Teaching Day 1

So day one of teaching is over, overall I had a pretty successful day. I would sum up my three different classes by saying that grade 5 was mostly quiet, grade 3 was the "rowdiest" and I put that in quotes because they weren't off the walls bad, just chattier than my other classes. Grade 4 had the most students but they were well behaved. I didn't have a problem getting students to participate and I think I carried off the lesson well, and hopefully explained things in a way they understand. Gotta say it was a bit of a throwback teaching them things like what is a sentence vs. a fragment and how to pluralize words; made me remember when I was learning those things. There were some painfully shy kids and some who raised their hands every minute to answer questions, but that's to be expected. I had an internal lol moment when I was trying to break the ice by asking one of my 5th graders what he likes to do and he said "sitting," I mean how blase is that lol.....or you know, maybe he just likes sitting. I found that I'm also an assertive teacher because if you give kids even an inkling that you're a pushover they will walk all over you. Now I'm going to review tomorrow's work and also try to think of fun exercises so that they don't fall asleep on me. So far I like teaching, let's hope it stays that way.

Teaching the Kiddies

So, I'm gearing up to start a teaching gig tomorrow. I will be doing part time work teaching elementary school kids writing. I'll have three groups: 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. Never taught kiddies before, so I'm excited to see how it goes, I've already got my lesson outlines for the next two weeks so I'm as set as I can be for now. I never had any aspirations to be a teacher, but I love to talk, especially if it's about something I know anything about, so I think I'll do just fine, pretty sure being a writer can only help me be a good teacher for these kids. All I'm hoping for is that they're as close to angelic as elementary school kids who have to take classes in the summertime can get. If they aren't....I guess anyone can be bribed with candy?

Reading vs Writing

The other day the thought occurred to me that what I love to read and what I love to write don't quite sync up. Not that I in any way think that because I read a certain type of book I should also write it, but I've heard before that writers should read in the genre they write as much as possible. I of course see the good in doing so, but if they don't, so what? My favorite genre to read is YA fantasy, but nowadays I find myself more drawn to writing adult fantasy, specifically Urban Fantasy. I say nowadays because it wasn't always that way. I started writing books at fourteen, so naturally the characters in my books through my teen years were also teens and the books were most decidedly YA. Last year was actually the first time took the plunge into adult fantasy, and of the twelve books I've written, the ratio of YA to Adult is still heavily in favor of YA, but I feel like that may change. I love reading YA fantasy because of everything it encompasses; the fantasy aspect, the angst, the romance, the conflicts. But when it comes to the stories that choose to write, I find adult fantasy to be more open to me, I love the dialogue I can come up with, the action, and I like writing romance that is more on an adult level. And yet...I don't read much of what I write? I find that strange, honestly, and I've long determined to do something about it, but all these YAs that I want to read keep coming out so what am I supposed to do? There are only so many hours in a day. Currently I am reading an adult UB, so go me! (Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton).

I don't plan to force a fight between what I like to read and what I like to write, but I think that I will be trying to broaden my horizons because it can't hurt. I just may need a bigger bookcase...

Going through the motions

Today is really hot....one of those days where you don't want to move because the slightest movement can cause you to burst into sweat. The heat also seems to dampen my motivation, though to be honest it's been pretty damp lately anyway. My mini boost has worn off; most days I find myself just wondering what to do with myself. It's not like there's a lack of things I can do - draw, write, paint, play video games, read, bake, go out somewhere, sew....it's just that I don't have much desire to do any of those things. I think I've run out of fuel a little; I've spent months working hard and plowing through various creative processes, for the love of it yes, but also in the hopes of reaping a little reward, but so far I am unsatisfied with where I am. Discouragement is only natural, I know, but man do I hate it. With my writing, I feel like I'm playing in a shallow pool of water...only flitting around with things but not getting anywhere deeper. I went for reading books in rapid fire to hardly reading....I did finish City of Fallen Angels and have started Fire, but my reading speed has slowed considerably none the less. New ideas for stories are few and far between...when they come I get excited about them for literally a day...then they fade out. Discouraging.

I'm going through the motions....wondering where I am in my life, how I got here, and where do I go now. I hate feeling like time is just passing me by, but that's sort of how I feel right now. I need a kick, some inspiration, some motivation...something to spark me to continue moving forward with the things I want to achieve. I think the only thing that would really work would be for some Really Good Thing to happen for me right now, then I'd regain myself and be more certain that success is in my reach. I know I am the only one who can make things happen for myself...but for now...I'm just sitting in a shallow pool.

Lately

A few weeks ago I entered a Pitch/first 250 words contest over atEbysswriter's Blog, which was judged by Gina Panettieri of Talcott Notch Literary Services. The winners were announced last night and though I did not win, I was one of four others who received an honorable mention (there were 88 entries overall). I have to say that honorable mention was a much needed boost to my otherwise waning morale; I've kind of been in a bit of a funk (constant rejections are hard to take!) and trying to find some motivation to keep plowing forward. I've entered my share of blog hosted/agent judged contests and never won, so I'm quite happy to gave gotten an honorable mention this time around. My post is here: Link

Otherwise, I'm not writing anything new yet, I have a few ideas but none of them have gripped me enough to start plotting a book. Reading wise, I'm on the cusp of finishing the fantastic City of Fallen Angels, but admittedly I've been dragging my hands with reading it because I don't want it to end! But I have four books on my bookshelf waiting for me to read, and more coming out soon, so I need to get on top of finishing it off.

Book List

Updating my book list with my most recently completed novels.

Currently Reading: Melissa Marr - Radiant Shadows

1. Cate Tiernan - Immortal Beloved
2. Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver & Linger
   
3. Carrie Jones - Need
4. Lauren Kate - Fallen
5. Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush, Hush
6. Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely & Ink Exchange
7. Cassandra Clare - City of Bones
8. Kiersten White - Paranormalcy
9. Melissa Marr - Fragile Eternity
10. Cassandra Clare - City of Ashes & City of Glass
    

The Waiting Game

Nothing is more fun (sarcasm) about sending out your queries and waiting to hear back about them. Sometimes I feel like the days are dragging on as I haunt my inbox for replies. Of course I know these things take time, but I can't help feeling anxious about it. My queries for my most recent book have been my most successful round of querying being that I actually received requests for partials, and one request for a full which I have not heard back about yet. It's also the novel I pushed the hardest with, meaning I didn't give up querying for it after sending nine queries and getting nine rejections. This time I've sent close to or more than twenty. I think I've come some ways with handling rejection, it doesn't really bother me as much as it used to when I see a rejection in my inbox, because the few requests that I have gotten have given me a boost of confidence that I'm heading in the right direction even if the partial requests haven't yet gotten me an agent. It means that despite the amount of rejections there have been agents who were interested in my book and that makes me feel good. So while the waiting game is hard, I have no choice but to endure it.

I've recently finished another novel, (adult urban fantasy), and having another novel to occupy my time always makes the query process/waiting game easier because it makes me feel like I'm not just sitting around doing nothing. It's also good to know that once I'm out of options for the novel I'm currently querying, I have another one waiting that could hopefully be more successful. I'm in my second round of edits, and admittedly that's been dragging a bit because I don't always feel up to working on it, but it's not like I have to rush myself.

In books, I'm almost finished up with City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, and after that I'm on to Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr.