward to that will be released during the following month. Clicking on a book cover will either take you to the book's Goodreads page or to my review. Don't forget to share your most anticipated releases in the comments!

May 7th

May 14th

May 21st

May 28th

T10T [6] - Top Ten Books I Liked More/Less Than Expected

From Where I'm Standing [11] - Bringing YA 2 You

I am so bad at remembering to do these! Anyway, I recently had the immense pleasure of having five awesome YA authors visit my hometown on April 9th, as we were the grand prize winners of the Bringing YA 2 You contest!

Not only was it great to get to drive a measly five minutes instead of two hours, but I was also ecstatic that every author was one I wanted to see and meet. I'd met a couple already, but that never dampens my excitement.

When I arrived (a bit late, but hey, better late than never) I grabbed a seat by my bestie Caitlyn and listened as the authors answered questions from the audience. Despite having already done an event at the school earlier that day, the place was packed with students, parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, and those YA enthusiasts who are none of the above (yep, me).

The authors present were Victoria (V.E.) Schwab, Marissa Meyer, Beth Revis, Marie Lu, and Megan Shepherd. All of them were hilarious and answered all questions as honestly and gracefully as possible. There was talk of beheading Barbie dolls from Marie, growing up in a bookstore from Megan, writing fan fiction from Marissa, drinking lots of "coffee" to get through rejections from Beth, and stuff about how Neil Gaiman is amazing from Victoria. The authors shared about the books and people that inspired them as well as some about their writing and publishing processes.

Megan Shepherd ~~~ The Madman's Daughter

I loved everything the authors had to say and though the bleachers were uncomfortable and the air was hot and humid, I had a wonderful time. After the hour long Q and A, everyone moved to the library to buy books and have them signed. I got to talk to a lot of people, some of them were teachers from my past (hi Mrs. Flatt!) and others were YA readers from Columbia (hey Elizabeth and Debbie!), and the crowd was excited and it was so much fun getting my books signed. It was almost as much fun as watching some of the students talk to the authors and take pictures. I love seeing the books and authors I enjoy reaching a new readership!

Beth Revis ~~~ Across the Universe / A Million Suns / Shades of Earth

Marissa Meyer ~~~ Cinder / Scarlet

I was also able to get a sneak peek at Victoria Schwab's next book, Vicious. It was sitting on her table and Caitlyn and I were fawning over it and Victoria let us pick it up and look through it (she's lucky we didn't try to run off with it!). Guys, it is SO AMAZING. I cannot wait to get my own copy when it comes out. I don't typically read many books geared toward adults, but just the tiny bit I got to read reminded me why Victoria Schwab is one of my favorite writers. If she wrote her own version of the phone book, I'd read it.

Victoria (V.E.) Schwab ~~~ The Near Witch / The Archived / Vicious

Caitlyn and I hung around talking with Victoria and Courtney C. Stevens, who's book will be out in ARC form in a few months, and then after we left we stood around talking in the parking lot for a while longer, mostly about Adventure Time. Such is the life of nerds.

Marie Lu ~~~ Legend / Prodigy

I hope you quirks enjoyed my event recap! Right now I'm on my way to SOKY in Bowling Green, Kentucky, so look for another FWIS (hopefully) soon! ^_^

Have you read any of the books by these authors?

What did you think?

Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

Write Stuff [25] - Ending and Beginning...Again

Write Stuff  is based on the Wannabe Writers meme hosted by Sarah at Confessions of the Un-Published. This meme is what prompted me to start Writer Quirk, so I am thankful to Sarah for creating it.

I use this meme to talk about the ups and downs of writing, what I'm working on, and, in November, to chronicle my NaNoWriMo journey.


It was hard to believe, but I actually finished the third draft of my WIP by my deadline, which was the end of March. Part of that was due to the fact I reached the end of my story way before my target word count, which is fine, I just wasn't expecting to do that.

So now I have a new deadline for the same novel. My hope is to have my revision, the working title of which is now Unpredictable, done by the end of July. I'll be working through the first anniversary of my dad's death, so I don't know how that will impact things (badly, I'm guessing) but I'm still going to try.

And to celebrate the completion of one goal and the birth of a new one, I thought I'd share a snippet of the beginning of my novel (just to warn you, this novel has had about five different beginnings, so this is subject to change). Anyway, I hope you enjoy the tidbit and let me know what you are working on and how it is going in the comments!

T10T [5] - Top Ten REWIND: Fave Authors

T10T [4] - Books I Loved Before Becoming a Blogger

Reading Challenges Update [March 2013]

Hey quirks! I've decided to split up my reading updates due to how many challenges I am participating in this year. In 2012, I was only keeping up with my Goodreads Reading Challenge and I liked how I did that one and all the stats I kept up with, but I'm going to call them something different. The new title for those updates will be "2013 Goodreads Rundown" and they will appear bimonthly.

This series of posts I'm calling Reading Challenges Update is for all the other challenges I am trying to complete. These updates will be less detailed as far as stats go because I will just be listing the individual challenges and which books fit under them that I read during the previous month.

March: 4 --- Total: 18/24

Fang by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #6)
Angel by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #7)
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray (Gemma Doyle #2)
The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey #2)

March: 9 --- Total: 23/25+

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

Fang by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #6)

Angel by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #7)

Emma by Jane Austen

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray (Gemma Doyle #2)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

March: 3 --- Total: 4

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

March: 1 --- Total: 3/12

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman [Keyword: Magic]

March: 5 --- Total: 16/36

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

Emma by Jane Austen

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey #2)

March: 1 --- Total: 3/12

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey #2) [Creature: Fey]

Ink Anticipation [10] - April 2013

This old feature has a new use!
Ink Anticipation is now for sharing what books I am looking forward to that will be released during the following month. Clicking on a book cover will either take you to the book's Goodreads page or to my review. Don't forget to share your most anticipated releases in the comments!

April 2nd

April 4th

April 9th

April 16th

April 23rd

April 30th

T10T [3] - My Fictional Crushes