Blog Update

Hello All!

So, I've been taking a break from the blog due to a mixture of school/writing/Birthdayness and travel planning/laziness. AND NOW I'm MOVING on top of it. So I don't plan on being super present on the blog for a little while. More, I'm going to try and get super ahead on blog posts and sort of reemerge around June when this semester is over. I will also re-debut my Harry Potter Re-read Wonderfulness series of The Latest Three. Meanwhile, I'll be popping in here and there with whatever pleases me at the moment. Until then, happy blogging, happy reading, and happy days to you all.

P.S.

Here are some random pics as of late. You'll note a little more enlightenment on the previously mentioned Birthdayness and travel.

My 21st in VEGAS with Glitterbogger and another fave cousin of mine!

Sparkletastic in the Cosmopolitan.

It's my Glitterbogger!

Santa Barbara bookstores are the best, especially on a lazy birthday morning! Chaucer's on State st. has the biggest YA section I've ever encountered!

Meet the Musician, as we like to call him on the blog, otherwise known as Mr. Boyfriend.

Till Next Time...

The Latest Three

It's time for another Latest Three

And I suppose a bit of an update.

NaNoWriMo is over, and once again it has evaded me. Though I won't necessarily go so far as to say I lost, as I wasn't really doing NaNo in the first place. For those of you who don't know, I finished my first complete MS almost this time last year and have been in the process of editing it, which is what I tried to use NaNo for, but school and another project got in the way. I have, however, been having fun with some major world-building with a dual project I'm working on (AKA: Anastasia Romanov re-telling with Better Bookish Half) Hopefully that will be my very well-prepared but ultimately still shiny new Anastasia re-telling for NaNo 2014. It looks promising.

So right now my somewhat daunting goal is to have the current MS I'm working on fully edited by the start of spring semester so I can send it off to my two critique partners. Also, I have some enthusiastic family members who've been bugging me to read it, but I'm not sure if I wanna go there yet, especially when I know changes are likely going to be made in the next rounds of edits. Thoughts?

Christmas Holidays are almost here, and I've got a stack of books to fill it with. I also would like to fit in some fun Christmas crafts if I can. Any suggestions? 

I will be re-reading (FINALLY) the Harry Potter series, something I've been avoiding, yes, avoiding, I kid you not, for several years now. For a good reason, I assure you, but those details will come with your next installment of The Latest Three.

This past Latest Three was definitely something to be reckoned with. I honestly don't think I've read a better set of three books in a row before, though I kinda feel like I say that for every set of three I read. But I REALLY feel strongly about it for this one!!!

Here it is, what I thought of The Latest Three books I've read.

The Bitter Kingdom, Rae Carson

Let me just start this out by saying, "WHEW DOGGIE!"

LOVED IT. LOVED IT. LOVED IT.

That is all I can say, really. I mean, this is a finish to a trilogy. Better Bookish Half turned me onto Girl of Fire and Thorns about two years ago, and I was obsessed with Carson's ability to write such a rich in detail, culturally vivid, kick-ass heroine epic fantasy. Her plot development is exactly perfect for the kind of grand adventure the MC, Queen Elisa, experiences. Carson keeps this high standard of story telling throughout the rest of her series, no cutting corners, no kissy scenes simply for the sake of a kissy scene. You just need to read it to understand. And now that the entire series is out you can fly through them all...also there's enovellas you can get for a dollar on Amazon. 

READ IT!!!

