Not Much To Report

Date Written: July 6th, 2012
Date Posted: July 6th, 2012
Currently Listening To: Nothing.

So, I'm sorry this is so late, but I've been out of the house since 7:45 AM, and I've only remembered this now. Anyway, a slow week in terms of writing, seeing as I spend my days being depressed over summer school. But I've gotten one book read and finished this week, and I'm hoping to get another by tomorrow.

Right now, I'm at my cousin's house, where I'm sleeping over, and we're playing Nancy Drew. Hopefully that'll bring some inspiration.

- May :)

And They Say She's In The Class A Team

Date Written: June 29^th, 2012
Date Posted: June 29^th, 2012
Currently Listening To: Ed Sheeran – The A Team

Today was my official last day of school, because I picked up my report card. I did pretty well (except English, ironically. Well, I did alright, just not as well as I wanted), I saw most of my teachers, and my Law teacher and I had a long chat about writing.

Then my aunt picked me up, picked up my cousins, and we went for a movie and then for lunch. I really enjoyed the day.

Also, I should probably say something about my deadline that I didn’t accomplish.

I’m not all that upset.

I know that’s weird, because I feel like I should be upset. But the only reason I really wanted to finish by this time is so I could spend my summer editing and querying. (Though, that was before I found out just how busy my summer was going to be.) However, if there’s anything I’ve learnt from the last couple of months, it’s this;

Writing a book is not an assignment. It’s not like a semester-long project you can write the night before. It’s something that can take way longer, and from what I understand, that’s completely normal. So, as long as I finish my novel by the end of high school (and land an agent too, hopefully!), then I’ll be happy with myself. And really, that’s what’s important.

Anyways, happy summer everyone!

-          May :)

My Hate Of Flash Fiction Has Been Conquered

Date Written: June 24^th, 2012
Date Posted: June 25^th, 2012
Currently Listening To: Pierce The Veil – Kissing In Cars, You Me At Six – Nasty Habits

Hey, remember this?

Yeah, well, thanks to this amazing girl named Sonia, I’ve gotten over it and the contest is still open so I can still enter.

Also, she’s the finalist in a flash fiction writing contest she participated in so let’s all cross our fingers for her and her genius.

And exams are over tomorrow. Woot! I finished Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor today AND SHE BLEW MY MIND OMG I THINK MY BRAIN EXPLODED.

I can only hope to write that great one day.

-          May :)

My Current List of Library Spoils

Date Written: June 22^nd, 2012
Date Posted: June 22^nd, 2012
Currently Listening To: Marianas Trench – Push, Marianas Trench – Far From Here, Marianas Trench – Vertigo, Marianas Trench – Alive Again

I present to you my library spoils:

From top to bottom:

Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow by Nathan Bransford
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
Lips Touch, Three Times by Laini Taylor
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake
Wither by Lauren DeStefano

My goal is to finish these by next Friday. (Just note I’ve already finished Jacob Wonderbar, already.) (And Hitchhiker's Guide isn't from the library. I'm borrowing it from a friend.)

Also, I’ve got my last exam on Monday, so I’ll be studying for that.

And lastly, my deadline is on Tuesday. I can admit that I probably won’t finish (I’ve got literally less than one percent done), but I will definitely try to get a good chunk done by the date. (I think I can get to page 50… if I’m lucky… and if I’m really, really focused… and if a miracle happens.)

Anyways, have a great weekend and rejoice that it’s almost summertime!

(… Unless you’re an unlucky duckling like me and are going to have to endure summer school. Joy.)

-          May :)

Of Exams and Poetry

Date Written: June 15^th, 2012
Date Posted: June 15^th, 2012
Currently Listening To: Neon Trees – 1983

I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done this week, due to the lovely fact that exams start on Tuesday. However, I found some time yesterday to work on some Fanfiction, which I haven’t done in a while.

Also, I’m reading Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor.

My goodness, that woman is a genius.

Hm… I’m going to spend tonight catching up on Suits (instead of, you know, being productive and writing… or studying) and Rookie Blue.

And lastly, my school’s Poetry Club had a poetry slam today. This is the second time I’ve gone, and everyone who goes up was just wonderful and they’re always so good and I wish I can just go up and present like them.

It also helps that I know two of the heads of the Poetry Club, and they’re such super nice guys who really care about poetry and are so passionate about it. I’m seriously considering actually joining the club next year… except I’m not sure how my poetry is. I guess the club members of next year will decide?

Anyway, my weekend plans include studying. (Oh, joy.) What about everyone else?

-          May :)

Making Pictures Where The Lines Overlap

Date Written: June 8^th, 2012
Date Posted: June 8^th, 2012
Currently Listening To: A bunch of Paramore songs… a list of 28, actually.

First things first –

I may sound just the slightest bit loopy today. That tends to be what happens as a result of getting only an hour of sleep… and that mere hour of sleep may be the result of my starting finishing of an essay that’s worth fifteen percent of my English grade… an essay I’ve had an entire semester to write.

(IT’S NOT MY FAULT THE ESSAY WOULDN’T LET ME WRITE IT BECAUSE IT WAS OUT TO MAKE ME FAIL IT WANTED ME TO DIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE.)

Ahem.

Anyways, odd random outburst (expect a couple more of those in this post) and major lack of sleep aside, this week’s been interesting.

