Life After Pitch Wars: Wedding, Napa, Winter Book Launch Party, & the next MS!

Hi Evvvvvveryone!

It's a little over a week since the Agent Round for Pitch Wars began. Eeeep! So what is life after Pitch Wars like? Exactly the same, except I check my inbox more frequently, made a bunch of new friends that I can't wait to meet up with IRL, and am anxious all the time. Ha, I guess it isn't exactly the same then.

In any case, I wanted to let you know what I've been up to, what I'm currently reading, and what my next writing project is!

This past weekend I flew to Cali for my best friend's (from high school) wedding. It was great seeing everyone and reconnecting with my friends now that we all live in separate states now.

Since the wedding wasn't until the evening, Michael and I took advantage of the glorious weather and drove to Napa to do some wine tasting. When we flew back to Seattle the next day, and it was grey and raining still, I was crushed. I need the sun, so I take solace in knowing I'll be back in California for the holidays.

Michael contemplating the wine, while I am ecstatic to taste!

On the plus side, I went to the WINTER book launch with my writer friend Lisa where we got our hardcover copies signed by Marissa Meyer yesterday (who btw is so bubbly, I'd like to put her in my pocket and bring her everywhere I go when I need a dose of positivity--kidding! But really, she is just the sweetest darling in her ball gown).

Which brings me to my TBR pile. I haven't posted any reviews recently, but I will let you know that I finished my fellow mentee's ms, LADY HAMLET which was such a great read and had LGBTQ elements that need to be on the shelves! I also have another mentee's ms loaded onto my kindle, HESPERIA, which I cannot wait to read. But I still have tons of things to finish. Currently 50% in on MY LIFE NEXT DOOR (which was such a sweet gift from my mentor), 25% in on SIX OF CROWS, 20% in on RED QUEEN, and I just started WINTER. I don't know how agents can balance reading subs, client ms's, plus queries, because there are not enough hours in a day and too many great stories out there to get to.

And speaking of stories, I found my next story to work on. Though I would love to write the sequel to DIAMOND QUEEN, I know that it's best to get working on another project to maximize my chances of being agented in the future. So, in a Michelle-like fashion I'm getting back on that Contemporary train (because you know, I always do after writing a Fantasy). If you check under my projects link, you'll see that I listed this one as THE OTHER SIDE OF BEAUTIFUL (my current working title). I don't have a blurb for it yet, but it's a dual POV set in NYC in the vein of FLIPPED but with a revenge twist. I've been toying with the idea since October when I wrote the opening chapter in passing between the Pitch Wars craziness, but now I am fully committed to power through this draft once I get my outline finalized. So wish me luck! Hopefully I'll have a 'Writing Progress Report' post up soon for it.

How's your week been? What are you reading and what are you writing? Comment below!

A Date Night: Walrus and the Carpenter

I can't believe it's the middle of October. Really guys, where did the time go? I cannot believe the agent round of Pitch Wars is three weeks away. Excuse me a moment while I hyperventilate.

Last week, I agonized over my pitch, query, synopsis, and first 250 words of my manuscript. Honestly, I think I'm overthinking it, but that didn't stop me from having a panic attack on Friday and texting my mentor about my insecurities. Brianna, as always, was encouraging and offered to help, which really calmed me down.

That night, I hung out with my writer friend Lisa over happy hour and dinner which also helped. It's nice to talk to someone who 'gets' it, someone who's on the same (though different) journey. It also made me see just how lucky I am to get the opportunity to work with someone already in the industry (thank you Brenda Drake for creating this fabulous contest). I ended the night by hanging out with Michael and his co-workers a little calmer than I felt all week.

On Saturday morning I woke up to the first 100 pages of line-edits from Brianna. Just glimpsing at the track changes overwhelmed me. I'm a REALLY anxious person so I took the day to absorb it. The day turned out pretty awesome despite the rainstorm. Michael took me out to Walrus and the Carpenter (one of our favorite restaurants) for a date night and it was amazing. I love eating sea creatures ;)

Oysters with a beautifully paired wine = heaven. I still can't get believe that I get to spend the rest of my life with this handsome fella! My stomach does flips just thinking about all the future date nights we'll get to have.

After oysters we moved on to octopus! Sliced so thin with a zesty marinade, it was absolutely divine on the taste buds. After having it this way, I rather have my octopus sliced thinly all the time thank you very much.

This was my fave dish of the night. A savory crawfish instead of the spicy creole style crawfish is normally served in, I gobbled this up and licked my fingers with no shame. Crawfish, like quail and crab, remind me of my childhood, so dishes like these always make me happy.

 

I've said this many times, but I'll say it again. This maple bread pudding is the best dessert in Seattle.

 

After this meal, you bet I woke up the next morning and worked all day on my line-edits. Delicious food is the cure for anxiety ;) Ha! At least that's what I tell myself!

 

How was your weekend?



Pumpkinsss

It's that time of year! Time to get pumpkins!

