I Have Book Guilt

Yeah, you heard right. Book guilt. What a great way to start off the year, huh? I've heard of a lot of readers getting this, but until now I've never experienced it myself. It doesn't feel good.

Basically book guilt is when you have a ton of books that you own but have never read and/or have a ton of books that you have plenty of time to read but totally ignore instead. I, unfortunately, am suffering from both types right now. I currently have 11 books that I own but have not read (gradually accumulated through various trips to bookstores and gifts from friends). I've also had this ENTIRE WINTER BREAK to plow through most if not all of them, and yet...

I have only read one book in this entire three-week period. I am a horrible person.

With school starting back up in a little over a week (for us college types) and me choosing to take THREE lit classes this semester, I am probably not going to have time to read for pleasure hardly at all in the next few months. I'll be too busy reading for school. The good news is that I WILL be reading, and adding books to my Goodreads goal for this year, but the bad news is that these 11 books that are sitting in a pile in my room right now will probably look exactly the same by the time I graduate in May. (Actually, it will probably be bigger...who knows how many Billings trips will be made between now and graduation?)

So what I'm going to do in an effort to help myself feel better about this situation that I have placed myself in is make a list of the books that I own but have yet to read (my TBR) and possibly explain why I am excited to read some of them so that if I happen to get a spare moment between lit books to read something for myself, I can choose one and go for it.

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Friend or Foe?
• Really short...I have no excuse for not having read this yet. -//-
• Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
• Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
• Once upon a time there was this online writer's community called "Inkpop" (which has since turned into "Figment.") Inkpop's primary sponsor was HarperCollins Publishing, and every now and again editors and agents for the company would browse through stories on the site and - on extremely rare occasions - offer authors they liked a publishing deal on the spot. This is what happened to Carrier of the Mark. Ever since then I've wanted to read it.
• Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
• Steampunk meets Phantom of the Opera. Seriously.
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Eye of Cat by Roger Zelanzy
• This is the fourth book that we were going to read in my sci-fi class last semester but never got around to. I'd still like to read it, though.
• The Search for WondLa by Tony DeTerlizzi
• Given to me by a friend. It looks really interesting and totally up my alley as far as stories that I enjoy.
• A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick
• If my roommate ever reads this she's going to facepalm so hard, because when I first saw this book in Walmart I was dying to get my hands on a copy and almost went through a disaster in order to obtain one. (She was present for this near-disaster.) I was obsessed with Frozen for two weeks afterwards. And now here I am, a couple of MONTHS later, and I still haven't read it...
• Bright Lights, Dark Nights by Stephen Emond
• A modern take on an interracial love story.
• A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
• The story of Aladdin...if he hadn't found the lamp.
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
• I cannot even begin to explain the total and utter excitement I felt when I learned that this book was on its way. It's kind of a long story if you haven't read Rowell's Fangirl, but I've been stoked about reading this monster of a book for months and finally got a copy at the Christmas Stroll a while back. I will read this! I promise!

There you have it! Those are the 11 books currently on my TBR. My goal is to get at least a couple of them read before school starts. If nothing else I can cop-out and read the three short ones (less than 200 pages each) and be like, "Yeah, I've read three books already this year. No big deal."

Ha.

I suppose I should stop writing this blog and A) go to sleep because it's 2:40am and B) get started on that reading, huh? Yeah...probably.

Welcome to the year 2016 on Endless Possibilities, everyone! If my astounding laziness and procrastination are any indication of what lies in store for the rest of the year, then it's going to be an interesting one. See you next time!

Wrapping Things Up (December Book Wrap-Up)

It's hard to believe we've come through yet another year, but alas, here we are! As December is considered by many WriMos (myself included) to be a "recovery" month, I did not do very much at all in terms of reading or writing as 2015 came to a close. My main focus was surviving finals and then taking a well-deserved break when they were over. And that's just what I did.

Writing
Most of the writing I did this month was various essays and presentations I had to give for finals last semester, but I am proud to say I did successfully get back to "Dude, Worlds Are Gonna Collide" over on Wattpad just like I intended. The story returned on December 19. In this month two new chapters have been released, and my readers seem satisfied. I'm hoping to get back to regular updates again this semester. I intend to use the rest of my winter break to get a good head start on writing chapters so they are ready to go when I need them.

My current stats for "Worlds Collide" are: 911 reads, 87 votes, and 51 comments.

Reading
I only read one book from cover to cover this month, and that was MLP: Discord and the Ponyville Players Dramarama by G.M. Berrow. It was a real quick, fun, easy read that I completed in less than 24 hours. I really loved the many references the book made both to the show and other forms of media. Discord has a pet goldfish named Q. High five if you get that reference, because it's the best one in the entire fandom.

I started to read The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick but stopped about 50 pages in. The only reason I started it was for school, and once finals week was over and I was no longer required to read it I just lost all drive to do so, basically. It seemed like an interesting story - and I may get back to it someday - but I was just too burnt out to care at that point.

Also, on a side note, my Reading Challenge on Goodreads was to read 50 books in the year 2015. I read 47 total. So I did not complete the challenge, but I got pretty close. 47 books isn't bad, considering the craziness of this past year. For 2016 my goal will be 50 again. I intend to make it this time.

And that about sums up 2015! Be sure to check back here in 2016 for more nerdy blog posts and book wrap-ups. This is going to be a defining year for me, personally. I can feel it! Happy New Year!!

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!