Oh, Hey 2014!

*Blows dust off blog* Hello there!

It's been awhile since I posted anything here, and when I look at the date of my last entry (February 16), I remember that as far as excuses go, it's honestly not been a "the dog ate my homework" kind of year.

Around the time I last hit publish, I found out I was pregnant. Pregnant! As in, hey, you better dust the sour patch kids off your face because you are about to become a mom.

Two weeks later, my sweetheart and I closed on our first house. I've been an apartment dweller my entire life, so this was pretty huge. We found a sweet brick colonial in a writerly suburb of NYC that has an amazing library... and as an added bonus, the village is also haunted, at least in the literary sense.

We decided to do major renovations before moving in, which required a lot of time and energy, all while I was fantastically nauseous.

And since I hit two major life events, I decided to go for a hat trick and accepted a job offer a few months later. The week after moving into our half-renovated home, I started my first day, with a new role, new boss, new new new.

Home ownership. Renovations. Nine months of pregnancy. New desk at work. It's been a hell of a year for sure!

My son Max was born in late October, and now one month in, I'm finally getting the hang of infant care. Though every time I think that, the little monster throws me for a loop :)

Fox-themed story time on Max's first night home

And even though Max came early, even though we still need to hang curtains and paint some rooms, and even though I sometimes don't brush my teeth until after noon, this tornado of a year has given me so much to be thankful for. And a big fat one is the shiny love, support, motivation, and hope I find in my kidlit community.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my writer friends -- amidst the whirlwind this year has brought on, you've been my constant! I've loved reading your blogs, your books, finding out about your book deals, and typing alongside you whenever I've had a free moment!

Hope you have more than one slice of pie and a few days of holiday bliss.

Three Things I Meant To Blog About...

...but didn't quite get to.

So what have I been up to instead of blogging?

1.) Reading BEA Books.
Over the past few weeks, I devoured Counting By Sevens, Fangirl, and If You Could Be Mine (to name a few). So many amazing books will be hitting the shelves this fall/winter. Will post my favorite middle grade picks on upcoming Mondays. Pinky promise!

2.) Winning July's Camp Nano.
I've never participated in November's big NaNoWriMo kahuna before, but I liked the idea of setting a small goal this summer. And guess what? I won! I'm the proud owner of 25k words of a shiny new work-in-progress. The lighter version of NaNoWriMo happens twice a year, and I highly recommend trying it out!

3.) Learning At SCBWI LA.
So many writers rave about SCBWI's summer conference in LA, and I've wanted to attend for awhile now. Happy to say, it did not disappoint. Along with incredibly moving, motivating speakers like Richard Peck, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Matt de la Pena, I sat in on some great workshops that really got the wheels turning. Lots to say here, but I'll save that for another post.



While I was in LA, my blog turned two years old. Two?! Yup! Since this site is still a toddler, I'm figuring out how to balance writing and work with posting and other social media. But rather than submit to the terrible twos, I'm hoping to revitalize and keep chugging along. It's been so fun to meet other writers and connect over wonderful books here and on other blogs.

Will be back soon with some thoughts on LA and more marvelous middle grade recommendations. Xox!

Camp Nano, Because Why Not?

 I've never braved the 50K November challenge they call NaNoWriMo, but my pal Kim rallied some NYC writers to try out its lighter, summerier counterpart, Camp Nano. The rules are more flexible in Camp Nano, where writers set their own word count goals instead of going for the 50K loopity loop gold medal.

And moi? I'm trying for 25k words this month, because why not? I'm currently on submission (gasp!), and can really use the distraction. You can find me camping out here.

How about you? Any fancy Nano winners out there?

In unrelated but awesome news - my pal Ghenet is one of ten writers to start up a new YA site -- check out the YA Buccaneers. Word count, a'hoy!

And for unrelated sad news - today is the last day of Google Reader. Thanks for all the bloggy memories!

What Day Is It Again?

Also, is it really October? Scratch that -- the MIDDLE of October?!?

Hey darlings! The loudest thing happening on my blog as of late has been the sound of crickets. Since I last posted, a new job opportunity pranced into my life out of nowhere (literally -- it was something I hadn't even applied for), and it has since taken over my life a bit. All that free writing and freelance time I had disappeared, so I've got my butt in the chair most nights after work and on weekends.

And now that I'm two months into my new job, I did what any good new employee would do and went on vacation. Well, not really. The Scientist and I planned on driving a car from California back to NYC for months now, and we're currently on the road. So far we've breezed through Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. We did a cross-country road trip back in 2008, and kept up our tradition of taking photos at each state sign.

I'll be pretty busy up until the elections. Wait... who am I kidding? I'll be pretty busy up until forever. But hopefully I'll be back up and blogging after we get our car back to Harlem. I've been stacking up my MMGM reads, and even went to a book blogging conference that got ideas whirling in my noggin.