Goodreads

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

I have a mental list of Beautiful Books and this book definitely made that list (examples would be The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Bel Canto by Anne Patchett, among many more). When I use the word 'beautiful,' I don't mean anything along the lines of 'pretty.' I mean beautiful in a way that's haunting, perhaps a bit painful to recall but wonderful as well, that sticks with you like a vivid memory long after you've read it. This book is one of those books. Surprise, surprise, Better Bookish Half also gave this one to me for my birthday (she knows me so well). If you like books that artfully skirt around the main point/secret until it punches you in the face with truth, making you literally go, "What?...Wait, what!" Then I definitely recommend this one. Also, I love the time line. It starts out with the narrator, Kathy H, talking about her time living with friends at Hailsham, a peculiar sort of British boarding school, as children, but as the students grow older and you get bits and pieces of Kathy's life in the present you start to get a better understanding of what's actually going on until BAM, it hits you in the face. No joke. Another aspect I liked about this one is how unpretentious the writing is. It literally sounds like an average 31 year old middle class woman who's writing it, while the story itself brings all the poetic substance to the table.

Definitely pick it up at your local used bookstore...and also check out the movie. I haven't yet, but I take forever with those things. Kiera Knightly, Carrie Mulligan, and Andrew Garfield are in it. Yeah, should be pretty good. I'd say.

Goodreads

The Dream Thieves, Maggie Stiefvater

Stiefvater is basically my favorite author of today. It all started with The Scorpio Races. Then The Raven Boys and now The Dream Thieves did not disappoint. For those of you who haven't read the first book a) read it and b) you should know that this book is primarily about the character, Ronan, and his ability to enter dreams and take whatever he wants out of them. This, of course, does tie into the ley line and the search for Glendower, but that aspect mostly takes the backseat. Blue, one of the five main character's, stories has about the same emphasis as in TRB, and you'll want to watch out for the development of her relationship with Noah--so cute! Gansey and Adam still have their angst-y relationship, and perhaps it's even more angst-y in this one. But the brotherhood between them, and the rest of the male gang for that matter, is still really endearing in the cutest, and oftentimes funniest, way possible. Basically, if you like having that atmosphere with prep-school boys who are like brothers and spend day in and day out with each other and drive shiny, obnoxious luxury cars and have eloquent, sexy vocabularies in both English and Latin and a plucky, feminist girl to tag along with them, all while searching for a long dead Welsh King in a magical forest in Virginia, then this series is for you!
Goodreads

The Latest Three: Creep-tastic Takeover (Even Though We're Half Way Through Novemberry)

It's here! Another Latest Three!

And I am pleased to inform you that all three books were ones I greatly enjoyed, which isn't necessarily rare, but something I'm always glad to admit when it comes to these posts.

For Halloween this year, I tried to stick with a creepier set of books. And yes, I understand we're half way through Novemberry already, but I knew what books I was going to read before hand for this post and of course I couldn't talk about them until I finished them.

But now I have finished them, and here they are.

The Latest Three!

A Darkness Strange and Lovely, Susan Dennard

To sum it up in a sentence, the book is a bit dark, a bit strange, and very lovely. One of the biggest things I admire about Dennard's writing is that she takes a sub-genre of YA fiction (one I admittedly don't read much of: paranormal with minor or major romance) and gives it this quality of purely classic storytelling. The point here is mostly about adventure, about zombies and exotic history, about opulence and underground secrets, about friendship, romance, and the ever important internal struggle of a young girl in a conservative era, dealing with magnificent power. I also love it when authors are smart enough to spice things up and also pump up the drama by setting the next book in a far off place. Immediately, there's intrigue in that alone, and I wish writers would take that route more often. Overall, I think Dennard did a tre magnifique job at writing the daunting sequel to her first Something Strange and Deadly, which I also loved, and that's something that, as an avid reader of YA, is a bit hard to come by. Well done Dennard! Can't wait for book three, Strange and Ever After, Egypt here we come. Oh, and love the cover!

