Too Many Things and Definitely Not Enough Time

Hey guys.

Um... sorry I wasn't 'here' on Wednesday.  It's not that I forgot about you, I promise!

Honestly, I thought the summer would make things easier.  And in a way it has.  It's allowed me more time to edit, write, read, skate, paint, play my violin... everything I love to do.

But by doing all these other things, I've realized that I actually have a lot less time now!!  Let's see... I have to beta read a book, give feedback on a first chapter, critique a few chapters, make a few last changes to From the Ashes, catch up on reading all of your blogs, make a list of other things to post about... * sighs *

The list goes on and on... like the energizer bunny.  Except I'm not feeling quite so energetic about it all.  Just thinking about it is making me exhausted!

Wednesday was sorta the epitome of my brain overload.  We weren't home for five hours because of skating/my violin lesson (both take up a lot of time, lol).

I have 20 unread emails, way too many facebook notifications and a whole bunch more from twitter.  I'm honestly dreading going through them all.

Oh well.  I gotta do it all sometime!  Might as well start now...

So yeah, I didn't forget about anything!!  I've just been so busy.

Luckily, thanks to my best friend Kate, ideas for book 2 and 3 have been coming to me like magic.  So at least in the writing world, things have been moving rather smoothly.

Don't let the procrastination bug bite you this weekend!

Happy Friday :)

--Jess

IWSG: Critiquing

First of all, wow.

I can't believe it's already May.  I'm not sure if I should be wishing for more time, or be jumping up and down because summer break is just around the corner.  No, seriously, I made a countdown right

about...

There:  {------------------------------------->

(The arrow only makes sense if this is the top post on my blog.  So for people looking at this in the future... be aware.)

Okay, it took waay longer than it should have to figure out exactly where to point that arrow.  And when summer starts, I will have SOOO much more time to write and get my work done.  I'm extremely excited about that :)

Now, for my IWSG Post.

I'm insecure about critiquing.

Or critique partnering.

Or beta reading.

They're all very similar, but yes, I'm insecure about it.  Don't get me wrong: I'm not insecure about getting feedback or anything like that.  I love getting helpful feedback and having more than just my mom's and my best friend's terribly biased opinion on my work.

I'm insecure about critiquing for other people.

Sure, I've beta read before.  I'm beta reading a book right now, and critiquing two more.  (When did I ever say I wasn't busy?)

Sometimes the story I'm reading is just too darn good!  I mean, there are problems with every book.  No book is perfect.  But there are times when I have a really hard time finding something to fix.

I can't say I've ever gotten insufficient feedback, but there have been a few where I'd liked to have known more about what I could do to fix my story.  And when I give feedback, I want people to to walk away with a bunch of good suggestions and ways to improve their story.  I want to make it easy for them to fix things.

So, when I can't find much to fix, it scares me out of my mind!

What about you guys?  Are you insecure about critiquing/beta reading?

--Jess

Great Weekend!

First of all, I'm really excited for no apparent reason. I'm coming down with a cold, too, but strangely I'm really happy! I got a ton of work done this weekend but a lot more to do, so I'll try to make this post short.

I heard back from a few of my beta readers and got a lot of good feedback. I knew having beta readers would help me a lot but I guess I wasn't aware of how much it would help. I learned a lot.

For example:

• The difference between 'farther' and 'further'. ('Farther' is used as in physical distance and 'further' is for metaphorical distance)
• That you're not supposed to use a comma before the word 'but' (yep, I did that about a thousand times)
• That I italicize words way too many words
•  I have too many "she says" or "he says" after someone speaks. It turns out, if there are only two people in the conversation, you hardly need those at all!
• There's still a ton of stuff about writing that I don't know.

So yeah, my issues are mostly grammatical and then there were some problems with the setting. But I think I finally fixed that... we'll see.

How was you're weekend?

--Jess

Going up North + Weekend Plans

As you've probably guessed from the title of this post, we are headed to Michigan for the weekend. Okay, maybe you didn't guess Michigan in particular, but yeah, we're headed up North.


