Friday, November 5, 2010

Late start to NaNo--kind of . . .

Well, I'll be getting a late start, anyway. I took off the first week of Nov so I'll probably start writing NaNo-style on Monday. I'm not officially doing NaNo, but that's kind of how I write with my deadlines so I'll be writing in crazy-mode along with all of the NaNo participants.

Take the Reins was my first novel and it was a NaNoNovel, which makes me superproud to be part of the NaNo crowd. A lot of people don't like fast drafting and hey, whatever works, but it does for me and I love the spreadsheets and the thrill of getting the words down on the page to meet my (and my editor's!) deadlines.

I'll be working on CHOSEN--the Canterwood super special. It'll keep me from looking at my BlackBerry every 5 seconds to see if I've got a response to an exclusive that I sent to an agent. It's the first and only query then requested sub I've sent since Agent #1, so I'm anxious/excited/curious, etc., to be out in the field again. The type of novel I subbed is VERY different from Canterwood, so that's fun and challenging at the same time.

With Canterwood not on a bi-monthly schedule for the new set of books (after Chosen, anyway it'll leave me time to work on developing proposals for the YA ideas that I have. I still want to write tween books and will continue to do so if I'm lucky enough, but I also want to do YA.

Personally, things have been incredibly busy/stressful with life stuff, but I'm hopeful for a turn around for someone I love very soon. The events of the past few months have definitely put perspective and priorities in place for me and I never want to go back to the person I had been--the 24/7 workaholic. I *love* what I do, but personal issues have shed serious light on what's really important to me and I needed a better balance between work and doing things for/with people I care about.

ANYWAY . . . what's everyone reading? I just started ASH by Malindo Lo. Loving it so far! Share what you're reading!

PS: Team Canterwood, if you're reading this post, the e-mail address for Jess Ashley is for YA only related projects, so keep emailing me at jess_burkhart AT hotmail DOT com. Thanks! :)

7 comments:

  1. Hey!

    I'm starting Nano on Monday, too! I m doin' YWP!

    You?

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  2. Goodness, my daughter loves your books, and I'm an amature writer as well, so I do too. Keep going! ALL my friends range in the age of 25-32 and THEY love them as well! Great jobb!!!!!

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  3. Hi Jess!
    I'm 28. This is my very first NaNo project. I'm writing a story about horses, which I got interested in a few years ago. I don't ride, but I love writing about them! Anyway, I'm not reading anything right now but I just finished Splendor, the last book in The Luxe series by Anna Godberson, and my next book to read (after NaNo) is Whistlin Dixie in a Nor'easter by Lisa Patton. I actually started reading it a few days ago and it's really good!
    Good luck on your project!
    Jen

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  4. What is your new YA project? Or are you not saying?

    Good luck on your NaNo-ish project!

    And right now I'm reading BLACK HOLE SUN by David Macinnis Gill, although not sure how much reading I'll get done during NaNo.

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  5. Good luck Jess!!!!! ;-)

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  6. I just finished reading THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff! OMG I couldn't put this one down!!

    Happy writing! And good luck on your queries!

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  7. Good luck on your NaNoWriMo project.
    Um, I actually have some not-really-questions for you. I'm a big fan of your Canterwood Crest series and love to write myself, so I was wondering if you could give me some pointers and suggest some quality publishing houses?
    Thanks

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