Goodreads

City of the Beasts, Isabelle Allende

I haven't yet read any of Allende's books. (She mostly writes for adult audiences.) But I've heard many good things about her, mostly from my mom, who's read several of them and badgers me to read them as well. Well when I saw Allende had a YA book out, I immediately jumped at the chance. Not only would it make my mom happy, but it sounded like an awesome read. Basic plot: young boy goes on grand adventure with Grandma into the heart of the amazon to hunt down what they are calling the Beast, basically the Big Foot of the Amazon. Only the Beast they're looking for, might not be the Beast they need most fear. In general, I love this kind of plot. Many times, it means edge of your seat adventure in far off places, but also a slew of characters who's arc is unraveled in a way that eventually makes you question every thought you first had about them and, often, about other broader ideas when you first started the book. This was definitely one of those books. It was so believable, not only because of the research that was so obviously done, but because of the world-building, which I found not only in the tribal influence that becomes a very critical part of the book, but the beautiful way in which the two main characters become--and I don't use that word lightly--a part of that world. A gripping read, and, yes!, there's a sequel, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon. I'll be working on that one next and then it's off to The House of the Spirits, her most highly recommended book I've encountered.

Goodreads

Throat, R. A. Nelson

I have this book in hard back because, even though it came out in 2011, I bought it but just never managed to get to it until now...though, admittedly, there are a good handful of books on my shelves that hide the same story. I'll start out by saying there is nothing to this cover that deceives your imagination. Yes, this book is about vampires. I personally do not read many books about vampires. I had my Twilight days and I am not shameful of them in the least. But those books were out for a while, and I knew it, too, before a good friend of mine insisted I read them. So in general, and not in an "on my book taste superiority high horse" sort of way, I don't read a lot of vampire centered fiction, nor do I read a lot of zombie fiction either. But! In the circumstance that a hook can draw me in, like a zombie book with a female heroine in the heart and heat of late 1800's Philadelphia with dashing Spirit Hunters--thanks Susan Dennard, I'm more than willing to tread into unfamiliar water. Here the protagonist is also female, but she starts out with a pretty extreme disability--epilepsy, or, as she calls it, the curse. The drama gets started when a monstrous vampire attacks her and she goes into a grand mal seizure at the same time, which not only saves her life but gives her super-powers, turning her into a kind of fantastical half-vampire. This notion of a very real disease being a young girl's saving grace in the deadly clutches of classic such evil folk lore as a vampire was a major genius idea in mixture of realism and magic, and so of course I had to give it a try. Oh! And did I mention it mainly takes place on the base of NASA? All the lore that Nelson created around his version of good and bad vampires, the detailed world-building that is the NASA base, swoony, lovable Sadan, and my absolute favorite character of the book, Papi, all make for a great YA paranormal read with a romantic element I'd categorize somewhere between minor and major! I've been looking into Nelson's other books and both Breathe My Name and Days of Little Texas sound like excellent reads. Check 'em out!

Goodreads

Bye-bye Button: And How I Relate That to Writing

Photo courtesy of the fact that I figured people wouldn't want to see a picture of a mole in their blog feed today...and Google images.

Now for the meat and potatoes of our blog post.
So I have a Button,

though, literally speaking, it is a birthmark.

Or...OK...a mole.

But I've always called it a birthmark...

And I've always referred to it as my Button.

(More on this later.)

Her is a picture of said Button:

As you can see by the picture, my Button is larger than a pencil eraser, which means it is far more susceptible to becoming cancerous than any average mole, and so must at last be removed. You might even be able to see, if you look towards the top left of the button, that it is what they call "bleeding," which means it's color is spreading into other parts of my skin, which is, technically speaking, a medical ruh-roh.
So my Button is going bye-bye. For good.
"Now," says my internal, imaginary therapist, "How does this make you feel?"
Well, to be honest, I don't like it. Not one bit.
And this has very little to do with the surgery itself. Ever since I had a fainting spell from watching a gory scene in a movie in school, which is another story on its own, I've noticed I've been a bit more squeamish with blood-stuff, but I generally take pain pretty well, especially when I know it's coming.
No, I'm not happy about this because, well, I like my Button.
It's a part of me. It's not too ugly. It doesn't complain about being stuck to me all the time...
But then again, a mole of this category is, medically speaking, at risk for melanoma, and as much as I like my Button, I don't like it that much.
So bye-bye Button. You will be missed, but, unfortunately, you're execution is necessary.

