What’s Up Wednesday
This is just a quick WUW post to keep you all informed about life with me–that’s what WUW’s for, after all!
WHAT I’M READING
I’m currently reading LEGACY OF THE DALEKS by John Peel, the next in the BBC Books Eighth Doctor series I’m working through. Given this is Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary month, I thought I ought to read at least one Doctor Who novel. And while I have some gripes with the writing, this is a pretty good story so far. I finished up THE SHERLOCKIAN, and posted a review on Goodreads, so go there to get my thoughts on it. Summary: Five stars–I recommend it. (BTW, in case you missed it, I posted my review of ALLEGIANT on Monday. See HERE.)
WHAT I’M WRITING
Still working on revisions to the WIP. As I explained last week, I don’t have much time for writing at the moment, but I did manage to get some done. I’ll continue to find a few moments here and there, just to keep things moving. After this month, I plan to push hard to get revisions done by the end of the year.
WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
This past weekend there was another Janet Reid contest, and I got another nod for my work. It wasn’t a win, but it was “Special recognition for entries that weren’t quite stories but had lovely writing.” One could quibble over whether my entry was or wasn’t a story, but that’s not the point. As a writer, to have a respected literary agent compliment your writing is encouraging and inspiring. Once again, the finalists were awesome, which is why I never feel slighted for not being selected as a winner. Fellow writers–if you aren’t participating in these contests, you really should. They are a great way to hone your craft, and challenge your creativity. I usually Tweet when Janet’s running a contest, so if you’re following me on Twitter, you’ll find out about them. Or you can just follow Janet, or follow her blog.
WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN UP TO
This past Sunday was ThirdBorn’s fifteenth birthday. He holds the distinction of being the only male child of our six, the only male grandchild, the only male cousin, and the only nephew. That’s quite a lot for his young shoulders, but he bears it well. Quite unlike his father and his siblings, he loves numbers and mathematics. He also enjoys strategy games (e.g., chess), so we bought him the board game “Risk” (yes, board game–i.e., you don’t play it with a console or a computer, but with bits of plastic, and cards, and a board) and played it on Monday. It’s been at least twenty years since I last played, but it was fun. No, I didn’t win. SecondBorn, who also enjoys strategy games, won.
What’s up with you? To participate, see Jaime Morrow’s blog for details.
My husband loves Risk and games like it (especially Talisman which is similar to D&D). I love board games myself and so does my oldest daughter but I can’t get into a game that takes hours.
Congrats on getting that special nod!
Thanks, Melanie! We played the “Introductory” game, which only took a few hours to complete. Next time, we’ll play the “Classic” game, which, as I recall from my University days, can take quite a while to get through. 🙂
So nice that you get recognition for your work during those contests! 🙂
It is nice, and what’s really cool is that it’s genuine. If you know Janet, I’m sure you appreciate that she’s not one for false platitudes. If she likes something, she’ll say so; if she doesn’t, she’ll be blunt about that too. For these contests, she only mentions the entries that particularly caught her attention. This, in itself, is a learning experience, because it gives you insight into what she (and possibly other agents, and readers in general) looks for in manuscripts. Granted, a 100-word flash story isn’t the same as an 80k word novel, but in terms of knowing how to write attention-grabbing sentences, this is a valuable education.
I haven’t played Risk in years. I do enjoy board games with boards not consoles a lot though. One of my friends has monthly game nights that are always really fun. Happy birthday to the boy.
The boy appreciates your well-wishes, Kate! It was fun playing Risk again after all these years, though SecondBorn did beat us pretty soundly. 🙂
I have Lord of the Rings Risk! =D Great game. I get so into it! I keep hinting for more board games in the flat because they’re great for family occasions. I have my eye on Sherlock Cludeo at the moment. 🙂
Did you know they’re coming out with a Doctor Who Risk? It’s basically Dalek armies attacking each other for control of Earth, I believe. Sounds like fun to me… 🙂
For some reason I thought you had all daughters. I’m happy for you that you have another guy in the house! I love Risk. Up until recently, I was undefeated. Yep, apparently I have serious skills when it comes to Risk. 😉 I just read your ALLEGIANT review and left a comment. I appreciate your honesty, especially since I don’t count myself among the many who loved it. As for revisions, I don’t have much time for them either right now. Maybe we’ll be getting back to it full force around the same time and can cheer each other on!
Yes, it’s nice having at least one other guy around. At least I’m not the only one taking out trash and hauling in groceries! 😉
Clearly my Risk skills are rusty (what there was of them, anyway–I don’t recall if I ever won a game!), and I’m sure my kids are be more than happy for me to hone them.
