When I said I would set aside my story for a little while so I could catch up on my life, I laughed right along with my brain, because we both knew that wasn't going to happen. Surprisingly, it has! I printed out a copy of AYLB at Staples (under $20 for the whole thing...I couldn't love that place anymore) and haven't touched it since I picked it up Monday. I'm getting through some of the library books I've been neglecting for the last few weeks, and I won't get around to editing until this weekend. Which means...what? Well. I'm in a gushing mood!
Cinder: Wow. This book blew me away. Honestly, I thought this was just a retelling of Cinderella, and since she's my favorite princess, it got me interested. While one could draw parallels to Cinderella, Marissa Meyer took it in a whole different, awesome direction! I sped through the last half of it, after dallying around with the first half, and promptly put my name in for Scarlet at my library. It's sitting on my desk as I write this, but I won't get to it until the weekend. What I most loved about this book was that it's set in futuristic Asia. Not a lot of YA books are set in far off places like that, and the future world that she created was scary, exciting, and amazing.
Ready Player One: Oh my goodness, definitely one of my favorite books. I read one review that said if you were a child of the 1980s, you'd adore this book. While some of the references went right over my head (mostly video games, I wasn't a gamer girl when I was a kid), it really made me yearn for my childhood and that beautiful time when MTV actually showed music videos and being outside was mandatory for children. The fast-paced, super-cyber world really kept me into it, and I'm debating whether or not to buy it, because I'm forcing my boyfriend to read it, too. Even if you weren't born in the 80s, you have the internet now, so you can look up everything you don't understand!
The Lords of Salem: I've been so freaking excited for this movie for about a thousand years now, so of course I would get the book, to whet my appetite and keep me sane for the month in between this and the movie. While I loved the story, I hate when famous people use co-writers who aren't very good. I could tell which parts were Rob Zombie's, and those were the better parts. Some of the writing was kind of clunky and stumbling, but what can I say? I was engrossed from beginning to end, mainly because I could visualize it all in my mind. I'm finally going to see the movie on Friday, so we shall see if it lives up to the one that's been playing in my head for the last month.
A Game of Thrones: All right. What can I say about this book? It took me about a month to get through because I was writing and because confusion settled in my brain whenever I started reading. There are way too many characters and I kept having to use this family flow chart I found online to keep track of everyone. I also spoiled a lot of stuff for myself, because I couldn't stand not knowing what happens to some of them, so that was my fault. But George R.R. Martin really created a beautiful world with some memorable characters. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be, but I'm totally cheering for Dany. She's insane and I keep forgetting she's only fourteen.
Beautiful Disaster: Okay, this is the book that made me want to gush. It's been sitting on my Kindle for a few weeks now, but I had to finish A Game of Thrones before I started anything new. I wasn't even supposed to start this until next week, but I got bored at work yesterday and began reading a few pages. Well, that turned into a hundred pages, so I finished the entire book when I came home. Good god, Travis Maddox is the hottest thing I've read about in awhile. Every time he spoke, even when drunk and mean, I melted a little. I could have done with Abby, she was a bit annoying at points and rude as heck to Travis, but their fighting and making up kept me reading. Some parts were eye-rolling (like *someone* getting a tattoo on their stomach...I mean, stomach, really? Gross), but, in the end, the story was sweet, and I'm excited to read more from Jamie McGuire (who I totally thought was a guy for the entire book until I reached the end and there was a picture of a very pretty blond lady!).
Now that the gushing is over, I bet you want to know how the Festival of Books was, right? Yeah, me too. We never made it. USC apparently doesn't understand how parking lots work, so we couldn't even get in. But I wasn't too depressed about it. We planted and read and hung out. It was a lovely weekend, even without the books. Hopefully a trip this weekend to the used bookstore can make up for it! Well, as long as I finish The Shining before this weekend. Oh, shoot, I better get reading...
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Celebrate!
Do you want to know the most beuatiful word in the English language? Good, because I'm about to tell you. Finished. Finished. FI. NI. SH. ED. How wonderful is that word?
