Wednesday, August 6, 2014

What's Up Wednesday

Welcome to another What's Up Wednesday, hosted by Jaime and Erin! I'm back from my summer writing program and ready to get back into the swing of things. So here's what I've been up to lately!

What I’m Reading
Before leaving for my writing intensive, I read the second and third books in Chris Colfer’s The Land of Stories series, THE ENCHANTRESS RETURNS and A GRIMM WARNING. They were both beyond wonderful! 

I’ve also started The Selection trilogy because one of my friends read it and wanted someone to talk to about it. I’d heard mixed reviews so I went into it doubting I’d like it, but I’m really enjoying it so far. I’ve read both THE SELECTION and THE ELITE. I found a copy of THE ONE at my Pittsburgh Target and it was signed by Kiera Cass, the author. How cool is that? Can’t wait to read it soon! I’m also reading THE GLASS SENTENCE by S.E. Groves, a middle-grade adventure story.


What I’m Writing
I wrote a ton of short stories during the writing intensive. They were shorter than I normally write (3-6 pages) but I wound up generating five or six drafts to work with. I’m very happy with the work I did, and it’ll give me some more thesis material for fall. Hooray! Now I’m getting back to TALLYHO, the manuscript I was working on before I left. So excited to work on it again…I missed it!

What Inspires Me Right Now
My workshop at the summer class was with Pam Houston, a famous short story writer. I read one of her books a few years ago and was so excited to find out she’d be teaching my section. She taught me so much and gave me confidence throughout the program, even telling me she truly liked my work and that she’d watched me improve over the week! It was very validating to hear that from someone who is so successful in the field I’d like to enter. If you like smart and funny short stories, check out her short story collection COWBOYS ARE MY WEAKNESS. It's one of my favorite collections! 

What Else Is New
I’m back home for about three weeks before my fall semester starts. I’m getting ahold of the books for a children’s literature course I’ll be taking, and the book list sounds amazing: CHARLOTTE’S WEB, PETER PAN, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, TREASURE ISLAND and so many more. I’m pretty excited for this class!



Hope you all are having a great week so far!

6 comments:

  1. The Selection is on my TBR list. I just have so many other series to finish it might be a while before I get to them. Cool signed copy, isn't that lucky? Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Neat to find that signed copy. The One is on my TBR list. See if I get to it anytime soon. And the writing workshop looks like it was tons of fun (and educational). Glad you had a good time!

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  3. I know a lot of people didn't like The Selection books, but I really enjoyed them. I thought they were a lot of fun! The last wasn't amazing, but I think it wrapped up the trilogy nicely.
    Have a great week!

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  4. The intensive session sounds great. Congrats on getting so much done :D

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  5. Great to hear you had a productive and fun writing intensive! :)

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  6. Yay, so glad things went well at the writing intensive! I'm looking forward to hearing more about those short stories! :)

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