Winter to Summer Writing Progress

This was me writing and taking a shameless selfie during the Winter. I had just finished the first draft of M2 and was working on the second. I didn't let anyone read a single page.

This was me this weekend. It's summer. Draft three is done. It is finally being read and critiqued.

And now, I am one third done with my fourth draft revisions. Draft Four. Can you believe it? I've taken many breaks and felt like giving up in these past eight months, so I've written this post to remind myself of this great feat I am undertaking and to encourage myself to keep going.

I've heard some writers say that you have to learn to love the process of writing to be a writer, and I'm trying to do just that. It's not about the end game. It's about the words, the characters, and their story.

Summer Solstice Celebrations

The weather's finally starting to look up and feel like summer here in Seattle, and I couldn't be any happier!

Michael and I kicked off my 3-day weekend with our favorite, Bottlehouse. I always love dessert with wine and their strawberry rhubarb with a shortbread cookie did not disappoint!

On Friday morning I met with my writing critique partner over coffee to go over edits on our manuscripts. Instead of our usual hour, we talked for almost three. So many kinks to work out! I'm just so thankful for our writing partnership, I feel like I'm learning so much from that I have a feeling draft four will bring my manuscript close to where I want it to be. Afterwards, I sat down to write on Michael and I's new dining table.

Check out our cool wine art!

Friday night we took it easy and went to eat vegetarian thai and grabbed drinks and dessert on Broadway. Once we came home, I watched the Delirium's pilot episode on Hulu. Loved Emma Roberts in it. I can't believe Fox passed on the show!

Yesterday, we went out for breakfast and took it pretty easy before going to his sister housewarming party which was a blast. After, Michael and I went to Ballard for our date night and went to The Walrus and Carpenter for dinner. This place is such a gem and as great as we remembered. For my first time there, check out the post here.

We started off with oysters. Let me just say vino verde and oysters pair so damn well together.

 Then these babies below just about blew my mind:

smoked herring croquettes

 Michael really loved this one:

spicy sausage

 Then we just had to get the steak tartare. The last time I had it was two years ago in Paris.

steak tartare

Dessert was a no-brainer for us. We fell in love with this dessert the last time we came so we just had to get it again. By far, one of he top desserts I've had in Seattle!

maple bread pudding

 When we got home, Blaire immediately started scenting our shoes and demanding rubs. Looks like this little guy missed us!

This year will be my first official year in Seattle. Last year I was in and out switching back and forth to Sacramento, so it will be interesting where this summer takes me. I do have my sights on eastern Washington though. Anywhere there's wine, I'm totally there.

Here's to one heck of a summer :)

Book Review: We'll Always Have Summer (Summer #3) by Jenny Han

I rated it 2.5 stars out of 5.

Overview: It's been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college-- only, their relationship hasn't exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It's time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever

Review: Too predicatable. Han changes POV again by including Conrad's side instead of Jeremiah's making it known that Belly and Conrad will end up together. I guess how they get there is the part worth reading. I read this trilogy because it was an easy quick read that was entertaining. It's what my co-worker would call 'trashy romance novels,' that you just gotta read once in awhile. In my case, it was the YA drama I had to get out of my system.

If you like drama where two brother's are fighting over one girl, then this trilogy is for you. Otherwise, I'd pick up Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before for a cutesy fun romance.

Book Review: It's Not Summer Without You (Summer #2) by Jenny Han

I rated it 2.8 out of 5 stars.

 

Overview: Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.

But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started--at Cousins Beach.

Review: The sequel to The Summer I Turned Pretty was predictable, just like the first book. However, it's an easy read so I got through it pretty quickly. Han changes POV in the sequel by including Jeremiah's POV which already tells us that Belly's going to choose him and give up on Conrad by the end of the novel. It's a major giveaway which takes the suspense out of the love triangle, though I kinda don't like Conrad anyway, so I was cool with it.

The novel was character-driven instead of plot-driven, but I'm not a fan of Belly's character so the sequel kind of fell flat for me.

Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

I rated it 3 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along

Review: I read this relatively quickly, and I found it to be enjoyable. It's a great summer read that I'm sure my 16 year-old self would love. However, I rated it only 3 stars because I didn't empathize with the protagonist. She was a bit too whiny for my taste. I also found it to be really predicatable, but sometimes I like watching my predictions unfold so it wasn't that bad. I give kudos to Han on her ability to bring the characters to life. It was like reading about people I knew. Nontheless, Han delivered enough for me to pick up book the second book of the trilogy.

June Gloom Weekend

Blaire on Friday the 13th! Scary, right?

How was your weekend? Mine was great depite the June Gloom weather in Seattle! I'm loving my three-day weekends lately. The ten hour shifts takes getting used to, but alas, I think I've got my routine going. Well, just as long as I get my daily java.



I'm addicted, I know.

This weekend was one dedicated to leisure. I cruised through Jenny Han's books, took warm baths, finally got my hair cut, mani pedi, celebrated Father's day with Michael's family, watched movies, and ate well.

By eating well, I mean this:

Bottlehouse mac n' cheese, that was so heavenly I would feel guilty if I ever ate it again!

 Not to mention tapas at Tango (below is my favorite plate of the night):

And of course, Michael and I had to watch 22 Jump Street, which was just as hilarious as the first one. We also watched the new x-men movie too, both of which I highly recommend.

 

It definitely feels like summer when the best movies come out. If only the weather would catch up!

Stickin' to it and finishing.

I'm really bad at sticking to one thing and doing it well. I think I get bored easily or maybe I always get excited about something else that I forget about everything else entirely. For example:

Piano? 2 years. Flute? 3 years. Volleyball? 6 years. Soccer? 4 years. Vegan? 30 days. Vegetarian? Approximately 90 days? Pescatarian? 1 year. Competitive running? 1.5 years. Guitar? 5 years. Hot Yoga? 3 months. Boxing? 2 months.

What does this have to do with anything Michelle?

Well, because I have a difficult time staying passionate about one thing, it makes it really difficult for me to finish anything. And this is a real big problem because writing a novel takes commitment and time.

I wrote the first and second draft of M2 in like 5 months. But when it came to draft three I finished 2/3 of it in a month, and then just stopped writing for two months. I crashed and burned. I was just falling out of love with the story and feeling burnt out. And the more distance I put between myself and finishing draft three, the more anxious I was starting to become about getting back to it.

Source: caffeineglaore (tumblr)

I binge read to cope, but in the back of my mind all I kept thinking about is whether or not I'd finish.

Then my YA workshop class ended. I had been using the class as an excuse for not writing, but now that it finished I really had no excuses, did I? Work was finally starting to slow down, and now I had three-day weekends for the summer. If I was going to finish, this was the time to do it.

So I settled my hiney down and finished the last third of draft 3 in a week.

Let me repeat that: one friggin week.

All this time I was so anxious and worked up when really it would just take a week. Draft three isn't perfect and what not, but the point is I finished it. It really put into perspective for me that finishing something isn't so scary. That it's possible to finish things as long as you keep trudging forward. And that sometimes a break (like a crash and burn) is needed to get you right back where you left off.

It really just makes me want to laugh that I was so worked up about it. Anyone ever feel that way?