What's Up Wednesday: NOT The Fault In Our Stars

What I'm Reading
I read The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd which was pretty good. I had a couple of minor issues with it but nothing to keep me from requesting the sequel from my library as soon as I finished the last page. Then I read Easy by Tammara Webber, probably the first NA I've ever read. Unless you count Fangirl. That's NA, right? Anyway, I had no clue what Easy was about so I was a little shocked by the first chapter, but I enjoyed the book. Now I'm back to historical fantasy with The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan.
What I'm Writing Revising
Almost finished with my revisions!!! Today, hopefully. Once I'm done, I'm sending it to one final reader and then one more revision before... QUERYING!
What Inspires Me Right Now
I took part in Vicki Leigh's cover reveal for Catch Me When I Fall on Monday- you can scroll down to check it out. I haven't read the book but a CP of mine has and just hearing how it's gone from early draft to contract to cover reveal is pretty awesome. I'm excited for Vicki and also for the day when I hopefully have my own cover to reveal!
What Else I've Been Up To
I wanted to see The Fault In Our Stars on the weekend (and I'm going to be supremely jealous of anyone who did) but instead, because I was with the hubs and my BIL and SIL, none of whom want to see that, we went to Edge of Tomorrow. It was actually pretty entertaining. The best thing for me was how Tom Cruise starts off as a sissy! Ha. The action was pretty intense too.

Anyone see TFiOS? How was it? Hopefully I'll get to see it in a couple of weeks.

COVER REVEAL: Catch Me When I Fall



It’s cover reveal day for Vicki Leigh’s CATCH ME WHEN I FALL! Lots of awesome stuff going on, including a giveaway! But first, here’s a special message from Vicki:


And here’s what CATCH ME WHEN I FALL is all about:
 
Recruited at his death to be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing more than to stop.

Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla. Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And him.

A vicious attack on Kayla forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.

 
CATCH ME WHEN I FALL will be available on October 23, 2014 in both paperback and e-book formats from Curiosity Quills Press. For more information, visit the book’s Goodreads page.

 Now, there can’t be a cover reveal without a giveaway, right? Lots of authors stopped by and donated some fantastic books to help Vicki celebrate. You don’t want to miss out on these! Here’s what you can win:

·         An e-copy of HEIRS OF WAR by Mara Valderran

·         Two query+first chapter critiques from YA author Emily Stanford

·         Two full manuscript critiques from YA author Emily Stanford

·         An e-copy of WITHOUT BLOODSHED by Matthew Graybosch

·         A paperback of DESTRUCTION by Sharon Bayliss

·         An e-copy of KIYA: HOPE OF THE PHARAOH by Katie Teller

·         One query+first chapter critique from YA author Katie Teller

·         An e-copy of DARKNESS WATCHING by Emma Adams

·         A copy of DESCENDANT by Nichole Giles

·         Two signed copies of DIVIDE by Jessa Russo

·         An e-copy set of EVER and EVADE by Jessa Russo

·         A copy of UNHINGED by A.G. Howard

 Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win! All prizes will be accompanied by a Dreamcatcher swag package from Vicki Leigh.

 Thanks for stopping by!

 About Vicki:

 

Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.
 
Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press, a co-founder of The Writer Diaries, and is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

 
You can find Vicki at her website and blog and on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and Goodreads.

I AM NOT ASHAMED

I'm sure if you were anywhere on the Internet yesterday, you read or at least heard about that article about how adults who read YA should be ashamed or you saw the hashtag #PromoteaYAInstead.

Now I know there will be many posts about this, a lot more brilliant and insightful than mine. And I know I already stated this on Twitter and Facebook. But I am here to announce again that I AM NOT ASHAMED.

I read YA. I write it. But guess what? I read adult, and write that too. Currently on my bookshelves waiting to be read are books by Rick Riordan, Rachel Harris, Dan Brown, Jennifer Armentrout, Elizabeth Gaskell, Lee Child, and Patricia Briggs. My bookshelves are a mix of classics, chick lit, adventure, fantasy, and YA everything. It was actually only five years ago or so when I really started reading YA, but I love it.
Some of my YA bookshelf

I LOVE YA. And I'm not here to say why. For one, there have been/will be others who will explain all the merits of YA better than I ever could. For two, I. Don't. Have. To. Explain. Myself. I love it. That's that.

What I find sort of funny (sort of not) about that article is the idea of being ashamed in the first place. As a kid, as a teen, there were many things I was ashamed of. I was ashamed of playing with Barbies at twelve when all of my friends were too grown-up to play with them. In front of certain people, I was ashamed to admit how much I read. I was ashamed of good grades and ashamed of bad ones. I was ashamed of liking *NSYNC at twenty. I'm not gonna lie, it took me awhile, but I've long passed the point of being ashamed of what I like, what I write, what I do, who I am. These things that make us unique, that's what makes the world interesting. That's what makes for great conversations, and beautiful art, and most especially- books that we can't put down. I'm not ashamed of loving Twilight (even though it's become the *cool* thing now to hate it). I'm not ashamed of bawling while reading The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief and Eleanor & Park. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I still wish I'd gotten a letter to Hogwarts. I read YA, and I write YA, I devour YA, and I love YA. And I'm not ashamed.

To the lady who wrote the article: it's okay that you don't like YA. And it's okay if you want to judge me for reading it, because it won't stop me from loving it. I love YA. And a la Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

Oh, and just so you know, I also like One Direction, trashy magazines, wedge sneakers, musicals, and nerdy t-shirts, and I'm not ashamed of those either. ;)

What's Up Wednesday: Success and Revisions

 
What I'm Reading
I finished Dreams of Gods and Monsters and I have LOTS of opinions, some of which I shared on Monday's post. Then I read School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins which was a great, fun, quick read. I loved her Hex Hall series so I'm glad she continued it on with a new character. Now I'm reading The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard.
What I'm Writing
I started my revisions on EPONINE last Wednesday like I said I would. YES! I've done eighteen chapters and 141 pages in the last week. My goal is to be finished by June 18th because I leave on the 19th for a quick trip to the States, which doesn't really matter but it's something to aim for.
What Inspires Me Right Now
THIS.
What Else I've Been Up To
I took my ten-year-old to see Maleficent on the weekend. I didn't really want to go but my daughter did and I was actually pleasantly surprised. At first, all I could see was Angelina Jolie with weird horns, but then I got into the movie and forgot it was her. The imagery in the movie was beautiful and the twist was really good. (Also, I couldn't help but think of chimaera when I looked at faerie Maleficent. Anyone else?)
What have you been up to?

 
 

May Reads

It's been awhile since I've done a best book of the month post but I read a lot in May and some are definitely worth mentioning.
Sentinel, Into the Still Blue, The One, and Dreams of Gods and Monsters were all series enders and all good. I have lots to say about DoGaM- it was a good book, I was into it most of the way through, but I did feel it was unnecessarily long. The last hundred pages or so were a bit blah- I think it could've ended earlier, and I really didn't like it when she would repeat scenes from different POVs. HOWEVER, I did like the book and the characters and she has a great voice and everything about her writing is so vivid. It just could've been... shorter, IMO.
My fave book of this bunch is definitely Cress. It's funny because I don't even like sci-fi that much but Cress was just so exciting and well written and page turning. It was just one of those devouring books- I couldn't get enough, and I can't wait to read Winter.
So what was the best book you read in May?

What's Up Wednesday: Reading... And Not Much Else

What I'm Reading
So I was sure that after finishing Cress last week, no book would live up. WRONG! I read two great books this past week- Open Road Summer by Emery Lord which was such a great contemp summer read. Made me wish I was going to a Taylor Swift concert this summer! Then I read The One by Kiera Cass which is the last of the Selection Trilogy and it lived up! (I still love the first one best, of course.) Great ending to the trilogy. Now I'm reading Dreams of Gods and Monsters. So far so good, but I'm a little daunted by the length.

What I'm Writing
So last week I was supposed to start my revisions and didn't. This week I was supposed to start my revisions... and didn't. *sobs* I got my last set of beta notes back last Friday but then life got in the way the past few days. But TODAY. I AM STARTING TODAY.