Michael and I go every year, and this year his sister Cristine invited us to go with her and her husband Tim. We were fortunate to get a beautiful autumn day which made the day even more picturesque. Because I was lazy and didn't take many photos, I stole the one's below from Cristine's facebook.

 

To start, we did a corn maze that supposedly takes 45 minutes to an hour to do. We did it in about 20 minutes thanks to the boys.

To be fair, we did have a map! So without it we'd probably be lost for awhile.

After, we headed to the patch to get pumpkins galore!

Now our home is filled with them! I still felt so festive the day after, I made pumpkin oatmeal balls the next morning before Michael and I hit our matinee showing of The Martian (which was super good btw).

How was your weekend? Are you into the pumpkin craze?

Family visit weekend.

September has been ridiculously busy! But sometimes it's good to be busy, if being busy includes a visit from my family! This was the first time my mom and my sister who had just moved back from NY came to visit. We did all the touristy things. I think I've been on the Space Needle about 5 times now? And it will definitely be my last (I hope). Now that everyone has visited, I've made it pretty clear that I am done with all things touristy!

 



 

The weekend was really a great one though. I haven't seen my mom much this year. Even when I visit home, she has to work a lot, so it was just nice to have her vacationing up here. She's the one thing I miss most about California. (I am, and will always be, a mama's girl) ut she's very happy for me and has given me her blessings to pursue love and to reach for my dreams. Which I am beyond thankful for. She is the fuel to my fire when I write, the reason to keep on going when I feel like I can't go any longer. She is my muse, she is everything I am. I miss her already. If you are blessed to see your parents on a daily basis. Be grateful. We never know how much time we have left to spend with our loved ones.

 

Chicago Series: A foodie day instead of museums.

Day 4 in Chicago was HOT. The hottest day of our stay, but we rallied and went to the Bridge House Tavern for brunch. It's a really neat place right off the river with great food. For not having reservations the wait was relatively quick (though we were drinking mimosas, so that may have past the time) and we got one of the best seats in the house.

 



 

So funny thing is, Michael is normally the one who loves savory foods while I always like things sweet. When it comes to breakfast/brunch though, it's the opposite. Yet when the waiter arrived, he didn't want to be the one to order the sweet dish so he ended up ordering the crab cake benedict for me, and I got the brioche French toast for him.

 



 

After brunch, we planned to hit some more museums, but because it was Sunday and a holiday weekend, the lines to get in were long and outside. We were melting and decided it wasn't worth it and rested at the hotel. To end the evening and our trip, we got some drinks before heading out to dinner at Travelle.

 



 

 

 

The food was amazing, and on the healthier side of what we had been eating on the trip. Michael paired it with a Grand Cru Chablis, making it perfect.

 



 

 

 

 

To end the night, we went to The Kitchen Chicago, one of our favorite bars to end the trip with a night cap.

 

 

But of course, when you're drinking so much, you can't help but get the munchies so we ended up ordering garlic fries (another weakness of mine).

 

The next morning was spent leisurely before heading to the hotel. From that point on, we went back to our normal diet, because let's face it, after drinking and indulging in high fat food, you start to feel it wearing down on you.

But, if you're a foodie like me, Chicago is definitely a place to go!

As for the next urban adventure, I'm thinking about maybe Washington DC, or even Baton Rouge? Or maybe get out of the city and see some canyons? What do you guys think? Where would be a cool place to go within the states?

Chicago Series: Cloud Gate, Buckingham Fountain, Deep Dish

 

Day 3 of our Chicago trip, I saw the bean! It reminded me of an alien egg dropped in the middle of the city. It was actually cool to see despite it being ridiculously crowded.

 

 

 

Up close, it actually had some scratches along the surfacee that I wondered how in the world do they clean it? Up above, I'm sure it would make great target practice for the birds.

 



 

 

That day we had a late start so we skipped breakfast altogether and went to Remington's for lunch. Please don't judge us, but it was a bad eating day. And when I say bad, I mean full of guilty pleasures. Mac n' cheese is my weakness and I wanted to see how the mid west did it. Creamy cheese, with texture on the top, but the noodles were a bit mushy. I need my noodles chewy. It was great to try though.

 

 

Michael ended up with the lobster roll/sandwich. It was pretty big. The portion sizes on this side of the country is nuts!

 

 

After, we walked along Millennium park until we reached the Art Institute. It's a pretty large museum with a lot to see. We ended up staying there for over two hours, but still hadn't seen everything. My aching legs won out though so we left to see the Buckingham Fountain.

 



 

After we went back to The Gage for a pick me up. Mussels and drinks! Yum.

 



 

After, we went back to the hotel to freshen up before going out to get deep dish pizza. It was cool to try, but I don't see the hype in it at all! It was monstrous, and shouldn't even be called a pizza. The cheese was rubbery and the meat probably not a high grade. The only good thing was the crust, but even that was too buttery at times. Can someone explain to me the hype? Am I just not getting it?

 



 

After that we went to get a night cap before heading to the Navy Pier for the summertime fireworks. It was another great day despite the let down of the pizza.