Six Things College App Essays Taught Me About Writing

I just finished all of my college apps!!! *screams with joy for hours*

And while it was a horrifyingly stressful and (sometimes) tedious process, it did teach me some things about writing and myself as a writer.

1. How to write something that doesn’t rely on dialogue. Or sarcasm.

In my fiction writing, I rely on dialogue and sarcasm. College app essays weren’t really the place for that style writing, so it was an adjustment. Trying to find a tone that conveyed my personality without making me sound like a bitch was something that I’m proud I accomplished.

2. Just how many “voices” I have, outside the ones I already knew about.

This goes with the one before, but as I wrote more and more essays, I started to develop new writing voices. I still prefer my fiction/journalism ones, but I like that I discovered others.

3. How to be done with something. And actually be done.

I have been writing fiction for years, but I have never really finished something. I have reached the end of pieces, and edited pieces, but I have never really felt done. With college app essays, I had to write, edit, and turn it in. This was incredibly stressful at the beginning, but it also feels awesome to be actually done.

4. Kill Your Darlings is actually really good advice.

I have heard the classic writing advice “Kill Your Darlings” for a while, but college app essays were the first time I really had to use it. And damn, it works. I can’t tell you how many essays clicked into place when I got rid of a favorite sentence, metaphor, or idea.

5. How to write, even when I don’t want to.

My WIP started to teach me this over summer, but it was writing essays for college apps that finally drove home this lesson. Although I still occasionally give in to writer’s block, I am now able to get myself to sit down and write, even if I don’t feel “inspired.”

6. Word counts are the worst, but only sometimes.

This was my first real encounter with word counts, and it was rough. Of the hours I spent working on these essays, only half the time was writing. The other half was spent editing them down to the right word count.

But I also started to appreciate word counts for the direction they gave me. I knew how far to go with an essay based on the word count. Without them, I don’t know if I would have edited my essays as thoroughly. So I guess word counts aren’t the worst.

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What do you think? Was this post interesting for you? Have you applied/are you applying to colleges, and if so, what was it like for you?

Top Ten Songs I Listen To When Writing

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s TTT topic is an All About Audio freebie. Since I don’t listen to audio books or podcasts, I thought it would be cool to share with you guys some of the songs I listen to when writing.

I absolutely have to listen to music while writing, but it has to be songs I know really well, played really quietly. I listen to mostly quiet, melancholy music when writing, often just one song on repeat for hours. (Yeah, I’m not a lot of fun to be around when I’m writing.)

1. Here (2 a.m. version) by Alessia Cara

2. Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian

3. The Love Club by Lorde

4. This is What Makes Us Girls by Lana Del Rey

5. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

6. Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

7. Sad Beautiful Tragic by Taylor Swift

8. Send My Love by Adele

9. In the Night by The Weeknd

10. Beautiful Goodbye by Maroon 5

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What songs do you listen to when writing? Are these any of your favorites?

The Struggle of Writing Short Stories

I know I said I’d write more discussion posts, but I haven’t thought of any great bookish topics, so I’m writing one about writing instead. Hope you enjoy it anyway (I bet some of you can relate to it)!

I love the idea of writing short stories. Condensing storytelling into a few thousand words, getting the creative juices going for a few hours and actually finishing something—it strikes me as the epitome of writing. Like, if I can successfully write a short story, I will have transitioned into a new phase of being a writer, I will have “leveled up” in some cosmic way.

I don’t know, that’s just me.

The problem is, short stories are hard. (That’s probably not surprising to most of you, but it always seems to surprise me when I sit down to write one and nothing magically comes together.) I seem to face three specific roadblocks:

1. What the heck should I write?

Probably the most obvious problem. There have been countless times when I sit down to write a short story and…nothing comes. I’ll even start with inspiration—anything from my countless Pinterest boards or the random writing challenges floating around—but no plot comes out of it. I have an easy time coming up with characters and worlds and funny one-liners, but stringing all of those elements together with the elusive device of PLOT???

Nope. That doesn’t happen often.

2. Well, that’s just an exposition with a dash of plot for flavor

So here’s what happens: I start with a picture or a prompt or whatever that sets off a lightbulb in my mind and the words start pouring out. After a little while, I have a few pages written and I’m feeling pretty darn proud of myself.