What Inspires Me Right Now
My awesome CPs/beta readers. They gave me such great notes that I've been turning around in my brain and getting really excited about and I want to get going on my revisions now. RIGHT NOW.

What Else I've Been Up To
Preschool graduation. Grade 6 orientation. Sharing Time lessons. And this.
It was goooood.

Writers On Writing

Both Alison Miller and Kitty Hietala tagged me for this Writers on Writing thing that asks questions about our writing process. So here we go...

What Are You Working On?
I've just started a last revision (hopefully) on my YA Urban Fantasy MS called EPONINE. Once that's done, I'm finally going to go back to my NaNoWriMo MS. I haven't even glanced at the thing since typing THE END, and I'm a little frightened at how bad it might be.

What Makes Your Work Different?
Oh gosh. This should be easy, right? But this is one of those things where I stress- am I really all that different? Does my writing stand out? I think I'm pretty good at voice- I've had a goofy time-traveler, a slightly sad pianist, and now a dark and not-so-likeable magic user and all three of those voices have been quite different. My NaNoWriMo MC is a drama queen but I'm not sure if I nailed her voice yet.
Why Do You Write What You Do?
Four out of the five manuscripts I've written started with characters that SPOKE to me. The fifth was the story idea- the character came after. Four of the five are YA, one adult. The adult is contemporary romance, and the YA are time-travel (x2), urban fantasy, and magical realism. So why do I write all that? It's all about the ideas that come into my head. The characters that won't shut up. The storylines or scenes that get me excited. I won't rule out any genre or age group because you just never know what kind of inspiration will hit (although I'm preeeeetty positive I will never write erotica or picture books).

What's Your Writing Process?
I used to be a total pantser but I'm learning that plotting is a good idea and I need to get better at that. I plotted the most with my NaNoWriMo MS but I still think I can do a bit more before I actually start writing. My biggest issue with plotting is that I itch to sit down and start writing those scenes that are already coming to me. I need to learn to put them aside until I have the story better mapped out. Not that I will ever become a full-on plotter, but just more.

So there's me. I've tagged one of my amazing CP's, Ru, and you can check her post out next week at And Then She Was Like Blah Blah Blah or you can feel free to do your own Writers On Writing post if you want- consider yourself tagged!

What's Up Wednesday: Season Finales! (without spoilers, I swear)

What I'm Reading
I read Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi. I can't say I was blown away- I am a first book kind of girl- but it was a great end to a great trilogy. Last night I finished Cress by Marissa Meyer which was AMAZING. An un-put-down-able book, and I had to stay up late last night to finish it. It's been awhile since I've read a book this GOOD. Seriously. SO GOOD. Next up, Open Road Summer by Emery Lord.

What I'm Writing
So last week I said I was going to start my (hopefully) last revision on EPONINE. Yeah, I revised not at all. I've been busy and I'm still waiting on notes from a CP, but really those are excuses and I should get moving on it, STAT. Maybe next week I'll have a better report.

What Inspires Me Right Now
My ten-year-old daughter has such an imagination and seems to be following in my I-love-writing footsteps. Last November for Remembrance Day, she wrote and submitted a poem to the Royal Canadian Legion and just barely heard back that it won first prize! Here it is:
In our two minutes of silence I will remember that you fought
I will remember that you fought for the right
I will remember the blood that fought with you
I will remember you fought against your own friends
I will remember the heartbreaks, the sad faces of kids and crying mothers when a loved one was lost
I will remember that you fought for me and for us and for peace

What Else I've Been Up To
TV! Season finales!
Agents of Shield, StarCrossed, and The Big Bang Theory were good. Arrow had this one MOMENT and then they totally ruined that moment in the end. DISAPPOINTING. Once Upon A Time was excellent and my kids (who don't watch it but will probably start) are just as excited as me for next season. We still have to catch up on Reign though (we're 3 episodes behind). 
The Vampire Diaries was HOLY CRAP WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! My husband (who watches although I have no clue why because he spends every episode mocking it or pointing out plot holes and just be quiet and let me enjoy my vampires please) said that there is no possible way they can come back from this. To which I replied, they'll find a way. Translation: THEY BETTER FIND A WAY.
This was me when the second last episode was over
And then this was me after the season finale
 
I've also finished season two of Being Erica while treadmilling and I'm starting season two of Friday Night Lights (I'm doing a back and forth switcheroo thingy with these two shows).
What have you been up to?

