Linking up with Jaime and Erin for yet another What’s Up
Wednesday!
What I’m Reading
I finished READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN (will do a post about it
later, when I have the book next to me to pull quotes from), and I really
enjoyed it. I’ve become super intrigued by the idea of censorship and both
sides of the argument. I’m anti-censorship, at least the kind that was
described in this book. Most Western literature was frowned upon (if not
banned) in Iran almost purely because it was Western. For example, GATSBY was
bad news because of the adultery and flamboyant wealth, but the government
didn’t see that Gatsby’s life was ultimately ruined by those things (sort of
proving the regime’s point that those issues can be harmful). I’ll go more into
detail in a later post…I just find this SO fascinating!
Right now I’m reading THIS LULLABY by Sarah Dessen. It’s a
book of hers I’ve started two or three times but haven’t finished, I think
because I didn’t click with the narrator at the time (I was younger when I
bought the book). I’m loving Remy much more this time around, though! I guess I
just wasn’t meant to read this book when I was younger. Now it’s exactly what I
need.
I’m also slowly
working my way through ANNA KARENINA. I started it last summer before putting
it down for the school year. After a quick SparkNotes refresher, I’m picking up
where I left off. It’s slow going but I really like the book! (Get the Penguin
translation if you’re interested in reading it. It won an award for best
translation. If I can comprehend this stuff, you can too!)
What I’m Writing
Excuse me while I do my 25K dance!!!!! I hit 25,000 words on
Sunday, which was SO exciting since it’s been my goal for the past two weeks.
It feels good to have a solid number of words under my belt for this draft. My
goal for this week is 28,000. I’m spending time at my friend’s house this
weekend, so I’ll be missing a good chunk of writing time. Hopefully it’s still manageable!
What Inspires Me Right Now
Twelve year olds. I’m on the hunt for ways to make sure I’m
accurately portraying my MC, so I’m thinking back to Lindsay Lohan’s PARENT
TRAP remake, where her characters were 11-12 years old. I want to strike the
right balance between maturity and still being a kid.
What Else Is New
-With my mom’s help, I inventoried all the boxes of my
college stuff that have been sitting in the hallway since I moved home in May.
We made lists of what I have and what I still need before moving to Pittsburgh.
It was quite a productive day, and I don’t feel as overwhelmed as I did before.
-I’m excited because Hillary Scott from Lady Antebellum had
her baby girl on Monday (same day as Kate Middleton)! I met Lady A back in
2007, before they even had a single on country radio, so I feel way invested in
their lives. Congrats to Hillary, her husband Chris, and baby Eisele Kaye!
-I spent way too much time at Rita’s Water Ice this weekend,
and I loved every second.
Three things:
ReplyDelete1. CONGRATULATIONS on 25K! Whoohoo! That's awesome!
2. There's no such thing as spending too much time at Rita's! ;-)
3. It looks SO STRANGE to me to see it spelled "Remy" and not "Remi" ... I actually did a double take!
Thanks Shari! :) I was so excited to hit that word count...it's been a while since I've written something this long.
DeleteAnd I agree, Rita's is fabulous! I never used to go often, but now that my mom loves it, I have an excuse to go (and someone to go with).
Isn't that funny about the name? I had the opposite reaction: I knew "Remy" first because I'd picked up THIS LULLABY several times before, so when you started telling me about your draft, I had to get used to the different spelling. It's such a fun name either way and I've totally grown to love it! :)
Rita's looks delicious! Yum ^_^
ReplyDeleteHOORAY FOR 25K!!! That's awesome :D
That film is one of my guilty pleasure.
Every time I see the movie on TV I have to stop and watch it! It's a little addicting. I remember being so confused when I was younger and first realized there's only one Lindsay Lohan. :p
DeleteThat yummy treat you're enjoying looks SO good! I want one! :-) I have a copy of THIS LULLABY upstairs and I really need to read it. I'm a fairly new Dessen fan, so I'm thrilled that I have so many stories still to gobble up.
ReplyDeleteAnd Hooray for 25K!!! I'm right there with you, Kaitlin, since I hit 25K this week too. :D Have a great week!
I'm so glad you've joined the Dessen fandom! :) I'm loving THIS LULLABY so far, and I can appreciate it more as an older reader (and writer as well) than I would've when I was 15 or 16.