Until I go back and reread it, when I realize that everything I wrote is a great set-up for a larger story (read: novel), but it isn’t close to being a short story. Sometimes, I’m fine with this (my current WIP started off as a random idea for a short story), but now that I’m fully committed to my WIP and I just want to write short stories to blow off steam, this gets annoying.

Being a pantser definitely doesn’t help this situation. I figure out the story I want to write by randomly exploring characters and scenes. That works well (if slowly) for longer projects, but not for short stories. I can’t tell you how many Word documents I have saved on my computer that are three pages of abandoned exposition.

3. And that’s just a lot of dialogue…

Sometimes I over-correct and ignore exposition completely. The stories that result from this are 80% dialogue, with the sparsest descriptions added to give the story context.

I actually love these stories, though they feel like scenes instead of stories (less plot, more snapshot). And though I love writing snappy dialogue back-and-forths, I can never shake the feeling that these stories are missing the backbone that is, you know, scenery and all that.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, there’s the hope that some of you have struggled with these same problems and have useful hints to help get over it. There’s also the hope that some of you have been trying to write short stories and not knowing why they aren’t working, and you’ll read this post and go “ah-HAH, that’s my problem!”

Also, I’m curious: what types of short stories do you like to read? Are these actually problems, or am I just imagining them?

But really, I’m sharing this with you because writing it down helps me focus on what I’ll do better next time. and putting it online forces me to do better next time. I really want to write short stories, mainly because it means that I can share more of my writing with you guys, and part of that process is sharing why I haven’t been sharing short stories with you guys as much as I would like.

So…what are you thoughts? Relatable? A mountain out of a molehill? Do you have any tricks for conquering the monster that is short stories?

Writing At Night, When the Juices Flow (Second Draft Journal #4)

I seem to have a problem…

Nowadays, I only feel comfortable writing at night.

I noticed this habit forming during summer, but didn’t really do anything about it. Now that school has started and the hours available to be to write are significantly limited by unavoidable factors, my own consciousness cutting down on those hours based on some irrational desire to write when it’s dark out is becoming detrimental. And annoying, because I often have time during the afternoons (on light homework days or weekends) when I could be writing, but something holds me back.

Part of the reason is that the afternoon is more social for me. I’m more likely to be spending time with my family in the afternoon, rehashing what happened at school, watching TV, playing cards, or just wasting time together. I cherish the time I spend with my family (even if we’re just enjoying a TV show together). Since writing is a solitary activity that requires a lot of focus (verses some of my homework, which I can have conversations while doing), I won’t pick up my WIP if the rest of my family is socializing.

There is also the unavoidable fact that homework and studying take time. I try to get it out of the way when I get home from school (though I give myself around an hour of relaxation and eating time in between), so that I have the nights to relax or to get ahead, but I don’t always succeed. And sometimes, homework just fills up the entire night, leaving me no time for writing. (I’m a light-weight when it comes to staying up late, and I have to be in bed by 10:30/11 or I’m a zombie the next morning.)

But I think there is something else going on, and I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this. During the day, I tend to feel self-conscious about my writing, as if someone is looking over my shoulder (even if they really aren’t). At night, especially when the rest of my family is sleeping, that self-consciousness falls away and my writing gets freer.

I also like the way that tired-ness affects my writing; sometimes it helps me “loosen up.” I’m not saying that full-on exhaustion helps me write (I already admitted how horrible I am with sleep-deprivation), but when I’m slightly tired, I worry less about every word I put down on the page and focus more on getting into the rhythm of the story. While this leaves me with some inelegant sentences, I ultimately value making progress in my story over agonizing over writing perfect sentences the first time around.

Getting to the end of the day also clicks my brain out of “school mode” and into a mindset where I feel closer to the story that I’m writing (oh my God that sounds so cheesy). I’m no longer worrying about school–I know all of my homework is done and that I’m ready for the next day–and I can finally relax into thinking about my personal projects. Additionally, because I make a habit of thinking about my WIP when I fall asleep, I think this has over time built up a Pavlov’s dog-type reaction to being tired and wanting to write.

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Have any of you dealt with this? Does writing ever make you feel self-conscious? When do you feel comfortable writing?

Do you have a routine that you stick to, or do you just try to fit writing into whatever pockets of time you find (like me)? Do you have any advice for breaking this habit or forming a better one?

