Thoughts on ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins @naturallysteph

Thanks to Penguin Canada, I was fortunate enough to read an early copy of ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I can't tell you how excited I was. I read it in a day.

As with everything Stephanie Perkins writes, ISLA is highly addictive and highly readable and highly romantic. (The author mentioned on Twitter that there was LOTS of kissing, and she wasn't kidding!) It was not difficult to read it in a day (the difficult part was telling Real Life to stop bothering me!)

There was so much to love in this book, from the setting (Paris! New York! Barcelona!), which was described in such fun and interesting detail, to the odd chemistry between a girl who has never been seen and a boy who is too used to being seen. I loved finding out the background of Josh and why he is the way he is, and why he was the way he was in ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. Isla was a sweet and endearing character with an unexpected side to her, which I loved.

I also have a YA romance set in Europe coming out this fall (FOREIGN EXCHANGE, Evernight Teen, October, 14). Interesting tidbit... during my many revisions of FOREIGN EXCHANGE, I had to whittle down much of the story that took place in Barcelona, and instead expand the part of the story that took place in Italy. I was happily surprised when I read the part of ISLA that took place in Barcelona, because it was as if a part of my book showed up in Stephanie's book. Our characters visited all the same monuments, had many of the same feelings about them. So fun for me to read!

I kept waiting for my favorite characters from ANNA and LOLA to show up, and hoping their appearances would be satisfying. I don't want to give spoilers, but I'll say that these characters were brought back perfectly in a very satisfying way. Stephanie Perkins is a character-wielding-genius!

Stay tuned, because I will be giving away my early copy of ISLA very soon in a very special giveaway. (I'll want to buy my own hardcover when it comes out, but I really want to share this early copy with another Stephanie Perkins fan very soon!)

End of June Check-In #WIPMadness

I know it's not quite the end of June, but I'm going to be away from my computer for the end of this week and beginning of next week. We didn't have an official host for this month, but YAY, we do for next month! Be sure to stop by Kim Baccellia's Blog to check in through July.

June has felt like a scattered month for me. I have gotten some stuff done - an online course mapped out and I've been working hard on my screenplay - but I haven't had a regular writing schedule in a while and I think that's what is leaving me feeling disjointed about the process. Now that school is done, I plan to schedule in some writing time and take off to a coffee shop a few days per week through the next couple of months.

How about you? How did June go and do you have any writing plans for the rest of the summer?

June Check-In #WIPMadness

I cannot believe it's June. JUNE!!! Where did the first half of 2014 go? Seriously.

We didn't have anyone step up to host this month, and I get it. It's a busy time, tying up different commitments with school and so forth. But let this serve as your little reminder not to forget about taking some time for yourself. Whether it's writing or in some other area, don't let this month slip by without finding some time to be creative. Believe me, that will make all other areas of your life go better.

So what's in the plans for this month?

For me, I have a lot of details to tie up for a course I'll be teaching and a book I have releasing this fall (eek!) But none of that is particularly creative. I'm slowly working away at paring down my first screenplay, but that, too, feels more like technical work than creativity. In my spare thinking time, I have been plotting out a new book I'm pretty excited about...so that works. My aim for June is to at least spend a little bit of thinking time on that project every single day this month.

How about you? Where will your creativity bloom this month?