Zoe Ashwood's Blog, page 7

My Writing Plans for May-June-July

What I want to do in the next three months.

April is coming to an end and while I haven’t achieved everything I wanted to during Camp NaNoWriMo, I made some really good progress. I was picked as a runner-up in the #RevPit contest, winning a query and first chapter critique, which is pretty damn cool.

 

Today, I’m sharing my plans for the next three months, because I feel like if I write them down in a public space, I’ll be too embarrassed not to fulfill them. It’s just how my brain works.

 

Participate in Camp NaNo in July (doing one or more of the points below).
Submit my paranormal romance WIP to Carina press's call for proposals (by June 4).
Send five queries for Deliciously Yours to agents every other week. 
Write two blog posts a month for zoeashwood.com.
Start plotting a completely new project & have fun with it.
Prepare a manuscript (probably the paranormal romance but who knows) for Pitch Wars.

 

These have all been broken down into smaller, more manageable bits, but this is the rough outline of what I want to do. For example, I'll need a query letter, a synopsis, and polished first three chapters for point #2. I think these goals are doable, but they might change if life interferes. 

 

Is it better to pick safe goals that you'll definitely fulfill so you can feel more accomplished? Or do you pick goals that are harder to achieve to really push yourself? I'm always making really convoluted plans. I hope I'll be able to stick with these. :)

I'm a Writer, Did You Know?

I still haven’t told people in my “real” life that I write. I know some people tell everyone they’re writers before they even finish the first draft of their debut novel. I admire them immensely. I know others never tell anyone, even after they’ve been published. I understand them, as well.

You might not know this about me, but Zoe Ashwood isn’t my given name. Oh, who am I kidding, of course you know. But you might not know that I didn’t just pick this name to fit the genre I write (contemporary romance), I picked it to protect my real identity. It has been more than a year since I decided to seriously pursue writing as my second career option (supplementing that of translator), and I still haven’t told people in my “real” life that I write.

 

I know some people tell everyone they’re writers before they even finish the first draft of their debut novel. I admire them immensely. I know others never tell anyone, even after they’ve been published. I understand them, as well.

 

Of course, my husband knows. He’s been incredibly supportive and even built this website. My younger brother knows, because he helped design it. But until very recently, nobody else knew about this incredibly important part of my life.

 

I have more than nine hundred followers on Twitter, I interact with fellow writers and readers every day, I participate in writing events, I write this blog, and when asked, I say that I’m a writer without reservations. But all that happens online, behind the safe facade of Zoe Ashwood.

 

Last week, though, when I was getting ready to do the final edits on Deliciously Yours, I accidentally sent the entire manuscript to one of my oldest friends. I meant to send it to my husband, but Gmail was being stupid and I clicked the wrong address.

 

And I freaked. Out. I immediately sent her another email, saying I’d made a mistake and that she should just ignore the email. But then I spent an hour agonizing over it and finally sent another email in which I begged her not to tell anyone about the book. Now, I probably sounded like a crazy person, but (being the cool friend that she is), she assured me she wouldn’t even open it but expressed interest in the matter. And that was it. I said I’d tell her everything when we meet again, and that’s what I indend to do.

 

Her calm reaction was completely different from what I expected. I’m not sure if it has to do with writing romance, specifically, but I was prepared for reactions of the smirking, ridiculing kind. And I might still get those from stupid, unimportant people. But my friends are my friends for a reason - they are kind, open-minded human beings and they deserve to know this huge secret I’ve been keeping.

 

I met another old friend just days after this email fiasco, and I told her all about my writing (after sweating through an hour of conversation about other things first). She was curious and supportive, and generally made me love her even more. So now I’m on a mission of sorts to slowly start telling people in my “real” life about my books. Slowly. I still haven’t told my parents, who are the people responsible for my love of books!

 

It’s time. It might have to do with the fact that my debut novel is nearing completion and I’m about to start querying. I printed the entire thing out and seeing it on paper made it so much more real somehow. But I know it’s time.

 

Wish me luck!

Zoe

Recent Romance Reads #1

The steamier, the better, right? These are some of the best romances I've read lately - and you can trust me, I read loads of romance.

Being a writer means being a reader. So I can say (without stretching the truth too much) that reading romance novels is research for me. Okay, fine, so I mostly read romances for pure pleasure but I've come to appreciate good craft. I'm becoming increasingly irritated with some romance tropes (slut shaming in particular), so these picks are what made it past some serious filters. These are all contemporaries - I've been on a contemporary binge lately, though I usually read a lot of historicals. If you're looking for feel-good reads, you're all set. Links lead to Goodreads.

 

It Happened One Wedding  by Julie James - this is the fifth book in the series but I didn't read any of the others and it wasn't confusing or anything. I liked that the protagonists weren't all that young and the banter was fantastic.
Agnes and the Hitman  by Jennifer Crusie - hilarious. If you've read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich or if you just like some mafia (or flamingos) with your romance, this is the book for you. I loved Agnes and laughed out loud with this one.
Someone Like You by Lauren Layne - this series should be read from the beginning, I think. Lauren Layne can do no wrong in my books and the Oxford series is fantastic!
How Not to Fall  and  How Not to Let Go  by Emily Foster - these two should be read back-to-back. The story of Annie and Charles doesn't end after book 1, so be warned. This easily made my top ten romances of all time, people.
The Year We Fell Down  by Sarina Bowen - this is a New Adult series and it's one of the best I've read. I hate NA books with too much artificial angst but Bowen really knows her stuff. I binged these and I'm definitely re-reading them soon.
Act Like It by Lucy Parker - ohhh this one was great. It has a bad boy who isn't obnoxious and an enemies-to-lovers plot that I just love. I've already re-read it once and it's still just as good. I can't wait for Pretty Face, which comes out soon!

 

Have you read any of these? What romances have you enjoyed recently? Anything I should add to my TBR list? I'd love to hear from you! 

Hello, 2017!

My writing resolutions and plans.

Hello and happy new year! 

 

How are you finding the first week(s) of 2017? My whole family has come down with a bad mix of colds, ear infections, and even pneumonia, so we're stuck inside, drinking loads of tea and just trying to breathe most of the time. But we're slowly on the mend (hopefully), which means it's time to start implementing my new year's resolutions. 

 

I want to share some of them here with you - the ones that concern my writing and this site - so I'll hold myself accountable. It's a trick I play on myself, practically shaming myself into completing as many of the resolutions as possible. Not the healthiest of habits, I know, but it's a powerful motivator for me. I know myself well enough to be reasonably sure I won't be too stressed if I don't complete all of them, but writing them down in a public space where others might see them will make me try harder. So here they are:

 

I want to

edit  Here to Stay  until it's finished and ready for querying (preferably by February 28).
edit my second WIP (a paranormal romance I mentioned) and plot the story arc of the series. 
have at least two critique partners read the second WIP.
blog twice a month here at zoeashwood.com.
start querying Here to Stay in March. 
keep up the Facebook group Edit & Repeat.
step up my social media game.
participate in all three NaNo events (Camp NaNo in April and July and NaNoWriMo in November).
be a better critique partner and not take months to critique a novel.
keep my new #writechain going (currently at 69 links; previous best 164)
possibly write the first draft of the sequel to Here to Stay. 

 

Now, I know this might seem like a lot but most of the goals overlap in some way or another (for example blogging here more regularly will help me get more content to share on my social media). These are my stretch goals and if I achieve them all, I'll definitely feel like a boss.

 

Here's to a great year of writing, blogging, and getting to know more writers and readers! 

 

What are your resolutions and plans for 2017? I'd love to hear from you!