P.S. I wrote this blog post at night. It felt apropos. 

Second Draft Journal #1: Now What?

Since December 2014, I’ve been working on the second draft of my work in progress, Devil May Care. It is a YA paranormal romance with a heavy dose of social commentary, based in a world where everyone is born with a devil on their shoulder, signifying them to embody one of thirteen sins.

I’ve written about my WIP in random posts on this blog since then, but now I’m starting a series of posts strictly dedicated to logging my journey to a second (and better) version of this novel. It’s called my Second Draft Journal and it will talk about everything from writers block to character arcs, from social commentary to plot development. Here’s the first installment.

After two months of not touching the word document “Devil May Care take 2” because of school and stress, I finally opened it back up. After I had a mini heart attack while I waited for all of the pages to load (I always feel like pages will randomly go missing), I started in on the arduous process of reacquainting myself with the 50,000 words I’d already written. This involved reading all 148 pages and creating a plot spreadsheet for myself to keep track of everything (something I had been too lazy to do earlier in the year). I’ve talked about using Excel to organize plots before; basically each cell is a scene and each row is a day. I also created a spreadsheet to keep track of my characters, and I brought back the one I was using to keep track of how many words I write a day.

to keep track of words written

to keep track of characters

The plot chart is color-coded based on how much I liked each scene. Dark green is the best, dark red is the worst, lighter shades of each represent somewhere in between, and gray is for scenes I just don’t care about. I love that this gives me a visual layout of the areas of the book I need to fix and the areas where I hit a groove and everything works. Eventually I’ll copy the spreadsheet and color-code it by what each scene is about (which subplot it moves along), but right now I’m just trying to keep track of which scenes I like, which ones I hate, and which ones are just whatever.

here are the first few days

Yes, I am a little crazy when it comes to excel. I never learned how to do math with it, but I know how to do this really well.

Then I made the mistake of using the comment feature on Excel to jot myself notes about what was wrong with the scenes I didn’t like. Some of these notes are constructive, reminding me of elements that could be added to certain scenes and reminding me of what needs to be fixed. Others reveal my fraying sanity. I’m basically talking to myself, asking questions that I don’t have the answer to and releasing my frustration:

• Who the frick knows

• Well written but is it too long??? GAH

• maybe I like it maybe its awful — EMOTION SUCKS — ook

• Is this foreshadowing or just giving it away???

Lots of question marks, not a lot of answers.

when I randomly switch to French

#confidence issues

It took three days to get through all of what I’ve written. And now I face my real problem:

I have to start writing again.

And the scary thing is that tracking the colors of my spreadsheet, the quality of my writing has been steadily improving, which is what happens when you get into the habit of writing and get comfortable with your piece’s voice and start to gain some confidence. But I got out of that habit. Now I’ve got a blank page and the sick feeling that anything I write at this point will be noticeably shaky compared to what came before. Which is a confidence killer if ever there was one.

So I’m just staring at my computer, thinking, “Now what?”

Combating Chauvinism With Writing

I saw this on Pinterest:

I tried to follow the link embedded in the pin but it gave me an error page. The site it’s from is bookjacketblog.com.

And it struck me as really, really sexist.

I thought #1 was interesting, a little stereotypical but also something you might keep in mind if you wanted to strikingly juxtapose a male and female POV.

After that point, it basically spirals out of control.

Don’t get me wrong: I like writing advice, and I know that not all of the advice out there will be stuff I agree with. But this list goes beyond advice to paint a picture of the male character that is stereotypical, insulting, small-minded, and out of place in the modern environment.

The first time I saw the Pin, I read through it, had a small “wow, way to be sexist” moment, and moved on. But then I came back to my Pinterest feed and it was still there. And I had to think about it again. And being a speech-and-debater who hasn’t been to a competition in a while and girl who has spent way too much time talking about feminism with her journalism class–I couldn’t let it go.

So here’s what is wrong with this check list, and why I can’t just let it disappear into the recesses of my Pinterest feed.

Writing has the power to change society–to change it’s stigmas and challenge it’s chauvinism. The stories we read can humanize people we’ve only ever judged, can make us care about people we want to hate. Novels can be and should be a mechanism for social change, especially in this day and age, where we stand on the precipice of a massive societal movement towards tolerance and understanding.