Okay, technically I'm finished writing the story, but now begins the harrowing process of formatting, publishing, pricing, blah blah blah. I wish I could just press a button and a little guy pops up (much like the paper clip from the old Word) to do everything for me. Sigh. I finished writing last night, after a marathon of three hours (for one freaking chapter), and I started formatting the whole thing this morning around 8:30. I cleaned it all up for publishing at 9 tonight. Sure, I took a little six hour break in between that, for this ridiculous thing called work, but it feels as though I've spent years formatting this thing. First, the writing program I use doesn't translate well into Word. I had to go through and write "Chapter Whatever" at every. single. chapter. Luckily, there's only thirty-one chapters, but I went the old fashioned route and only wrote the number. Not too bad, right? Well, after writing the wrong number several times, I was about done. And then I showed my boyfriend, to ask his wonderful opinion. The lines are too far a part. Well, of course they are! Did he really believe that I wanted to be done doing my favorite thing in the entire world? Bless his heart, though, because it really did make a difference changing it from double spaced to one-and-a-half. Then I had to convert this thing to PDF. Only four times, that.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, this is it. I sent it in for proofing and I'll order my copy in a mere 24 hours. I'd like to say that I'm really sad leaving behind these characters, but, right now, if I see them again, it'll only be too soon. I get like this sometimes after finishing a really long, tough story for me, and then leave it for a few months. When I come back, I'm embracing them all like long lost relatives. We put aside our differences, the bad names, the horrible words, and then start the process all over again. Only this time...I feel good about this story. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but this is the fourth revision it's gone through in five years. It's completely new from what I started with, and, dare I say it, I'm proud of what I have. Now I have to do the scariest thing imaginable: hand it off to my boyfriend for his - gulp- opinion. But I'm going to do it. No matter what. He may have to rip it out of my cold, dead hands, but it'll happen. And then I won't feel as if this blog is for nothing.
So what does that mean for my writing days? Well, since my being finished fell at such an opportune time (the day before the LA Times Festival of Books), I've decided to give myself a little vacation. Maybe two weeks, maybe three. I'm not entirely sure. I should receive a proof in about six weeks, so maybe even that long! No, I have another story that's pushing itself out of my ears, so I should get started on that. Just a warning, though: this blog might be a little slow for the next few weeks. I've read some amazing books, so I'm going to have to gush about those, and then, of course, I'm going to brag and brag about the Festival of Books. I'm also planning on a whole post dedicated to All You Left Behind, so you people can actually understand what this book is about. Unless I change the entire story in the next few weeks. Never say never, right? (Sigh. Justin Bieber has ruined that phrase for me.)
Okay, technically I'm finished writing the story, but now begins the harrowing process of formatting, publishing, pricing, blah blah blah. I wish I could just press a button and a little guy pops up (much like the paper clip from the old Word) to do everything for me. Sigh. I finished writing last night, after a marathon of three hours (for one freaking chapter), and I started formatting the whole thing this morning around 8:30. I cleaned it all up for publishing at 9 tonight. Sure, I took a little six hour break in between that, for this ridiculous thing called work, but it feels as though I've spent years formatting this thing. First, the writing program I use doesn't translate well into Word. I had to go through and write "Chapter Whatever" at every. single. chapter. Luckily, there's only thirty-one chapters, but I went the old fashioned route and only wrote the number. Not too bad, right? Well, after writing the wrong number several times, I was about done. And then I showed my boyfriend, to ask his wonderful opinion. The lines are too far a part. Well, of course they are! Did he really believe that I wanted to be done doing my favorite thing in the entire world? Bless his heart, though, because it really did make a difference changing it from double spaced to one-and-a-half. Then I had to convert this thing to PDF. Only four times, that.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, this is it. I sent it in for proofing and I'll order my copy in a mere 24 hours. I'd like to say that I'm really sad leaving behind these characters, but, right now, if I see them again, it'll only be too soon. I get like this sometimes after finishing a really long, tough story for me, and then leave it for a few months. When I come back, I'm embracing them all like long lost relatives. We put aside our differences, the bad names, the horrible words, and then start the process all over again. Only this time...I feel good about this story. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but this is the fourth revision it's gone through in five years. It's completely new from what I started with, and, dare I say it, I'm proud of what I have. Now I have to do the scariest thing imaginable: hand it off to my boyfriend for his - gulp- opinion. But I'm going to do it. No matter what. He may have to rip it out of my cold, dead hands, but it'll happen. And then I won't feel as if this blog is for nothing.
