Wednesday, September 18, 2013

What's Up Wednesday: The Where I've Been Edition (With Cat Photos)

Well, hellooooooo there, strangers! If it looks like I'm blinking a lot in the bright sunlight, it's because I've just crawled out of the deadline cave. And I survived! Because I cannot word anymore, I'm easing back into blogging with a What's Up Wednesday (the weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funke, go sign up on either of their blogs!):

What I'm reading:

Not much since early August, but I'm commencing a major reading binge, starting with these lovelies:


What I'm writing:

The sequel to THE LOST PLANET! I turned in my completed draft to my editor Sunday night, and I'm feeling about a million pounds lighter. I had fun writing it, but it's no joke what people say about the first book under contract being a completely different animal than a book you write in your own free time. I learned a lot about what it takes, particularly energy- and focus-wise, to produce a book in a year, and I plan to use what I learned to make writing the next book go a little more smoothly. Because I'm not going to lie, there were some panic moments and maybe even an epic meltdown in there somewhere. Whew! I can laugh now because I'm on the other side.

What inspires me right now:

Having free time for the first time in six weeks where I don't feel the constant pressure of a deadline. I haven't entirely lost that feeling of productive churn, and I'm trying to harness it to pick away at some new projects. More sequel ideas, and one Shiny New Idea that hit me like a hurricane while I was revising and has been vying for my attention ever since.

What else I've been up to:

Um, besides my day job, that's about it. I've been a serious house rat for the past month, swearing off the gym, turning down social invitations, and ordering delivery when my refrigerator ran out of food. Luckily for my productivity, my husband has been out of town for most of the past month.

One thing I did keep up on was my Instagram account (which is all cats and food, because what else?), so I'm going to paste in some shots of from this time period. As you can see, I was not entirely alone. I had my two house goblins, Jack and Simon:

Nothing to see here. 
I don't function without breakfast. Every day.
My desk weasel.
I ate a lot of kale. What can I say? I live in California. And kale is delicious. I pretended I was a vegan for part of the month.
Until my husband came home for Labor Day, and cooked up this 9-lb rib roast.
We took our cat out on the patio on a leash. He loves his leash. Or at least the outdoor time that it brings. The leash is more like a hobble.
My cats are there for me when I'm writing.
There when I'm revising.
There with me burning the candle on those long, late nights.
And finally, a shot from the final stretch. Husband sent flowers and a sweet note of encouragement. Awwwww.
And that's where I've been! What have you been up to?

10 comments:

  1. Hey, kale is delicious.
    Congrats on finishing the draft!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So many pretty books! I'm in the middle of The Madman's Daughter, you'll have to tell me your thoughts. Congrats on turning in your draft, so awesome! And cute pics of all the kittys.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your desk weasel! And congrats on finishing the sequel! I am so EXCITED to read your story! Can't wait to get my hands on it!

    I am drooling over the books too. I can't wait to start THE DREAM THIEVES! Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congrats on finishing the draft of the sequel! I imagine it'd be harder to write for the first time on contract. I'm pretty sure I would psych myself out and let fear make me incapable of writing for at least two weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. congrats on finishing the draft and your cats are absolutely adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love all these pictures! Way to go on finishing! You did it! <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hooray for sending off the draft. Aw, your cats look lovely. And what a beautiful bunch of flowers. How lovely ^_^

    Have an awesome week!

    ReplyDelete
  8. YAY congrats on finishing! You're such a rock star. :D I love all of your Instagram photos. Your husband is so sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I read THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER earlier in the year. I had mixed feelings about it. If you want to know my thoughts, you can search "Madman's Daughter" on my blog. I don't want to usurp your blog with my thoughts, especially since you haven't finished it yet. :)

    Well done for meeting the deadline! I hope you have a wonderful week of R&R and happy thoughts of new projects. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. So: YAAAAAAAY!!! Congrats on meeting your deadline!!!!! That is so, so awesome. I hope you're enjoying your post-deadline time. That stack o' books looks amazing.

    Honestly, the idea of having a deadline for A BOOK terrifies me. With school projects, I used to be the type to procrastinate until the last minute, and then have a meltdown/freak out/panic attack right before the deadline. There were all nighters, tears, and crappy grades. Sigh. I'd like to think I'm better now, with work that's not something I do at all ... but that feeling of "ZOMG WHAT HAVE I DONE???" is fresh enough to make the idea of completing a book in a year *on deadline* very scary. Fortunately(?), I don't have anyone waiting on my books at the moment, which leaves plenty of time for you to write oodles of helpful blog posts on what you've learned ... right? :D

    Oh, and I just read THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER, and I loved it. It's super creepy in a very H.G. Wells kind of way, PLUS there are steamy kissing bits (not H.G.-style, but very appreciated). I hope you like it!

    Last thing: The cat photos totally make up for any blogging absence. Your cats are so cute! And obviously very helpful. :)

    ReplyDelete