So, to start off –

Last week, I was saying how I wanted to do a post on something, but I had to finish something else to do that. Well, I’m going to do thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat NOW:

 

(LOOK WHAT I LEARNED. IT HAS A PICTURE WITH IT.)

I mentioned two weeks ago that I borrowed a book from the library. As I’m sure you can infer, I borrowed A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz. I borrowed that book on a Thursday. Then, sometime between that day and Saturday after, I decided that I would try to make a habit of going to the library once a week – every Thursday, in fact. I would read a book in the span of a week, then return it and get another one.

But I didn’t go last Thursday, because I didn’t finish the book. It’s not like the book was super long. It’s not as though I couldn’t make time for it. It wasn’t as though I didn’t like it (trust me when I say it’s not that one. I recommended it to my English teacher).

It’s because I didn’t want it to end.

Now, I don’t know how many of you have read A Drowned Maiden’s Hair, but the basic rundown can be found here.

I adored Maud. She was clever for her age. She was sweet. She tried so hard to be everything Hyacinth wanted. But at the same time, she was eleven and still somewhat naïve. Her biggest trait, however, was this:

She desperately wanted to be loved. And it’s understandable why, too. That’s why she tried to be an “angel child” for Hyacinth.

But Maud Flynn was no angel child. She made judgements. She picked favourites. She indulged in the luxuries she was offered. She was vain. She had silly notions about adults. She disobeyed her orders for some freedom.

Yet the entire way, I was rooting for her.

(ESPECIALLY DURING THAT MOMENT IN THE HOTEL OHMYGOSH YES MAUD THAAAAANK YOU.)

She made mistakes, and she learned from them. She developed a sense of right and wrong throughout the book. She loved Hyacinth relentlessly, yet even she knew there was something that wasn’t quite right with her schemes.

Of course, Maud’s not the only one I adored. I could never quite figure out how I felt about Hyacinth, who was enchanting and terrible at the same time. I thought highly of Judith, who was so serious and knew what she was doing wrong, but understood why they did it. I adored Victoria, who tried to do the right thing and cared for Maud more than Hyacinth ever could.

And I loved Muffet, the deaf and mute hired girl for the Hawthorne sisters. Anything and everything that had to do with her had me almost jump with glee.

I have so much more I can say about the book, but if I do, then this post will never end and I won’t get to the point. (I wouldn’t mind, except I kind of need a nap after I finish this.)

Anyways, as you can tell, I simply could not get enough of that book. And while I knew Maud’s story could not go on forever, I didn’t want it to end. (And, while I thought the ending was good, it’s not the ending I wanted.)

And… is it really sad that I typed out all of this to realize that I completely forgot the point I was trying to make because I was so wrapped up in how much I adored this book?

Moving on, I guess –

So, I returned A Drowned Maiden’s Hair to the library on Monday. That day I ran to the library, because I the book I had put on hold had come in. Which book was that?

A certain Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

I’ve heard so many glowing reviews about this book, and I totally understand why it got them. I’m not a super fast reader, but by the next day I was a hundred and fifty pages in, and there were several times when I was reading and practically stopped breathing. (And Kenji – I love Kenji. Even though I kept thinking, “That boy is just asking to get shot.”)

I only have a hundred pages left, but I actually had to put it away on Wednesday and Thursday to work on the essay mentioned above. I knew if I didn’t, I’d lose fifteen percent of my grade.

Anyways, on Tuesday Tahereh Mafi revealed the new cover for the book.

(OH HEY LOOK MORE PICTURES YAAAAAAY.)

(The original cover is on the left. On the right is new cover.)

Everyone seems to adore the new cover… but I’m not as excited about it. I’m not saying it’s bad – in fact, I really like it. I just prefer the original cover. Maybe it’s because I haven’t finished reading the book? More likely it’s because I’m used to the original... And because I like the font on the other

(However, I really like the bird that’s in the eye, since the bird is such a recurring thing.)

And lastly, I think –

I have my Mock Trial for Law class on Tuesday, and today we just got “a break in the case,” I guess you could call it. I’m a defence lawyer, and my “witness” recorded one of the “prosecutors” admitting that they would lie during the trial. And then one of the prosecution’s witnesses came forward and admitted that he believed my witness (also the accused) was innocent.

So, Tuesday’s going to be interesting. Just thought I’d share.

So… voila!

Hopefully that wasn’t too painful to get through… even though it’s longer than my introduction post I wrote back when I first got a blog.

Anyways, how was everyone else’s week? Any weekend plans?

-          May :)

Better Think Of Something Good To Say

Date Written: June 1^st, 2012
Date Posted: June 1^st, 2012
Currently Listening To: Pierce The Veil – Kissing In Cars

Blah.

I had a blog post in mind for today… except I can’t bring myself to finish it right now because to do so, I need to finish something else first, and I haven’t finished that yet.

So, you should be getting that post next Friday.

Also, I’ve noticed that I’ve been writing a little everyday for the last couple of days. A huge accomplishment after sometimes going a week without typing a single word because I wasn’t sure how to proceed, I’d say. And right now, I’m in the mood to work on something different than that, but I like the inspiration.

So, nothing big to report right now, obviously – but there should be something next week.

Anyway, have a great weekend, everyone!

-          May :)