Alisa M. Libby's Blog, page 21

back to work

Now that I'm back at work at Simmons, I'm reflecting on what I think was a successful writing "retreat". It's impossible to judge the quality of the writing I did – but at least I wrote. Completed a revision, just as I had set out to do.

There were a lot of things that made this break a success. I want to thank Tom for being patient when he came home to find me with that crazed-author-stuck-in-house-all-day-with-revision gleam in my eyes. Also, for getting me tea when my voice vanished...

tweeting up at ALA

The American Library Association mid-winter Conference was in Boston this year, so I met up with my YA chums on Saturday and we toured around the exhibit hall. We spent most of our time in the Children's/Young Adult book section, of course. It was fun to wander around and check out all those new releases (so many amazing books…) and I picked up two ARCs. How great is this cover for Donna Jo's new book? And My Life with the Lincolns immediately got my attention. I find the Lincolns...

just hit send…

This evening I sent my newly revised Nanowrimo book to my agent. Poof. Just like that. Well, not quite poof - there was a long pause before I hit "send."

Ideally he'll read it and tell me that it's worth spending time and effort on, that there's something worthwhile here, and he'll give me some ideas for a revision. Worst case scenario, he'll tell me that it's just not working and that maybe I shouldn't pursue it. I would prefer the first scenario.

The weird thing is that I really have no idea...

cut, cut, cut

Okay, yesterday I flaked out, intentionally: instead of reading my revision I went out to dinner and a movie with my sister. Badness! But she assured me that today I would be super productive, out of guilt. I think she was right.

Today I read my entire 64 page, single-spaced work-in-progress. I am now eating chocolate and peanut butter. Yes, these two things are deeply related. I'm still trying to gauge how I feel about this book. There are things I really like about it, and other things...

hello, insomnia

Usually my insomnia kicks in about mid-way into my time-off from work for writing. This time it waited until the final week, but it has hit me with a vengeance. I think that these last two weeks have been productive, but I don't want to jinx anything – I still have to reread my revision. I have one week left to get a lot done, so I could really finish up like a champ, right? A good night's sleep would help of course, but between my writing worries keeping me up late and the dog's complaints...

David Bowie's birthday

Today is David Bowie's birthday. I love his music. I also love that he's been willing to change and try new things over the course of his long and lustrous career. His music has really inspired me, and helped lift me from a creative slump. I listened to Heathen while writing the book that pulled me out of writer's block. I listened to Heroes to get myself pumped up for my first conference presentation at NESCBWI last year.

His album Hunky Dory is quite perfect, and his Bowie at the Beeb live...

writing day!

Today, Anna came over to the house and we had a writing day. We chatted about where we are in our projects at the moment (prognosis: stuck) then we wrote for a little bit before lunch. I was glad that we stopped when my stomach started audibly grumbling.

Over lunch (lo mein and sushi are good for promoting writerly thoughts, did you know this?) we talked about our writing goals for the year. I like the idea of having goals, but then I get all jinxy and I worry that it's like aiming too high...

a snag in the road

I had been planning on focusing on my new project this week, remember I told you that? I sat down with it yesterday, reviewed all of my notes and started writing. I wrote for a few hours, but by the end I was running out of steam – and, more worrisome, running out of stuff to write.

The reason I was able to forge ahead through my Nanowrimo draft in one month was because of the outline I had prepared – a bulleted list of scenes that would take place. But all I know about this story is that...

hello tiny margaret!

I haven't blogged since Tuesday, when I was stuck in the grumpies of revision. Time for an update: I managed to get through the whole draft of my Nanowrimo novel, nipping and tucking a bit here and there, rearranging things, cutting stuff out (which felt pretty awesome), altering characters, etc. Is it done? No. Is it better? Goodness, I hope so. My plan is that this next week I will focus on publicity stuff and maybe some first drafting of that other project that's been bothering me for a...

all work and no play makes alisa a dull girl

It's only Tuesday of my revising week, and I've spent much of today "unwriting": going over my draft and marking all the sections that are unecessary, repetitive, irritating, or just plain horrible. By the time I make all of these edits my 50,000 word manuscript will be approximately twelve pages long.

Rest assured, there are low moments in the writing of every book, where I turn to my manuscript and say "seriously, why do you suck so badly?" Natural, yes, but still cranky-making. Plus, I've...