Tuesday, 26 June, 2012
5

And the Roarin’ Twenties Chapter Critique Giveaway Winner is….

#DailyWings: “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” -Galileo*

And the winner of the Roarin’ Twenties Chapter Critique Giveaway is… *drumroll please*

Far Away Eyes

as randomly chosen by the random generator: 



Congratulations, FAE! As promised, the chapter critique includes: a reading and critique of any one chapter of a manuscript OR a short story (page limit: 20 pages). The critique will include an in-depth review, copy editing, rating, and suggestions – either over email or a Skype call (!). Please email me at wendyluwrites@gmail.com within the next five days to claim the giveaway.
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Friday, 22 June, 2012
12

“Flying High”: The Roarin’ Twenties Begins! (Blogfest + Giveaway)

#DailyWings:“Treat singlehood and your twenties as the time when you get to fall in love with yourself. If you look with loving eyes, you will find that your most loyal companion lies within you.” -TSM

When I stepped onto the airplane for my flight to Ohio yesterday, I thought this was going to be an uneventful quickie. I’ve been traveling for years, ever since I was a little girl, and the longest on-air trip (including a connecting flight) I have ever been on lasted for nearly 18 hours. I love it. I love flying. When I’m in the air, it feels like time has stopped and there’s nothing but me in the clouds. It feels like a dream. Yesterday, I found yet another reason to love airplane flights, but it was nothing I could have expected or prepared myself for.

On most flights, I take a window seat or aisle seat and bury myself in a good book or my journal. I’ll enjoy my plastic cup of cranapple juice and bag of salted peanuts, then perhaps take a few pictures of the clouds. This time on the connecting flight (to Atlanta first), I sat in the middle. Before I could whip out Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a middle-aged man wearing a dark-blue suit and carrying a business knapsack approached the seat to my left. Five minutes later, a short woman with curly brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses claimed the seat to my right.
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Wednesday, 20 June, 2012
6

What You See When Your Eyes Are Closed: Meditation and Writing

#DailyWings:“‘Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” -Stephen King

The funny thing about the end of summer school is that, after an intense three weeks of studying and fast learning and exam-taking, everything slows down and suddenly you have a wide space of time lying before you. 

Yesterday, I went to the interfaith chapel that is connected to the local hospital and spent five hours in one of the meditation rooms. I almost never see anyone in the chapel, even though it’s a beautiful and peaceful place to spend time alone, reflecting. The meditation rooms are low-lit and set at cool temperatures. 

Doesn’t this look lovely? 

Now, I don’t really affiliate myself with any religion. To me, religion is deeply personal and individualized because it makes up your entire belief system and spiritual views. No two people’s religions are alike, no matter what name you give it. And so even though I don’t go to church or attend religious activities regularly, I still try to find the time to meditate. 

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Monday, 18 June, 2012
4

Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Breakout Party and Other Literary World News

#DailyWings: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” -Christopher Reeve

blog_breakthrough
Happy Monday, everyone! I am officially done with summer school and ready to relax, travel and have some fun until August! In other great news, today is Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Breakout FREE Kindle Download Party! Woohoo – bring out the chips and soft drinks and dance music! *parties like a rockstar* 

Be sure to check out his copy of Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan – you can download it for free! 

Without giving away too much (you know I hate spoilers!), here is a shortened summary from Amazon: 

Breakthrough, the first book in the Adventures of Chase Manhattan series, begins with a big bang and offers the audience exciting, unique, and diverse heroes and villains. The result is a fresh suspense thriller series integrating elements of greed, betrayal, passion, lust, unconditional love, coming of age, and hope. The action is swift. There are numerous red herrings, twists and turns, that will keep the reader turning the pages and wanting more.

Sounds like my kind of novel! Thanks Stephen for such an awesome giveaway! In other news, Deana Barnhart  recently got signed with a literary agent, and Ruth Madison has founded a new publishing company dedicated to novels about heroes with physical disabilities. If you’ve got a manuscript that fits this criteria, check out the guidelines here.
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Thursday, 14 June, 2012
22

Announcing: The Roarin’ Twenties Poetry Blogfest + Chapter Critique Giveaway

QOTD: If you could go back and (re)live through an entire decade in history, which decade would you choose and why?

There are officially 8 days left until my 20th birthday! Huzzah! One would think turning 20 wasn’t as exciting as turning 21 or 18, but in China decades are huge turning points in a person’s life. I mean, I consider this past decade (Year 10 – Year 20) to be the Decade of Rebellion. I wonder what this next decade will bring?

