What's Up Wednesday (55)

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!

WHAT I'M READING
VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab (aka Victoria Schwab in YA circles), which I've had pretty much since it came out, but it's taken me this long to start reading it. Loving it so far. Totally my jam.

I've also finished Issue 2 of ODY-C, a series I am loving more and more. The myth interpretations are great and the art is just trippy-beautiful. Speaking of comics, I'm also reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman Volume 2.

WHAT I'M WRITING
Stuff! Tinkering with my Cinderella story, and I know I shouldn't be, but I started a few exploratory scenes for a Shiny New Idea. I love the characters and the tone. I hope a plot takes shape. :)

1 Writing Goal: Finish the exploratory SNI scene.


WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Visual inspiration. After the SNI struck me and I decided I had enough interest in it to maybe develop it, I started a pinterest board just to get a better feel of what I wanted the world to look and feel like. The visual inspiration has helped me shape the world and mood of this possible new story. I think a mood board would work too, but that's something I haven't tried myself yet.


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

It's been a while since my last What's Up Wednesday post thanks to the holidays and the way January has been busy-busy. So here's what else I've been up to - other than stuffing my face and trying to get back into the swing of things.

For Christmas, my friends gave me a lot of cool things, but probably the coolest were the super geeky things Alz and the Sis got me. I am a huge U.S. History nerd, so I adored the history themed shirts the Sis got me - especially the Alexander Hamilton ones. Crazy talented Alz made me an Alexander Hamilton necklace!


Related to this Hamilton stuff, the biggest thing I've been up to is planning a trip to good ol' New York City at the end of February! It's been a few years since my last trip, and this year, I will have the pleasure of staying with Sarah, who has graciously offered housing. She was also the one who told me that there is an Alexander Hamilton musical!!! And basically, I have to see it or I will regret it forever. So, NYC!

I watched a ton of movies and finally convinced my friends to watch NBC's Hannibal, which remains my favorite show on TV. Glad more people seem to be discovering it / trying it out. Hopefully, this will mean higher ratings for it come season 3 this summer.

It's been a long time since I last vlogged and while it was fun, I'm not exactly super comfortable in front of a camera. Enter Megan Whitmer's #vlogagram, which is basically bite-sized vlogging. You pick a topic (or use Megan's suggested prompts below) and film a 15 second Instagram vid for it. You can find my vlogagrams on my instagram under #AliceVlogs.

Speaking of Instagram things, I've also recently gotten into the #candyminimal thing, which is a minimalist, candy-colored style of photography by Matt Crump. You can read his guide here.


And finally, here's a moment of geek chic and one from my overdue hair trim appointment.



What's up with you?


P.S. This 6 YA book giveaway is still going until the end of the month. If you're in the US or Canada, feel free to enter!