Now.
Like many things in my life, a little reflection on this allowed me to relate it to writing.
How so?
Well, I've lately been doing some thought on character.
On a slight side note--but I guess not really that much of a side note, I've found that when I have a problem with plot I can look to character development to perhaps help me out a little.
For example, this Button of mine, I will tell you how it came to be called my Button.
When I was a little girl I had a Button. It was small and brown and round, and, somehow perfectly, it was the size of a pointer finger.
Now, when you are a little girl
and you have a birthmark that is perfectly the size of a pointer finger
and you have a mother who loves to make you giggle in the bathtub,
you're mother will likely press her pointer finger to your birthmark and call it your Button
because it is, somehow, just too perfect of a phenomenon to pass up,
and it makes your two year old self giggle
a lot.
But when the Button is pressed...what must happen then?
Surely, it is a Button, so something must happen.
Somehow your two year old self decides that this means you must stick out your tongue. So every time your mother presses your Button with her pointer finger, you stick your tongue out and you giggle like crazy.
Or let me rephrase that.
Your mother sits on the edge of the bathtub, tucked away between sunshine yellow tiles. She's wearing her fluffy green bathrobe, the one you always take when its cold in the winter because you can't find your own because your room is still too messy. She leans over with a scrunchy smile and pokes your Button with her pointer finger. Her standard dark red nail polish on her long, rounded fingernails is slightly chipped cause she rubs her fingernails over each other when she thinks her husband's not looking. "Bad habit," he would always say.
She pokes your Button and you jut out your chin, squint your eyes, and stick out your tongue. She releases your Button and your tongue slides back in.
But now the game has begun.
Poke, poke, poke!
Goes your mother.
Thrice you stick out your tongue in rapid fire, not missing a beat.
One long, drawn out poke from your mother this time.
You hold your tongue out and pull it back in, just in time.
You both erupt in giggles.
You get so excited you start to splash.
You mother shrieks, but still she's laughing...

And then you realize that the sight of the birthmark on your left leg, the one you're so used to living with it's almost as if it's not there sometimes, just made you think of all that, just that little old mole.

We all have our own "Buttons," whether they're a part of our body or not, and so should our characters. And who knows, you might create a "Button" for your own character that opens up a possibility in plot you hadn't thought of.
And if you're not sure where to start, look to you're own "Button" first. If you can't find it, look for it. It's there. Discovering that about ourselves can only make us better writers at the end of the day.

If I Were a Bookstore

If I were a bookstore

It would be round
like the shape of two elbows, resting on the arms of a chair,
linked by the open pages
of a book.

Organization would be key.
On one side would be the sunshine books.
Like the morning,
Like the summer,
Like the heat rising off the asphalt,
Like skin, bronze,
Like the fairground,
Like the beach,
Like a veranda with a cold glass of lemonade,
Like a journey,
for good measure,
through the amazon.

On another side would be the misty books.
Like British accents,
Like broomsticks and potions,
Like thick, woolen overcoats,
Like memories and tears,
Like rosy cheeks,
Like steam rising from a cup,
Like cloaks and pixie dust,
Like umbrellas and fire places,
And for good measure,
Like Scottish accents, too.

On another side would be the shiny books.
Like helicopters,
and cities lit up like the stars.
Like indestructible space ships
and EXPLOSIONS.
Like galaxies,
Like fathomless beings,
Like unforeseen variables,
Like a volcano,
for good measure,
just before the apocalypse.

And in the middle,
for a measure better than most,
would be everything else.

Because a good book
can always be
something else.


*This is an original poem by Kateri Ransom and is made possible by Random Words and Thoughts that Come out of Kateri's Mouth Corp. Haven't heard of it? That's because I made it up. Just now. Just like this poem. Happy Friday, everyone!

