What I’m Working on Wednesday (July 2nd)

Hi! So, so far my blog has been focused almost completely on books that I’ve read, am reading, or am planning on reading. This includes book reviews, quotes, battles of the books, books to movies, and so on. Which is great, since I love reading, and always have (hence the name). But recently, it occurred to me that I also wanted to add one of my other great passions to the site. Namely, writing. So I’m going to do some trial runs of What I’m Working on Wednesday for the next couple of weeks, where I give a brief little spiel on what I’m working on in the write-o-sphere. If I, or you guys, decide it’s lame, then I’ll stop, but for now, it’s a nice way of combining both writing and reading, I think.

What I’m Working On: This week, I’m working on quite a lot of things, actually.

Planning/Writing 

1. A subversive fairy tale retelling to submit to the Book Smugglers, who have opened a call for submissions. I’m in the initial planning stages of this one, and am thinking of retelling Rumpelstiltskin or the Little Match Girl. I’m having some trouble choosing between the two, because I have two ideas that I really want to try out, and either would work well. However, I think I’m leaning toward Rumpelstiltskin. I’ve started what would be the introduction to the story, and have shared it at the bottom of this post.

Writing

1. I’m in the midst (about 200 pages in) of a YA fantasy book set in an ambiguous time period, but with many aspects modeled after the 1700s. The book is about a girl named Anna, who has had the ability to steal memories from a young age. She is hired to steal some select memories from the heir to the throne, Prince Jaxon. Always one step away from exposure–and thus, death–Anna must confront how far she’s willing to go to protect herself and her future, especially when she finds that memories aren’t the only thing Mas wants to steal from Jaxon.

I’ve been working all across the board on this one, bouncing from scene to scene. Right now, I’m writing the scene where Anna first enters Jaxon’s mind, hunting for memories that don’t seem to exist…

Writing/Editing 

1. I’m nearly finished with a YA science-fiction that I’ve been working on for a while, taking long hiatuses before returning. I’ve given my novel the practice title of URBAN LEGENDS, although I’m still playing with different ones. At its core it’s science-fiction, but it reads more like an action fantasy. I won’t give much more away about it…yet, because I really love this book, and I want to finish it before I start talking about it, as to not jinx it. Most of the book is finished, but now I’m going back and filling in the parts that need filling in, and editing everywhere. I just erased the entire first two chapters, because I felt it started out too slow, and so now I’m remodeling. I get pretty neurotic about first chapters, because I know they are one of the most important parts of a book, and I want it to be perfect.

Writing Sample 

<Taken from the intro of my Rumpelstiltskin retelling>

One word.

Three Guesses.

What seems like a child’s game, but is so much more. They say that power is an illusion. That you are only as powerful as people think you to be. I, however, know this to be a lie. Don’t be surprised. Most things are. People didn’t think her powerful at all, but the truth was hidden somewhere inside those delicate, lily white hands, in that tentative smile at odds with the tears that glittered like precious stones in her eyes. This land is a fair one, but already things are changing. Trouble is brewing. Of her, and inside her. That baby will be the life or death of this kingdom. It’s up to me to make sure it’s the former.

Game on.

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So those are the projects that I’m currently working on, and the sample from my fairy tale retelling. What do you think? 🙂 

Do any of you like to write as well as read? If so, what are you working on? Let me know in the comments!