NOVEMBER 2019

And just like that, November is over and December is here. CRAZY, right?!

Yes, it is crazy, because I've apparently lost control of everything and am just now getting this November wrapup up four days into December. Ignore this. :D

This November went by in a weird whirl of writing, coffee, and not nearly enough sleep. (Wait... did I just describe my life?) One big plus of the month was the weather! In the past few years our falls have been really warm, so I've gotten accustomed to not expecting cold weather in November. But this year there was quite a bit of chilly weather, rainy days... even a little snow! Perfect writing weather. Which is maybe why I had such a good NaNo. But I digress.

Anyway... onto the monthly wrapup!

Reading? What's reading?

So, funny story. Every year around this time I read the Christmas books from each set (that I or my sister has) of the old American Girl books. They're so nostalgic and I never get tired of them. And every year I tell myself I'm going to read all the books from all the sets, because I haven't done that in forever.

And every year I don't do it because it takes too long. This year was no exception.

So, all I read this month was the Kaya American Girl series. Could I have read every one of the series this month? Yes. Did I? Not even close, because writing was taking over my life. And on that subject...

Do I even have to say it? No, but I will: This month was NaNoWriMo!! And it was a good one.

If you somehow didn't know by now (even though I've been yelling about it since October), I was writing my fairy tale story Once Upon this month. And I just had a really, really good feeling about this NaNo. Last year, while not my first NaNo, was my first win. So I went into this NaNo knowing for certain that I had the ability to win. Even though I had absolutely no idea whatsoever how my story was going to progress, I just knew I was going to make it.

And yes, you read that right. I MADE THIS STORY UP AS I WENT ALONG. ALL MONTH. And it went pretty well. I don't know, I might go back and read it and realize that it's absolute trash and needs completely rewritten. But for now, I got it written down, and I'm excited about my story. That's
all I can ask for.

It's not finished, and to be honest I don't really know how much longer the story's going to go on. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to finish it in December, or one of my other WIPs I really want finished. Or maybe I'll just totally bomb and not write anything because of Christmas and everything. Either way, it's fine. xD

Also in the writing department, I had a story on Havok this month! I forgot to post anything about it because it went up on Thanksgiving and I was busy. But it's still there for you Havok members, so if you missed it, go hit up the Havok website and search for Careful What You Hunt For. ;)

The first week of the month contained a very exciting day for my nerdy bookish little soul: November 5th, Guy Fawkes Day! Which means absolutely nothing to me except pertaining to Fawkes by Nadine Brandes. xD This was my first November 5th since reading the book. And I'm really only mentioning this at all so I can share this super dorky story with you: I was hanging out with my brother and sisters a day or two after the 5th, and my brother the history buff asked my sisters if they knew what Guy Fawkes Day was. When they said no, this little voice inside me said, "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" (Parker Rooney voice) and jumped up from my seat and very, very dramatically recited the "Remember, Remember" poem. My siblings looked on in disbelief that this was happening. I took a bow and sat back down, very proud of myself.

Thank you, Nadine Brandes, for introducing me to this poem and therefore allowing me this amazing
moment of my life. xD

Of course, later in the month was Thanksgiving. Which I kind of can't believe has already passed now? But that's the story of my life, so. No surprises here. Anyway, I had a lovely Thanksgiving. It rained, but that was okay. I had a lot to be thankful for, starting with the fact that I had a flat tire earlier in the week, but I was able to get it fixed and it didn't cost much. Also, we had a bad storm a couple nights before Thanksgiving, but no real damage.

The happenins':

There was also my Q&A vlog: click here!

And there it is! I can't believe it's December now and the Christmas season is officially here. I want to say that I'm hoping to be more productive and organized this month now that NaNo's over, but in reality I'm 97% sure that the season is going to completely override that. So I'll try to do my best, but also not get too discouraged when I'm not as productive as I'd like. The new year is almost here (!!!!!) and I can make up for lost time then. (Which miiight actually be a terrible idea?? Don't take advice from me, please.) The end of the year is just so chaotic and I can already tell you that I'll be more than happy to have that fresh new slate.

Also, did I mention: THERE'S ONLY A MONTH LEFT OF 2019???!! What is this?? How is it almost 2020??? What's happen-- how do I-- where's the--

Ahem. Well, anyway. Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks I'll also get back in a good blogging schedule, because that's been pretty rough the past few months. By January I hope to be back in the swing of things and not scrambling to finish up every single thing in existence that I do because I procrastinated. But y'know. We'll see.

Aaand on the subject of time management and craziness and all that jazz: I'm taking sort of a little blogging break. Not a hiatus, exactly. But in December I only have one post planned (plus my end of year wrapup), and I have no idea when I'm going to put that up. So, no schedule this month and maybe not more than a couple posts, either. We'll see. I'm going to try to use this month to write some blog posts without the stress of needing to get them up on time, so I'll have a headstart on posts in the new year.

Basically, November ate me and I need a month to recover. xD

I hope everyone's having a lovely December so far! Happy Christmas season!

(and yes I used this gif last year for my November wrapup but I'll use it again because I want to and
White Christmas is a classic)

How was your Thanksgiving? And did we survive NaNo? (No, seriously. I need you to tell me if I'm still alive.) Are you still writing in December? Editing? Taking a break? Just lying around in complete shock?