I know many of my blog friends are cautious about posting “negative” reviews. As a rule, I don’t post reviews on the blog unless I’m recommending a book (on Goodreads, I review what I read, good and bad). However, in the case of ALLEGIANT, since I posted reviews of the first two, I felt I had to post my review of the third. And while I was not a fan of the book, I think there were some redeeming points to it. If I had hated it cover to cover, I probably would have vented on Goodreads and left it at that.
I think we both have good reasons for not giving revisions a lot of time right now. In a few weeks, however… 🙂
SIX children? Why did I think you had four? Wow. You and your wife must be some of the most patient and loving people on the planet.
Hooray for a nod! Congratulations 😀
I wish you a very Happy Doctor Who Anniversary ^_^
I am more than happy for you to continue believing that my wife and I are the most patient and loving people on the planet. As long as you never meet me, I think I can maintain the illusion… 😉 Seriously, though, parenting is a challenge, no matter how many kids you have. There are people we know with more kids than we have, and we wonder how they manage to keep their sanity. We couldn’t cope with more than six. But the ones we have are both a joy and, at times, a trial. I think I’m a lot more patient than I used to be, that’s for sure! 🙂
A happy Who Anniversary to you too, Cole! 😀
Oooh, board-game Risk! I remember playing (and being terrible) at that. I was always better at games like Go Fish, where I could cheat. Yes, it is shameful to cheat at a kids card game, I know 🙂 Happy birthday to your son!
Thanks on his behalf, Jennifer! I enjoy Risk, though I don’t think I’m very good at it. Like chess, I understand the strategy part, but I’m not always very good at implementing it. 🙂
Oooh, I LOVE board games! I dabble in the geeky boardgaming circles, where we play Settlers of Catan, Dominion and Star Fluxx far too much. I suspect Star Fluxx, in particular, would be to your tastes: an easy-to-pick up, family friendly card game that pokes fun at a lot of common sci-fi tropes.
The rules are simple: you draw a card, you play a card. Then the game begins… and the rules are constantly in flux…
Wil Wheton explains it nicely here:
OK, Star Fluxx looks like a lot of fun. I’ll have to look into that. Thanks, Emma! 🙂
Congrats on the recognition you got from Janet Reid! That’s awesome! Win or no, just having your writing called out as exemplary is a great thing. You must feel so inspired now. 🙂
Good luck with the writing. Smart to keep at it, even in small bits. I find that when I stop working on it during busy times it’s so much harder to get back in than when I sneak in some writing time here and there.
Thanks, Tracey! Having someone like Janet speak kindly of my writing certainly does boost the confidence. 🙂
And thanks for the writing encouragement. It can be hard even to squeeze in time for small bits of work on the WIP, but it does help.
You had me at Doctor Who. I haven’t read any of the novels yet. As someone guilty of writing too much fanfiction before I dared to focus on my own original works, I’m worried I’d get too inspired. Do you have any special plans for viewing the 50th? Super congrats on getting a nod from Janet Reid! I agree completely–having a well-respected agent like her compliment your work means you are doing really well!
LOL! Wonderful!! It’s always cool to meet another Whovian. 😀 The best thing about these novels is that they, along with the Big Finish audio range, tell the Eighth Doctor’s story (for the most part). This Doctor was denied a TV series, so this is all we have. Some of the novels are better than others, and the writing is not always top-notch. But they’re good fun at least. I’m reviewing them on Goodreads as I go through them, so keep an eye out for me there.
Plans for the 50th? My mum’s here from the UK, so we’ll be watching it with her and some friends. It’ll be Doctor Who day at the house, and I think my wife will be making Dalek cup cakes, or something Who-themed like that.
How about you?
PS: I’ll be posting Who-related articles next week–be sure to check back! 🙂
PPS: Marissa Meyer started out writing fan fiction, and her LUNAR CHRONICLES series (CINDER, SCARLET, etc.) is phenomenal. So, good things can come from fan fiction! 🙂
I first realized I could do the whole write a book thing when I wrote a fanfic that was over 70k. =) I just get tunnel vision when I fangirl out, so I’ll end up putting my original works away to write a Doctor Who series instead. =D
I will definitely keep an eye out for the articles and reviews! Did you see the Day of the Doctor prequel with the 8th Doctor? I thought that was awesome. I’m going to go back and watch him now. I started with 9. I’m not sure what our day-of plans are. We don’t subscribe to TV (just internet TV like Hulu and Netflix) so we’re looking for fellow Whovian friends who are hosting. =D But on the 25th, the movie theater here is going to have the special on the big screen, so I am going to that for sure!
Yes, I saw “The Night of the Doctor”–check the blog tomorrow (Monday)! 🙂