NaNoWriMo Tag (November Book Wrap-Up)

I made it! I won NaNoWriMo for the second year in a row! Sorry that my wrap-up is a bit late, but honestly, once NaNo was over I just did not want to do anything for a while. I've been sleeping so much the past two days I'm pretty sure I don't know what "awake" is anymore. Anyway!

Writing
I wrote 50,115 words in 30 days during the month of November for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). My story was titled Jenkins and Smith and was my first attempt at crime fiction. It sucked, and I have no problem admitting it. But at least I tried, and - bonus! - Jenkins and Smith was the tenth book I've ever written. I've written ten books in my lifetime! That's crazy!

That was the only form of creative writing I did last month. I put "Worlds Collide" over on Wattpad on hold until December. My current stats for said book are as follows: 644 reads, 68 votes, and 36 comments.

Reading
Although November was primarily dedicated to writing, I still managed to read four books during my free time.

• A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (started October 23)
• Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix (started October 26)
• Talon by Julie Kagawa
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

A Canticle for Lebowitz was, quite simply, a masterpiece. I gave it five stars. Horrorstor was my first time reading in the horror genre, and it was a good choice for a newcomer. It was definitely creepy, but not overly so. I liked it. Talon was extremely hard to get a hold of, but it was totally worth the struggle. Julie Kagawa never ceases to amaze and she has definitely gotten me hooked on her newest YA Fantasy series. I loved Talon. I have not yet finished Androids, but I have enjoyed it so far and will be proud to be able to say I have read it, as it is considered a sci-fi classic.

The NaNoWriMo Tag

This tag was created by Kristina Horner on YouTube.

1) How many times have you done NaNoWriMo?

• 2015 was my third year doing NaNoWriMo and my second year winning.

2) How did you first find out about NaNoWriMo?

• I'm pretty sure I had heard of it before this, but the first time I remember really looking into it was when I was a senior in high school and I saw a poster advertising it in the English hall. NaNo is also the reason I found out about Kristina Horner, too, if I'm not mistaken.

3) What was the name of the first novel you attempted with NaNo?

• The first project I attempted with NaNo was Restless. It was going to be a TMNT fanfiction about Leo x Karai and Casey x April, but I never got past 10k words. I'm not proud of my first year with NaNo, but it is there anyhow.

4) Give us a one-sentence summary of what you're writing (or wrote) this year.

• Jenkins and Smith: Criminal justice student Bryan Jenkins and high school senior Wren Smith team up to stop a dangerous crime lord's human trafficking industry.

5) What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

• I believe it was Lauren Myracle who said: "I've always been told to write what you know. But I say, write what you like." The research and editing can come later.

6) Did you ever take a year off from NaNo? Why?

• Since beginning in 2013, I have never taken a year off from NaNo. I have not won all three years, but I at least attempted all three.

7) What's your biggest inspiration when figuring out what to write?

• My inspiration comes from everywhere. My inspiration for this year's novel came from Sherlock Holmes. My inspiration for last year's came from a video game series. My inspiration for my favorite novel that I've ever written (Follow the Raven) was a lesser-known video game with a beautiful protagonist (and I mean beautiful in the personality sense). I've also gained inspiration from other books, shows, and even just asking myself questions of "what if...?"

8) Read us the first sentence from one of your novels.

• "He would never have seen the murder if he hadn't been in desperate need of a cigarette." (From Jenkins and Smith, 2015)

9) Why do you love writing?

• Writing is the one thing I'm good at. It's the one thing I feel I can do well, something I can offer the world. I love creating characters and whole new worlds and dangerous villains and complex plots. I love all the mechanics of it as well as the pure, unadulterated joy that I gain from putting words on paper. I just love writing!

Again, I apologize that my November Wrap-Up is a couple of days late, but I consider myself to be in the "recovery period" of post-NaNo craziness right now. You can be sure to look forward to more regular blog posts this month! Happy Holidays!

NaNoWriMo 2015 Update #3

Wow! Thanksgiving Break has done wonders for my word count! When I got home on Tuesday night I was sitting at roughly 27,000 words, and now I am at 39,505. I can't believe I'm catching up! 50,000 is within sight! I'm actually going to make it! My challenge at this point will be filling up those last 10k words since I have already reached the climax of the story and am now in the denouement.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kristina Horner, a BookTuber that I follow. This is her tenth year doing NaNoWriMo, and for a while she was even further behind than I was in this year's endeavor. Despite the daunting amount of words she had to write to catch up, she has been determined all month long to make it to 50k and is now less than 10k to that goal. Her strong-willed determination to win NaNoWriMo has helped me feel encouraged throughout the month, even when it got to the point that I was 17k behind. Seeing her word count go up has helped me believe that mine could rise as well, and now both of us are going to make it to the finish line. So thank you, Kristina, for your encouragement this November.

