What I'm Reading
At the weekend I started reading my very first Jenny Colgan book, Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams. I don't tend to read a lot of contemporary, but every now and then I'm in the mood for something light and fluffy where the world doesn't hang in the balance, and this book is just lovely. It's already made me smile and made me heartwrenchingly sad, and I'm glad I'm enjoying it because one of the main reasons I picked it up is so I could borrow the sequel from the library, Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop, this Christmas.
What I'm Writing
I'm not gonna lie, I'm in a bit of a writing funk right now. I'm still writing, but I'm jotting down ideas rather than actually working on a project; I shouldn't complain too much, of course, because I've recently thought of a handful of new ideas, I just can't decide which one I want to work on and I'm hesitant to try to work on more than one at once as, in my experience, that leads me into a hot mess. Hopefully I'll be working on one project soon!
What Works For Me
Having time off. People say write every day, and I couldn't agree more. I do write every day, even if it's not necessarily writing that contributes to a longer project, but sometimes, like right now, I need to let myself just be in a writing funk. When you can't get into a new project I think one of the worst things you can do is make yourself feel guilty about it. Take a little time off; explore new places, read new books and watch new films/tv shows to gather inspiration, and return to your work refreshed.
What Else Is New
On Saturday my brother-in-law and I went to Cardiff Comic Con, and I met two of my friends there who I haven't seen in months which was really lovely. I got myself some goodies, including a snitch necklace, a Sirius Black poster, a skeleton hand hairclip, a pretty ring and some unicorn incense. I was a little disappointed, however, as Jason Momoa was supposed to be there and then he cancelled, but I still enjoyed the day. Once we'd been around all the stalls there we went around some of the shops in Cardiff, one of my favourite places to go shopping, and I finally picked up a copy of The Raven Boys. It's time for me to see what everyone loves so much about this series!
As I'm sure you all know Sunday was Remembrance Sunday, so for any of you interested I made a quick blog post with some recommendations for books set during WW1 and WW2 which you can find here.
And something I've been completely managing to forget to mention for the past few weeks is that I commissioned Ari, a lovely artist on tumblr, to draw one of my protagonists from Bloodroot and Bracken. So this is Thora!
What's new with you?
Hope you enjoy THE RAVEN BOYS! I find that taking time to think between projects can be a great way to inspire new ideas.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I will, I've heard nothing but good things about it. :)
DeleteThat's neat that you connected with an artist on Tumblr. I'd probably be too nervous to even ask someone to draw for me, unless there were an open invitation on the page.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw her advertising commissions for a very reasonable price and I loved her style, so I decided to go for it - no one's drawn Thora for me before. :)
DeleteLove the drawing of your character and enjoy The Raven Boys!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteWriting notes and thinking is just important as working on a specific MS, so no reason to feel guilty. Comic Con sounds fun even if the guy didn't come.
ReplyDeleteI've been in a writing funk too, which is kind of funny considering my last name is Funk. Does that mean I'm cursed somehow lol? I agree that making yourself feel guilty about it is the wrong approach. That being said, I tend to do that a lot. I feel so disappointed for you that Jason Momoa wasn't at Comic Con! I know most people know him from Game of Thrones, but I'm a big fan of his character Ronan Dex from Stargate Atlantis. Glad it was an otherwise fun experience though! Good luck deciding which project to work on next! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good time at Comic Con, even with the Jason Momoa disappointment. I was green with envy over your awesome haul! (Especially the necklace and the ring.) I would love to attend a Comic Con someday. Just swung by your Remembrance Day post and jotted down some good book ideas. WAKE looks especially intriguing! Thanks for the recs!
ReplyDeleteI hear you on writing funks. I feel like I set up camp there and have never left. I get excited about project ideas and then tend to let the excitement wane by not jumping on them right away. I hope you're able to recharge with awesome things and come back to writing with some great ideas!
(Forgot to mention that I ended up doing a WUW post after all.)
DeleteJotting down ideas counts as writing as far as I'm concerned. You're brainstorming you're next project, which is so important! Glad you had fun at Comic Con, Jess. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteI just picked up The Raven Boys, too. I really hope I like it ^_^ Awesome artwork :D I've always thought about getting someone to draw my characters, but I've never gotten around to commissioning someone.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
I'm about the start The Raven Boys as well! Just waiting on the library hold and hitting refresh a lot :) Thora is beautiful - what a cool thing to do!
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those rare people who didn't like The Raven Boys. I hope you enjoy it. I did like it enough to read BLLB, as soon as it comes into the library though. I need to know how it ends!!!
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