Hey guys!! So, remember MONTHS ago when I said I had some really cool news coming involving my writing?
Well, THE TIME HAS COME. I CAN FINALLY SHARE IT WITH YOU.
I HAVE ANOTHER STORY COMING OUT IN AN ANTHOLOGY!
You may have heard of the Warriors Against the Storm anthology, which was put together to benefit author Mary Weber and her family. If you didn't know, the Webers recently lost their home to toxic mold AND have been dealing with medical problems on top of that. The proceeds from this anthology are going to help the Weber family, and I am SO excited to announce that I'm a part of this fantastic project.
And this anthology is different from the other anthologies I've been in, because these stories have never been published before!! Muahaha. XD My story, After the War, is about a space soldier who thinks he's lost all hope and has nothing left to fight for. This story is very special to me and I cannot WAIT for you guys to read it!!
And there it is- the news I've been waiting to share for MONTHS. Hopefully it didn't disappoint. ;) Warriors Against the Storm releases on October 15th, so go preorder your copy!!
*tired college student crawls out of hole into the sunlight*
WELL HELLO EVERYBODY. *looks at blog post from like three weeks ago that said there would be a blog post the next week and laughs*
Yeah, so... that didn't happen. XD And here I am with a monthly recap instead of actual content.
But y'know what? It's okay. Things don't go as planned and that's perfectly normal. Life is different right now. And, well, I'm adapting. xD
I hope to return to regular posts starting now, but today we're looking back at September! (yeah normally I wouldn't even do a monthly recap with almost a week left of the month but whatever)
Reading happened this month!!
Yeah, somehow in the midst of the craziness reading actually happened. Weird, right??
First off, I finished up Defying Shadows by Ashley Townsend.
Oh my goodness.
I have never cried so much over a book in my life.
Yeah. Like, real tears. Ugly cry. It was bad. But this book isn't. Book is good. Read book. oh my GOSH what is college doing to my brain
Yeah, so, anyway. For real, though. There are so few books that have actually made me cry and even then I only teared up, but this one had me practically sobbing in my room. I had a bit of a book hangover from this one. I would think I was fine, and then something would make me think of something in the book and I'd get really sad and just :'( I miss Sarah! And Will!! And everybody!!
I also read Beast of the Night, thanks to this review by Christine (looking at me actually reading books from my TBR!!), and really enjoyed it as well! Definitely a fallish read, and I loved the whole atmosphere- which is good because that was the main thing that drew me to it from the start. Might have to make this one an autumn tradition!
Aaand then I did what I've been saying I was going to do for months: I STARTED READING LORD OF THE RINGS!
Okay, so, yeah, technically I started reading The Hobbit. But. You know. And I'm happy to report that I'M ACTUALLY MOVING THROUGH IT AT A DECENT PACE. It feels good to be actually reading again and not just stumbling through a couple pages at a time every few days or so. (Which, if that's how you do it, that's totally fine! But I was really missing stories, so moving a little faster through this one has been great.)
Very little writing happened this month. In fact, as of the time of writing this, I can confirm that I have had exactly one writing session.
I'm kind of okay with that. I'm kind of not.
You might remember me mentioning a few months ago that I hoped to finish the second draft of Roots to Claim by October. You might also be thinking that with only one writing session in September, that's not going to happen. Well, you would be correct. xD
So, my new goal is by November. Yeah, that means NaNo planning AND working on RTC at the same time. lol good thing I don't actually nano plan We'll see how this goes. Pray for me. xD
The Havok Bingeworthy anthology came out!! I'm so excited that my little superhero story, The Hero of Parker City, is heading out into the world and finding a home on some bookshelves (with some other fantastic stories!). There was another super fun Facebook party, and I actually won a paperback copy of the anthology. :O So, I'm very excited that I don't have to order one now. xD
How gorgeous is this cover??
College proceeds as usual. It's hard to believe it's been over a month now since I started, yet it already feels like a permanent fixture in my life.
How's it going? As well as can be expected, I suppose. Fortunately, it seems that I'm getting my routine down a bit, and all the work that has been absolutely drowning me is beginning to be reined in. So, hopefully with these busy months coming up I'll be able to get some writing time in.
I finally watched the new(ish) Aladdin movie! I really enjoyed it. I knew Naomi Scott from Lemonade Mouth, so it was so fun seeing her play Jasmine, and she did a great job. (Aladdin himself was great, too!) I've had "Speechless" stuck in my head on repeat for the past several days. It's a fantastic song. (I'm thinking about writing a post with my thoughts on the movie/that song in particular. So look for that! maybe)
Also how stunning was her wardrobe in this movie?? Thinking about becoming an Arabian princess for that and the pet tiger alone honestly
I also found this amazing video on YouTube that you need to watch right now:
Awesome, huh?? I've watched it so many times already. I think it's such a beautiful tribute to these strong and lovable heroines.
After that, I really wanted to see Cinderella again, so I watched it with my sisters. I think I liked it more this time than I have all the other times I've seen it combined. Ella is such a beautiful character, and I might just have to write a post on that soon, too.
The 22nd was HOBBIT DAY!! And the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!
Guys, you have NO idea how happy it makes me that these two things happen on the same day. How PERFECT. AND this was also the day I started reading The Hobbit, so even more perfect. I love it. :D To celebrate, my sisters and I watched The Princess Bride (I was sadly unable to convince them to watch Lord of the Rings) and had second breakfast for dinner. It was lovely.
Me being a dork with my second breakfast
Not much happened in the way of actual posts, BUT September first was my blogiversary!! *confetti* If you missed the Q&A and festivities, you can find them HERE!
It's been a good month, a quite lovely opening to fall, I would say. Of course, the weather isn't quite ready to fully cooperate (really, if I had it my way it'd be in the 60s every day starting September 1), but we are definitely getting some cooler temperatures and I am LIVING for that sweater weather! I'm fully embracing the whole fall vibe. I just love fall SO much. (Although I still haven't put my fall decorations up... hopefully that will be changing very soon!)
I truly hope you all are having a fantastic fall so far! Those of you who are in school, best of luck with everything going on! I know it's hard juggling everything. I'm praying for you!
Let's catch up, friends! How have you been faring? Who else is embracing fall wholeheartedly?? And what's your favorite live-action Disney remake?
Hello everyone! I hope you're having a lovely weekend.
So, as you know, I just started college. And turns out- I don't have everything together.
I've already found myself getting overwhelmed, not really with the work but the idea of it. I've kept up with everything so far, but it's a lot, you know? It's a big commitment. And sleep is already becoming a foreign concept to me. More than it already was.
I've also had no time to write. There have been days when I've been determined to set aside even just a few minutes, but it just hasn't happened. Reading's been pretty nonexistent too. And I hate that.
So, here's the deal. I'm going to shoot for posting every other week. Sometimes I might end up posting more, sometimes less. It all just depends on how my schedule goes and how many times I've had an existential crisis that week. I have no plans on going on another hiatus or anything like that. But you're probably going to be seeing a little less of me for a while.
Like I said when I announced my hiatus in July: it's not like blogging is the most time-consuming thing I do. Far from it. But it is the most realistic thing to cut back on. Heck, if nothing else it's one less thing to stay up late making sure it gets done, so maybe I'll get five more minutes of sleep every night. xD
This was a pretty spur-of-the-moment decision. But I'm trying to scale back on some of my expectations for myself early on in the college game, so I don't get too hampered down with so many responsibilities. It's not a huge change, but I just wanted you guys to know what's going on so you don't wonder where I went. :P
That being said, I'll probably have a post next Saturday? Who really knows? But we'll see. Like I said, it's just kind of up in the air right now. Thanks for sticking with me. ♥
One more (completely unrelated) thing: last September, I created the Hobbiton Tag in celebration of Hobbit Day (Bilbo and Frodo's birthday!) on the 22nd. And I just thought I'd revive it in case anyone wants to bring the party back throughout September! Because Hobbit Day + a cozy, fallish tag = YES, PLEASE. ;)
Oh, also- if you missed it, my two-year blogiversary was on Tuesday and I posted my celebratory Q&A vlog! You can find that HERE.
And that's all! Love you guys, and I'll see you when I see you! ♥
You guys. I cannot believe it's been two years since I started my blog!! And it's been SUCH a fantastic two years. I don't regret a second of it. well okay I regret all those blog posts I put up late but shh
Here are a few of my favorite memories from the past two years in the blogosphere:
-My very first comment. Most of us probably remember our first comment, right?? Mine was from the lovely C.G. Drews and made me smile SO. BIG.
-My very first follower. Looking at you, Nicole. ;)
-Winning my first NaNo. Would this have happened without my blog? Possibly. But it wouldn't have happened alongside some fantastic Pen Dragons trying to beat the clock, and within ten minutes of another writer (wasn't that you, Faith? xD)
-Laughing with said Pen Dragons about killing characters, resurrection horses, and a napkin in a lapkin. If you know you know.
-Being published again. This probably wouldn't have happened without blogging, at least with Havok, because I discovered Havok through other bloggers. But even if it would have, it was just made 100000x more amazing with all you incredible people's support.
-One of my blog posts, inspired by the Out of Time series which has deeply inspired me, being read by Nadine Brandes herself.
-Starting a YouTube channel (currently all but abandoned ahaha) and a Bookstagram and becoming more and more at home in this extraordinary community.
These are all moments that either happened because of blogging or were made better because of blogging. And I love each and every one of them.
And now what (I assume) you've all been waiting for- THE Q&A VLOG! I'M POSTING IT ON TIME THIS YEAR AHHHH
Have fun watching me not know how to answer questions, answer questions badly, and forget what questions I'm answering! All in bad quality! Woo!
Aaaand here are the answers to the questions that got kicked out of the video. xD (These are all from McKayla!)
Favorite animal? Dog, with horse coming in at a very close second! (I know, I know. Tween me is horrified that horse didn't make #1.)
What is your greatest strength as a writer? *sighs because I excruciatingly explained this on camera and then lost the footage* The best answer I could come up with here was my ability to feel. Stories make me feel, and that's what draws me to them and makes me remember them long after they're over. And I also feel my own stories, very close to the same way I feel other people's. This is probably a more unconventional answer than you would expect, but I think it's one of the things that I appreciate most about myself as a writer.
Where do you see yourself in ten years? Hopefully with a better idea of where I'll be in ten years than I have now. xD The only thing I know for sure is I hope to have a book published. Or two. Or three. (okay, realistically, we'll stick with one. Since I don't even have one finished yet. xD)
And that's the end of the festivities!
I'm just so, so deeply blessed and unbelievably thankful for each and every one of you. I truly believe God led me into this community for a reason. You all have made this writing journey- this LIFE journey- richer and better than I ever imagined. You'll never know how much it means when you support me and say you're praying for me. Maybe I've only known you a couple of years, but now I don't know what I would do without you. ♥
Thank you all for reading, watching, and sticking around! Allll the love, cookies, and books! *throws confetti*
