Update on My Writing Life

So . . . I've been a little busy. In November, December, and January, I worked as an interim editor for a local magazine while their current editor went on maternity leave. It was nice to get back into the world of magazine production, and as a bonus, I had a crash course in the importance of digital content! I'm now taking on more content writing jobs, as well as working on one big health and fitness project, so the experience I'm getting is invaluable.

Here are a few of my recent blog posts:

About Writing and Publishing:

Book Review of Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon

Creating Visuals to Accompany Blog Posts (Like the one on the right!)

Spotlight: A Must-See Film for Writers

5 Apps for Writers

Out and About in Charlotte, NC:

5 Places to Work Out with Kids in Charlotte 

5 Places for a Fun Mom Night Out in Charlotte

5 Places to Bounce With Your Kids in Charlotte


*Coming up in the next week, I'll tackle the revisions on a YA novel (like a boss project manager) I wrote during NaNoWriMo ages ago. Stay tuned for updates!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I celebrate the last year of my 30s. I get to spend the afternoon cheering my 6th-grade daughter on at her second cross country meet of the year, where she was the honor of representing her school as one of the Top 10 female runners. That's a pretty great gift, in my book!

Next year I plan on celebrating the next big milestone somewhere tropical, with fruity drinks and a few of my closest friends. But for this year, I decided to focus on some of the highlights of my past year. Here are just a few I came up with:

• I took the first ten pages of my YA novel, Between, to the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Carolinas Conference, where I received positive feedback and encouragement from a fellow YA author and a respected literary agent.

• I hunkered down in November and cranked out the rough draft of a second YA, tentatively titled Under My Skin.

• As a blog tour manager, I assisted ten authors with virtual blog tours through WOW! Women on Writing, resulting in new friends and professional relationships.

• I contributed 25 blog posts to WOW! Women on Writing, along with several interviews with writers.

• I wrote nine articles/profiles for Lake Norman CURRENTS magazine.

• I wrote numerous pieces of content for Little Ones Magazine, along with editing duties.

• I completed the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Summer Reading Challenge, putting in more than 30 hours of reading this summer.

• I took some fun trips with my family, to places like Boone, N.C., Carolina Beach, N.C., and Hilton Head Island, S.C., resulting in memories like these:

And a fun night at an Ingrid Michaelson concert!

 So . . . I've been a little busy. It's been great, and I look forward to the new opportunities this next year will bring.

Greatest Hits from 2014

My 8-year-old son summed it up the other day when he was reminiscing about the New Year's Eve party we attended with family friends last year.

"Wow," he said. "2014 really flew by, didn't it, Mom?"

Exactly. I know I say that every year, but this year truly did fly by, and not without its up and downs. Our family faced its share of adversity, from the back windshield of our SUV shattering right before we had to drive home after a week's vacation at the beach to a pretty devastating job loss. I won't get into it all here, as I covered it pretty well in this post at WOW! Women on Writing, but on the eve of New Year's Eve 2014 I can't say I have too much to complain about as far as my writing career. Here are a few of my "greatest hits" from this year. (For a glimpse of me a year ago, see this post.)

Non-Fiction Writing
I continue to work as editor of Little Ones Magazine (recently celebrated three years!) and write regularly for Lake Norman Currents and Today's Charlotte Woman. I've come so far since working on the very first issue, but I know I still have a lot to improve upon.

Fiction Writing
This is probably where I've made the most strides. I'm almost done with the latest round of revisions on the YA novel I've been working on for the past few years. I took it to the SCBWI Carolinas Conference this past September and got some wonderful feedback on the first 10 pages from a YA novelist and literary agent, which really boosted my confidence. I hope to begin putting together an agent wish list in the next two months and start the submission process. I still need to work on revisions for my MG novel, and those are going to be pretty massive, so that's been put on the back burner for now. I participated in NaNoWRiMo 2014 and completed 50,000 words of a NEW contemporary YA novel. I'm super excited about this latest one and can't wait to get back to work on it.