See you back in NYC! And yes -- since we've been on the road, I really don't know what day it is... Let me go check now.

Row80 Update: The End of Another Awesome Round

For the last 79 days, I've been working on a set of writing goals via Round of Words in 80 Days. This time around, I didn't do as much updating via my blog, but I was still mindful of my goals and what I hoped to achieve during that period.

Tomorrow is the last day of this round. My major goals were to:

1. Finish revising my middle grade manuscript
2. Begin pitching
3. Write 15k words of a new manuscript

 And despite going off track a few times, I didn't do too shabby! Here's where I'm really at:

1. Finish manuscript: My three-year-old manuscript is finally in the hands of beta readers. And honestly, I'm so tired of reading it, I really welcome the break I get while I wait for their feedback.
2. Begin pitching: Revisions took longer than I hoped (per usual), so the query process will likely start in April.
3. New WIP: This is where I'm most excited. Because my first book took so long to write, I thought I'd be flailing with this new one. Instead, I'm 20k into my newest work-in-progress. Which is about halfway done. Hooray!

 So that's where I'm at! One thing I really like about ROW80 is the scheduling - which keeps me on track. I know it's not for everyone, but it's definitely taught me to plan, set goals, then tweak my goals along the way.

How did this round work out for everyone?

Progress Report: #amwriting

Happy Sunday everyone! I haven't checked in on my goals in a forever kind of way. But that doesn't mean I've been slacking. Just the opposite.

As of tomorrow, I will be handing my manuscript over to beta readers (eee!). And even more exciting, I'm 10k words into a new story. This has been super gratifying since I've been writing/revising my first WIP for three years now. Three years! That makes it older than both my nieces combined.

With my new work schedule, I've also picked up two freelance gigs. So let's just say my laptop is getting a hefty workout.

How about you all? Any milestones? Are you tackling your goals like a rugby player, or fizzling down toward the end of the challenge?

Off to the Woods!

After work I'm going on my very first writer retreat just a couple hours away in the Poconos. There will be a cabin. There will be tea. There will be walks in the woods. And there will be four writers ready to put hours and hours into their manuscripts. I believe it will get goofy.

I plan on writing (something new) and revising (something old). Or, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that:

Let the muses loose, and see you on the other side.

Row80: The Checklist Returns

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80.
Happy Sunday everyone! My head is currently spinning with all the great information I took home from the Writer's Digest Conference this weekend. I'll keep this short and hopefully not too erratic.

 On Wednesday I worked on revising my goals with a more deadline-driven schedule. Having markers to revise chunks of pages really motivates me - and I was a little lost on how to start back up.  Here's the geektastic calendar I used for planning my new schedule:

I also created a checklist of what needs to be done within each group of pages I'm revising during that purple section. I'm one of those people who LOVES marking off boxes and crossing out items on a list. Geektastic!.

my darling checklist

This honestly isn't my way of procrastinating - after I organized my critique group notes into the checklist and created hard deadlines, I became super focused and more productive. My updated goals for this round can be found here. 

How have the first couple weeks of goals been working out for you, team ROW80?

Row80: My Texas Check In

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80. 

Greetings from the Lone Star state! The Scientist and I are on a birthday getaway in Austin. This is my first trip to Texas, and of course there isn't a better way to get to know a place than meeting its kidlit writers.

On Saturday I stopped by BookPeople, where the SCBWI Austin chapter was hosting a mini event. Lynne Kelly and Tim Crow presented highlights of The Story Masters Workshop they attended in Houston (featuring Donald Maas, Chris Vogler, and James Scott Bell). They broke down some of the larger themes emphasized at the conference, such as using emotion and surprise in your story. A great mix of picture book, middle grade, and YA writers came out to take notes and join in on the conversation. Great bookstore, and great group of writers!

I'm definitely inspired to dive back into my own manuscript. Right now my writing goals are all about revisions. Other than eating tacos and walking around without a coat, here's what I've been up to:

• I met with my critique group on Wednesday and got super helpful notes. We have just 30 more pages of my story to go!
• The highlighters are back! I cut about 1,500 words from the beginning of my manuscript to pick up the pace, and now I'm trying to catch all those teensy references and phrases that go along with them. It's smoothing out nicely.

 Hope you all had a fabulous and productive week!

Happy Tweetversary to Me!

One year ago today, I joined Twitter under the handle @captaincarey. I specifically made this account to follow and network with writers, agents, editors, and kidlit bloggers. The kidlit community is active, supportive, and engaging in so many forms of social media - but Twitter especially.

Here's what I've been up to in one year:

• Followers: 396
• Following: 399
• Tweets: 432
• Twitpics: 20
• Listed: 21

Under 500 tweets in a year seems to be on the low side. I tend to follow other people's tweets more than I share my own 140 characters - and sometimes go days without twittering about life. But I still love picking up tidbits about the industry, getting to know small details about people's lives and likes, and reading my favorite type of post when it occasionally pops up (the "I got an agent!" post).

Another neat resource that I didn't realize existed is the almighty Twitter chat - some of them appear randomly, like #askagent, while others are scheduled, like the Tuesday night #kidlitchat (which is happening right now, btw).

If you're on the fence about joining Twitter, my advice is to jump in with both feet. Don't stick a toe in the water - take the plunge! Cannonball! Commenters, do you agree? And are there any essential writing folks you recommend following?

New Year, New Goals

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80. 

I love new beginnings! Just like I love making lists. And the new year is the perfect time to wipe the slate clean and reassess. I tend to make resolutions seasonally, but January is my favorite time to jot them down. It always feels like a fresh start. My birthday is also in January, so it's full of milestones and markers, and gives me a pretty forward outlook on the rest of the year.

I didn't get quite as far as I hoped with my middle grade manuscript last year, so I'm excited to kick off 2012 with a new set of ROW80 goals.

They are listed here. I thought I was being conservative last round, but still didn't end up completing my timeline. Hopefully I'm more on the mark with this set! A few awesome things are brewing this year already, and I can't wait to announce them!

Let's rock this ROW80 challenge. Who else is on board? If you aren't familiar with ROW80, read more here. There's still time to set your goals and sign the hell up!

Writing Resolutions

Happy holidays everyone! Now that I've eaten all the candy canes within reach, my mind is wandering back to writing, and what's to come in the new year.

I've been jotting down a few ideas - habits I'd like to develop, and larger goals, like going on a writing retreat. A new round of ROW80 also starts in a few days, and I intend to kick off 2012 with a plan -a plan that will likely be adjusted every few months, but a plan nonetheless.

So let's have it! What writing resolutions do you have for 2012?

End of The Row-d

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80. 
 
Sorry, I'm a sucker for both cheesy wordplay, and early '90s nostalgia. But it really is the end of the road! And I'm so thankful that I spent the last 80 day working on my manuscript with end goals and a great group of writers driving me forward.

Ghenet, one of my talented write night buddies, told me about the ROW80 challenge, and I decided to join at the very last minute. If it weren't for her, I would definitely be way behind in my progress. Though I didn't quite get through my original goals, I've come far.

As for my adjusted goals, here's how I fared:

1. Finish revising the last 42 pages of my WIP.
Only a few pages left, which I plan to whip through at tonight's write night.

2. Create outline for next manuscript.
Last week I  started small outlines on not one, but two manuscripts. Clearly someone is eager to start a new project.

3. Incorporate new critique group notes.
I still have about 20 pages to go through, which I won't likely get done tonight.

4. Read two kidlit books.
This weekend I accidentally opened up Shatter Me. Let's just say, that pushed me over to three kidlit books - Shatter Me, plus the Future of Us, and A Wind in the Door.

I'm going to stop expressing my gratitude like I won a freaking Academy Award. But I definitely plan to join the ROW80 gang again this January. Who else is on board?

Most Popular in 2011

There are still eleven days left in the year, but I'm going to swoop my hand over my crystal ball and report that these were indeed my most popular blog posts in 2011. I only began blogging in August, but my stats have three clear frontrunners:

• #1: Jailbreak the Patriarchy: Swapping Gender in Books 

• #2: Cupcakes and Art on the Road: Tim Burton at LACMA

• #3: Slowing Down With Zadie Smith 

I try to relate most of my posts back to writing and young adult literature, but dang, the subject matter varies a lot around here! Though I was a little reluctant to start blogging this summer, now I can't imagine not having this outlet and place to connect with other writers.

I recently received one of those fun blogging awards which I'll post about soon. For now, I have to get back to my manuscript. ROW80 ends tomorrow!

ROW80: Goals, Goals, Goals

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80. 

A'hoy! I haven't been updating on Wednesdays, but as there are just *two* ROW80 check-ins left (and eight days), why not?

Here's where I'm at with my end of the road goals:

1. Finish revising the last 42 pages of my WIP.
24 pages to go (w00t!). 

2. Create outline for next manuscript.
Not there yet - but maybe tonight at write night!

3. Incorporate new critique group notes.
Not yet, but will get to it. I just sent them new pages, so need to do this one soon. I can't stand getting backed up!

4. Read two kidlit books.
Finished The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  Now I'm on A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle (which I borrowed from a 9-year-old).

Hope everyone has had a productive week so far.

ROW 80 Update: What Do You Plan on Doing Over the Next 11 Days?

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80.

So, here we are. Eleven days left in the ROW80 challenge. I was hoping I'd be further along in my goals as this point, but so be it. The more important thought is - what would I like to get done by then?

