Tag: inspiration

Ready Set Write, revising, What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday? The second Ready. Set. Write! edition…:P

Elodie

*Cough, cough*

*Clears throat’

Before returning to your regular What´s Up Wednesday programming, please find below a Ready. Set. Write! public announcement.

Ready.Set.Write! started last week and woah! we were blown away by the response we got. You guys rock! For those of you on Twitter, we created a list of writers who are doing Ready.Set.Write!, if you´re not on the list just tweet me and I´ll add you. Oh and don´t forget to subsribe 🙂

Of course, you can still join us for this wonderful and flexible Summer intensive,  see all the details here. Oh and if you´re participating, don´t hesitate to add the link to your What´s Up Wednesday post on Jaime´s blog here.  From there, you can also discover new blogs and encourage other writers!

*Blog fades*

Welcome to What´s Up Wednesday…The Second Ready. Set. Write! edition

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  It´s a way to keep in touch in just four headings…

What I´m reading
CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein – so many of my blogger/writer friends have recommended this book and I understand why. It´s a slow read for me at the moment, not only because my brain is in revision mode but also because I know more tragedy is bound to happen. And…I am very impressed with the way Elizabeth wrote the story.
What I’m Writing
ready set write button
I am pleased to report that I achieved my goals for last week. I have a revision plan, I finished rereading my novel, I added comments to the document and I revised more than one chapter. Actually, I did even more! I revised three chapters and I am finding ways to raise the stakes while “explaining/showing” more of why my character is where she is at the moment. I am LOVING it.
And Ready.Set.Write! really pushed me in getting my butt in the chair every morning at 5am. I know that revising in the train doesn´t work as well, simply because I need more time to revise.
My little notebook
My little notebook
My motto this week
My motto this week
I probably still need to work on this one
Spent a lot of time with my Chapter 7

And…I revised my chapter one. Again. This little snippet comes from that revision round.

Kelsey´s eyes dart from me to Malik. I need to say something. He can´t dig up the truth. If the media knows where we´re hiding, they´ll be back faster than the birds in that Hitchcock movie Kelsey and I watched twice already.

They´ll pick at us until we have no brains left.

No matter how hard Mama and my grandparents tried to shield me, paparazzi had gotten pictures of me. Most of them come from the day I testified against my father. I was six years old, tears were running down my face. The lawyer and counselor were pulling me toward the court. People stood on the sidelines and screamed we should die too. The room smelled like old tobacco. My father watched me as I walked up to my seat. Watched me as I told the jury what I´d seen. Watched me as I repeated his words. And he smiled when I glanced his way. His Daddy-loves-you smile but then his index finger ran across his neck.

I inhale and exhale, focusing on Malik, his smile, his eyes.

  • Revision goals for this week:

– Finish revising Chapter 1.

– Take another look at Chapter 7.

– And…change subplot…

– Add one pageant scene.

What else I´ve been up to
I´ve been spending some time playing the piano and I am still organizing our new apartment…
Some of the music I´m currently playing
Some of the music I´m currently playing

What inspires me right now

You. All of you.

And….being very very very very happy for a writer friend. Very. Happy. Really, the type of happy where I could actually smile despite the train being one hour late after a long day at work and the scorching heat.

This writer friend inspires me to believe and to work even harder.

Plus, I´m simply so happy for her. Did I mention that? 🙂

I can’t wait to check all your posts and see what you’ve been up to 🙂

Ready Set Write, revising, What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday? The first Ready. Set. Write! edition…

Elodie

Today is an extra special What’s Up Wednesday…as it’s also the post where I’m setting my goals for Ready. Set. Write! (you can still sign up if you want to, just click here)

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  It´s a way to keep in touch in just four headings…

What I´m reading
Well. Right now I’m reading GUILTY. My YA romantic suspense novel. (more explanations below(
What I’m Writing
ready set write button
Disclaimer: I’ve been procrastinating when it comes to the revision of GUILTY. It’s like I’m standing in front of a mountain and I really want to climb but I’m afraid to fall on my butt and break all my bones (dramatic I know).
It’s funny because I know the story is good, I know my writing is good (for a first draft) and I want to make it better, I want to make it amazing…I’m just scared.
  • Goal for the summer: Send off my manuscript to my CPs aka finish this revision. Add the layers I need to add, up the tension, up the stakes, make the romance more sizzling and the story even more dramatic.
  • Goal for this week: finalize the actual revision plan, finish re-reading it, add comments and nice colors into the document and revise one chapter.
Oh and if you’re wondering about what GUILTY is about, check out this post (and please note I officially suck at blurbing my own novel).
What else I´ve been up to
I’m currently in Finland…on a business trip until tomorrow…
I was interviewed by the lovely ladies over at DiversifYA...I’m talking about being European and I do mention food somewhere in there.
Otherwise, I enjoyed a lovely weekend with my husband, including an impromptu lunch date.
Going out
And….we got a piano! Even though it’s a digital one, the sound is great and it’s pretty and I can finally play again! So happy!
piano

What inspires me right now

The amazing response we got for Ready. Set. Write!