To celebrate my second decade of being alive, I am hosting The Roarin’ Twenties Poetry Blogfest. This calls for another: “Huzzah!” The last blogfest I hosted was Inanimation 100-Followers Blogfest back in May 2011. Over 15 bloggers participated and it was one of my favorite blogging experiences ever. I’ve wanted to host another for a long time – and so here we are! I’m not very good at writing poetry, but I still write with words – I am writer. But I’ve decided I’m going out of my comfort zone for this one, because isn’t that what part of being a writer is all about? Challenging yourself? Who’s with me?

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Tuesday, 12 June, 2012
8

Templates for Story Outlining

#DailyWings: “Do not be concerned that you lack an official position, but rather concern yourself with the means by which you might become established. Do not be concerned that no one has heard of you, but rather strive to become a person worthy of being known.” -Confucius, Analects 4.14

I’m not big on the realms of religion and philosophy, but we’re studying Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy in one of my summer classes and I came across today’s #DailyWings quote in the Confucius section. During my ROW80 and JuNoWriMo journey so far, I have noticed something. The less I write, the more self-conscious I become and the less focused I am on my work. But the more I write while “in the zone,” the less concerned I am with the prospects of publication, fame and other ridiculous things. Instead, I write for writing’s sake, for portraying the truth genuinely as life portrays it every day for us. I care more about the story and about the characters than anything else at that moment.

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Thursday, 07 June, 2012
6

ROW80 Days: Hello, June!

#DailyWings: “I’d rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy permanent planet.” -Jack London

Alas! Is it June already? I know my posts often include exclamations of how time flies, but this exclamation is particularly significant because June is my birth month. In a little over two weeks, I will turn 20 years old. My reaction: O_O

Ha. Um, what? That’s two decades of my life right there! I used to think birthdays were the best ever, and that no matter what your age is, the day you were born and came into this world should always be a reason for celebration. Don’t get me wrong – I’m still excited, but I’m a little afraid too. Technically I qualified for “grownup status” almost two years ago, but somehow the age 20 solidifies the new period in life that means real world. Responsibilities that require good decision-making. The job market. It’s like I’ve been living in a bubble my whole life, and all of a sudden that bubble is going to be pricked with a needle. Pop.

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Friday, 25 May, 2012
7

ROW80 Days: Quick Check-In

QOTD: What basic human need would you rather give up and be void of – sleep or food?

To answer my own Question of the Day, I’d rather be eliminated of my need to sleep. That way, I could get so much more done and could work day and night. Everyone has a “peek hour” in which they feel most productive after all, and mine is unfortunately after-hours. Besides, food is my guilty pleasure. I live to eat–not the other way around! 

Since I just had an exam today in Asian Philosophy, I figured it would do me good to take a break from work and actually blog a ROW80 Days check-in like I promised I would. During the summer, at first when you’re in class it doesn’t seem like the class is being rushed. In fact, pacing seems almost as normal as it usually is during the regular school year–until you go back to study your notes and realize just how much you guys have covered! So much content, yikes! Welp, that’s how I’ve been feeling lately. Three more weeks, guys, just three more. 

I have not be able to write as much as I would like, but I get in words when possible. I have made progress on the T-Project, I promise! Here are my ROW80 Days writing goals for this round (which is just halfway over!):

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Monday, 21 May, 2012
2

Lightyears Pocket Watch xoxo

QOTD: What is your favorite wearable accessory?

I grabbed some frozen yogurt on Franklin Street today with a dear friend of mine. I got red velvet cake flavor + Oreo flavor + chocolate chips. Yes, red velvet cake froyo! It actually wasn’t that bad…on the other hand, the froyo guy gave me way too many chocolate chips! I know you must be thinking, how is ‘too many chocolate chips’ even possible? Trust me, it’s possible! I feel compelled to create a funny analogy, but the thing is, I have nothing to compare a mountain of chocolate chip froyo to…

After froyo, we stopped by Lightyears, a cute jewelry shop that has every type of jewelry imaginable and some really quirky items too–like Lip Service Mustache Picks. My friend (shout-out to Jingyi! <3) got me this beautiful gold pocket watch necklace for my birthday (even though it’s still a month away!).

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Saturday, 12 May, 2012
13

ROW80Days: “The writing challenge that knows you have a life”

Yesterday, I spent an entire blog post talking about what this blog should be all about. After listing several (not all, but several) things in life that matter to me, I realized that a great place to redefine my blog identity is to start back at square one – what this blog is originally supposed to be. Well, if you’ve been following me for a while I’m sure you’ve come to realize that I am a writer. And obviously, this blog is – if anything – an open space to talk about writing. My literary adventures.

My relationship with writing is similar to that of an arranged marriage – the bond is inevitable, but the emotions are rather mixed. There are some days when I want to write so badly but other priorities (like studying, which is a totally legit reason for not writing, y’all!) take a toll on my daily word count. On other days, I simply procrastinate by reading addictive Jodi Picoult novels, cooking even though I don’t like to cook, downloading music and doing everything else besides writing.
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