What's Up Wednesday

What I'm Reading
I read Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout which was the last of the Covenant books. I love her writing and characters, love the humor especially, but I did feel like the ending dragged out a bit. I don't remember much of what happened in Apollyon (book 4) though, so maybe it couldn't have been condensed into one less book. Who knows. Next up- Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi.
What I'm Writing
I finished a minor rewrite on Sway. Next up- revise Eponine for all the wonderful and helpful remarks I got from betas (thanks Alison, Kitty!)
What Inspires Me Right Now
I found this song via a fellow A-Zer (can't remember who) but I really love it.
Even Though I'm A Woman by Seeker Lover Keeper

What Else I've Been Up To
It was Mother's Day on Sunday. I had a phone chat with my mom who was in Ottawa visiting my sister, and then picked her up at the airport yesterday and gave her a gift. My kids all made me something at school and I'm happy to say none of the gifts were plants. (I know, I sound super ungrateful, but I hate getting plants as gifts and it usually happens on Mother's Day for some reason. There are women out there who don't garden, you know.) They also went shopping with the hubs and got me- thanks to a very obvious nudge- a book that I wanted.
A painting, bath salts, a necklace with thumbprint, decorated plate, and The One by Kiera Cass

What have you been up to?

Happy Book Release Day!!!

Michelle Merrill, one of my awesome CPs, has a book coming out TODAY!!! I'm excited to participate in her blog release party!

All Kate wants is to live. Battling cystic fibrosis is hard enough, dying from it is even harder. When her mom moves them closer to the hospital in the middle of her senior year, Kate’s determined to isolate herself—saving everyone the trouble of befriending a dying girl. It’s a difficult task when cheerful optimist Giana insists on being Kate’s friend.
 
Kate’s resolve falters even more when curly-haired Kyler captivates her with his sweet melodies. As her emotional walls collapse, Kate realizes the people she’s been pushing away may be the ones giving her a reason to live. But it might be too late.
 
Changing Fate book trailer
 
Sounds awesome, right?! Want to win a free copy? Visit each participating blog and find all 16 key phrases—2 in each fun fact about the author. Put them together and answer the question in the giveaway on Michelle’s blog for extra points! The giveaway is open to everyone no matter where you live!
 
Carol Riggs (3 & 4)
Kelley Hicken (7 & 8)
Annette Larsen (9 & 10)
Rachel Pudelek (11 & 12)
 
Here are 2 fun facts about Michelle:
 13. I do laundry on Mondays and eat pizza on Fridays. Laundry takes all day, lots of loads, and I don’t fold them until nighttime when I can watch a movie to pass the time. Friday night homemade pizza: one cheese, one pepperoni, and a pan of breadsticks. They’re sooooo yummy!
 
 14. I never get enough sleep. Ever. I’ve been a night owl since I was little. In fact, I think I’m part zombie. It’s the only explanation on how I can run off so much steam. Or maybe that’s a train. And now I’m rambling…that’s a side effect of this ongoing problem.
 
And a little bit about Michelle: Michelle Merrill loves kissing her hubby, snuggling her kids, eating candy, reading books, and writing first drafts. She names her computers after favorite fictional characters and fictional characters after favorite names. To learn more about her, visit www.authormichellemerrill.com.
Facebook

If you'd like to buy a copy of Changing Fate, go here to buy it on Kindle or paperback. 1/2 of all proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the book will be on sale for $2.99 for the month of May to celebrate CF awareness month! This is a really sweet, sometimes heart-wrenching YA romance and I recommend it to everyone! Read it!

