My weekend in a nutshell.

The weekends are truly never long enough, but Michael and I made it count even though we kept it low key. In short, this was my weekend:

I spent time brainstorming Manuscript #3 (which is not the sequel to M2) and drafted up the first chapter. I also began reading two books, one about wine, and the other on writing.


Poetry Cubes
 I also played with this handsome fella. I am sure he was glad when I left for work so that I wouldn't bug him anymore.


And Michael and I took a lovely walk to the local bookstore, drank some nice wine, and had a yummy family meal at his parent's house.

Perfectly cooked halibut over fingerling potatoes with a tarragon sauce!

Simple pleasures of life at its finest.

Momiji

It's been a while since Michael and I have gone to a new place for dinner! Michael remedied that yesterday when he made a reservation at Momiji's Sushi Restaurant and Bar.

What was really cute was the zen garden at the center of the restaurant. Lucky for us we snagged a table right beside it.


I'm more of a wine person, but decided to share a flight of sake with Michael.


I ended up loving the sake on the right. It was sweet and cool, reminding me of dessert wine.

Normally we go to town on nigiri when we have sushi but we opted for more of a roll night with calamari and miso to start.


The food was delicious. Being a first timer to Momiji, I knew I would be coming back for more once I finished. And what's a meal without dessert? Green tea tiramisu FTW! Michael's favorite from the Hiroki bakery.


This place was a solid 4 stars out of 5 for me. :) Check it out if you're looking for a great place to get some sushi rolls in Capitol Hill.

M2 Wrap-Up

From the movie 'Stuck in Love'
Above all, I am a hopeless romantic. I try to be a realist, but anyone who knows me, knows I am not. There's no fault in being a hopeless romantic though becuase it's gotten me to where I am now: finished with M2 (for now at least).

When I wrote the draft of M1, I knew something was off. It turned out horrible like most first novel attempts. Though I was passionate about being a writer, I wasn't passionate about the story.

M2 was different. I loved the story. I loved the magic. And I loved the characters. Though it was hard, I kept at it, revision after revision. It made me into a hopeless romantic again. Now that M2 has met my vision, it's time to submit to #PitchWars, and if that doesn't happen, time to query. I'm hoping I can find someone who sees my story and wants to build it up even more. If M2 has more room to grow, I would love the guidance to take it there.

In the meantime, here's a quick recap of M2's journey from start time to now:

  • Mid October 2013 - I started writing the first draft of M2 and finished mid December, clocking in at about 74,000 words in two months. You can read my lessons after the first draft here.
  • January 2014 - I began the second draft of M2 and finished by the first week of March. 85,000 words in another two months. Check out my M2 post here.
  • April 2014 - I revised my third draft for my YA workshop course at Hugo House. I was only about 2/3 done when the course began, but completed it a week after it ended in June. Draft three totaled approximately 80,000 words.
  • June 2014 through July 2014 - I worked with my CP's (critique partner) feedback and completed my fourth revision that I sent over to my beta readers.
  • Mid August 2014 - Completion of revision five based on feedback from Betas.

My Twin


Okay, she's not really my twin, but we get that a lot. She's actually older by seven years (not that she looks it). She visited me recently in Seattle. Since it was her first time here, we did every touristy thing imaginable. Normally I would bombard this post with tons of photos, but I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

Overall, I think she had a pretty good darn trip. Her favorite tourist spot was the same as mine: Chihuly Glass and Garden.


If you've never been, I highly recommend it. For me, the artwork here always inspires me to conjure up mesmerizing scenes like this into my writing.


Super Moon over the city from the Space Needle.


Just a few more months until I get to reunite with my twin and family again. Can it be Thanksgiving yet?


Beta Feedback So Far

As you guys know, the past three months I've been working diligently with my YA workshop critique partner to nail down my plot points and character motivation. Before leaving to Walla Walla two weeks ago I sent my fourth draft of M2 to four betas and my sisters to read. So in total I ended up with six readers! It was more than I intended since I didn't think my sisters would read it (but I am grateful they did!). As of now I've gotten feedback from 3 out of 6 and am expecting the rest of the feedback by Monday.

This is great news! It gives me time to polish up my manuscript before #PitchWars. And if I don't make it to #PitchWars, then I'll be ready to face the query trenches this fall.

Back to the feedback. Yesterday night I went out to dinner with Cristine to catch up and discuss my manuscript. Afterwards we came back to my apartment for wine and to hear Michael's thoughts on it too.


Along with my sister's notes I received this past weekend, there seems to be an agreement on a chapter that caused confusion and a desire for a more fleshed out ending. Thank the heavens, because these two main issues are totally fixable and won't cause ripple effects throughout the rest of the story or the subplot. Aside from other great little suggestions for tweaks here and there, I think the story line and pacing is pretty solid. So THANK YOU Dao, Cristine, and Michael. You have provided me with such invaluable insight and support. I can't wait to hear back from the other betas either as I know their comments will be just as important.

Since this is the first time I've shared my whole manuscript (not in a classroom/workshop setting), I just want to take a moment and smile until my cheeks hurt because this is a small victory. I can hardly believe that just a year ago I gave up on M1 and unplugged from writing for awhile.  Now in just ten months I've started a completely new manuscript (M2), gone through four revisions, and am now going onto my fifth revision before submitting to contests or querying.
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