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EmmaMaree.com

Scottish Writer of Fantasy & Sci-Fi

whats up wednesday

Festive Writing Wednesday

SqlgNyK - Imgur

It’s been quiet around here, sorry about that. November was a rough month all round; the winter blues hit me harder than usual, along with some major computer problems, so I lost a lot of time to resting and recharging. Read a lot of books, though, which was fun.

A boy labelled 'me' gets kicked off the couch by a girl labelled 'life'.

What I’m Writing

My goals have shifted and simplified a lot compared to my last post.

1. Write 500 words every day, including new blog posts and fresh stories.
2. A secret goal!
The 500 words a day goal is going well so far — I’ve had to do a few catching up days when the PC troubles stretched into the start of the month, but I’m getting there!

What I’m Reading

I finished THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, a fantasy novel about angels in post-apocalyptic Paris that I absolutely *adored*.

I also greatly enjoyed SMALL TOWN WITCH, but I’ll let the art sell that particular awesome story.

I’ve been really struggling to meet my reading goal of 70 books. At the start of November I was at 53 books, and now I’m at 61, so it’s going to be a mad rush to the finish.

Michael F. Stewart’s post on “Why Your Writing Matters” cheered me up a bit in dreary November.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Still utterly obsessed with Undertale, it’s easily my favourite game this year, and one of my favourite RPGs of all time. I finished it on Perfect Pacifist route recently which was one of the best, most insane gaming experiences I’ve ever had — I know I should go play the Genocide route now, but man, I love those monsters so much I’m hesitant to replay as a more vicious player.

A team of Undertale monsters surf across water. One is a panicked, screaming skeleton, while a larger skeleton, a monster boy, and the human main character have fun. A mermaid monster is at the back controlling the craft.
Art by Anadapta.tumblr.com
Art by Anadapta.tumblr.com
Art by Anadapta.tumblr.com

Also, did you lot see the Final Fantasy 7 remake announcement? It looks SO GOOD, I’m thrilled!  I got hooked on the FF7 storyline with the Advent Children movie and the PSP spin-off game Crisis Core. Really looking forward to playing the remake and experience the original story for the first time.

On the telly sided of things, I really enjoyed Jessica Jones — enough that I wrote a big blog post about it. I also really enjoyed this year’s season of Doctor Who, and I might write about that sooner rather than later.

I also took the car in for its first ever garage trip, which was a nerve-wracking experience. Our chosen garage is staffed by a lovely team who did fantastic work, though, and we got to walk around beautiful Lossiemouth while it was getting worked on. (It was in there for four hours…. three of which were just waiting for space between all the winter services being done.)

It also snowed for the first time this year, prompting me to rush around buying grit salt and ice grips for my wellies. As pretty as it is, all the ice was a bit unnerving. It looks like it’s going to be a bit of a rough winter, so I hope the nice weather holds on a bit longer.

snow

And one more thing — a festive puppy picture.

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Hope you’ve had a great week so far! I’d love to hear what everyone’s been up to as we head rapidly towards year end.

My Ideal Process & a November Update

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly themed post for readers and writers,  so y’all know what I’ve been up to and I find out what you’ve been working on! It was created by created by Jaime and Erin.

Wanna join in? Leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

WUWWreath

What I’m Reading

I’m reading LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD right now, which has a lovely voice but isn’t too gripping. I recently finished THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, which I absolutely loved, and HALF A KING which I reviewed here.

halfakingd

What I’m Writing

Just settling back into writing now that the move has settled, and I’m building up some good forward momentum with my big revision. Looking forward to getting that moving!

What Works For Me

Over on one of my usual haunts, AbsoluteWrite, we got talking about what process works for us. It got me examining my process, which looks like this:

My Ideal Process:

1. Write a very quick, rough first draft. I aim for 50k words in 30 non-consecutive days, and bulk it up significantly in edits.
2. Leave the book to rest for at least a month. Write a fast draft of another story in the meantime.
3. Majorly revise the book
4. Give my awesome beta readers the book. It’s not worth getting distracted by other projects here (I have quick beta readers!) so this is prime video gaming/TV catch-up time.
5. Majorly revise based on beta feedback.
6. Polish the story with a round of copyediting.
7. Query book to agents.
Then…
ROUTE A:
8a. Edit the fast draft created in step #2 or another resting draft, following the process from step #3 onwards while keeping the first polished project on submission.
ROUTE B:
8b: Start a brand new rough first draft, following the process from step #1 onwards, while keeping the first project out on submission.

