What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. Please check out their blogs to join in the fun!
What I'm Reading
A few years overdue, I just finished Maggie Stiefvater's Forever. I've said it before, but Stiefvater is an amazing writer. She has a talent for fleshing out characters and writing multi-sensory descriptions. But the highlight of this trilogy is the love story between Sam and Grace. I'm glad I finally crossed the ending to this series off my TBR list.
What I'm Writing
This week I'm polishing my query, short pitches, synopsis, and the opening chapters of my YA novel Perception. This whole process should have me anxious and nervous, but I'm actually just excited to get it out there and start work on my next project. These new characters won't quit bugging me, and I'm ready to meet them on the page.
What Inspires Me Right Now
Speaking of those pesky new characters--on Monday I met with a lawyer friend to discuss a multitude of family law topics for research on my new manuscript. I didn't want to hinge my plot on legal situations that weren't plausible, and as it turns out, I have several different avenues to explore with my main gal. I am so ready to find out where she'll go, and how she'll get herself out of sticky situations!
What Else I've Been Up To
This weekend my nephew got married. My husband and my youngest son were both in the wedding, and it was beautiful. The bride is a wedding and event planner, so you can imagine just how spectacular it was. I was so grateful for the time to be together as a family, celebrating. But I also left with a secret emotion simmering below the surface. Weddings used to fill me with joy and hope for the future, but this time....I felt a little sad.
I'm hopeful and happy for the newlyweds, but I can't help thinking about how time seems to speed up when we get older. My niece's children are the young and wiggly kind who can't sit still in church. Her husband asked, sarcastically, if I missed having children that age. I'm glad mine are older now, but I felt sad because that time of angelic faces and delightful squeals just doesn't last, and I'll never experience it as a parent again.
My sister-in-law has one in college and a junior in high school. The older one? She was the flower girl at my wedding. I'm happy and excited for both kids as they make that transition into adulthood, with all of the promise it holds. But they remind me that if I blink, my sons will be in those same places, and these days of loving Harry Potter and building Lego sets will vanish like the unpredictable smiles and wonder of the little ones.
Okay, okay, enough melancholy for one day. Back to the polishing trenches! I look forward to seeing what you fellow blog-hoppers have been up to!
Music for today: Wake Up by Arcade Fire