The Latest Three: Stiefvater Takeover Edition

It's time for The Latest Three: Maggie Stiefvater Takeover Edition. For those of you who don't know, Maggie is probably one of my favorite authors living today. I couldn't really pinpoint the title of "Favorite Author" to one name, but if I had an ongoing contest, she'd be a main contender. To be clear, Shiver was her first book I ever read, but the way things worked out, I didn't get to the next two until now. So, I re-read Shiver and finished up the next two, which resulted in...

The Latest Three!!!

Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater

Linger, Maggie Stiefvater

Forever, Maggie Stiefvater

So I will not be giving a review of each individual book for the main purpose that doing so will undoubtedly lead to those icky things called spoilers. Instead, I will merely refer to this series in a general manner.
Like this...
In general, I thought Maggie did a really wonderful job with this series. I'd still say that The Scorpio Races is my favorite of her books thus far, and I probably like The Dream Thieves better than this series as well (despite the fact that the second book only just came out), but that just means that Maggie's been improving with each book she's come out with. Not bad at all, not bad at all.
One of the several things I like about Shiver is that the name of the book literally encompasses the feel of the book, and to me that is not only really cool, but also really important. I love when you glance at a title, and, in a perfect book world, a book cover as well, and get an instant feel for the tone of the novel. But it's even better when the writing of said novel actually matches up to that tone you had originally anticipated, had ached to be true because it looks like it's EXACTLY the kind of book you want to read RIGHT NOW!
I've gone through a lot with this matter, if you can't tell.
Watch out for the main character, Sam Roth's, development throughout the series. He's probably my favorite character in the book, besides Ulrik (but that doesn't really count for reasons I won't actually divulge at this time).
The imagery, the poetry, the luuuuv scenes. There's a lot of heartache and angst and questions on identity and humanity. A really deep read with a nice flavoring of Maggie snarkiness.
Also!
Super excited to hear there's a Cole/Isabel sequel coming out in the spring, entitled Sinner. Can't wait. Isabel is probably my next favorite character and Cole comes close behind her.

Up next for The Latest Three: A (partially) spooky Halloween Takeover

Na-No Talk and Some Good News!

Management asks that you please ignore the lack of posts here within the blog.

We thank you for your understanding.

...

So the once a week blog post thing isn't quite working out as swimmingly as I had hoped it would. Partially due to the fact that I got some variation of a little bug several different times since school started. As well as taking the time to make some decent headway on editing. (I'm nearly through the first ten chapters!)

Heading into October, I am gearing up to become a bit friendlier with NaNo this fall as I'm putting my current editing project on the back-burner to collaborate with my better book-ish half, Emily, on an Anastasia Romanov re-telling. I'm handling most of the outlining, which is getting done this month, and we're teaming up starting Nov. 1st. With me still trying to chip away at editing and her working on another project of her own, it sure is going to be a busy month! But collectively I think we should hit the mark, and it'll be a big leap for me from last year where I believe I got just upwards of 10,000 words done. Hey, I was finishing up the first draft of the story I'd been working on for six years. You can only do so much at that point. 

Other than that, I'll be a bit busier because I got another job!!!

I have two jobs now, can you believe it? Went from nothing to nearly 30 hours a week in less than two months. However, I'm really super stoked about this one. It's at a clothing boutique downtown called Chapala and Parker. Small, quaint, chic, elegant, and not ridiculously overpriced. Plus with the first job I got, which allows me to catch up on writing blog posts at work, ahem ahem, I'd say I have a pretty sweet deal going on. I mean, seriously, I already got free clothes!!!

Well, that's all for now folks. I've got a Latest Three (Stiefvater takeover edition) coming your way soon and some other fun ideas I have in the works as well. See you soon, and for those of you who this applies to, happy Pre-Na-No-ing...

and for those of you that that doesn't apply to, happy...

PUMPKIN!!!