I Need a Calendar

I almost turned off my computer and started turning on a Korean drama (because I'm weird and Hulu kept pushing it in my face) before I remembered what day it was. It's Monday! And not just any Monday, but eight days away from my book's release. I swear, I'm going to be the only person in history who's going to miss her own release date. I won't, I promise! I'll set eight thousand alarms before that happens.

But let's get down to why we're really here, shall we? Little note: I'm only doing two today, because the last three I want to be grouped into one. Spoiler maybe?

First up is Oskar Ambrose. As you can tell by that last name, he's Amory's older brother (fun trivia: when I started writing this, he was the second of four children, but the Ambrose family has been trimmed down considerably since). Never one to follow the rules, he is led by his heart, chasing after women he believes are the One. He eventually does find his happily ever after, and chases her to England, bringing his little sister with him. The fact that he brought Amory into the sickness that was running rampant on the boat they traveled on haunts him until the day he dies. When he's finally reunited with her, he promises himself to be a better brother, to make sure her life from that point on is filled with happiness and love. A tall order at the end of the world, but Oskar is not just any kind of man.

That reason is because of Gertrude Ambrose, his mother. Strong-willed and outspoken, she was never content just being a housewife. She made sure her children were strong and well-cared for, especially after her husband left. An immigrant from Germany, Gertrude keeps her traditions and morals firmly intact, and passes them down to her children. She is reunited with Amory in Heaven, much to Amory's chagrin. Not that the Ambrose siblings don't love their mother, but she is overbearing and needs control. Amory, slowly, realizes that her strength comes from her mother and that there are worse people out there that she could be like. Gertrude is loosely based on my own mother, in those moments where everything would fall to pieces and she would be the one gluing them back together as quickly as she could.

Short and to the point, right? Well, it's not only the Korean drama that's got me excited. Remember the Nano story I foolishly started? Now I'm at almost 20,000 words and I want more. The completely silly thing is that I can only write it during the day or when someone else is in the house with me (someone I know...creep), because I'm scaring myself. I don't know if that's a good thing or what, but I have to stop writing when the sun goes down. Meaning...I shouldn't even be writing this. I shouldn't be on Hulu or reading (Red Hill by Jamie McGuire...Go pick it up if you like zombies) or listening to music (Tim Kasher's Adult Film...Go pick it up if you like being utterly depressed and somewhat happy at the same time). But now that I've written so much and it's halfway through October...I have to start freaking out about what I should write for Nano. Lovely.

Oh, and if any of you reading this do Nano, look me up. My name on there is Amoryrose. More fun trivia: I put that in as my password, and I put it in the wrong place. Yay for being so absolutely brilliant that it's almost stupid sometimes.