It’s really amazing and humbling and exciting and did I mention amazing?

You can still sign up and check out who’s participating below!

Sign up here:

I can’t wait to check all your posts and see what you’ve been up to 🙂

What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday?

Elodie

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  Here´s what Jaime said about it:

WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.
What I´m reading
I finished reading STOLEN last week and I need to write a review of this book. Between the setting, the characters, the plot, the way the sentences are structured, the voice and the emotions, I have a lot to say…And as Katy wrote yesterday, it´s really important to prop the books we love, especially those that may not have had tons of marketing behind them. She said it much more eloquently than me here.
Yesterday I started FAKING IT by Cora Carmack. And…I read the entire book. This was made possible by my wonderful husband who told me “You need to take it easy tonight”. Full review to come on that book too 🙂
What I’m Writing
I´m re-reading my first draft and leaving comments to myself (trying to be nice to First Draft Me) so I can be ready to revise as of next week.
In case you haven´t seen it, we have a fun Summer Writing Intensive planned (Alison has the best ideas :-))…All details by clicking on the lovely button created by Erin. You´ll be able to sign up next week. Yay!
ready set write button
What else I´ve been up to
Planning our next vacation. Going to visit family and we´re going to spend a week in Tuscany, by the beach…Exciting!
I´ve also had a small mole removed yesterday (that´s why hubby told me to rest, I do have a big bandade on my jaw :P). This isn´t my first one removed and it won´t be my last. So far, none came back as malignant, some were “active”. And this is my time to please remind you to go get your skin checked regularly. It´s important.

What inspires me right now

Christa wrote a wonderful and honest post (which let´s face it, she always does) on life as a writer: The Things They Don´t Tell You.  It´s another one of those posts that I´m bookmarking to come back to when I feel the need to remind myself I´m not alone.

This news! Nikki was part of my team during Pitch Wars and I´m so excited for her!

THE HIT LIST is on Goodreads! goodreads.com/book/show/1803…

And of course….This:

ready set write button

So, tell me what´s up?

What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday?

Elodie

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  Here´s what Jaime said about it:

WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.
What I´m reading
I may have gone on a book binge while in the US and while contemplating which book I should read first, I remembered a review of STOLEN by Katy so I started it last night. It was hard to put down and I cannot wait to hop on the train to start it up again.
What I’m Writing
Not much.
I need to revise my story and find my groove again. I´m excited and scared at the same time.
What else I´ve been up to
I’m starting to work out again and I have a GREAT incentive. I just started watching VERONICA MARS and it’s going to be my workout companion…
Veronica Mars
Well…if my cat lets me workout.
My cat clearly didn't want me to do crunches.
My cat clearly didn’t want me to do crunches.

What inspires me right now

This.

And…If you haven’t checked out Rebecca’s post about doing what’s right for you, don’t miss out and click on the link below 🙂

So, tell me what´s up?

What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday?

Elodie

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  Here´s what Jaime said about it:

WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.
What I´m reading
I’ve just started UNRAVEL ME. I really really enjoyed SHATTER ME so I have quite high hopes for this one.
What I’m Writing
I’ve received very encouraging and helpful comments on the first chapter of  GUILTY (Thanks again Jaime and Alex). This gave me a boost and I’ve made quite some progress in the past days. I don’t know if I can be done with my first draft by next Thursday but I sure am going to try.
Here´s a snippet of what I wrote last night.
“That and you´ve been crushing on him for how long? Don´t get me wrong, I´m happy you´re finally acting on your animal urges but don´t get your heart broken. Or his.” Kelsey´s tone becomes softer.
“I won´t. I´m Iron Erin, remember?”
“Yeah, oooooooooooookay. And I´m Virgin Kelsey.” She pauses and laughs. “Wait, I am.”
“Luke still didn´t get lucky?”
“Nope. No luck for Luke. But he did get further than last week. My sex report card says ´In progress. Keep up the good work.`”
What else I´ve been up to
Business trips. Last week I was in Bratislava for 2 days. Again didn’t see much from the country but what I saw makes me want to go back with my hubby.
From the Official Tourism Guide of Bratislava
After coming back, I got a bit sick so stayed home on Monday. I watched a bunch of episodes of Catfish and Cold Case while drinking a lot of tea.
I’ve also been preparing our vacation. We’re leaving next Thursday to the U.S. for 10 days. Looking forward to it.

What inspires me right now

My main character quotes Marilyn Monroe quite a bit so here´s the one that inspired me recently.

                                                                                                                                  Source: mediawebapps.com via Lee Ann on Pinterest

So, tell me what´s up?

What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday?