Me and my sister (Over at Life is Good) are both on a synchronized skating team with a bunch of friends, and we have a big competition on Saturday! I'm really excited.


After that, we'll be spending a day at my grandparents house. It's cool because they have a grand piano (opposed to our coffee brown, rectangle one...) and it sounds so pretty when it's played. I'll have to make sure to bring my violin.


So, yeah. That's about all I've got planned for my weekend. Oh, and I have to try convincing my sister to read my novel... She agreed to 'beta read' it a while ago but hasn't gotten to it yet.


What do you guys have planned for the weekend?


--Jess

Beta Readers, Anyone??

You guys, I am on the last two chapters. And I mean the last two chapters. After I finish editing these two, I will be done. And I'm still freaking out about it. This is really my last edit, so here comes the big question.

Does anyone want to beta read for me?

My novel is a YA Action-Adventure/Sci-Fi, and might be considered a little Dystopian. Here's a summary:

Sixteen year old Jaina Indera has been training for this moment her entire life. Ever since the Imperial Alliance genetically selected her to attend a Gifted School, she has done her best to prove herself worthy of competing in The Trials.

Being chosen is just the beginning. Her region will send a team of ten students to compete in the first of four rounds of mental and physical challenges against other Gifted Schools. If they win, they will enjoy the privileged life of a 'Superior' in the Crystal City. If they lose... they could lose everything.

With the sudden appearance of a boy called 'Dragon' and her unsettling dreams, two months before the Trials, Jaina begins to question everything she has been taught to believe.

Will she find balance between love, loyalty, and the truth behind it all?

So, yeah, that's my summary. Anyway, if you'd like to beta read for me, please email me at violingirl4036@gmail.com and I'll get back by Monday!! Thanks so much, everyone!

Help me, beta readers, you're my only hope...

--Jess

Last Day of November

Well, today is the final day of November. No, I didn't meet my goal for NaNoWriMo of 50,000 words. But hey, who can say I didn't try? I'm at thirty three thousand something words, so there's no way I can turn back now.


Anyway, I'd like to let you know that my editing has suddenly taken a HUGE leap forward! I'm hoping to be done with my second and third drafts by December 10th, and will be hopefully be asking for beta readers soon after! I'm really excited!! That also means I'll have less time do other stuff, but I'm really close to being ready to query, so I've got a ton of work to do!


Also, I've got some fun news! I'm interviewing Author S.R. Johannes (aka Shelli) on Friday! I've never done an interview before, so this is pretty exciting! Her book Untraceable just came out yesterday so go give her a big 'Congratulations' at her blog! Here's a summary of her book:

16 year old Grace was reared in the wilderness. Her first pet was a bear named Simon. Her first potty, an oak tree. And, her first swing, a forest vine. Grace has lived in the Smokies her whole life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her everything he knew about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival. But when Grace's dad goes missing on a routine patrol, unlike everyone in her sleepy mountain town, she refuses to believe he’s dead. When a Cheetos bag and stolen government file materialize, Grace is convinced she’s one step closer to proving all the non-believers wrong.

Then one day while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from imminent danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent, that’s definitely not from her neck of the woods, and a secret. Grace has never felt a connection like this before, certainly not with her ex-boyfriend, the adoring, but decidedly unrugged Wyn. 

Now with renewed confidence, Grace travels deeper into the wilderness that has always been her refuge only to learn that her father's disappearance is not a mere coincidence. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kickass heroine to emerge from an epidemic that’s spreading like wild fire, threatening everything and everyone she’s ever loved.

I'd also like to thank Fairbetty for her awesome support throughout all of NaNoWriMo! She visited my blog and commented every day I posted in November, so thanks Fairbetty! You can visit her blog here at Fairbetty's World.


Finally, today is my official inauguration back into the blogging world! Despite my huge amount of editing I have ahead of me, I am back and looking forward to reading everyone's posts! November has been an awesome month! I just can't believe it's almost December. This year has gone by so fast!


Any new exciting news? Plans for December? (Hope to see you on Friday :) )


--Jess