What's Up Wednesday: The Impatient Edition

What I'm Reading
I read Bunheads, which was good. I loved getting into the backstage world of ballet. It reminded me a lot of the reality show Breaking Pointe which I hope comes back this summer for a third season. Last night I finished Torn by Erica O'Rourke (Team Colin!). Today I'm starting the last Covenant novel- Sentinel by Jennifer Armentrout.
What I'm Writing
Still revising SWAY. I don't have major revisions to do, but there are some things I want to change before I do one last batch of queries.
What Inspires Me Right Now
At the moment, I'm more impatient than inspired. It's just one of those weeks where I wish things would move quicker because I have PLANS that I can't get on with until other things happen. Patience, Melanie, patience.
What Else I've Been Up To
I saw The Amazing Spider-man 2 on the weekend. It was kinda cheesy but I liked it. I know a lot of people like these newer Spider-man movies better than the Tobey Maguire ones. I don't know anything about the comic books, so for me, I like both sets of movies equally, just differently. It's weird to me that they'd redo them so soon- especially starting back at the beginning again.
My kids school also had their annual Spring Fling dance. Each grade performs a choreographed dance so it was fun to watch the kids perform (I have kids in grades one, three, and five). They had a blast at the dance except my youngest who wanted to go home and ended up falling asleep on my lap.
Also, tomorrow I'm participating in Michelle Merrill's book release party. She's one of my amazing CPs and I'm so excited that her book is coming out! So come back tomorrow and check it out!

What's Up Wednesday and A-Z Challenge: Z!

It's the last day of A-Z. I can't believe I made it through the entire month. Note to self: if you ever try it again, pick a theme. My Z post for today is simply this:

Zut Alors! I'm done.

And now for What's Up Wednesday:
What I'm Reading
I finished The Unbound by Victoria Schwab which is the sequel to The Archived. I think I liked this book better (which is totally unusual for me to like a sequel better than the first book) but I'm also thinking I might have been in a bit of a book funk when I read The Archived. Now I'm reading Bunheads by Sophie Flack (nothing to do with that one-season TV show BTW) and I'm really enjoying it. I used to dance so reading about anything dance automatically grabs me.
What I'm Writing
I need to focus on my EPONINE query. Focus, Melanie, focus. I'm also going to start a revision on an ms I'm currently querying before I send it out one last time.
What Inspires Me Right Now
I've beta'd four manuscripts in the past month. The great thing about beta-ing is that I end up learning a ton. I probably get more out of it than I give. It's really inspiring to read other writers works and to be part of this small world of people trying to write the best book possible. Writing is lonely, people say it all the time, but sometimes it has a team feel where we're all cheering each other on and I love that.
What Else I've Been Up To
The A-Z challenge. Which I've finished! Hallelujah! I'm probably going to take a bit of a blog break for a bit, aside from WUW posts.

And as my final A-Z act, I give you my Z song:
Actually, I decided to cheat, because I had no Z song and I love this song like crazy.
All of Me by John Legend ft. Lindsey Stirling
*Actually, I did have a Z song- Zorba's dance by Mikis Theodorakis, but I like this one better :)

A-Z Challenge: Y is for YA

I started out writing fantasy short stories when I was twelve or so. Eventually, I graduated to fantasy novels, or rather one novel that I never did finish. It was adult fantasy, going to be a trilogy, and completely fantasy-cliched. Prophecy, long journey, normal girl realizing she's someone IMPORTANT. You get the (lame) idea.

Then one day I was listening to this song and suddenly I had a SHINY NEW IDEA:
You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift. My Y song for the day
 
This idea wouldn't leave me, even though I tried to ignore it. I kept telling myself, I'm TRYING to write a fantasy novel. Why don't I finish that one first instead of starting something new and just failing again.
 
But this idea wouldn't SHUT UP so I gave in. And I wrote it in five months. Looking back, it was total and utter crap. But I did it. I wrote my first novel. I was on top of the world. Five years later, that novel has been queried, requested, R&R'd and finally shelved, but it still sings to me. One day I will dust that novel off and start fresh.
 
That manuscript was my first attempt at Young Adult and it taught me a lot. How hard writing is. How much I needed to learn and am still learning. All those stupid newbie writer mistakes that I had to stop making. And most importantly, I learned how much I LOVE YA.
 
I never even thought about writing YA until that day in the car when You Belong With Me came on the radio. Since then, I've become obsessed. YA is the best. I read it like crazy. There are so many possibilities. So much excitement and fun and newness that comes with reading and writing YA. So many feels. YA sings to me. I feel it in my bones and my fingertips and in the way it pours onto the computer screen.
 
