JULY 2020 // I'M BACK

I'M BACK!

Yep, my hiatus is over and it was lovely. Just taking a few weeks off from the stress of having a blog post written, formatted, and posted on time was just what I needed. 

BUT I'm happy to be back, and excited for the posts I have planned. First up: a look at what's been happening in my life while I was (semi)offline. 

I read three books this month: 

The Warden of the West March by M.L. Little // I got an ARC of this sequel to The Book of Secrets, which I reviewed HERE. I'll be reviewing WotWM soon, too, so I won't say much about it. But I definitely enjoyed it! (And psst, it releases in less than a week! Mark your calendars for August 6th!)

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie // I read this before, years ago, but I didn't remember much about it and after reading Dust, I really wanted to read it again. Wow, guys, Peter Pan is a little psycho child. xD 

The Crownless King by Kara Linaburg // *muffled screeching* Another much-anticipated ARC and HI just over here trying to recover. SUCH a beautiful story. I might review that on the blog, too, so stay tuned.

Overall, it was a great reading month! And all my ARCs/review books are officially behind me. For now. xD 

Camp NaNoWriMo, baby! 

Well, I'm not gonna lie, this Camp was a struggle. Usually during any NaNo event I try to write at least a little every day. (That 30-day-streak badge is so satisfying.) Well, pretty early on this month I decided not to make it a big deal... which is fine... but it turned into a month-long procrastination session. Oops. 

It's typical Camp fashion for me to drag my feet until about the last week of the month, then panic and realize how close the end is and lose my mind doing everything to make my word count. Well, this time was no exception. But I was a little worried there for a bit thinking I might not make it. I haven't "lost" a Camp yet and I didn't welcome the idea of starting now. xD BUT long story short emily you've already talked about this for two paragraphs how is this story short I powered through at the end and I MADE IT! I passed 30k on the last day of NaNo with an hour to spare. #whew

yeah... I'm a mess

(this is honestly a miracle because FOR SOME REASON I decided to do a healthy eating challenge for the month of July... which included drinking only water except on weekends. which means... no coffee five days out of the week. and no tea. during a NaNo month. WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE.)

Where does that put me in terms of book progress? Well, I edited/rewrote 30,000 words this month. Which, counting what I'd already done before Camp, means I'm about halfway through the book. And while I'd like to say my goal is to finish it by the end of August... well, that's probably not going to happen. So I'm going to shoot to finish it before November, when the craziness of NaNoWriMo starts. Ideally, I'll finish in September so I can spend October preparing for whatever project I end up doing in November. But we'll see.

Aaand a very exciting writing-related announcement: My story, The Hero of Parker City, was chosen for the Havok Season Three: Bingeworthy anthology!! 

I'm SUPER excited (pun partially intended; have you read The Hero of Parker City? ;)) and I still can't believe it's happening. I'm so honored and thankful to be a part of another Havok anthology and WOW I can't wait for release day. 

Anybody want to guess what my bullet journal theme for July was? Anyone?? No?? it's literally in header for this post

YEP, IT WAS CAPTAIN AMERICA. Because what else. And I had fun with this one. 

This page is in major need of updating xD But I kinda like how it turned out?

And on the Fourth of July I made this fruit pizza. 

And proceeded to play the Captain America theme music while I dramatically took it out of the refrigerator to present to my family. Because I'm just like that. xD

Remember a few months ago when I said COVID canceled some long-awaited plans of mine? Well, those plans were rescheduled, and they finally happened, and here is what they were: going to Cape Comic Con in Cape Girardeau, Missouri- and meeting Austin St. John, who played Jason in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! 

I haven't talked about Power Rangers much here, but I grew up on it and it's one of my favorite things. So yeah, meeting the original Red Ranger was preettyyyy cool. 

On that same day, we took a little trip to Metropolis, Illinois. I've been there a few times before, but my mom was the only one in our family who'd never seen it, so since we were semi-close, we took her there for the afternoon. 

Usually when we go there, the Superman Celebration is happening. This year it was just a random day and it was really weird. I kept crossing streets without paying attention because I'd never been there when the roads were open and I kept forgetting this is an actual town. xD 

We also went across town to Fort Massac State Park, which is a cool place to visit. 

(and don't worry, we were safe all day! we wore masks when we went indoors anywhere, carried disinfectant with us, and used so much hand sanitizer it's not funny. xD *laughs anyway*)

Yeah... nothing to see here. 

So, July was a good month. And now I'm ready to blast into August because YOU KNOW WHAT? FALL IS SOON!! yes it's a month away but it's SOON And I am sooo ready! Excuse me while I spend the entirety of August preparing for sweaters, pumpkin spice, an excessive amount of coffee and tea, and *cough*NaNoWriMo*cough*. (Also, I started thinking about Lord of the Rings and realized I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to read the books this fall. Because for me cool weather and LOTR seems to go hand in hand and I just... I want to experience them together. xD But we'll see how that goes because deciding to read LOTR is QUITE the commitment. Anybody want to do a buddy reading? hehehe)

Also, just thought I'd mention, next time I do a monthly wrapup I'll officially be a college student. o.o So... yeahhhh.

Okay, wow, that was quite a long monthly wrapup post. I guess being away for a month left me with lots to say. xD If you made it this far, I have a question for y'all! As I mentioned last time, my blogaversary is coming up! (does anyone else struggle with the spelling of "blogaversary"?? because I'm not sure what the standard spelling is and I'm pretty sure I spell it differently every time. xD) And of course we have to celebrate. I'm leaning toward doing another Q&A, but if you guys have any other ideas, let me know! :D 

Aaand this post is finally over. xD Have some chocolate for finishing. Here's to a great August!