The mentality behind this checklist is a roadblock to such progress. It tells writers that they do not have to strive to look around them and take the human elements of the real world, boil them down, and recast them into stories that make their readers look around and see the human world (thus beginning a cycle that could honestly change one’s perception). Instead, this checklist proposes that men can be boiled down into seven–seven, not even a round ten–sentence-long descriptions. It removes the drive to search for the right word or scene to convey a character and replaces it with a simple To Do List.

I’m not saying that there aren’t some male characters to whom this checklist applies. The reason this checklist exists in the first place is that it is rooted in reality. However, the issue is that it isn’t titled “How to Write a Stereotypically Alpha-Male Character.” It doesn’t present itself as a resource for writers who want help with writing a certain personality type. It just presents the checklist as if every male character one could ever want to write should have the same characteristics.

First of all, imagine how boring the world would be if that were true. And second of all, imagine how divorced from reality writing would become–it would lose all power to change society, except for the power it had to perpetuate it’s cookie-cutter ideal of masculinity.

I hope that no one saw this check list and took it to heart. I hope that no one saw this checklist and from that point forward, never challenged themselves to write a male character that broke the mold set forth. But I’ve seen the hate-filled posts on social media and the protests on the streets, and I find it hard to believe that there is no one out there who didn’t see this graphic and add it to their writing mindset.

And maybe you’re thinking, “This is just one graphic. I’ve never seen it before. Why all the hullaballu?”

You can dismiss the graphic, sure. It is a far cry from going viral. It’s just something I stumbled upon.

But you cannot dismiss this conversation. You cannot turn your back on the importance of combating chauvinism with writing. And you cannot deny that there are people out there in the world who do not see this checklist as sexist in the extreme–who see it as a list of goals to accomplish, a list of parameters to meet in order to “be a man.”

Writers–you have the chance to change the way people think. Don’t make the mistake of only reinforcing social stigmas and prejudices. 

Break the mold.

I know it’s easier said than done. In my WIP, I constantly struggle with writing innovative characters that don’t rely on stereotypes. Do I always succeed? Probably not.

But maybe it’s a good thing that I saw this graphic on Pinterest. Because from now on, I’ll have a constant reminder of the importance of pushing past stereotypes to find the true essence of the characters I’m trying to create.

Falling into a Rhythm

At the end of December, I started writing the second draft of my WIP, a YA paranormal-ish novel called Devil May Care. I currently have 20,349 words, and I actually like what I’ve written.

To give you a timeline of this project, I had just finished the first draft when I started this blog in April 2014. I decided to let it sit for a month, and then that month became, like, eight months. School was in the way, and then summer was in the way, and then school came back and there was always something standing between me and free time.

A lot of it was homework. A lot of it was self-doubt. A lot of it was just being tired and stressed and not wanting to put another project on my plate.

But in December, I started writing again, and miraculously, I’ve managed to keep writing, even when second semester started and hit me in the face like a freight train. (I hate January…)

Last night, I wrote 3,348 words, the most I’ve written in one sitting since I started draft #2. It took about three and a half hours, and I’m paying for it today, because I stayed up until midnight to write it, and my body really wanted sleep.

Just over three thousand words is not a lot, but actually it is. In the grand scheme of things, it is a tiny scrap of a story that I will probably rewrite five more times before I like it. However, it is a sign that I’m still writing, and that I’m writing more. I’m not just adding a paragraph a week. I’m adding entire chapters, chunks of plot.

I’m falling into a rhythm. I can tell people that I’m a writer because I’m actually writing.

My grades are still great. My life has not become more hectic. Writing, just like it used to before I convinced myself it was too stressful, is a wonderfully therapeutic exercise. I feel like myself again.

I’m just putting this out there because I doubt I’m unique. Everyone has life get in the way of living. But I woke up this morning feeling tired but content, and wanting to write more. I’m caught up in a great story–and it’s not the one I’m reading, it’s the one I’m writing.

In fencing, falling into a rhythm is bad. It’s predictable. You want to change it up, catch your opponent off guard.

But with writing, rhythm is exactly what I need. Routine. I can’t let writing be a once-a-month occurrence. I have to remind myself that I’d rather write than watch TV. That I’d rather write than stare for hours at Buzzfeed. I need to keep writing, to stay in this rhythm.

