MAY 2019

May's almost over! Which is kind of crazy? But at the same time it kind of feels like it went by at a normal pace. Not too fast, not too slow. xD (obviously you guys only read my blog to get my opinions on the pace at which the months go by)

Unfortunately May being over means June is next, which means summer is almost here... although where I live it kind of already feels like summer? I don't hate summer, but I don't love it. BUT the good news is, since summer's almost here, that only leaves three more months until fall!!! xD (I think I've mentioned before that I love fall and start missing it the very second it's over. So that's my mindset about summer. xD)

READING

It was definitely a great reading month.

I finished the Remnants trilogy. Still didn't wow me (I don't know why, but they just didn't have that touch for me) but the last book was pretty good. My favorite thing about these books was the bond between the characters. They were all so close and brave and cared about each other so much. (Also, can I just say Bellona and Vidar? MY FAVORITES.)

Remember last month when I was talking about the first Remnants book and I said dystopian must not be for me?

Well... that's clearly not always the case because I read the first 2/3 of the Out of Time trilogy AND I ADORED IT!

I have been wanting to read these for so long. I'd heard they were amazing and I am not disappointed. I just started the third book and maaaan, they're great. (Review to come!)

My favorite book I read this month was A Time To Speak because it bRoOoOkE me. In the good way.

WRITING

This month I've been working on my NaNo novel Roots to Claim (yup, still that). And...

I...

FINISHED!

I started this story in November, so it took me about six and a half months to finish it. Although I didn't write in it much every month, so maybe more like three and a half months? xD Either way, I'm super happy because it's the first first draft I've finished in a while.

It came out with roughly 83k words. I already know the ending is going to change, but heck, the whole thing's probably going to have to change a ton. But I followed through, didn't skip any parts like I have in the past when writing first drafts, and got all the way to the end. Even if the entire story changes tomorrow, I still reached the end. :D

I also won second place in Melissa Gravitis' writing contest! If you haven't read my flash fiction piece yet, you can here-- and go read all the other winners too, because they're seriously so good!

Words written this month: 14578

I had no idea until I figured my word count for this post that I wrote almost as much this month as I did for Camp NaNo last month!! That's pretty cool. :D

MUSIC

I've been listening mostly to my playlist for Roots to Claim, which you can find here. Some of these songs, man, they give me chills when I think about them in relation to my story. Particularly Brother, Shed A Tear, and Give Me A Sign. GIVE ME A SIIIIGN, THOUGH. *cries*

Also, this technically came out last month, but I've been kind of addicted to ME! by Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie. xD It's just so catchy and peppy and has a super fun video  and yeah, it's silly but I've missed the more positive, fun stuff Taylor used to do. *shrugs*

LIFE

This month I went to the Arch in St. Louis to meet an old pen pal of mine!

We met online and started writing letters close to ten years ago. I hadn't talked to her in quite a while and then she texted me to say she was going to be in my state. We weren't sure it was going to work out, but about a week later we lined it up last minute. I left work early (always a plus) and my parents took me to St. Louis. (They basically dropped everything and whisked me up there. Which is
awesome.)

We didn't have time to do a lot more than just say hi and talk for a few minutes, but I was still so glad we got to do it! We were each other's first pen pals to meet in person.

I can't remember if I've brought this up yet? But I started a Bookstagram this month! You can follow me @bookwieldingemily.

Here's the latest picture of my child dog:

yes I know you wanted this you're welcome

BLOG

This month's blog posts:

I've been blogging for nine months now, and blogging weekly for five months! Only three more months until my first blogaversary. :o

Overall, I had a good month and I'm SO happy I finished the first draft of Roots to Claim. As pumped as I was about writing and as much as I want to get started on Fall Into Time, I'm making myself take a few days off from writing first. Take some time to read and recharge. On June 1 I'm planning on going at FIT with a vengeance. Muahahaha.

I hope you guys had a good month and your writing projects/whatever you're working on is going great! Have a great June!

What did you do in May? Any plans for June/this summer? Oh, and share some recommendations with me for great writing music, or songs from your story's playlist!