EmmaMaree.com
29May/1314

What’s Up Wednesday! End-of-May Edition!

I'm back from the hot and pleasant island of Cyprus, and back with another What's Up Wednesday post as hosted by blog friend Jaime and her sister Erin! Like Colin, this post is mostly to let you know that I'm back, alive and kickin'!

whatsupwednesday Whats Up Wednesday! End of May Edition!

What I’m Reading

I finished Chuck Wendig's THE BLUE BLAZES, which was a long and rewarding read. It was nice to hop over to adult urban fantasy again for a bit. I then started reading DARE YOU TO by Katie McGarry. Not really feeling it, it's not clicking with me.

Once I've done DARE YOU TO I'm going to give TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD a spin, because I've been itching to read this classic for ages and I haven't got round to it yet.

What I’m Writing

My holiday kicked me out of my good writing habits, so I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of things.

Toying with a plot bunny for a middle grade/children's story, but I think I'm just being flighty. I've hit some plotting issues with the middle section of Leviathan Rises and I think I'm just procrastinating from that.

Still, plot bunnies are fun! And I'll be getting back to the seamonster story shortly, fingers crossed.

What Inspires Me Right Now

Writer and friend John Dixon recently shared the trailer for INTELLIGENCE, based on his upcoming YA novel PHOENIX ISLAND. Take a look! It stars Sawyer from LOST (Josh Holloway) and looks like it'll include a few of my favourite things: badass ladies! Witty banter!

I loved this article: “‘We Have Always Fought’: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative” by Kameron Hurley.

annaandthefrenchkiss 99x150 Whats Up Wednesday! End of May Edition!I also just read Stephenie Perkin's blog about the status of her upcoming "Isla and the Happily Ever After" and her struggles with depression. It wasn't inspiring, but it was an important post to read as a far of her work.

Also, Elementary, which I just finished and loved every minute of. Strong female characters! Generally good representations of all minorities! A male-female bromance! This was a brilliant way to spend my time waiting for BBC's Sherlock, and despite my reservations about the show I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Check out the trailer, which has minor spoilers for the first episode but gives you a good idea of the show's style.

 

What Else I've Been Up To

I managed to get severe food poisoning while in Cyprus, which messed me up for about a week afterwards. I'm doing better now, but I have a lot to catch up on: reading, writing, and blogging especially.

I didn't do myself any favours by buying a PS3 console, but heeeeeey... it's nice to spend some time gaming, even if I need to learn to manage my time better.

17Mar/132

March Targets aka The Month Where I Want to Flip Tables

Archery Target 80cm 300x300 March Targets aka The Month Where I Want to Flip TablesSocial Targets: This month isn't going so well for me, for a barrel load of reasons that I'm not going to bore you with, so I'm scaling back this months targets. The aim of the game this month is to just get through it.

Also, I'll be doing lots of baking, because baking makes the world a better place.

Writing Targets: None. I'll still be writing, because I'm basically addicted now, but I'm not pushing any targets this month.

Blogging Targets:  Fixed the comments, currently trying to fix the Twitter autoposts. I''ll be trying to do a review of Self-Editing for Fiction Writes and Requiem. I'm also helping out with a new group blog and I should have more news about that by the end of the month.

Art Targets: Going to try and digitally colour some of my recent sketches to help me pin down a character's design.

Reading Targets: Finish beta-reading for a very talented writer friend who I've kept waiting far too long. Read Requiem (UK Pub Date: 21st March) and finish Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

 

How's March going for everyone? If you're also having a rough time, I am here to send you sympathy by the boatload. Let's flip tables together to express our rage against this month.

flipsatable long March Targets aka The Month Where I Want to Flip Tables

17Mar/130

February Targets: The Results

Okay, this post is super-late, but here we go!


archerytarget 225x300 February Targets: The ResultsWriting Targets:
Start revising the "Girls Who Fix Giant Robots" draft. Recovering from January deadlines this month so writing is a low priority. I'm planning to get in a lot of gaming and movie watching.

RESULT: I actually tried very hard not to do writing this month... but I failed and ended up starting the second draft of this WIP as well as a new project. Turns out I really hate not having something to work on.

Blogging Targets:  Inspirational photos for the WIP, review of Blood Magic.

RESULT: None of that, but I took care of the sketchbook scan posts I was planning to do in January.

Art Targets: Just anything, really. Got a few ideas for character illustrations that I'd like to try and bring to life.

RESULT: I had quite a productive art month, with snow demons, catgirls and sketches galore. Managed to keep up life drawing and other sketch practices through the month too.

Social Targets: Stornoway Trip planned for February 25th - 2nd March.

RESULT: Stornoway was visited! It was nice to introduce my fiancé to the island, and to get a bit of a break.

Reading Targets: Read Pantomime, Blood Magic, Self-Editing for Fiction WritersWrite to be PublishedStiff and Maus

RESULT: Read Pantomime so far, and currently beta-reading a manuscript for a friend, as well a handful of comics. Not a bad month, even if I didn't stick to my targets.

13619 February Targets: The Results
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6375845 February Targets: The Results
9465043 February Targets: The Results

14Feb/130

My Night in a Nutshell

 

 

1Feb/131

February Targets

Archery Target 80cm 300x300 February TargetsWriting Targets: Start revising the "Girls Who Fix Giant Robots" draft. Recovering from January deadlines this month so writing is a low priority. I'm planning to get in a lot of gaming and movie watching.

Reading Targets: Read Pantomime, Blood Magic, Self-Editing for Fiction WritersWrite to be PublishedStiff and Maus

Blogging Targets:  Inspirational photos for the WIP, review of Blood Magic.

Art Targets: Just anything, really. Got a few ideas for character illustrations that I'd like to try and bring to life.

Social Targets: Stornoway Trip planned for February 25th - 2nd March.

 

Have you got any targets to aim for this month? Let me know in the comments!

28Jan/131

The Day The Alarm Didn’t Stop

Early this morning, there was a problem in the office where I work.

Initially, I wasn't too fussed. I had mechanisms in place to deal with distracting office noise.

But then it continued for over an hour. 

 

And continued.

...and continued...

Until, four hours later:

And hours later, the memory remains.

Though there were some highlights to lessen the headaches.

 

After all that, I'm glad to me home with a cup of Chai tea and my trusty TARDIS dressing gown. It's just a shame I can still hear the ringing.

1Jan/136

January Targets

Archery Target 80cm 300x300 January Targets

I'm going to start posting monthly targets on the blog to keep me focussed. Let's see how it goes!

 

Writing Targets: Finish editing REBEL and send it off to the lovely agent. On a tight deadline for this one, trying to get it all done and dusted ASAP.

Reading Targets: Read Seraphina, Write to be Published, Teeth, Stiff and Batman: Year One

Blogging Targets: Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2013, some New Years babbling about personal changes, a review of Seraphina and some sketchbook scans.

Art Targets: Clothing studies for REBEL, life and reference drawing. Art is low priority this month because writing is going to be quite intense.

Social Targets: Lots of birthdays in the second half of this month. I'll have to pick out some brilliant presents! :)

 

Have you got any targets to aim for this month? Let me know in the comments!