One thing that has definitely helped is that I’ve started an Excel spreadsheet keeping track of how many words I write a day. My average is around 1,000 words. (I don’t write every day, so I only take into consideration days I actually sit down and add to DMC.) I always have the spreadsheet open in my laptop as a reminder to write. It also gives me a confidence boost when–like last night–I realize that I’ve written a substantial chunk of words.

I know one night of writing doesn’t mean my novel is done, but it’s enough of a confidence boost for me to believe it might get there eventually.

Beautiful People — Author Edition

I just found this link-up and decided to take part. It’s about writing, not reading, and I’ve been meaning to draw more of my writing life into this blog, so this was a fortunate find!

Beautiful People is a monthly linkup hosted by Paper Fury (details here) that helps writers get to know their characters and their writing. This month is a special Author edition focusing on the writer instead of the writing.

1. How many years have you been writing? When did you officially consider yourself a ‘writer’?

Though it sounds cheesy, I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I think I officially identified as a writer when I started my first novel WIP, which was fourth grade? Ish?

2. How/why did you start writing?

I’ve always been a reader, so I think being a writer was a natural transition. My mom also writes so I had that as a model. Once I started, I never really stopped.

3. What’s your favorite part of writing?

My favorite part of writing is when I start a scene and I don’t really know what is going to happen and then the characters just kind of take over and awesomeness ensues. Some of the best things I’ve ever written have happened accidentally.

Building off of that, I love meeting the characters I create. I usually have an idea of who they will be when I start to write, but they evolve into their own people as the WIP progresses.

4. What’s your biggest writing struggle?

Finding time and energy to write. I’m a high school student, and when I do have free time, I’m usually too tired to sit down and commit myself to writing. It sucks and I’m trying to fix it.

5. Do you write best at night or day?

Late at night or early in the morning. I really love writing at night when everyone else is in bed and it’s just me and my laptop.

6. What does your writing space look like? (Feel free to show us pictures!)

Anywhere my laptop is? On my couch. I don’t know. I write everywhere.

7. How long does it typically take you to write a complete draft?

Wow, I have no idea. I can’t even answer this question. I’ve finished drafts of novels, but I have no idea how long it takes me. My writing process is extremely drawn out because of school.

8. How many projects do you work on at once?

I’m writing one novel right now. I have other ideas but I can’t imagine trying to split my limited time between two WIPs. I write short stories that sometimes become novel-esque, but I usually drop them (to come back to at a later time) when they get that long so I can go back to my current project.

9. Do you prefer writing happy endings, sad ones, or somewhere in between?

Again, I have no idea. Overly happy endings bother me, as do overly sad ones. When I write an ending, I just want it to tie up the story, and if that happens in a happy or a sad way, then that’s what I’ll write I guess.

10. List a few authors who’ve influenced your writing journey.

From Ally Carter I get a love of ridiculous plot lines. From Libba Bray I get the bravery to write candidly about sensitive societal subjects. From Megan Whalen Turner I get a love of intricate details that you only notice the third time you read a book.

I get a slightly new writing style from every book I read, I think. Sometimes, I just pick up a turn of phrase or a cool way to describe something, other times I come up with a whole new way to write character voice or structure a plot. It depends.

11. Do you let people read your writing? Why or why not?

Only my sister (if it comes to my WIP).

For lesser stuff (poems, short stories) I’ll have either my sister or my mom read it, and then I’ll post it to my blog.

12. What’s your ultimate writing goal or dream?

To be published. And to have my book be successful, but really that’s less important to me. I’d love to be published before I leave high school, or right as that happens–but there is probably no way that happens.

13. If you didn’t write, what would you want to do?

Um…I have no idea? Probably I’d learn to draw. Or paint, or something artsy.  And I’d cook more.

14. Do you have a book you’d like to write one day but don’t feel you’re ready to attempt it yet?

Probably. I have a lot of ideas for other novels, but I definitely think I’d write them better if I were older. Basically, I need to actually life a little before I write about it–you know?

15. Which story has your heart and won’t let go?

My old WIP After We Waited for Ever. It was middle grade fantasy and I dropped it when I started reading YA and wanted to write something in that age range. I still love the characters and the story and plan to come back to it someday.

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What about you? Are you a writer? What is your approach to writing?

 

Top Ten Goals and Resolutions for 2015 (for reading, writing, blogging, and life)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Every week, they post a new Top Ten topic and other bloggers respond with their own lists. I take part in this meme when I have something to say for the topic and I have time to write up a post for the day.