Here's what I've got:

1. Finish revising the last 42 pages of my WIP.
2. Create outline for next manuscript.
3. Incorporate new critique group notes.
4. Read two kidlit books.

Easy peasy? We shall see!  What will you do in the last 11 days of ROW80?

ROW80 Update: In Which Highlighters Save the Day

If you're just tuning in, here's the scoop on ROW80.

My revising troubles from last week backed me up a bit - but all your amazing comments on how to overcome the difficulties of switching around multiple scenes in a simple program like Word gave me many ideas.

Quite a few people mentioned how great the highlighter function in Scrivener is, which inspired some old school thinking. I ended up grabbing a bunch of highlighter pens to mark up the sections that needed to move using three different colors to keep track of where they would end up. It took about 10 minutes. 10 minutes! After all the time and energy I wasted thinking it was going to be tedious and sloppy and headache-inducing. Lesson: Learned.

Thanks again for all your help!! And for prodding me to keep going, too.

As for my progress - well, I'm a little behind on my revising goals, and need to push back my revisions deadline by one week. But with ROW80's philosophy, I do so with no guilt. It's the writing challenge that knows we have a life, after all!  Happy writing this week to you!

Cut & Paste

Row80 Update! And I've been so busy, I haven't updated in... a bit. Given my writing schedule, Sunday will most likely be the day I post my progress reports, or the occasional Wednesday if it works out that way.

After I posted my goals, I peeked at some other ROW80 lists and wondered if mine were maybe a little easy. Reading and editing pages every week seemed like the same old - and it's what I've been doing for the better part of 2011. But since I began tackling revisions, I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. During this third draft of my manuscript, revisions are taking much longer.

My current struggle is with moving around scenes and chapters. After rereading a large section of the beginning, I realized that reordering a bunch of scenes would solve a couple plot and character development issues. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but oh boy that doesn't make it an easy one. Once I started slicing and dicing, the results were messy and confusing. It's not a simple cut and paste, since a single paragraph might need to be split up and positioned in different places.

Right now I'm just using a Word doc, but I suspect a program like Scrivener would be amazing for this type of editing. At this stage, I'm going to finish up and learn Scrivener when I start a new project. For now, I'm handing this tricky process by marking everything up on printed pages, then copying the text that needs shuffling into a new document, split up into different sections. The new document helps keep track of the random sentences that need a different home.

Have you ever juggled parts of your story in a similar fashion? Any tips?

Teddy Wants You to Quit Balking and Finish That Book

Checking in for Row80! My goals right now are all about revising, and I'm happy to report that I haven't derailed, despite attending an 8-hour work event on Saturday.

I only had 25 pages to read through this week, so I planned ahead and breezed through them by Friday. Today, I'm incorporating line edits and bigger changes for the first 50 pages into my manuscript doc. It's slow-going, but still satisfying.

I also reorganized the notes I have for the broader changes I need to make. They range from switching someone's name to rearranging entire chapters. This part gets a little sticky. One of the greatest things about writing a book is that you get to create everything - you are an architect, fashion designer, governor, CEO, psychologist, and sometimes chief torture agent.

Given all these fancy responsibilities, there are times I seriously don't want to make a decision. I wish someone would just tell me what to do. Beta readers and critique groups can give you ideas, but ultimately it all comes down to you and what you decide. Ditch an entire character? Rewrite the beginning? Switch from third-person to first? The pressure... the pressure!!!

This quote is a nice motivator for me when I want to demote myself from all responsibility:

Theodore Roosevelt: In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

I've been stuck doing nothing before, and it definitely is the worst.  Happy writing (and rowing) all!

Row80 Check In: My Brain, It's Storming

It's Sunday check in! And I'm happy to report that I'm making progress on my ROW80 goals.

The revising phase has been slow-going for me, but every time I get through a section or a draft, my manuscript becomes more book-shaped. This week my goal was to work on pages 1-25 - the dreaded beginning.

I spent a long time - months, actually - revising the first 30 pages of my book. My critique group was probably ready to kick me out on the streets if I showed up with another new beginning, the poor dears. Revisiting the beginning was more satisfying than I thought it would be. I still like it - though I know it needs more work.

Luckily, the muses love caffeine. While I rifled through my pages in a favorite coffee shop in Union Square, an idea sprung in my head. This idea would fix a problem my critique group kindly pointed out in our last session. Then, as I ordered another green tea lemonade, the idea grew into another idea.  And on my way to the restroom, the perfect solution popped into my head.

Now that I'm on draft three, it's like I have a pretty nice looking puzzle, but important pieces are missing. Those are the pieces that will connect things together, or clear up the image painted on top of it.  My writing excursion this week found a few of those pieces, and I couldn't be more delighted.

My only other writing accomplishment this week was editing my niece's college admissions essay. Remember those days?!