NEVER STOP READING AT ANY POINT. ALWAYS FIND TIME FOR BOOKS.

Does it always work out as planned? Hell no, almost never. Life gets in the way, fast drafts get left for so long I lose the connection to them, or edits carry on for so long I get sick of the project, or I get too caught up in my own world and neglect my reading pile. These factors all affect whether I choose ROUTE A or ROUTE B at the end of things.

But the above process is what I try to aim for: a constant cycle of forward momentum,

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Not much at the moment. Just reading, editing, and getting comfy in the new home. Still got a ton of boxes to unpack, but we’re all settled in now (and I *finally* have my desktop PC back! I can write properly again!) and it feels grand.

Here’s some photos from our new neck of the woods! It’s a beautiful area.

forres4 forres3 forres2 forres1

Happy Autumn!

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly themed post for readers and writers,  so y’all know what I’ve been up to and I find out what you’ve been working on! It was created by created by Jaime and Erin.

Wanna join in? Leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

WUWWreath

What I’m Reading

Just finished my buddy Jen‘s latest, and excellent, sci-fi WIP. It was brilliant. But it’s also unreleased, so I can’t tell you too much about it. Darn.

What I’m Writing

Futzing about with the Hella Fun WIP lately, which is steadily finding its legs, and brainstorming a potential fun NaNoWriMo project. Nothing too serious right now since I’m being kept busy with house stuff.

What Works For Me

Whoa, it’s my first time with this new section title!

Symmetry

I was just talking about this with a writing buddy, so it makes sense to bring it up here too. One thing I find crucial about writing is to have a sense of symmetry — the end should echo the beginning, key moments are often reversals of earlier actions, and chapters should ideally begin and end with a sense of connection.

The chapter ending advice in particular comes from Maggie Stiefvater’s amazing breakdown of her revision/edit of THE SCORPIO RACES. That’s one of my favourite, most useful, writing resources.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

HOUSEHUNTING aka the reason I’ve been hella busy and haven’t been blogging so much.

Things are finally close to a finish.

soldsign

(That’s a sold sign, by the way!)

Eastercon Withdrawal Starts Now

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

This is the second CampNaNoWrimo edition of this weekly blog.

2014-Participant-Facebook-Cover

What I’m Reading

amonstercallsThis has been a week of powering through beta reading, but since I can’t talk about all those awesome projects, I’ll talk about the one published book I did read: A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness.

It’s THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE meets THE FAULT IN OUR STARS meets WONDER with snarky tree monsters and so many, many feelings.  So many.

It’s a true gem of a book. Read it.

(I read the ebook, which was great, but I’ve heard the illustrated physical book is even better.)

What I’m Writing

I’m currently at 15,000 words written this month.

My CampNaNo goal of 35k is looking like it’s going to be tricky to meet. aNo surprise there, since it was over-optimistic back when I first set it. Still, I’ll try to hit it. I’ve got about 30 notebook pages scribbled down over Eastercon to type up, so that’ll give me a good boost forwards.

Anyway, the wordcount isn’t the most important thing. The important thing is that the work I’m doing (a rewrite of BROKEN THINGS) seems to be fitting together much better and making a lot more sense. I’m getting more and more excited about this project the closer it gets to being ready for beta readers.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this edit might actually be DONE by the end of April. That would’ve seen impossible back at the start of the month.

What Inspires Me

I was at Eastercon this weekend, a sci-fi/fantasy convention running in Glasgow over the long weekend, and it was a nice break where I could focus on reading and writing. Seeing writer-friends in the flesh as well as various new faces and industry professionals is an energizing experience, and it’s definitely spurring me on this week!

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Eastercon adventures! It was great to see Rob and Jenny Haines, Laura Lam (who has a great con recap here), Andrew Reid and his partner @Miyulinka, @CamJohnston, Lisa, Den Patrick, Juliet Mushens and many others.

The weekend was really, unseasonably sunny, which confused the heck out of me and my rucksack full of jumpers. But I survived, and also discovered the wonders of Bier Halle, everyone’s favorite Glaswegian restaurant (and post-apocalyptic hangout spot, since it’s deep underground and could withstand almost anything).

Look at this tastiness:bierhalle

Also, shout out to the lady dragging a cross through St George’s square on Saturday. You confused the living daylights out of me, but it was an interesting march.

crossglasgow

How has your Easter weekend been?

What’s Up Wednesday: April 2nd Edition!

wuwRobot

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

March was a very, very busy reading month. Mostly just comics, but one or two books as well, and some beta reading.