I am currently at 39,505 words. And still going strong!

NaNoWriMo 2015 Update #2

I have not written a whole lot since my last update, and I completely blame college for that. Thanks to a test I was unprepared for, a book review that is due tonight that I still have not started, and a speech I have to give on Thursday, my time has been directed at other things this past week. I am currently 11,000 words behind in NaNoWriMo right now.

It also didn't help that I had a bad case of writer's block. I initially had planned for my story to kind of be in two parts, but once the first part was over and I entered the limbo when I introduce the next plot, I crashed into a cement wall and had to start digging through it to get to the other side and keep going. Fortunately I seem to have organized my thoughts a bit more and have now started down a newer, more exciting path than I thought I'd be taking. My novel's genre has also changed a couple of times over the course of this week, but I think it has mostly settled on thriller/suspense.

What encourages me is knowing that Kristina Horner - my role model in all things books - was even further behind than I am and is now catching up rather quickly. If she can do it, I can do it. I can still hit 50k.

I am currently at 17,136 words.

NaNoWriMo 2015 Update #1

The irony of my writing this blog post right now is that I am actually at a write-in, which is specifically designed to help participants focus on their stories and get words written down. In the past hour I have written all of 400 words (if that), and it's because there are two other people here with me - both boys - and they are playing their music very loudly and muttering to themselves and it is very distracting when I am the type of writer that needs total silence to get things done.

So, in light of this situation, I thought I'd at least do something productive and tell you about how NaNoWriMo has treated me so far.

I wrote 6,000 words on the first day, which was awesome. (I also only got three hours of sleep before teaching the pre-school class at my church, but y'know...sacrifices must be made.) Then I wrote a little over 2,000 words the following day, putting me three days ahead. After that I kind of slowed down a bit, writing a few hundred words here and there. On Thursday I got sick, so I only wrote one sentence. The next two days were just plain busy. My goal was to hit 15,000 words today (since that is where we are ideally supposed to be), but with the way this write-in is going and with work less than an hour away, I highly doubt that is going to happen. Maybe next time.

I am currently at 12,558 words.

Inside Out Book Tag (October Book Wrap-Up)

I am now 20 years old, NaNoWriMo 2015 right around the corner, and I have a ton of things to do before midnight (this is one of them). So here we go!

Writing
I did get some writing done this month, but not much. I wrote and posted chapters four and five of "Worlds Collide" over on Wattpad, and my hope is that I can get chapter six done sometime before midnight so that I can post it on November 2 before taking the rest of the month off. Despite recent struggles, the story still seems to be doing well with 441 reads, 54 votes, and 25 comments.

I somehow managed to get some basic outlining done for NaNoWriMo. Initially I was going to write the sequel to last year's story this year (as I've mentioned several times before), but then some new characters popped into my mind and said, "Hey! We want our story told next instead!" A battle between novels ensued with the newcomers coming out on top, so instead of "Rise of Sarama," I will be writing a mystery / suspense titled "Jenkins and Smith." Despite not having much experience in the genre, I am super excited to try it out. Here's to that glorious 50,000!

Reading
October was slow in terms of reading. I am happy to blame NaNoWriMo prep season for that. In any case, I did get three books read this month:

• The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Roof Oasis by Marie Gilbert
• Saving Solanda by Marie Gilbert

The Dispossessed was the second book we read in my sci-fi class. I liked it much better than Where Late the Sweet Birds sang, though several of my classmates would disagree. I thought it was funny that they were all upset by the novel not taking place on Earth. That is the point of science fiction, people! Roof Oasis is just as good now as it was the first time I read it, and its sequel, Saving Solanda had a great story despite numerous grammatical and consistency errors. I enjoyed them both.

The Inside Out Book Tag

This tag was created by Kristina Horner on YouTube.

1) Which book brings you the most joy?

• This is a close tie for me - I really, really love Skulduggery Pleasant, but I also really love The True Meaning of Smekday. They are my favorite books ever and I never get tired of reading them. As a matter of fact, for Halloween this year I am dressed up as Valkyrie Cain, Skulduggery Pleasant's partner.

2) Which book disgusted you the most?

• I haven't read many books that have grossed me out. I suppose, looking back strictly within the year 2015, I read a book called Quarantine back in August that had some pretty vivid and gross descriptions of the virus that was going around. Honestly, that's the only thing I can think of right now. That and Roof Oasis, which described toddlers being eaten by zombies. Ick.

3) Which book scared you the most?

• The only thing I can think for this one is Coraline. When it was read aloud to us in one of my elementary classes I thought it was pretty creepy, and the movie confirmed its eeriness. There was also this book I read in junior high that featured one true scary story from each of the United States, though I can't recall the title anymore.

4) Which book made you cry the hardest?

• The first book that ever made me actually cry was Where the Red Fern Grows. The book that made me cry the hardest was The Iron Queen. I was so devastated at the way it had to end that I felt like my best friend had just died. My dad walked in on me reading that scene and kind of smirked at me, but us book lovers know: the feels are real.

5) Which book made you the angriest?

• The Truth About Us made me SO angry SO many times! On my Goodreads review I said, "I actually had to put it down a few times because of how worked up I would get." I was so mad at her father for being such a dork about the whole situation. Agh! It doesn't MATTER which side of the tracks you're from. Stereotyping doesn't help anyone!

There you have it! Happy Halloween, everyone! I cannot guarantee that November will have "posts" necessarily - instead it will most likely have updates on my progress throughout NaNoWriMo. The only real post I can promise at this point will be the book wrap-up on November 30. Wish me luck!

Saving Solanda: Book Review

I feel bad that it took me so long to sit down and read this book, seeing how I had it for a month before finally getting it done. I felt like I had a bajillion books I needed to read for school first and it took me all eternity to get through those. Whose great idea was it to read a 600-pager and a 400-pager at the same time? Anyway, before I go into my review, I want to say congrats again to my grandmom for publishing her second book! Also, I am going to be 100% honest about what I think. So here we go!

Saving Solanda is a sci-fi / dystopian novella that tells the continuing story of Roof Oasis. On Earth, The Leader is rapidly gaining power and appears unstoppable, though twins Michael and Lucy are going to do their best to prove otherwise. Meanwhile on Solanda, Queen Elizabeth faces a revolt unless she can successfully marry her daughter to a prince from a neighboring planet. Her daughter, however, has plans of her own.

In Book 1 the story was divided into two parts - one focusing on Lucy and the other on Michael. However, Book 2 does things a little differently in that it shuffles focus with every chapter. This book actually had chapters! That was a nice change of pace from its predecessor.

Some things I liked about this book are as follows: I really, really love the story of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Bird. I won't give spoilers here, but I thought their relationship was great and the way their joint story ended was perfect. I also liked the story of what was happening on Earth. Lucy's, especially, was very well done. I am anxious to see what happens to her in Book 3. Finally, I thought that Patty's character development was scary, but in a good way. The last line of this book gave me chills and promises that the next installment will be even more intense. I can't wait.

Some things I didn't prefer about this book: As I've said before, I don't care for language in anything, no matter the author, so there's that. My biggest complaint about this book would be the grammatical errors. There were so many of them that it was actually difficult for me to plow through some sections. Way, way too many commas were used in this novella. Use them sparingly! Also, there were a few things that were not very clear to me. One example is the dream Bird had about Potate. I had no clue that was a dream sequence, and when he was suddenly alive a few chapters later I was thrown way off track. Another example was Lucy and the baby. One minute she's in complete denial, and the next she's accepting him and naming him and crying for him? Maybe it's just because I've never had children or been pregnant, but I did not think that scene was genuine.

Overall, I gave this book a 2/5 rating, meaning it was okay. That is compared to the last book, which I gave a 3/5. Honestly, the grammatical errors are what did it for me. Clean up the commas and throw in some more editing time and this book would be as good as (if not better than) the first. That said, I'm excited for Book 3. Congrats again, grandmom!

Unpopular Opinions (September Book Wrap-Up)

Well, I am officially in full-on college mode now, which is the excuse I am giving for my only having completely finished two books this month. It is also my excuse for not having written hardly anything since moving into the dorms. I want to pick up the pace in October, and of course November is NaNoWriMo. Until then, my wrap-up for this month is going to be pretty short...but to fill the space I am going to do the Unpopular Opinions Book Tag! Yay!

Writing
September was a really slow month for me in terms of writing. Officially, I don't think I actually wrote anything new. I just typed up what I needed to for the kickoff of "Dude, Worlds Are Gonna Collide" over on Wattpad, which was released on September 24. The initial response has been positive, with 137 reads, 26 votes, and 11 comments for the first two weeks of its existence (I have included the week the teaser was out for these stats). Chapter Three will be out tomorrow!

NaNoWriMo prep season is halfway over! I still haven't read the book I read last year, "Escape to Utopia," but once I finish the two books I am currently reading I will make sure to get that done. I've got to start planning for "Rise of Sarama" this November! I'm super excited to get back into NaNo after having been away for a year. 50k, here I come!

Reading
As I mentioned earlier, I only completely finished two books this month. I am 120 pages away from finishing another, and almost halfway through the final one. Why I thought it would be a good idea to read a 600-pager and a 400-pager at the same time, I have no idea. Anyway:

• Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (begun August 28)
• Smek for President by Adam Rex
• Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (120 pages left)

I am not going to list the 400-pager as a book completed this month. You'll see it as the first on my list for October.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang was the first book I had to read for my sci-fi class, and it was decent. It wasn't my favorite book in the world, but for a novel about cloning, it kept me interested and I really, really loved the last line. It's one of those books that you have to read to really appreciate. Smek for President was a book that I didn't intend to read all in one day, but I did, and it was so amazing. It was the sequel to The True Meaning of Smekday (the book that HOME was based on). The story of what happened to Tip and J.Lo after the Gorg left was beautiful and touching, and completely perfect in every way. I cannot recommend it enough. I love it so much. I am currently 80% percent through Afterworlds (according to Goodreads) and it is a really great novel. I can relate to Darcy a lot because of her dream to be a successful novelist. It's also interesting to learn about the stuff that comes after your novel has been accepted by a publishing company. All the ins and outs of it and deadlines and whatnot is a wonderful thing for me to know about ahead of time. Thanks, Scott Westerfeld!

Now...

The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

1) A popular book or series that you didn't like.

• I cannot stand the Divergent series. I read the first book about a year ago, but I trudged through it and could not stop thinking about how boring it was and how much it reminded me of a Hunger Games fanfiction. I hate all the hype surrounding it. The characters are boring, Four is the most stereotypical male lead of all time, the plot has been done before, the action scenes were dull, etc. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

2) A popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love.

• I had a really hard time coming up with the answer for this one. I finally settled on The Alchemist, which is a book that was required for us to read when I was a sophomore in high school. Everyone else in my class seemed to hate it for some reason or another, but I liked it a lot. The story was great. I wonder if everyone else hated it because they didn't understand what was going on.

3) A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with OR an OTP that you don't like.

• *Spoilers* Okay. So in the Halflings trilogy, the main character is Nikki and the two boys that she is trying to choose between are Mace and Raven. I really wanted her to be with Raven, but she ended up with Mace instead! I was so mad!

4) A popular book genre that you hardly reach for.

• Dystopia / apocalyptic seems to be the genre these days, but I can't really get into it. I realized real quick that they are all the same and all end the same way, too. I read The Hunger Games and loved it, but nothing outside of it, really. 

5) A popular or beloved character that you do not like.

• I hate Nancy Drew. I know she's an older character, but she was popular for her time, and I don't like her at all.

6) A popular author that you can't seem to get into.

• Everyone really seems to enjoy John Green's books, but I never have the desire to read any. Especially not The Fault in Our Stars. I know that book will make me cry, and I hate books about cancer. Perhaps one day I will give one of John Green's books a shot, but for now, I remain disinclined to investigate his portion of the shelf.

7) A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing.

• I don't know if this counts as a trope or not, but something I am getting bored of is predictable endings. Perhaps it's because I read a lot of YA, but 90% of the time I can predict how a book is going to end long before it gets there. I always enjoy when a book is able to surprise me.

8) A popular series that you have no interest in reading.

• Harry Potter. Sorry, Potter fans, but I'm just not inclined to read it, or watch the movies.

9) The saying goes, "The book is always better than the movie," but what movie or TV show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?

• I actually preferred the movie version of Ender's Game to the novel. Perhaps it's because I didn't read the rest of the series, but Ender's Game felt like it was full of useless scenes, specifically those with his brother and sister back on Earth. The movie focused solely on Ender, was to the point, and left out a lot of the useless stuff from the book. I liked it a lot better, but that's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book as well.

Tada! That's my September wrap-up for you. I'll be back next month with more posts. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed my TMNT-centered series. Booyakasha!