Elodie

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  Here´s what Jaime said about it:

WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.
What I´m reading
I just finished reading Sara´s wonderful and heartbreaking and hopeful story as well as Alex´s WOW retelling (Les Misérables meets Star Wars – if you click on this link, you´ll even get to read an excerpt). And I´m about to re-read Alison´s wonderful manuscript. I read the entire story already once and have actually read passages several times already (because they´re awesome) but now I need to put my thoughts/comments/gushing/suggestions/smiley faces into an email. Before I do that, I am going to re-read the book from beginning to end one more time.
What I’m Writing
I´m currently taking a short break. I´ve done the first 10-pages bootcamp last weekend and I need to go back to my manuscript to brush it up, add some details and then write the last 15k of it. But I really wanted to catch up on my beta reading and while I usually balance both, this time I decided to beta read “full time”, I´ll be back to my regular writing schedule next week though.
What else I´ve been up to
We´re still settling into our new place. We still have unpacked boxes and we´re still waiting on some things to be delivered. But we´re almost done. I´ve also been enjoying my walk to the train station in the morning 🙂 As you know, work has been super busy. Last week I was in Vienna for a conference. I didn´t have time to really see the city but simply walking from the hotel to the conference was lovely.
Vienna
Vienna
And I´ve decided to regain some of my time. I missed the interaction 🙂

What inspires me right now

My writer friends are simply amazing!

My wonderful #PitchWar mentor sold her book BEHIND THE SCENES and two more. I know I cannot wait to read them!!! ❤

So, tell me what´s up?

personal

A year ago…

Elodie

…I married my best friend…

Thanks to him, I most probably will never struggle to make a male character in my books swoon-worthy 🙂

And yesterday, we celebrated!

Hmmm food!

Between our anniversary and my birthday, I had a wonderful weekend!
How was yours?

Road Trip Wednesday, writing

Creative inspiration, where art thou?

Elodie

Today is Road Trip Wednesday 🙂 RTW is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This week’s topic: When you need creative inspiration, where do you go?

While thinking about this question, I realize I go to a lot of places to find creative inspiration. Sometimes it’s not a conscious choice. Other times I just need the extra push to my creativity buttons. Here is my list of places I find my muse hanging out.

1. In Jaime’s WiP and talking to Jaime:  I´m amazed by how my creative buttons open easily while critiquing Jaime’s work. It forces my brain to look at the written words in different ways. I am amazed by the magic she created in places while I try to polish other places by making them tighter but overall I am just super duper (yes super duper) grateful to read her manuscript and to get the push I need for mine at the same time. Plus, talking about my WiP with her helps me to bring on many ideas and triggers my creative inspiration in many ways!

2. Pinterest: Yes, it’s full of shiny, possible distracting things but when I am in need of visual creativity to better describe something or an atmosphere, it is quite helpful. Sometimes it also comes while I’m not looking for it, just browsing randomly. The other day, I search for shirtless soccer players. Yes. It’s research.

                                                                                                                                Source: Uploaded by user via Elodie on Pinterest

3. Youtube or Itunes:  Music helps me to get in the mood sometimes or to think about a certain scene or just inspires me at the most random times.

4. Jogging: With my running shoes on, I seem to encounter my muse more often than not. The plots of my book seem to come rushing back to me, new ideas shine through. Okay, I also complain a lot sometimes about how tired I am before I go running but it is worth it on many levels.

5. Reading books in my genre: I read a lot of YA contemporary romance these days, I see what works and what I love about them. It gives my creativity a bit of a hint of where I want it to go and where I’d like to take some risks…

6. Reading non YA books: Sometimes I also just need to let my mind venture to other pastures so it recharges on something completely different. This helps my creativity to recharge as well 😀

7. Reading blogs or tweeting or people watching: People are just a wonderful source of creative inspiration!

8. Taking pictures: I think it has to do  in using a different part of your creativity which triggers the one I need for my WiP. Can work magic.

A walk in Mainz…

9. Talking with my husband: I use him as a sound board sometimes. Yes, he does nod to everything I say writing-related (everything else not so much :D) but at least I said those ideas out loud and for some reason that helps to. It can also happen for the Chemical Engineer to reassure me that said-ideas are not totally crazy and do make sense. I need this sometimes to rock the creativity boat.

10. In the shower: Yes. I seem to work out plots and get random creative inspiration in the shower.

So tell me, which is the most random way for you to get your creative inspiration?

music, writing, ya

Tuesday Tunes – Addicted to you…

Elodie

I started working on my playlist again. As I write in the train, the music blocks any other noises but it also gives me a nice creativity bust from times to times.

These past few days, I´ve been playing a particular song a lot on my iPod. It gives me the right rhythm and…some of the lyrics fit quite well a certain relationship. (I´m sure the official video is better but…couldn´t watch it in Germany)

So, tell me what is YOUR song of the week for writing, dancing, cooking, chilling, commuting? 😀

writing

Music Monday – Life is sweet…

Elodie

As I´ve mentioned before, I write in the train. In order to really concentrate on my story, I usually listen to music. Once I have my ipod in my ears, I´m in “the zone”.

These days, I always listen at least once to the following song “Life is sweet” by Natalie Merchant. It gives me the chills and I always picture my main character sobbing as I listen to it, but also trying to find hope somewhere, anywhere.

Tell me, which song do you listen to almost daily?