Back In The Blogosphere

Wow, we're finally here and I'm loving the coffee and rain! Hopefully I'm back for good. Well, at least until the month in temporary housing is up, but let's not worry about that right now.


Okay, now to business.


I am exactly halfway done with editing my novel (give or take a chapter)! I can't believe I've already come this far, it's so exciting! I'm struggling to not explode from excitement because we're living in Seattle and because I'm halfway done! (Or maybe thats from the mocha latte I drank earlier...)


Anyway, I'm kind of torn. For the entire way here, we've only had one laptop (I ordered my own yesterday so that shouldn't be a problem anymore). So while my mom was writing on the computer, I really couldn't work on my current story. I was tempted to just watch the TV with my brother and sister, but Food Network doesn't hold my attention for very long. I'm not exactly the 'cooking' type. Besides, I've been feeling in a creative mood all week. The perfect time to write, right?


As of today, I've written down ten to fifteen different story ideas, all of them completely separate from my current novel. Each has about a paragraph of back-story and where I want the story to go. I'm proud of myself for that, but a little overwhelmed. What the heck am I going to do with ten new story ideas?


And that's not all. I've got the first few chapters of my sequel planned out. Like completely planned out. All I've got to do is write it.


So why don't I just go for it?


To be honest, I'm actually afraid for my first book. Am I giving it enough attention? Am I giving it too much attention? Should I start book two or just continue focusing on book one? Or should I take a break from this entire story after finishing my second draft and write something completely different? There are things in book two that would definitely help me edit book one but would I be cheating book one from my undivided attention? Gosh I'm so confused.


Do you guys have any advice? How far along are you in writing/editing a novel when you feel comfortable starting something new? Do you write the sequel right after book one or do you take a break and write something different?


I love hearing what you've got to say!


--Jess


P.S.
I'm trying to come up with a better blogging schedule. I think I'll be posting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but we'll see. Thanks for stopping by!

Goodbye and Hello

Well, the day has finally come and the adventure begins! We're finally moving to Seattle. And we're driving all the way there. The plan is to take eight days and explore the countryside on the way out which will be so much fun because I get lots of good writing ideas in long car rides!


Now, a lot of people wouldn't really be as 'okay' as I am with moving, so here's a quick back-story/explanation.


I was born in Rochester, Michigan, but I can't call it in any way home because we moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when I was four. We lived there for two years and I loved it. After that, we moved to Vermont, then to New Hampshire. We lived in Vermont for such a short time that I don't remember the difference between the two states. Then we moved back to Pennsylvania, (this time it was to York, which is right around Harrisburg). We lived there for about two years then decided to move to Connecticut! Finally, after about six months to a year, we moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. And here I am, sitting at my computer, just about to move to Seattle, Washington.


This is really the longest we've ever lived anywhere. When you're moving at least once every two years, living someplace five years feels so... weird. But then of course, there's friends, and the people we will be leaving behind.


Saying 'goodbye' is always the hardest part. Even though we're coming back in November for a few days, any 'goodbye' is hard. I'm not a person who cries in front of people (no, really, my mom thinks I'm a robot or something) but I came really close in the past few days as we gave people hugs and exchanged emails to keep in touch.


So why am I 'okay' with this? Well, an old Jedi (Yoda) once said "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." And even though it's sad to end this amazing adventure we've had here in Ohio, I know that a new one is just about to begin.


--Jess
P.S.
I'll be visiting blogs over the weekend (hopefully more than I've been recently!) but probably not posting because we're driving all the way there, so HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!! It's nice I don't have to say 'goodbye' to all of you guys!

Crazy Week!!!

Hello my dear blogger friends! I feel really weird not posting early in the morning like I usually do but I haven't had time to write this any other time. So this week has been and will be very crazy because (as I've mentioned a few times already) we are moving to Seattle, Washington! Yes, we are all very excited but there is so much work that needs to be done around the house before we go! (We aren't sure of the exact date we will be leaving but the first week of October is pretty accurate). We are also in Michigan today spending time with my Great Uncle Eiichi who is visiting from Japan.


We've been having so much fun! He even brought a real kimono (and I say real because this wasn't the kind that you just easily slip on) for us to try on. I'm serious, that thing took a half hour to get everything on right, but it was worth the wait. (I'll try to show you some pictures in the next post, but I'm writing this from the iPad as we're driving so I'm not sure how all of that works.)


I probably will have little or no time to post in the coming weeks, so just try not to forget about me! (I'm still going to try to comment on all of your awesome blogs so I won't TOTALLY disappear from the blogosphere.)


How's the editing coming, you ask? Well thanks for asking! The editing is going surprisingly well despite all of my time lost blogging, spending time with family and getting ready to move. I've gotten so many more good ideas and I even think my romantic language is getting better! (Or maybe I'm just too tired to realize how bad it sounds...) Either way it's kind of exciting! To think that I'm slowly getting closer and closer to being able to start sending it out to publishers is so awesome!


Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I'll be around as much as I can, but who really knows how long that will be?


What's everyone else up to this week?


--Jess