So what does that mean for my writing days? Well, since my being finished fell at such an opportune time (the day before the LA Times Festival of Books), I've decided to give myself a little vacation. Maybe two weeks, maybe three. I'm not entirely sure. I should receive a proof in about six weeks, so maybe even that long! No, I have another story that's pushing itself out of my ears, so I should get started on that. Just a warning, though: this blog might be a little slow for the next few weeks. I've read some amazing books, so I'm going to have to gush about those, and then, of course, I'm going to brag and brag about the Festival of Books. I'm also planning on a whole post dedicated to All You Left Behind, so you people can actually understand what this book is about. Unless I change the entire story in the next few weeks. Never say never, right? (Sigh. Justin Bieber has ruined that phrase for me.)
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Slacker!
That is what I've officially changed my name to. I'm in the home stretch here, ladies and gentleman (or lady and gentleman, completely depending on who, if anyone, reads this), with only five chapters left. Yet here I am, still five chapters left, catching up on Once Upon a Time and reading eight thousand books at once (I think another gushing post is coming up, because I've read some real winner lately, no sarcasm intended). And I've picked the worse time to push this story to the side. In the next seven days, my boyfriend and I have four concerts to go to, and my birthday to celebrate (the big 3-0, or so I've heard people say over and over again). Then, next weekend, we're going to the LA Times Festival of Books, which happens to coincide with Record Store Day. I'm simply booked!
Since I work with kids who usually don't want to do their homework, I constantly point out that SpongeBob episode where he procrastinates on writing an essay, and that kicks them into gear. I wish I could say the same for me. On some deep, philosophical level, I'm sure that I'm procrastinating because I don't want to end this story, because the characters are so precious to me, but right now, I'm thinking about killing them all because I want to get it done! Maybe it's for the best if I walk away for a few days. Of course, I've walked away for about four days at this point, and I think that's enough vacation for me. And them. I can just imagine my characters frozen in place, wondering when in the heck their creator is going to get back them. How sad.
So here's me powering through. If I don't have this thing done before my next post, I'm quitting. Probably not, but that's motivation, right?
Since I work with kids who usually don't want to do their homework, I constantly point out that SpongeBob episode where he procrastinates on writing an essay, and that kicks them into gear. I wish I could say the same for me. On some deep, philosophical level, I'm sure that I'm procrastinating because I don't want to end this story, because the characters are so precious to me, but right now, I'm thinking about killing them all because I want to get it done! Maybe it's for the best if I walk away for a few days. Of course, I've walked away for about four days at this point, and I think that's enough vacation for me. And them. I can just imagine my characters frozen in place, wondering when in the heck their creator is going to get back them. How sad.
So here's me powering through. If I don't have this thing done before my next post, I'm quitting. Probably not, but that's motivation, right?
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Failure?
The first thing that popped into my head when I thought about writing this post was that I failed. I feel like I did absolutely nothing this weekend. Let me break it down for you: I watched Les Mis for two hours and forty minutes, and then discovered the wonderful world of Once Upon a Time. I'm not ashamed to admit that I watched all 22 episodes this weekend (okay, maybe a little ashamed). But then I took a look at the statistics and saw that I had written 10,000 words and completed about three chapters. So, look what happens when I'm left on my own!
That's really all that's been going on...and that's kind of nice. I'm reading A Game of Thrones, so I can finally get to the stupid show. All because I caught a glimpse of Kit Harrington and thought, hm, doesn't he look nice. Along with all the other lame shows I'm pretending not to like (Bates Motel, The Carrie Diaries, The Vampire Diaries, just to name a few), it feels that this book is never going to get done! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for before my birthday in ten days...Uh-oh.
That's really all that's been going on...and that's kind of nice. I'm reading A Game of Thrones, so I can finally get to the stupid show. All because I caught a glimpse of Kit Harrington and thought, hm, doesn't he look nice. Along with all the other lame shows I'm pretending not to like (Bates Motel, The Carrie Diaries, The Vampire Diaries, just to name a few), it feels that this book is never going to get done! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for before my birthday in ten days...Uh-oh.
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