I heart YA. And that's all there is to it.

A-Z Challenge: X is for X-Men and Other Superheroes

I didn't grow up reading superhero comics- I was more into novels. I remember watching Lois & Clark sporadically (my best friend had a crush on Dean Cain) and seeing Batman and Robin in the theatre (I had a crush on Chris O'Donnell). And then 2000 hit and suddenly it was the start of the age of superheroes. X-Men came out that year and even though I didn't know anything about them, I saw the movie in theatres and loved it. Then came Smallville. And the Spiderman movies. Iron Man. Fast forward more than ten years later and we've got the awesomeness that is Marvel, and DC trying to keep up with their upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie.

Superhero movies to me are the perfect blend of action, comedy, and romance. They're the kind of movies I want to spend the big bucks on so I can see them on the big screen. They're the movies that get me excited, get my blood tingling and my heart pumping and my legs jumping.

Isn't it awesome? I love how this has all become a THING. How it's okay to be excited and even obsessive about comic books and superheroes and everything that goes with it. How superhero fever has swept the world. I know I sound cheesy right now, and maybe it's my inner nerd coming out, but superheroes are the best! I just hope that Marvel and DC and everyone else making books and movies keep up the quality we've come to expect.

What do you think about superhero comics/movies? Fan or not so much?

Oh, and an X song for the day which has nothing to do with comic book heroes, but comes from a superstar for sure:
XO by Beyonce

A-Z Challenge: Writing and Why I Love It

So I started this post a couple of days ago and I sat there tap-tapping on my computer desk and eating cadbury mini eggs and wondering why in heck do I love writing? And why don't I know why?

Now I'm back at it today- trying to figure out WHY I love to write. It could be that writing allows me to play God. I get to create my own world and my own characters who do whatever I tell them to. I can kill off anyone I like. I can make romance come true. I can laugh and cry, all from a few touches of the keyboard.

But is that really why I love writing? As egotistical or self-absorbed as I can be sometimes, I really don't think that's the answer. Mostly because I know that no matter how much I control my first draft, later drafts are never completely in my own hands. I go from playing God to being the peon- at the mercy of smarter and savvy readers who tell me (rightfully) that my characters and setting are crap and that I need to make them better.

So why do I love writing? Because it's a release in a way? A way to let those stories and characters in my head OUT so that I don't die from head-explosion? Sure. Or how about because writing helps me to actually accomplish something other than getting my bathrooms cleaned or my kids to school on time. Sure, that's great too.

But it's still not why I love to write. I think the biggest reason why I love it is because it MAKES ME HAPPY. I write and I smile. It puts me in a good mood. It gives me that whole on-top-of-the-world feeling. I write and I love it and that's that. Who really cares why. Just that I do.

Another thing I love? This song:
What I Wouldn't Do by Serena Ryder

A-Z Challenge: V is for Very Hot GIFs

Early on in the challenge, a couple of blogs I visited did Celebrity Crushes for letter C. I've totally stolen that idea, but for V since my C post was already done.

So here are five celebrity crushes, AKA: V for Very Hot Men, presented to you in GIF form. Because who doesn't love GIFs?

And I'm not gonna lie, finding GIFs for this post was the funnest time waster ever. ;)

Richard Armitage (Robin Hood and a photo shoot maybe)
 
Rupert Penry-Jones (Persuasion and Spooks)
 
Tom Hardy (This Means War)
 
Martin Johnson (lead singer Boys Like Girls)
 
Chris Evans (Captain America)
 
So if you could waste time searching out Very Hot GIFs, who would be your top five?
And I was so distacted by these GIFs that I almost forgot my V song for the day:

Viva La Vida by the Vitamin String Quartet
 

A-Z Challenge: U is for Uhhhhh...

A few days into April, I decided to get organized and plan my post subjects for the rest of the month and what songs I was going to feature. When I got to U, I easily found a song, but no topic.

