Short, Sweet, and to the Point!

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long and I hope you all had a merry Christmas! I don't have much to say today, except that I got an iPad mini for Christmas (with which I am currently typing this blog post) and I love it! It's very cute and I've found lots of apps on it that have come in handy with writing and such.

Also, I used the Christmas money I received to buy 5 new lalaloopsies (did I ever tell you guys I collect them?) and I ordered a sixth which is on her way! All in all I had a fantastic Christmas, and loved spending time with my family. I hope you all did too! What did you get for Christmas? Tell me in the comments below!

I'm a failure (kind of)

So I have a quick, (and embarrassing) update for you guys.

I'm most likely not going to finish my novel by the 30th.

At this time, I'm 31,051 words in, and I only have three days left. I'm trying to be realistic with myself. I'm hoping that I'll be able to pump out a couple thousand more words tonight, but I'm having a really hard time with my plot! I know where I've been, I know where I want to go, but I have no idea how to get there!

I've made a new goal for myself though. I want to have my book absolutely and utterly finished by the end of December, and totally and completely edited by the end of January! My third and final goal will to be published (even if it's only as an ebook on Amazon) by my birthday at the end of February!

Although I'm a little upset that I won't be able to declare myself a winner, I can safely say I've accomplised quite a bit in the 26 short days that I've been at it. I'm really proud of myself, and I can't wait for next year's NaNoWriMo to work on another idea I have. However, for now, I just want to finish the book that's looming over my head.

As we speak, I can practically hear my character's groans of disapproval as I use my blog as an avoidance tactic. So, I guess I'll go continue their story before they get too unhappy.

THANKS FOR READING!

NaNoWriMo!

I'm letting you know right now that this is going to be a crazy month for blogging and I.

I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo (a totally lame way of saying Nationaly Novel Writing Month) and so I'm not going to have time to read much more than my novel over and over. I'm 8,770 words in and my goal is 50,000 by the end of the month. I'm pretty far ahead, given my word goal per day is only a little over 1,600 and right now I'm averaging about 2,923 per day. So I've had time to go back and revise and edit a little bit.

I must say, I'm on to something. I'm going to use Winter Break in December to do the rest of my heavy editing and then I'm thinking about publishing it through Amazon.
My boyfriend has helped a lot, and I have to give him credit for a lot of the most complicated concepts that are involved, but the basic plot and characters were my idea. I'm going to post the prologue here, but I want to keep the rest of the book under wraps until I get it perfected.

We mill about, shoulder to shoulder. There is nowhere we can go to be alone, because there are so many of us. The grocery store your grandma frequents so often? Yeah. We’re packed in there like sardines. The park you used to love as a child? We love it there too. Football stadiums, ballet studios, gas stations. We are everywhere. We stand where you stand and sometimes you sit where we stand. You don’t even realize we’re there. We whisper to each other, and sometimes to you.  You don’t hear us…usually. Sometimes, we get you when you’re vulnerable. When you’re almost asleep or when you’re really relaxed. We say things to you like, “Hey, how goes it?” and sometimes when we’re feeling rambunctious we are able to manipulate energy. It’s really fast, like a fissure in the space time continuum that’s able to repair itself before you even notice. And sometimes you get lucky and capture these “phenomenon” on camera and blame it on your recently deceased grandma or as a sign from angry spirits. You’re partially right, but honestly, we don’t care if we were once related to you. We’ve been watching you for so long, we feel like we know you. And we love you. Sometimes, we just want to say Hi. And we’re really not picky. We’ll talk to anyone who will listen. And as far as the angry spirit thing goes, no. That’s not how it works. We can only talk to you when we’re elated. Feeling the highest level of happiness there ever was. Strong emotions like love help too. So, when you see us, you should feel grateful. Because it means we love you. All the good things that happen in your life happen because of us.

But somehow, you don’t get that. And you run away screaming.

I considered giving you a plot summary, but I think I want that to be a surprise too. :)
There won't be anymore book reviews for November, as my number one goal is finishing this book, but I'll check back and let you guys in on my progress as often as I'm able!

THANKS FOR READING!

HOORAH FOR MICHELLE MADOW!

So guys, I finished Timeless, the final installment of the Trancend Time Saga.
I gotta say guys, after reading Vengence, I was pretty much dying to read this book. And it did NOT disappoint.

As far as my taste in books go, I'm not typically a fan of fantasy type stuff. However, every once in awhile a book or series will inch it's way into my heart. And this was one of them.

Michelle's utilization of 'common' language makes her books seem like they're being told from one friend to another without being overly complicated. There's no unnecessary information and everything is sort of straight to the point, which I ALWAYS appreciate in an author.

In regards to the whole series in general, I really enjoyed the slight romantic aspect. It's romantic without being overly cheesy and I really appreciated Lizzy as the heroine. I know that at first I thought that she was annoying and rude but once I realized that you can't fight fate, I decided she was alright.

As you know from my reviews of her last two books, the story revolves around the main character, Lizzy Davenport (who, granted, was not my favorite. But she ended up growing on me). Lizzy's seemingly uncomplicated life is thrown into chaos when Drew Carmichael transfers to her highschool. She feels connected to him deeply despite the fact that he is dating her best friend, Chelsea (formerly my favorite character of the series, but not anymore), and despite the fact that she has a long standing boyfriend.

Seems totally typical of any other YA novel, right?
Wrong.
Because Lizzy and Drew ARE meant to be. They shared a past life together...in Regency Era England! Lizzy's untimely death tore them apart then, but fate wants them back together again.

However, as we know from Vengence, Chelsea is REALLY mad about the whole "You stole my boyfriend" thing, so she accidentally puts a curse on Lizzy which she doesn't realize will eventually kill her. That's where book #2 ends.

NOW TO TIMELESS.

Lizzy and Drew are offically together now. Chelsea is still not on speaking terms with Lizzy and is being really lame about the whole situation. (Side note, ladies, holding grudges like this is NOT HEALTHY). Lizzy is under the impression that she and Drew have escaped their tragic past and therefore have escaped her untimely death. However, Chelsea has thrown a wrench into this whole situation.

Lizzy's happiness is cut short when she becomes aware of a dark energy surrounding her. She's attacked by birds, pictures of her fall off of the wall, and she has a general feeling of eerieness.
In order to put things right, Lizzy and Drew have to time travel back to Regency Era England to ensure that Lizzy does not die. The thing is....Chelsea has to go. It was a little awkward, but Chelsea was able to put her anger aside after discovering that she put her former best friend's life in danger.

All in all, the book had some pretty great twists, particularly towards the end. For something inspired by a Taylor Swift song, Michelle has really come up with a great series. I would have to rate this book as an 8/10 and the series in general an 8/10 as well. I look forward to what Michelle will produce in the future and I am SO SAD that this adventure is over. I felt as though I had to wait so long for this book to come out and now it's just done! Luckily, I can re-read them time and time again. I guess the book is just TIMELESS that way, eh guys? (I know, cheesy book puns are the worst.)

The book will not be released for purchase until November 20th, but I was lucky enough to recieve an early copy for review. I hope that you guys will give the series a shot because it is really, really great.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

CATCHING UP!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you guys! I have a couple little review/catch up things for you guys today.

 I finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood on Thursday afternoon. I had started to review it but then my boyfriend came to get me right after school so we could go see Sinister. Which, by the way, was terrifying. It wasn't so much scary as it was disturbing. But I would recommend it if you're into that sort of thing. And then I was out of town from Friday until last night at which time I began watching The Walking Dead. VERY distracting.

Anyway back to The Handmaid's Tale. It's the story of a woman named Offred (Of-Fred) and takes place in a dystopian society not too far in the future. After a (possibly staged) terrorist attack, women are forced to give up their rights and become concubines to high-society men for the purpose of reproduction. Many women at this time have become infertile due to a strain of infections and so fertile women are in high demand.

Offred is an impressive narrator. She jumps around quite a bit and it was slightly confusing towards the start so after I finished the novel I went back to review the first few chapters, just so I could be clear. Other than the confusion at first, Offred has a very honest and clear voice. The story is HER story, but it doesn't come across as conceited, if you get what I mean. It gives a clear impression of what she's feeling without seeming too whiny. I really enjoyed that. It was like she was just thinking things, and as she thought them they were put on paper. Little details were recalled and tied into her present situation. All in all, it was haunting.

I would give this book a 9/10. For it to have been a 10/10 I would have wanted to know a little bit more about Offred's past 'employers'. JUST SO YOU'RE AWARE the ending has made people unhappy in the past, however I felt it wrapped up nicely. :)

Moving on.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON I STARTED THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY BY DAVID LEVITHAN.

 

 

It was a book written in an eloquent and beautiful way. It was written in free verse poetry most of the time and it was just really unique. Every poem/chapter changed narrators, and they all tie in together. You kind of have to use context clues to see where each person/story fits in which could be confusing at times but then again, it's such a quick read that you wouldn't have too much time in between each chapter anyway. So it's quite easy to remember who is who.

 

I really liked the honesty of it. Each different poem is relatable, especially to high school students, and I really appreciated the hopeful tone of even the most depressing poems.

 

I'm a huge fan of David Levithan and would rate him a close second behind John Green on the list of my favorite authors. I would seriously beg you to give either of them a try. They're a breath of fresh air in comparison to any other YA authors.

 

 

ALSO

 

 

I re-read Revoltingly Young by CD Payne over the weekend. The Youth in Revolt series is so great. It's really funny and just so awkward that sometimes you have to just slap your forehead and cringe internally because it's just that bad. I would also recommend this series, especially the first two books. The others can sort of get repetitive but in an endearing way.

 

Anyway, that's all I have for you right now. :) Currently I'm reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

 

THANKS FOR READING!!!

Carrie

So yesterday after I posted, I read Stephen King's classic thriller, Carrie. I've wanted to read it for awhile and I've never seen the movie so I thought I'd give it a try. :)

All in all I thought it was decent. The story was sad and kind of scary. King has a way of taking normal daily things and making them very frightening. We've all been in the position of either the bully or victim. Sometimes things that seem harmless to say can really affect someone in a terrible way. It is absolutely not OK. Now, what if the girl you were picking on turned out to have telekenisis? And what if you set up a seemingly harmless prank at prom? What if that was the last straw?

That's the basis of Carrie. What I found to be the most sad part of the story was the characters of Sue and Tommy. They truly had the best intentions and unfortunately suffered for it in the end. That was senseless. And kind of sad.

What I didn't like about the book was the scientific aspect of it, I guess. How randomly King would place a paragraph or two out of a science journal that was just boring and took away from Carrie's story. I could have done with a little less of that, and a little more of Carrie's childhood. The book was an excellent idea that just fell a little short of spectacular. However, I will say that King did a pretty good job and the book left me a little disturbed.

I think I would have to give it a 7/10. It wasn't that bad, but like I said there were a few things that fell below my expectations.

Right now I'm reading a book called The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I'm sort of interested. It's a little weird and I'm not sure what it's getting at yet, but I'll let you know. :)

THANKS FOR READING!! :D

13 1/2

Hi guys! I finished a book this morning called 13 1/2 by Nevada Barr. I just wanted to let you guys know what I thought of it. :)
Basically, it's about a little boy named Dylan who is 11. He is charged with the brutal murder of his parents and baby sister although he has no recollection of the crime. His brother, Richard, was the sole survivor of the attack because he was at the neighbor's house. This part of the story takes place in the early sixties.

Now, fast forward to what I assume to be present day Louisiana. A woman named Polly who was introduced in the first chapter as an abused teenager living with her mother in a trailer park, has now made a life for herself and her two daughters. She meets a man named Marshall who is almost too good to be true. They are married and all seems well.

All through the story, there are flashbacks to Dylan living in a youth detention center. He doesn't remember anything from that night, all he knows is he loved his family very much. However, due to the fact that he was found covered in their blood with the murder weapon, an axe, in his hand, it's highly improbable that he didn't do it.

The thing I like about the story is it's such a mystery. You want Dylan to be innocent due to how young he is and how unlikely of a murderer he seems. However, right when you begin to think he WAS innocent, something in the story happens to leave you doubtful again.

I would give the book a solid 7/10. The only thing about it I wasn't so sure about was the way the story was told. It was told very shallowly. The dialect was very basic and the climactic scene at the end could have used a little more drama. All in all though, the book kept me engaged. :)

Also, last night was homecoming! It was a ton of fun! :)

That's all I have to say! I hope you guys had a great weekend! :)