News

Apr

TGI(Almost)F

My revision is done! Well, almost. I’m going to let it breathe this weekend. My amazing alphas are going to read it to see if there are any logic fails, missing transitions, etc. But hopefully I’ll be ready to send it to my agent early next week. *dances* I am really pleased with it. I have oodles more to learn, but I do feel like I’ve become a better writer in the last six months. The pacing and tension in the last half are better. I cut scenes and conversations that just didn’t work. I streamlined. I still struggle with world-building, but I hope what I’ve added gives the story more context and the characters more clarity, more motivation for why they are who the people they are. I am way excited to spend the weekend gardening and reading. On the gardening front, I bought a $30 coupon for $60...

Apr

Notes from the Revision Cave

Jessica

I like revision. I like the moment when things click together and I know how to make it better. But I also find it to be work, difficult, brain-breaking, painstaking in a way that first-drafting isn’t. I can’t just dive in. I need long stretches of time, and the paying job has been stressful and sort of soul-crushing lately, and I have to fight myself to find the time and the energy simultaneously on nights and weekends. At three p.m. when I’m filing memos, on the way to work with my iPod, in that twilight state before sleep at night, I get great ideas, I want nothing more than to immerse myself in Garolass–but by the time I’m home again at six, all I want is the comforting oblivion of a nap or a book or an episode of Glee. I’m sooo close to being finished, though. Then I can watch all the mindless tv I want, sans guilt. Then I can dive into that ever-growing pile...

Apr

On Turning 30

Jessica

I am turning 30 in three weeks. I’m kind of freaked out. See, I’m not the person I want to be yet. My wise husband says, "Duh, we are never the people we want to be," and I suppose that’s true. And it’s not that I’m not, for the most part, happy with who and where I am. I am. But. Example: I created this 30×30 list of things to do before my bday, lots of lovely cultural things, and I will accomplish maybe 2/3 of them. It turns out that I am not that cultured, gracious woman who visits museums on her days off, knows all the latest exhibits, sees a variety of performing arts and reads literary fiction and wears white and heels while she does it. I admire people who do any or all of those things. But I don’t. I mean, maybe, someday…but probably not. I...

Apr

Friday 5: Spring & Revisions & Romance

Jessica

1. Between the tourists and the pollen, DC has been pretty hazardous this week. Last night a thunderstorm swept in, and now it’s about 30 degrees cooler, springy and cool and lovely. I’m actually going to walk home this afternoon, allergies be damned. 2. Our friend Meg is visiting! She works for the Blue Man Group in New York and now she’s temping for another theatre too and she never gets vaca. I haven’t seen her since November. She’s hilarious and smart and so much fun. Tonight we’re going out for happy hour with other grad school folk and then to try a new Ethiopian restaurant. 3. I have a growing sense of hope about my Garolass revisions. I’ll be honest, I procrastinated doing them for about two weeks, overwhelmed by the fear of suckitude. Nevermind that my fabulous agent and the editor I talked to liked my revision ideas. Nevermind...

Mar

Book Pimping 2010, Part I

Jessica

So many books to read, so not enough time. I’m aiming for 100 again this year. I just finished book 20. My favorites so far: THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson. I am crazy in love with this book. Nelson is such a wordsmith; each word seems handpicked with care, exactly-perfectly. You want to learn about voice? Read this book. The characters are eccentric but they don’t feel quirky for the sake of quirky; they feel real and flawed and heartbroken and hilarious. I cried and laughed and was inspired to go home and make out with my husband. (What? There are some great making-out scenes.) I fell in love with Lennie, the protagonist, and with her whole nutty family. In fact, for all the pain the characters were going through, I wanted to climb in through the pages and hang out with them. I was sad when the book...

TGI(Almost)F

Notes from the Revision Cave

On Turning 30

Friday 5: Spring & Revisions & Romance

Book Pimping 2010, Part I

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