DeleteCongrats on 25K! It feels like I've conquered a huge hill, and I'm loving it. :) Here's to another 25K for both of us!
Way to go hitting your writing goal! A good reason to celebrate. I also didn't connect with This Lullaby much, but I am hot and cold on Dessen's books; some of them I really like story-wise, but others the writing irks me. Just little things that writers are told to never do and she does them and it's all I can see/hear.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I don't know how to pronounce Eisele. Eye-sell? Ee-seh-lee? I'm envisioning it with a southern accent...
I'm not exactly sure how to pronouse Eisele, either! I'm thinking it's like Gisele (the model) but without the G. I'm waiting for Hillary to say it in an interview or video so we'll all know. :)
DeleteWoot, woot! Congrats on your 25K!
ReplyDeleteI have a 12yr old. They're awkward, and funny, and rebellious--but subtly so. (Or at least mine is.) Gosh, do you remember being that age? I do. What an unstable time!
I wish I remembered being 12 more than I do! Looking back, I jokingly consider middle school my "lost years" because I sort of floated through them, nothing major happening in my life. I didn't seem to have the typical middle school problems/drama that most people do.
DeleteBut my MC is different, definitely subtly rebellious like you mentioned. And she's at a super unstable time in her life. Good to know I'm on the right track!
Congratulations on your writing milestone! 25K is a drop in the bucket for some of the books I write, so I measure milestones in 100,000 words and successive increments. I'm interested in Reading Lolita in Tehran, since sections of my current WIP are set in Iran/Persia, and my family were friends with an Iranian family while I was growing up. It's really sad how Iran went from being so modern and Westernized to an autocracy in such short time.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing a review of READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN and will be posting it soon. It was a fascinating read, but I agree with you, very sad when you stop to think about the different freedoms that were taken away.
DeleteI love THIS LULLUBY... I got Remy too. Such a lovely story. I'm just a *little* jealous that you got to meet Lady A... They're one of my favorite country bands! Congrats on hitting 25K, Kaitlin... That's awesome progress!
ReplyDeleteLady A is so fantastic! They're super sweet and normal, too, exactly how you'd imagine them to be. Well, I'm jealous that you're going to Kenny Chesney! He's one of the country artists I've never seen live, but I've heard his shows are SUCH parties. Have so much fun!!! :)
DeleteI want that Rita's! Looks delicious!!
ReplyDeleteIt's SO yummy! It's mango water ice and custard on the top and bottom, which you'd think would be a weird combination, but it's completely delicous. :)
DeleteWay to go making it to 25k. If you write MG that's just over half way right? I don't know how long MG is supposed to be, but 40-50k just sounds good to me in my head, so I'm going to congratulate you for being half way done, even if you're not.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate! The tricky thing about my WIP is that I'm not sure what genre it is yet. My MC is twelve, but I'm writing in past tense, so I picture an older version of her telling the story, sort of reflecting back. The voice is more mature than a middle grade story. I normally write YA, but I don't think it exactly classifies as that either. I'm just going with contemporary fiction at the moment, and then once I'm done I'll send it to some readers and see what they think. :p
DeleteNot having a genre label is definitely bugging me, but I'm trying not to be too preoccupied by that and just write. It'll work itself out eventually, I guess!
Congrats on making 25K!! What a good feeling. :)
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised to see that you just finished READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN - I'm in the middle of it, and I mention it in my What's Up Wednesday post this week. Crazy! Anyhow - I'm loving it so far. Nearly every chapter has a line or paragraph I want to re-read a million times. Not only is it fascinating to me to read about Iran during that time, but I also just love the author's passion for literature. It's gotten me to think about why I love books, and why I think they are worth writing. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to your review. :)
Have a great week, and good luck with your writing goals!
Isn't it SUCH a cool book? Especially for book lovers. I can't imagine sitting in some of the classes she taught, listening to those students bash Gatsby and Jane Austen.
DeleteI'm posting my review tomorrow, let me know what you think! And good luck with your writing goals for the week, too. :)
I am DROOLING over the water ice! Ritas is one of our very favorite places to visit. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, congrats on the 25K! Good luck with your goals this week!
Rita's is quickly becoming our family's favorite, too! So many delicious options. :)
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