And now? I still got nothing. Sure I could post about Underwear. Umbrellas. Uber-cool things (or anything with the word Uber in it). What about Ugly or Ugh or Unicorns? Undivided, Unimportant, Unbound (the book I'm reading right now)?

None of those really sing to me. So for today, all you get is a whole lot of Uhhhhhhh. Because that's pretty much how I feel at this point. This A-Z thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be!

What have you got for U? I'll be blog hopping to see what interesting things you guys have done for U (and most likely going, ah, I should've posted about THAT).

Meanwhile, enjoy my U song for the day, as well as the T song I didn't post yesterday:
Unchained Melody sung by Il Divo
(I know it's by The Righteous Brothers, but I really like this version)

Tattooed Heart by Ariana Grande, one of my all-time favorite songs!

What's Up Wednesday and A-Z Challenge: T is for TV

What I'm Reading
I finished Inheritance by Christopher Paolini which was okay. Then I read Perfect Lies by Kiersten White who is one of my fave authors. Her books are quick and enjoyable reads and I love that about them. Perfect Lies was an excellent sequel to Mind Games. Up next, The Unbound by Victoria Schwab.

What I'm Writing
Working on my query (see Saturday's post if you want to tell me how bad my query sucks right now! ;) ), and beta reading a great MS!

What Inspires Me Right Now
I just barely watched Marvel: Assembling the Universe, which was on my PVR for a few weeks. I'm totally amazed by how massively popular they've become, how it started with Iron Man- a supposedly B superhero, how they've managed to make ties between each of the movies, and how nerd culture is taking over pop culture. Love it!

What Else I've Been Up To
So here's my T post now for the A-Z Challenge. I haven't really been up to much, but as always there's a lot of TV on my roster. So T is for TV. Here are some of my favorite shows on TV right now:
As you can see, I kinda have a thing for the CW.
What have you been up to this week? What are you watching on TV right now?
 





A-Z Challenge: S is for SWAY

I'm not gonna say much about it, but Sway is the manuscript I'm currently querying. It's Adult contemp romance- a modern redo of Persuasion by Jane Austen. My MC (the Anne Elliot character) is a Juilliard graduate searching for a job and her ex-love (the Captain Wentworth character) is a famous singer/songwriter along the lines of Michael Buble. It takes place in LA and Las Vegas and there's drama and regret, beautiful clothes, parties, and of course, lots of music. Or rather, writing about music. ;)


A song that totally describes the feelings of my MC and how she feels when her ex comes back into her life, is my first S song for the day:
The Story of Us by Taylor Swift

One of the songs my MC plays at a particular heart-wrenching moment for her is this one, my second S song for the day:
Serenade by Schubert
Imagine this was a girl playing, and this would be my MC

If you could rewrite a favorite story, what would it be?

A-Z Challenge: R is for Reality TV

My husband watches a lot of reality TV. Shows like Wheeler Dealers and Pawn Stars and Duck Dynasty. I'm not really into that kind of stuff, nor have I ever gotten into the shows like Real Housewives or KUWTK.

I'm not totally immune to reality TV though. First off, I'm a sucker for The Bachelor/Bachelorette. It's true. I know the show is so stupid and really does nothing to promote love or real relationships, but still, the drama, the dates, the roses. I can't help myself. Guilty pleasure? Yuh-huh.

Another reality show my husband and I usually watch together is The Amazing Race. Out of any reality show out there, this is the one I'd like to be on. I love seeing all the interesting places they visit throughout the world. (We missed the one airing right now though and haven't bothered to start watching from the middle.)

The one other reality show that I LOVE LOVE LOVE (it's probably my fave show ev-ah) is So You Think You Can Dance. Augh, I love it so much. The dancing, oh the dancing. I want to be on this show soooo bad, but I can't because even though I took dance for more than ten years, I'm not (nor have I ever been) that quality of dancer. And also I'm too old. Boo. But still. The show and the dancing is amazing and I can't wait until the next season comes on.

There are so many dances that I've loved in the past, but these two are the first that came to mind, funny enough both danced by Melanie:
Total Eclipse of the Heart danced by Melanie and Neil
(I love when she just throws herself at him! Amazing!)
 
I Got You danced by Melanie and Marko
 
And my R song for the day: