Updates

Things have been pretty crazy lately, in a good way. I am planning on having my first draft completed by the end of December. I have some pretty exciting news that I hope to share within the next few days (not writing related), but it is the reason why I have been kinda MIA lately. I will also have a review of a book I recently finished reading that I've been meaning to post about, but I just haven't had the time.

Not much else to share at the moment. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Beautiful Demons (Peachville High Demons #1) by Sarra Cannon

I finished reading Beautiful Demons (Peachville High Demons #1) by Sarra Cannon a couple days ago and wanted to share my thoughts on it here on my blog.

About the Book (taken from Amazon)

In Peachville, even the cheerleaders have a dark side...

Harper Madison isn't like other girls. She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she's lost count. Shadowford Home for Girls is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs.

But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.

Beautiful Demons is a fast-paced YA novel with magic, mystery, and a touch of romance. This series will appeal to fans of Pretty Little Liars, Hex Hall, and The Vampire Diaries.

About the Author (taken from Amazon)

Sarra Cannon grew up in a small town in Georgia where she learned that being popular always comes at a price. Now, she lives in North Carolina with her amazing husband and her teeny tiny Pomeranian, Snickerdoodle. Books and music are her greatest passions. She has never been a cheerleader, but it's possible she knows a few things about casting spells.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It was filled with twists and turns and, for most of the book, I was in the dark about what was going on as much as Harper was, so I got to figure out what was happening as she figured it out and I love when books are written that way! I loved what was happening (or not happening if you will) between Harper and Jackson. And the ending of the book completely threw me for a loop (in a good, oh-my-god-I-did-not-see-that-coming kind of way). It was a very unexpected but excellent surprise. Sarra Cannon definitely put a lot of thought and imagination into writing this book, and I'm looking forward to seeing where these characters go in the rest of the series.

I cannot wait to read book 2, but before I can do that I must get through the huge "stack" of books piling up on my Kindle.

What I'm reading now: After Forever Ends by Melodie Ramone. You can get it HERE free, if you'd like to read it. I believe today is the last day it's being offered free, so get it while you can! It's really good :)

First Draft Suckage

I've been reading a lot of helpful articles about writing books: plotting, characterization, POV, description, dialogue, using passive voice, etc., and I came across an article (several very helpful articles actually, but one in particular that I'm talking about today) on Janice Hardy's blog called If at First You Don't Succeed....Then You Know You're Writing a First Draft. I particularly liked this article because I'm in the process of writing my first draft, and, well, it sucks. It doesn't suck in the sense that it's not going anywhere or that it's all a jumbled mess of gibberish with no plot or direction. It sucks in the sense that I already know it's going to need a lot of rewriting and reworking of scenes, additional scenes added, and I tell a lot instead of show, among other things.

For instance, the first 3 pages of my book are nothing but a giant info dump. The first chapter and part of the second chapter are written in 1st person present tense, but I kept finding myself slipping into 1st person past tense so from that point on I just wrote it in 1st person past tense. I've changed plot elements (for the better!) that I will have to go back in and edit and change around. It's for these reasons that I am suffering from first draft suckage.

Janice's article really made me understand that I'm not alone. I'm not the only writer whose first draft is so awful, and, even better, it's okay that my first draft is the way it is. Before I read that article, I was kinda freaking out about it. Now, not so much. She has several other very helpful articles on writing first drafts, completing first drafts, and just about every other aspect of writing a book. I definitely recommend checking out her blog no matter what stage of writing you're at.

Another problem I'm having is trying to keep myself from going back and editing things right now, especially the first chapter. But, I'd rather get my first draft completely done and then go back and start fixing things. On that note, I have written about 1600 words in the last 2 days. Not a lot, but not bad either. My biggest regret is that due to things out of my control so much time has passed since I first started writing this book (almost 3 years!). I try not to dwell on the fact that my book could have been finished a long time ago and could possibly have been published by now. On the other hand, I'm thankful that things happened the way they did because it makes me that much more determined to get it done this time. And if I succeed, then that's all that matters.

Disclaimer: I cannot be held accountable for any grammatical or punctuational mistakes in this blog post as it is after 2 am and I'm very tired.

Long Time Away

It has been over 2 years since I last posted on this blog. It has also been over 2 years since I last wrote a word on my young adult book. This makes me extremely sad and guilty and a large range of other emotions because I swore to myself that I would not let that much time pass without writing.

