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!

Dragons, Time Travel, and Sass || or a look at my next writing project

Heyyy guys! So this week's post is a little different and kind of random, but I'm super excited to share it with you.

This week, I'm introducing you guys to my story Fall Into Time!

It's not a new story. I first started drafting it for NaNoWriMo in 2016. BUT this is the first time I'll really be telling you guys about it! And the reason I decided to write this post is that I'm ridiculously close to finishing draft one of last year's NaNo novel Roots to Claim that I won't stop talking about and Fall Into Time is my next goal to work on. So I thought I'd 1) get back into the groove of it by yelling about it and 2) introduce you guys to it since you'll probably be hearing me continue to yell about it in the near future.

I have no plans or outline for this post so it's probably going to be too long and rambly and make no sense at all but I'll just jump right into it. xD All pictures are from Pinterest.

FALL INTO TIME

(This title is not final, it's just a placeholder until I come up with something good. xD It really doesn't even make sense, I was just looking for something that had the word "time" in it and came up with that for some reason.)

So, basically Fall Into Time is about an almost-college graduate named Sophie Drake who gets sucked into the future and has to find her way back home. There's lots of sass, regret, mythical creatures (evil unicorns, anyone?), and there may or may not be a cyborg dragon who has more
personality than you and I do.

HAVE SOME AESTHETICS.

And here's the link to my Pinterest board, if you want to see more. There's not a lot to it, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. https://www.pinterest.com/bookwieldingemily/fall-into-time/

This story takes place in Alander. Alander is a fantasy world (I kind of maybe picture it as a planet? not too sure about some worldbuilding stuff yet) where people ride dragons and gryphons as commonly as we drive cars, everything runs on minerals from the earth rather than electricity, and a dude makes a mechanical dragon to take down unicorns. Basically I picture it as a fantasy world with
sci-fi elements. (Like time travel. Hehe.)

Aaand now I'd like to introduce you to Sophie Drake, my protagonist!

At the start of the story, Sophie is about to graduate college. (Or whatever the Alander equivalent of college is. I'm not really sure yet.) She likes to be in control and hates feeling like the passing of time is something she has no say over. At this point in her life, everything's changing too fast for her, and she's starting to fear what life may have for her tomorrow.

2023 isn't the actual year the story takes place... just the year I chose to keep track of time for now.

In the middle of all that lovely stuff, Sophie gets sucked twenty years into the future. So, that's fun.
Enter Asher I-can't-remember-if-I-gave-him-a-last-name-yet.

Sophie meets Asher in the future, because he accidentally brings her there. #rude

He's trying to figure out a way to time travel because he did something in the past that he seriously regrets and he doesn't think he can be happy until he fixes it.

Asher's smart, quirky, and lovable, although rather exasperating at times. He's also got a bit of a temper on him and tends to throw stuff when he gets mad. Behind his good-natured exterior he's deeply scarred by his decisions in the past.

Then there's Gemma.

The daughter of Sophie's best friend, she isn't born yet in the year Sophie lives, so it's a shock when Sophie meets her in the future. Gemma's selfless, loyal, and kind of ditzy. She's terrified of everything that starts happening around her when Sophie arrives (see dude below), but really wants to help Sophie so she tries to be brave and sticks with her.

Aaaand then there's Jax.

(this isn't exactly what he looks like, but you get the idea.)

Basically, Jax is a cyborg dragon with wayyyyy too much sass and a glitch that really gets on his nerves. He's actually super annoying and likes to burn holes in houses and stuff because he's #dramatic. His goal in life at the moment is to stop Asher from achieving time travel because it will keep Jax from ever having been created.

SNIPPETS

(keep in mind this is a first draft so these snippets are not perfect and some wording might be off or just plain bad but it will get better) (also these are not in order)

Okay, wow, so that was a lot of snippets and probably overkill. But it's fine. 

Also do you ever just go reading through your story and even though it might be a total mess you look at it and think "dude that's really good". xD

This story is still in the first draft stage. Yeah, I know. I've been working on it for almost three years and still haven't finished the first draft. If I've never mentioned it before, I reallyyy struggle with finishing first drafts. (Which is why I'm so stoked to be pages away from finishing Roots to Claim.)
I still have a lot of worldbuilding and character development to work on. I'm excited to get back into it! I love this story and my precious children and I've left them hanging way too long. (Poor Sophie's
been in the wrong year since November 2016...)