I’ve been having regular “tea and comics” evenings and weekends to catch up on my comic to-be-read pile. It’s a lot of fun!

Batman: The Long HalloweenAdaptationFracturedWorld AfterThe 5th WaveNo Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 2Spider-Man: ReignThor: God of Thunder, Vol. 1: The God Butcher
Thor: God of Thunder, Vol. 2: GodbombCode Monkey Save WorldWhere the Wild Things AreGo Get a Roomie
The Monster at the End of this Book (Sesame Street)Young Avengers, Vol. 2: Alternative CultureCaptain Marvel, Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight

What I’m Writing
fs-under-the-waves4

Ladies! Dudes! And other awesome people! I had a story accepted into an anthology with a bunch of awesome writers. This is super exciting. :D

Aside from that, CampNaNo is now in session (my profile!) so I’m buckling down to hit my wordcount for that.

The goal was 20k but Kate’s been spurring me on to try and hit 35k! Eeep!

What Inspires Me

I’m listening to Welcome to Night Vale, my favorite surreal horror podcast, again. It’s good to be back! I can’t wait to catch up with it all.

If you’ve never listened to Night Vale, Episode 1 is here.  It’s not jump-out-of-your-seats horror, it’s a quieter, smart and blackly humored story.

I’ve just finished re-listening to Episode 20, “Poetry Week”, and it’s a lot of fun. Audio is here, and a transcript is here (but Night Vale loses a lot of atmosphere when written down).

What Else I’ve Been Up To

I’m on Week 6 of my 8 week running training, but I’ve had to pause things for a bit to recovery from some stubborn muscle aches. I’m looking forward to getting back on track soon.

Driving lessons are progressing steadily as well, and I’m now tackling things like main roads, high speeds, roundabouts and traffic lights. It’s fun! And sometimes a little scary too, but that’s just the learning curve.

I hope your week has been going well and continues going awesomely.  I’m looking forward to hopping around everyone’s blogs today!

Back On Track

whatsupwednesdaybiplane

 Welcome to another What’s Up Wednesday post, where I answer a few questions about my daily life and writing work.

What I’m Reading

I’ve been chatty on Twitter recently about my read through of GIRL OF NIGHTMARES. I’ve been loving it, though there’s been a few talking points:


I am really enjoying this book, flaws ‘n all.

Last week was payday, aka ‘book buying day’, so I picked up a few exciting new reads as well:

“Shadows” by Paula Weston: An angel YA novel that reviewers assure me is equally as good as “Angelfall”. I’m sold.

“The Dream Thieves” by Maggie Stiefvater: The sequel to The Raven Boys”. Really excited about this, Maggie has a way of forming a real connection between the readers and her characters.

“Fangirl” by  Rainbow Rowell: This’ll be my first Rainbow Rowell book. The subject matter (being a fan, being part of a fandom) is very close to my heart, so I can’t wait.

What I’m Writing

I’m still working away on LEVIATHAN RISES. Putting this project away in July has worked wonders — now that I’m back to work on it this September, I’m coming up with all sorts of unexpected ideas to pull the plot together. Right now I’m knee-deep in research about Old Testament Leviathan and Behemoth myths, and the words are flowing at a satisfying rate.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the title poll last What’s Up Wednesday. A few of you liked THE SEA BENEATH, which pleases me because it seems to ‘fit’ well next to DIVIDE THE SKY.

But there was also some love for the LEVIATHAN RISES title. The problem with that is that it’s very similar to sci-fi novel LEVIATHAN WAKES, so I’m pondering if that’ll be a problem. There’s always the potential to change it to THE LEVIATHAN RISE or THE LEVIATHAN RISES… I’ve added those options to the poll.

[poll id=”5″]

 

What Else I’ve Been Up To

You miiiight have noticed I had a bad week last week. A bad month, really, thanks to the unending flu-like lurgy that’s hounded me for two months solid.

In the draft of this post, I said “things are looking up”. That was a mistake. I think I jinxed it.

At this point I’m just eager for September to be over.

tiredcollapse

When I’m not reading, writing or doing housework (those rare, shining silver slivers of ‘free’ time) I’m playing Kingdom Hearts 1.5, a really nice HD remake of the first Kingdom Hearts game. It’s lots of nostalgic fun.

I’m also trying out BookLikes, a Goodreads alternative. So far I’m diggin’ it’s Tumblr-inspired interface and it seems to have all the features I need. If you’re on it, add me–I’d love to follow some more familiar faces!