Back from Edits-Land and Into the Future

Abby says: YAAAY EDITS ARE DONE LET'S PLAY FOREVERRRRR!!!!

 Hello readers!

It has been one heck of a crazy summer, filled with trips, family visits, and, of course, my very first editing experience. As of, oh, two hours ago, the manuscript for Salt & Storm is officially off to copy edits and out of my hands, which is a crazy, surreal, amazing feeling.

First: I am really, really happy with how it turned out. I'm not sure what magical fairy-dust my editor sprinkled over those pages, but she took something that I was already very proud of and made it awesome. It was so exciting seeing how the story got reshaped and refocused, and although there were one or two (...dozen...) times that I thought I didn't know what the hell I was doing, everything finally pulled together.

And now, after thinking about this for weeks, my brain gets a few days to fall back into a shapeless mush, and the only things on my mind are what magnificent celebration feast I'm going to cook tonight and whether or not my dog still remembers me.

Which brings me to this little blog.

I've thought about where I want to take this blog in the future, and taking the summer off has been hugely helpful. A few things jumped out at me: not having to write a review a week has taken a lot of the pressure off reading. I'm reading more books that I love, I'm reading a broader range of books, and I'm focusing on aspects of the story that, since before I was writing for a review, I had been missing. As much as I've loved writing reviews, I've been a lot happier and less stressed without that deadline, and so, for now, I'm stopping writing reviews. You can still see what I'm reading at my "What I've Read This Year" link.

I started this blog because I wanted to write about YA in general, and I decided not to share much, if anything, about myself because I felt like I was such a newbie, my advice wouldn't amount to much. But now with three books under my belt, one being published, and another one on the way, I'd like to talk more about my experiences.

But, this blog doesn't feel like the place to do that.

Instead, I'm going to be blogging a lot at my sparkly new website (www.KendallKulper.com) and talking more about me as a writer, the things that interest me, and my experiences getting a book ready for publication and writing another one (also: gratuitous photos of my dog, recipes, furniture-building tips, and anything else on my mind). All my posts show up on my front page, or you can get the RSS feed here. I hope you check it out!

I'm not sure if I'll be updating this blog in the future, but I'd like to thank you all for reading, commenting, and sharing my posts. It's been great to get to know you and especially to hear that my posts made you laugh, think, or feel a little less alone. Thanks again, and happy reading!