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed a sneak peek into Fall Into Time! Hopefully sometime in the next few months as I work on it, I'll come up with a better title. xD

Who do you think your favorite character from this story would be? Does Alander sound like a place you'd want to live? Do you have trouble finishing first drafts too, or does it come fairly easy for you? Chat with me!

Six Things I've Learned Since Graduating High School

Tuesday marked three years since I graduated high school.

Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm a high school graduate. That I went to Florida and walked down the aisle with approximately 400 other homeschool grads and had one of the best weeks ever.

This week I'm feeling kind of nostalgic. And since it's graduation season, I want to share with you a few things I've learned since graduating high school.

I read these books during my vacation to Florida when I graduated.

TIME GOES BY REALLY FAST.

Like, super fast. I felt that when I found myself walking across a stage in a cap and gown, and I feel it today, exactly three years later.

I barely felt like I was a teenager for five minutes.

I stop and think sometimes about the fact that I'm twenty-one, out of school, and have a job. It's still so surreal to me.

I WISH I WOULD HAVE TRIED HARDER.

The last year or two of high school was pretty hard. I had a hard time keeping up with all my work and still having a life. As a result of that, I put subpar effort into some things. Fortunately I didn't get bad grades my senior year, but I know I could have made them better. And if I could change one thing about my high school years, that might be it.

I TOOK IT FOR GRANTED.

It's natural; you spend all your school years longing for the day when you're out of school. Nothing wrong with that. But now I realize that I 100% took it for granted.

I was homeschooled. That means I got to sit at home all day in the comfort of my room and work at my own pace. I didn't get to sleep in every day, but I didn't have to get up early. I had the opportunity to spend more time with my family than kids in public school did. Now I'm gone all day five days a
week and I feel like I don't get nearly enough time at home.

And even off the homeschool spectrum... being a student holds a higher level of comfort than having a job and working forty hours a week. At least for me.

LIFE IS SCARY.

Once you've graduated, there are all these looming responsibilities in front of you. Get a job. Go to college (if you so desire). Learn how to adult. It's a lot of pressure and it happens really fast, and it's intimidating! Maybe even downright terrifying.

BUT NOT TOO SCARY.

Because once I learned how to cope, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Still scary, but possible. And that's
all that matters.

I CAN DO IT.

I'm not the only person who's ever had to do this before. I'm not incapable. And I'm not as awkward and uncertain as I thought. Am I still those things? Oh, yes. Absolutely. But hey, I didn't think I could do it and now I can. That's all I can ask for.

And now, when I'm at work basically running the place (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) and working my way up? Yeah, I never thought I'd think this was so easy. But here I am, as if I was never afraid of getting a job at all.

So for all of you who maybe are still in high school, or getting ready to graduate, and are looking at the future like it's a big scary blackhole... take heart. It's not that bad. Take a deep breath, allow yourself to mess up, and trust God that He'll carry you through. Because if it wasn't for Him, I'd still probably be in the fetal position wishing I could time travel back to the age of eight.

Also, here are a few songs I listened to over and over during my senior year:

"Brave Souls" was kind of what I considered the theme of my graduation trip. I was ecstatic to be done with school, but terrified to move on. So I listened to this song and tried my best to be a brave soul.

I got through. I'm where I am today, and I pray you get there too.

A Tower and a Fantasy (Rapunzel flash fiction!)

Hey guys! So I'm sure you all know by now about the amazing Fairy Tale Central. Every month the lovely ladies over there (Arielle, Christine, and Faith) feature a different fairy tale. And not only that, but they're also sharing a writing prompt for each month, too, based on that month's fairy tale!

The prompts are posted on Arielle's blog Intuitive Writing Guide at the beginning of the month. Rapunzel is the featured fairy tale for May, and I was so excited to write some Rapunzel-inspired flash fiction!

This month's prompt has a little twist; you base your piece around this line...

And then choose one (or more!) of these lines to follow up!

I'll let you read the original post to better explain it. 

Now I'm sure you have some ideas stirring around in your head like I did! Stay tuned for my flash fiction based on these prompts!

