What I'm Reading
This week I finally started to pull myself out of the reading slump I've found myself in for the majority of this month, hooray!
First I read Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky by Marissa Meyer, which is another of Meyer's short stories set in The Lunar Chronicles universe. This one takes place before the events of the series and tells the story of Captain Thorne and Kate Fallow, who was mentioned in Cress. It was a lot of fun!
After that I read Malkin Child by Livi Michael, which is a historical middle grade novella about the Pendle Witches from the POV of Jennet Device, the little girl who testified against her family in 1612, leading to their execution. I really enjoyed this. It might be written for children but anyone can enjoy it, and I really enjoyed how Michael portrayed the story; I've seen so many theories regarding the Pendle Witches claiming that Jennet deliberately testified against them because she didn't like her family and she wanted to see them hanged, whereas this story argues she was a little girl who was misused by the law. I definitely recommend it - my edition's only 111 pages long!
I haven't read any more of Deadline yet, even though I'm eager to. My slump came along for various reasons that I won't go into here and I hate ending up in a slump when I'm halfway through a book I'm enjoying. I want to pick it up and finish it soon, but I know as soon as I finish it I'll want to read Blackout, the third and final book in the trilogy. So I might treat myself to a copy of Blackout some time this week and then marathon the rest of the trilogy.
On Monday I also started reading Stef Penney's The Tenderness of Wolves. I came across a second hand copy for only £1.50 and the story intrigued me - it's been a while since I read a whodunnit, and I don't think I've read anything set in Canada either - but I'm having trouble getting into it. I'm interested in the main character, but the narrative keeps breaking away and jumping around to all these other characters I don't care about all that much and it's boring me a little. I'm hoping the story picks up soon!
What I'm Writing
Still novelling away. I recently did a wordcount (as I'm currently doing my MA in Creative Writing and my current WIP is also what I've been working on for my portfolio) and I have over 28,000 words! That probably sounds like nothing when you take into account that I've been working on this novel since October, but before I did this MA I suffered from serious story ADD. I'd start a story, get bored with it and move on. This is the longest I've ever worked on a single project and I'm really proud of myself.
On top of that, my portfolio is 30,000 words, so it's good to know I'm on track. Now I just need to go through and a do a major edit on everything I've got and write a 5,000 word reflective essay - I have a lot of work this summer!
What Inspires Me Right Now
People wanting to read my novel! I'll talk a little more about this below, but at the weekend I met some lovely people who found my story really interesting and want to read the whole thing and it's a wonderful feeling.
What Else I've Been Up To
On Saturday we had our MA Showcase, which basically meant that we got up in front of an audience of around 30 people and read extracts from our work. I decided to read the prologue from my current WIP and I was really pleased with the response I got - a fair few absolutely lovely people told me that they enjoyed my extract and that they'd love to read more, and that just made me so happy. It's always nice to know you're doing something right!
This past week I also finally saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Muppets Most Wanted, both of which were showing at our campus cinema. I enjoyed them, but I have to admit I was expecting to see more Bucky in The Winter Soldier.
I desperately wanted to see Belle while it was out, but I've been a little bit skint recently. Today I could finally afford a cinema trip, only to discover that the last Belle showing was yesterday. Sigh. I really, really wanted to see it.
I also started an account over on myWriteClub, which is a fun little site where you can keep track of your writing progress and any of your friends' - you can find me here if you want to!
What's new with you?
Wait there's another Lunar Chronicles short story!!! WHAT!!! I hope I can get the ebook. BAH. I can't wait for Winter. I know Fairest comes first, but I want to know how it ends already. BAH. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt was in the back of some editions of Cress, I was a little naughty and found it online. ;) You should be able to find it, too! :)
DeleteI know, I'm looking forward to Fairest but I REALLY want to read Winter!
Congrats on every last one of those 28,000 words, Jess! That's huge! As someone who also struggles with WiP ADD, I know how hard it can be to stick with a single project and see it through to the end. So, yeah, I think it's fantastic! Have a wonderful week! :D
ReplyDeleteThank you! ^_^ You too!
DeleteGlad to hear you're getting back into reading!
ReplyDeleteMy first novel took a year and a half to write the first time around (and I worked on the series for over 10 years!) - I think the first novel is always the hardest as you're learning your process, but it's a great achievement to have made so much progress and to have great feedback, too. It's the best feeling! :)
It's a great feeling. :)
DeleteGlad you are back into reading and WOW on your 28,000 words. Congratulations! I haven't yet read CINDER (it's going to be a July read for me) and I'm looking forward to the Lunar series :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) Enjoy Cinder - it's brilliant! :D
DeleteYeah, the only downside of The Winter Soldier is the lack of the Winter Soldier :P
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on 28k :D
Have a fantastic week.
Haha, pretty much!
DeleteThanks! :) You too!
28,000 words is great. Stick with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteCongrats on 28k! I had that same problem of starting something and then never finishing it, but somehow I've conquered it (no idea how).
ReplyDeleteI really want to see Belle too. It's not at any theatres around here so I'll have to wait for DVD.
Thanks! :)
DeleteYeah, I think I'll be waiting for the DVD release, too!