Hey guys! The year is almost over! I’m going to have another post tomorrow wrapping up this year of blogging, but for today I’m going to share with you my Top Ten Goals/Resolutions for 2015–whether they be about this blog, reading, writing, or just my personal life.

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1. Keep reading

So far, I’ve been able to balance high school and reading pretty well. This blog has definitely helped with that by giving me an incentive to finish books quickly. Next year will probably be more intense high school-wise, but I plan to keep reading at a steady pace.

2. Read new things

As you can tell from reading this blog, I read mostly YA. I have tried to keep what I read within that age range diverse. Next year, I’d like to read some older titles, possibly some nonfiction and classics (gasp!). Of course, the majority of what I read will be YA, because I love it.

3. Get a second draft of Devil May Care done

I’ve been plotting DMC (my current novel project) for a while now, but I need to sit down and write. Recently, I’ve gotten back into writing (yay!!) but I need to keep that going during the school year.

4. Write!

I don’t just want to focus on my novel. I’d like to keep writing poetry, which I got into this year, as well as short stories. Anything to keep me in the writing mindset and that I can share with you guys.

5. Keep blogging

I started blogging this year and I realized that I really enjoy it. I’m definitely planning to keep this blog going, and I’d like to keep up my November resolution of 3 posts a week (though that fell apart this month). I should return to some of the unique features of this blog, like Thoughts On… and the Hell and Styx stories.

6. Blog better

I want this blog to be more unique, more “me.” I’m not quite sure what this will entail, but next year should see more original content, better quality posts, and small things that make 52 Letters more special.

I love graphic design and I want to incorporate that into this blog more often. It probably won’t be anything more than cool images for my features/memes, but at least it will keep me working with my software and sharing the results with you guys.

7. Connect with my readers

Here’s a long overdue shout out to my amazing followers! Thank you for reading what I have to say and for all the likes/comments. Next year, I want my blog to be more connected to its readers. I’m going to comment more on other blogs and have some more interactive posts. And I’m thinking of getting more publicity for the blog by dabbling in social media (though there is a very large chance that that does not happen because social media is a beast I haven’t even conquered with my personal life).

8. Read books for review

So far, I’ve only reviewed books that I personally bought. I’d like to get some review copies, because it sounds fun, will make this blog a bit more “official,” and it will save me some money (books are expensive!). I have not yet decided how to get these review copies (mainly because I don’t read ebooks), and if any of you have suggestions–please help!

9. Stay positive about school

Lately, school has become something to survive, not enjoy. The stress and the workload have been keeping me from enjoying it, as well as my hobbies. When school comes back from winter break, I am going to try to stress myself out less and remember what I enjoy about the classes I’m taking and the people I’m taking them with.

10. Enjoy myself

Recently, I feel like I’ve shoved my personal life into the corner while I focus on school. This blog is one of the only things I’ve kept doing during the school year. I want to write more, and focus on my other hobbies, like drawing and graphic design. I want to spend more time with friends and family. Basically, I want to enjoy myself.

Update–I’m Back

Hey guys! I haven’t posted in a while. I had finals week (that went really well but was super stressful) and then I spent the week between school getting out and Christmas sick (that was less great). I’m better now, and Christmas was amazing. I will have a Book Haul post coming up, but it will have to wait a week because my birthday is also coming up (Dec. 31!) and I want to put all the books together in one massive post.

Since I last posted I have only read two books: Jackaby by William Ritter and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I finished Jackaby a while ago but got writers block on the review–I really can’t decide what I thought of the book. Throne of Glass was a reread (either the first or the second, my brain is spazzing and I can’t remember). The rest of my family has read the rest of the series and they have been bugging me to catch up. I’ll start Crown of Midnight soon and review the other two books.

Big news! I actually started writing the second draft of Devil May Care (my novel). I have 4013 words so far, which isn’t amazing or anything, but it is a solid start–and I actually kind of like what I’m writing. Yay me.

I’m hoping to post a lot in the next week, but then I’ll be gone for another week. I’m going on a trip to Death Valley and won’t have internet access. Hopefully I’ll get a lot of reading done and will have lots to post about when I get back.

Hope you all had a good holiday season and got lots of new books to read and enjoy!