Blog Tours
I continue to work as a Blog Tour Manager for WOW! Women on Writing, and a spectacular job it is. I've met so many authors I probably never would have met and formed some great relationships and professional connections, not to mention had opportunities to review and promote some fantastic books!

Blog Posts
I contribute to The Muffin, the blog for WOW! Women on Writing, and had the chance to get nice and creative this year. Here are a few of my favorite posts.

ADWD (Attention Deficit Writers Disorder)
Why I Love My Job as a Blog Tour Manager
Preparing Your Author Platform
Literary Heroes

Honestly, I can't wait to see what lies ahead in 2015!

Back to School for Writers and Other (Hopefully!) Helpful Blog Posts

My kids started back to school this week so I've been working hard to get things checked off my writing/editing to-do list and clear the pile of paperwork on my desk. Speaking of my desk, I recently repainted my office a much lighter, more cheerful shade, and it's hard to believe how much more time I've been spending in here since then! The old color was an earthy olive, and while it was nice and very traditional, it didn't make for the most inviting writing space, especially at night with no overhead lighting. Oh, and on a whim, I picked up one of those cool wall decals from Target for a little pop of inspiration (see photos above).

In lieu of a regular post, I wanted to share some of my guest posts from WOW Women on Writing's Muffin blog, including one I wrote last year around this time:

As the mother of two children in elementary school, the past few weeks have been a little crazy with back-to-school clothes shopping, purchasing and sorting school supplies and meeting with our new teachers to discuss expectations for their learning this year. Read the rest here.

Other recent posts:

Did you travel anywhere fun this summer? Find out how I make the most of my vacations by turning trips into article queries and assignments.

Remember that Facebook game "25 Things You Don't Know About Me?" I broke it down into ten things for fun.

Greatest Hits from 2013

I've been mulling over what my writing goals will be for 2014, as I'm well aware that I need accountability in order to do what I actually say I'm going to do. I've read a lot of great posts lately regarding the best way to set up those goals, but while I get organized I thought it might be fun to look back at some of my "greatest hits" from 2013 to get me motivated! Here's a peek at what I was up to:

Magazines

I'm continuing to work as editor of Little Ones, a bi-monthly parenting magazine based in Charlotte, NC. We put out some great issues this past year and I was blessed to make the acquaintance of many  area families and businesses, as well as work on some great human-interest and travel stories. Here's one of my recent articles.

Fiction

I worked on polishing up a flash fiction piece, In the Depths, for the WOW! Women on Writing Fall 2012 Flash Fiction contest and found out my entry placed in the top ten stories in March 2013. I was so excited to actually get recognition for a piece of fiction and it gave me a boost of self confidence that I needed to keep writing. You can read my finalist interview here.

Not long after that, I answered an ad for a blog tour manager with WOW! Women on Writing and got the job! I now work with two other lovely ladies, Jodi and Crystal, helping authors promote their books via virtual blog tours. It is such a joy meeting and working with authors from different genres and learning more about the publishing industry. It's been a win-win situation for me!

I finished writing and editing my middle-grade novel, Camp Big and Bright, and am now querying agents and publishing houses. I also turned the first novel I wrote several years ago into a YA for National Novel Writing Month, and am now ready to begin editing!

Conferences

In April I traveled to Raleigh, NC to attend the Write Now! Conference and had a great time meeting other North Carolina writers and getting new ideas for the non-fiction writing side of my business. At the end of September I was fortunate enough to attend the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference here in Charlotte, where I spent two and half days immersed in everything agents, authors, queries, and writing for children. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back in 2014.

And a few of my favorite posts from The Muffin, the WOW! Women on Writing blog:

Dear Manuscript: It's Not You, It's Me

A Fictional Finale

What 80s Movies Have Taught Me About Writing

The Hunt for a Great Human-Interest Story

What are some of your "greatest hits" from the past year?