Not long after the last post I made to this blog a major event happened in my life that changed everything and turned my whole world upside down. I will not go into details, but it took a long time to get over the devastation that occurred, and it's been a struggle to try to overcome what happened and put it out of my mind. On top of the life-changing event, the laptop I'd been using at the time completely crashed. This devastated me even further because I did not have a hard-copy backup of my story. All I had was a partial version of the first draft that I had emailed to myself about 2 months before my computer died. Lesson learned. Always back up your documents!

Thankfully, I held onto the dead laptop in the hopes that I would someday, somehow be able to pull my story off of the hard drive so I could continue working on it. That day came just recently when I purchased this awesome little gadget off of Amazon that allowed me to access all the documents on my old hard drive and transfer it all to my current laptop. I am so thankful that I have my story back.

I am happy to say that I will be working on my YA book once again and hope to have the first draft finished soon and will then begin working on the second draft. I said from the beginning that I was NOT going to give up on this book, and although I stopped working on it for a long time, there has not been a single day that I have not wanted to.

I have not given up on it.

I will not give up on it.

It will get completed.

Target date has come

Today is the day that I had planned to have my first draft completed; however, I am still 20,000 words short of reaching my goal. I don't know what's happened really. These last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. I've been sick. My kids have been sick. Work. Errands. Life in general has gotten in the way of me finishing on time. Because I want to finish the first draft of this book, I am giving myself another 30 days. Things around here are seeming to calm down somewhat and spring time is coming, which means the kids will be able to play outside more, giving me more quiet time to write.

Hopefully, within the next 30 days I will be able to finish the first draft and start on the second. I'm not giving up on this.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

I finished this book a few days ago but I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to post about it until now.

About the book:

The rules are breaking one by one....

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.

Rule #2: Don't speak to them.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.

Aislinn has always seen faeries and carefully hid her Sight from their cruelty. But now the rules that have kept her safe aren't working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

With her one true love by her side, Aislinn has been chosen to face the ultimate trial. If she succeeds, the full force of Summer will be unleashed. If she fails, she will suffer the piercing cold of Winter forever.

About the author:

Although I was voted “most likely to end up in jail” in high school, I decided to get an M.A. and teach Lit and Gender Studies to college students across the country. Along the way, I’ve been unable to resist trying new things—including working an archeological dig, slinging drinks at a biker bar, and getting fabulous tattoos.
I call all of this “research” for my writing. To fill my craving for new experiences, I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Southern California, and I plan to keep roaming with my family as widely and as often as possible. This year, I think, I’m living in Virginia.

Please visit me on the web at www.melissa-marr.com and help feed my addiction to meeting interesting people. 

My thoughts on the book:

It took awhile for me to get into the book, but once I did, I was drawn in. I had to keep reading to find out what fate Aislinn would end up with. The faeries in this book aren't your typical faeries. They're mean and they're cruel and they're kick ass. All in all, the book was very well written and the characters were well developed, but the book was a little slow to start, at least in my opinion. I will, at some point soon, read the sequel and other books written by Melissa Marr.

Reading now: The Shifter by Janice Hardy

My deadline for finishing my first draft is rapidly approaching and I still have 20,000 words left to write. If all goes as plans, I will still finish by the 20th as I plan to do a lot of writing between loads of laundry this weekend. This last week was unexpectedly busy. I felt like I was hardly home and when I was home, I was working my day job or taking care of other necessary things. This next week will be a much slower week for me thankfully.

Have a great weekend!

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

I bought a Kindle because I have no place left to store any books, and the first book I read on it was The Hollow by Jessica Verday.  I bought this book yesterday afternoon and finished it last night. Here's a little about the book (taken from Amazon):

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.


Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity. 

About the author, Jessica Verday (taken from Amazon):

Jessica Verday wrote the first draft of her debut novel, The Hollow, by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. She likes: things that smell nice, rainy nights, old books, cemeteries, Johnny Cash, zombie movies, L.J. Smith books, abandoned buildings, trains, and snow. She is currently hand-writing the continuation of Abbey and Caspian's story from her home in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.  Find out more at jessicaverday.com.


My thoughts on the book:

I really liked this book. I couldn't put it down, obviously, because I finished it in just a few hours, but there was one thing that bothered me about the book. The secret that Abbey learns about Kristen didn't really have a conclusion to it. I finished the book a little disappointed that more information wasn't given about the secret. Other than that, the book was wonderful. I loved the setting of the book and how Jessica Verday described everything with such detail that it felt like I was standing right there with Abbey. And the revelations at the end of the book were unexpected and interesting. All in all, it was a very good read.

Next up to read on my Kindle:  Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr