Beautiful Books 2017: How's the Writing Going?

It's time for the next Beautiful Books, a link-up hosted by Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In. *throws confetti* Let's skip the introduction and just get to the questions, shall we?

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

Mental state: Good. This is a fun novel to write, being about Wonderland, so I'm having fun with it. When I get to book three, however, that might be a different story. *cue tears and evil laughter*

Novel: Going well. I'll reach 20K today. Like every year, I'm already panicking that I won't have enough story to reach even 50K, but like every year I'll probably do it just fine.

2. What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

Here's my first line-

"The Mad Hatter and I walked across the National Mall hand in hand."

If you want more, you'll have to wait until the book comes out. Or I need beta readers or something.

3. Who’s your current favorite character in your novel?

Celia probably is. She's so spunky and unwilling to admit defeat. And she's almost the opposite of me, so she's interesting to write.

But after her, I think my favorite character in this novel is Nobody. He's a tracker and a spy and I can't tell you much more than that without spoilers. He's pretty complex for a secondary character.

4.What do you love about your novel so far?

• Getting to write some chapters from the bad guys point of view. I've rarely done this before, and it's disturbing how fun it is.

• Writing a super confident (perhaps overly confident) character. My characters all have a tendency to be insecure at the beginning and have to learn to believe in themselves as they go, but Celia is learning a lesson of balance instead.

5. Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

To be honest, I make a lot of typos and mistakes, but the best one I remember right now was this one (it's only part of the sentence because I can't remember the rest)-

". . . and they were tired of writing."

It was supposed to be waiting, but my fingers made it come out all wrong. It was funny though.

6. What is your favorite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

It's hard for me to pick a favorite part to write. I like various aspects of all of them. The excitement of setting up the beginning. The twists and turns in the middle. The fun of writing the climax at the end. So I'd probably say I don't have a favorite part.

7. What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

I write best in the mornings while I still have a lot of motivation and energy. Most days I try to get my writing done by lunch. I also write best when I have music. It helps me concentrate. I don't exactly have a writing space, I just normally sit on my bedroom floor, so I won't show you a picture of that.

8. How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

I'm fairly private about my writing everywhere except this blog. The person that always knows the most about my novels is my sister because we discuss writing all the time. It's perfectly normal for us to talk about plot points or mention what part of the story structure a movie is at.

9. What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

Stubbornness and a desire to tell the story I'm trying to write. If I give up, no one will ever read it and I will never have the chance to share it.

10. What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

1. You don't need a degree or anything to be a writer. If you write, you're a writer.

2. Use Pinterest for inspiration. Once I accidentally typed in mages instead of mazes and came up with tons of cool stuff I could use for a story.

3. Take breaks. They keep you from burning out.

Let's talk! Do you have a secondary character you love in your novel? What's some writing advice you'd like to share? Tell me in the comments.