I decided to create characters and use them in the future prompts, too, like the original post suggested. I don't know if I'll take part every single month, but whenever I do, the characters you'll meet in this story will be in those too! I loved that idea and I can't wait to incorporate Trentley and Jynnia into other fairy tale-inspired prompts. I don't know if it'll be kind of a series or a bunch of
stand-alone scenes, but I know it'll be lots of fun.

Aaaand... I also got some MAJOR plot bunnies for a series about Trentley and Jynnia as I was writing this. *hides* Yeah, that's all I need right now-- not only an idea for a book, but MULTIPLE books! 

Buuut such is the way of a writer, I guess. Maybe I'll share the details of said (currently nonexistent) books in the future, but for now, just suffice to know it has to do with fairy tales. ;) But you probably
could have already guessed that.

ANYWAY!  Enough of my blabbering. Here's my story! Hope you enjoy!

     * * *

 "Hey, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
 Jynnia appeared at the window at Trentley's call, and stood there looking down at him with an eyebrow raised.
 "Show me some credentials. I don't let it down for just anyone."
 Trentley laughed, rubbing his neck as he looked up the steep wall of the stone tower. He put one hand on a hip, feigning irritation but unable to keep the big smile off his face. "I don't have any credentials," he said. "But what if I tell you I'll give you a kiss when I get up there?"
 Jynnia pursed her lips, tapping her temple with a finger. "I don't know," she said, her hand sliding up to run through her short, messy brown locks. "I literally just finished brushing it."
 "Oh, come on!" He sprinted up to the door at the base of the tower. Jynnia had used it moments earlier, but Trentley shook the handle as if it were locked. Backing up to look at her again, he called, "I'm locked out! How else do you expect me to get up there?"
 She had disappeared from the window, but Trentley heard her voice echo, "That doesn't sound like my problem. Do I look like a ladder to you?"
 Trentley could not stop laughing at the sheer childishness of their behavior. This was what finding a tower in the middle of the woods did to them. "Oh, come on, Jynnia, just let down your hair!"
 He heard her sigh, then footsteps nearing the window. When she appeared, she was wearing a vibrant purple dress, much different from the muted green one she had been wearing a moment ago. Strange that someone would abandon such a lovely dress in an old tower. He began to say something about her playing dress-up, but she spoke before he could.
 "Fine," she said, and flipped her hand in the air, pretending to toss a long mane out the window. "Now you can come up."
 He took off toward the door, this time throwing it open. "Hey, I like that color on you!" he yelled before entering the tower. A moment later he heard a muffled cry and shook his head with a grin. Jynnia had thrown herself into this role all too wholeheartedly; a damsel overtaken by his compliment.
 As he ran up the spiraling stairs, he found himself struggling to move as freely as he had been before. How curious. He looked down to see if something restricted his strides, and started a bit to see not the old worn-out pants he had put on that morning, but a new, pressed pair he had never seen before. And his shirt! Not the well-worn tunic he was so comfortable in and was sure he had just been wearing-- but a stiff coat with gold buttons. The costume of a prince!
 "Where in heaven's name did these clothes come from?" he said aloud, and briefly wondered if he was dreaming. He certainly had not been wearing this an hour ago! "Jynnia?" he called, remembering the dress she had donned moments ago. He heard her scream, and broke into a run.
 He skidded to a stop, nearly falling, when he stepped on something slick. He bent to look closer and clapped a hand to his mouth. Hair! Dark brown hair the very color of Jynnia's! Trentley followed it with his eyes; it went on up the staircase and underneath the door at the top.
 Jynnia cried his name. He bolted up the remaining stairs and burst through the door.
 Jynnia was standing with her back to the window, gripping the windowsill with white knuckles. She breathed heavily as she gazed down at the flowing purple dress she wore. Her old green dress was nowhere to be seen.
 But what really made Trentley's head spin was the hair that flowed from Jynnia's head, covered the floor in soft brown waves, and trailed out the door.
 The two looked at each other for a moment, having no words to say. Jynnia was the first to speak.
 "What... have... we... done?"

     * * *

And there you have it! It's not perfect, but I'm excited about the ideas it spawned. They might deviate almost completely from this scene, but that's okay! And I already love Trentley and Jynnia.  I never write such sappy couples, but these guys are going to be fun.

I hope you enjoyed my story! Now it's YOUR turn to go take part in this month's writing prompt!

What do you think of Trentley and Jynnia? (And what in the world do you think happened when they went into that tower?!) Are you participating in the writing prompt this month?

APRIL 2019

IT'S MAY! Which is kind of hard to believe, and kind of... not. April actually felt reallllyyy long to me. Which isn't a bad thing! But when I thought back to the first book I read this month, I was like... whoa, that was THIS month?? I don't know why, but April just went by really slowly.

Anyway! I did have a good April. Aaaand here's what happened this month!

READING

(Seriously, though, it feels like three months since I read Battlecry Forever. What even.)

My favorite book I read this month has to be Ella Enchanted. It was such a fun story and Ella and Char were great. I didn't love the direction the story  took toward the very end (I was just wishing the author had gone a less cliche route), but the actual ending was fantastic.

Season of Wonder was pretty good, and I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy. (I'm reading the second book now.) I didn't love it, though. Maybe I'm just not that into dystopian.

Battlecry Forever was just a fun reread from my days back in a horse book club. I LOVED it back then, but then when I read it this time I was like... that was it? Kinda sad. xD

WRITING

I won Camp NaNoWriMo!

Wherein you can see my usual pattern of starting out strong, then getting lazy and panicking toward the end. xD

My goal was 15k, and I just scraped by with 15,052 words. Unfortunately I did not finish my book like I'd hoped... but I'm literally SO close. And most importantly, I'm motivated again so I definitely feel like I can accomplish it in the next few days.

I also wrote a short story and submitted it to Havok! I haven't heard back yet, but whether it's accepted or not it's been fun getting back into short stories.

Words written this month: 15922

TV

I had a TON of episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic piled up on my DVR and I've been catching up on those. Eventually I really want to get the whole series and watch it from beginning to end. I forgot how much I loved those ponies.

Also, what the heck is this.

MUSIC

I've been enjoying a couple songs I randomly discovered on Spotify: Brother by Kodaline, and How To Save A Life by The Fray.

Brother is a really good song (with a heartbreaking music video-- go watch it), and it goes really well with Roots to Claim. And How To Save A Life I think I'd heard of, but I'd never actually heard it before (other than hearing Taylor Swift cover it hehe). But then I started listening to it and kinda couldn't stop. It's such a good song with such an important message.

I stumbled upon and bought the album, too, at a Goodwill. I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

LIFE

I had a good Easter, starting with church and then eating barbecue with my family. Then that afternoon I went out and got some Easter candy because I totally forgot until then and I really wanted some. xD

I get to wear this at work for the next few weeks:

I haven't seen it yet, though, or the last, like, six movies for that matter. So no spoilers. xD

At the end of the month I took a weekend off from work to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses for my friend's wedding. Me, one of her sisters, and our friend from Kentucky are all bridesmaids, and we had a super fun weekend. We went to a mall, and I had Starbucks for the first time!

Sadly, I didn't care for it. xD It was good, but wayyy too strong for me. The foam was the best part. xD I'll definitely still try more Starbucks drinks in the future if I get the chance though.

We also went to a frozen custard shop nearby. I'd never been there and really wanted to try it. I had a cappucino chip concrete, and it was sooo good.

Unfortunately I also got sick at the very end of the month. So I'm drinking lots of tea and just trying
to survive. xD

Oh, and I almost forgot:

this blog is now dedicated to my dog get used to it

He looks sad because I was eating an ice cream cone and not giving him any. xD

BLOG

On the blog this month:

Why I Love Bullet Journaling + A Peek Inside MY Bullet Journal
Voted Most Likely Tag!

And that was my April! As for May, well, my first priority is to finish Roots to Claim once and for all. (I am ready to be DONE with this draft, y'all.) Then I want to start working on Fall Into Time, my time travel fantasy with the awful name. Also take some more time out for reading.

Also! I want to add (even though this technically happened in May, not April, hehe) that I have a bookstagram now! You can follow me on Instagram @bookwieldingemily.

How was your April? Did you participate in Camp NaNo, and if so how did you do? What's your favorite Starbucks drink?