iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Me at the start of 2024 / me at the end of 2024

Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

I picked up a new craft book on Saturday, and my youngest daughter gifted me a journal she bought on the Isle of Skye last summer. This book "The Way of the Fearless Writer" is just what I need right now to kickstart my stalled writing practice :) #WritingCommunity #MiddleGrade #KidLit

Photo of a writing craft book: The Way of the Fearless Writer: Mindful Wisdom for a Flourishing Writing Life by Beth Kempton.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 10/02/2024

Put together a mood board for my latest Middle Grade story which is set in 2 watery places that are very dear to me - Deep Creek Lake in Maryland & the Worcester and Birmingham Canal where I lived on a narrowboat many years ago - the photo is of my old boat Joan :)

Six pictures - a small pond inside a tree stump, a water dragon on a piece of wood, two kayaks, a map of Deep Creek Lake, a photo of Narrowboat Joan, and a tree stump in the middle of a lake cove with plants growing on it.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 11/12/2023

Oh, the satisfaction of writing THE END on a 1st draft. My motivational turtle and fish are looking colorful and complete. Time to celebrate before diving into my favorite part of writing-revising and editing 😍🥳🍻 #WritingCommunity #AmRevising #KidLit #MiddleGrade

Hand drawn fish with 101 scales colored in to show 50,500 words written

Hand drawn turtle with scutes colored in to show 30 chapters 1st drafted.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 08/12/2023

My 1st draft motivational fish and turtle are almost colored in! Three short wrap-up chapters and 3000 words to go on this #MiddleGrade story :) #WritingCommunity #KidLit

Hand-drawn black and white fish with 94 scales colored in.

Hand-drawn black and white turtle, mostly colored in.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 14/11/2023

Act 2's "done" (well, the messy 1st draft)! #NaNoWriMo got me to the 75% mark on this #WIP - 14,000 words in 14 days. Feeling happy, but a bit burnt out. Can't decide whether to plough ahead or stop and revise. I MUCH prefer revising... #WritingCommunity #KidLit #AmDrafting #MiddleGrade

Hand-drawn fish with 75% of the scales colored in.

Hand-drawn, bird's eye view of a turtle with 24 scutes colored in.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 01/11/2023

1018 new words written so far today AND cleared a path to my front door - looks like we got just shy of 2 inches - a balmy 30 degrees now, up from 23 this morning ❄️ #NaNoWriMo #MiddleGrade

Wooden deck half cleared of a 2-inch layer of snow

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 01/11/2023

Finally! I've wanted to put "Dog Vomit Slime Mold" into my #WIP since I saw it on a fallen tree on August 12 - photo below. Just managed to slip it into the chapter I'm writing for #NaNoWriMo #MiddleGrade #WritingCommunity

Yellowy-white blobs of Dog Vomit Slime Mold covering a fallen tree's rotten wood.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 01/11/2023

Woke to the white stuff this morning! Won't be sitting in my deck chairs any time soon ❄️🌨️☃️Great way to start NaNoWriMo - hunkering down to get some words written this morning! #KidLit #MiddleGrade #WritingCommunity

An empty wooden deck - with two deck chairs - covered in about 1.5 inches of snow.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 29/10/2023

Hit the Midpoint on my WIP! 49 scales colored on my motivational fish and met my 5000-word October goal. My chapter turtle is looking good too with 16 chapters drafted :) My dream for November is to mini-NaNoWriMo this 1st draft with another 25,000 words, but I'll settle for getting to the 75% mark!

Hand drawn black and white fish with 49 scales colored in greens, blues, yellows, and browns.

Hand drawn turtle with 16 scutes colored in blues and greens.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

I'm enjoying "The Rest of Us Just Live Here" by Patrick Ness :)

Book cover for The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

To celebrate meeting my Sept writing goals, I visited one of my favorite places today - Swallow Falls. I just sent my characters there for a day trip and a picnic in the book I'm drafting, so I took that as an excuse to spend my afternoon there too! #AmDrafting #WritingCommunity #KidLit #MiddleGrade

Panoramic view of the top of a waterfall with a happy woman stretching her arms wide. The trees are starting to turn into their fall colors and the sky is blue.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

39 scales colored on my 1st draft motivational fish = 10,500 words written in September, 19,500 total. I'm happy with my progress because I find 1st drafting so challenging. My chapter turtle is looking good too - each scute is a chapter. 13 chapters drafted :) #MiddleGrade #KidLit #WritingCommunity

Hand-drawn fish with black and white scales, and 39 colored in.

Hand-drawn turtle with 13 scutes colored in.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 14/09/2023

Happiness is… when you unexpectedly discover your airbnb is a 5-minute walk to a brewery :)

Sunset viewed from a picnic table in the front garden of a brewery

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 07/09/2023

Tell me where you're from with a food pic.

A plastic carton of fish and chips on a pebbly beach by the sea.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 06/09/2023

Saw a young black bear on the shoreline today...

A young black bear on all fours on the shoreline near some canoes

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 01/09/2023

18 scales colored in on my 1st draft motivational fish = 9000 words written in August. I was aiming for 10,000, but I am happy with the progress I've made. I've added a chapter turtle to help me with my goals - each scute is a chapter. Chapter 7 here I come! #MiddleGrade #KidLit #WritingCommunity

Hand drawn black and white fish with 18 scales colored in.

Hand drawn black and white turtle with 6 scutes colored in.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 30/08/2023

According to the Seek app, these are two Autumn Meadowhawks - just hanging out on my leg, doing their thing...

Two red dragonflies on white pants leg - one in front of the other, possibly mating.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 30/08/2023

Spotted this Eastern American Jack O'Lantern on today's walk and put my cap beside it to show how big it is. Such a bright orange :)

An Eastern American Jack O'Lantern with a baseball cap beside it to show how big it is. It's about twice the size of the cap and a bright orange fungus

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 20/08/2023

So true! It really works for me. Here are the COMPLETED motivational pictures for my previous books. Flowers were for my 2nd book - petals for chapters, the tree for my 1st with leaves for 500 words. I can't wait to have a fully colored fish :)

Four hand-drawn flowers in a vase with 32 petals colored in.

A hand-drawn tree with 100 leaves colored in to show 50,000 words written.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 20/08/2023

What's more magical than nature? Here's a damselfly emerging from its exoskeleton, 1st picture is what we saw on a tree stump while canoeing into a cove, and the second is when we returned about 30 minutes later. #whistpr

Damselfly emerging from its exoskeleton on a tree stump

Damselfly fully emerged from its exoskeleton on a tree stump

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 19/08/2023

Beautiful morning for a breakfast picnic with this view :) Water is my happy place. Home and ready to write now...

Woman with coffee at the end of a concrete jetty with tree-lined lake and cloudless sky behind.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 18/08/2023

Motivational fish for my new story. I color one scale every 500 words - REALLY helps me with the tough 1st draft. Nine scales colored :)

Black and white drawing of a fish with scales to color.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 18/08/2023

My two elderly dogs, Bonnie and Clyde, almost making a heart shape - excited to finally be on BlueSky :)

Two black lab/collie mix dogs together on a bed with their legs making a heart shape.

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Julie Shattuck @juliewrites.bsky.social · 18/08/2023

A beautiful, cool (70F) afternoon canoe trip in the cove near me. I never get bored studying the growth on these old tree stumps :)

3 half-submerged tree stumps with plants growing out of their tops.

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