Sunday, November 30, 2014

NaNo WriMo 2014

Heard of NaNo WriMo?
It's awesome. I repeat: It. Is. Awesome.
It is also very stressful. I'm not kidding.

For those of you who don't know what it is, NaNo WriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50 000 words (which roughly half to two-thrids of a book) in the month of November, which divides up to 1667 words a day. That's 1667 words a day, every day, for the entire 30 days of the month of November. It's sort of like a group community thing, because there are tons of people all over doing it too. So even if you don't know anyone else who's doing it (hi), you're not alone in the struggle.

It's a great way to simply force yourself to write. That's always the struggle: finding time to write. Well, problem meet solution: NaNo WriMo. It's a commitment, but it's worth it.

I just want to quickly take the time to reflect on my progress. I fell behind a day twice this month, having to make up for it either by binge writing the next day or by gradually writing catching up by increasing my minimum word limit each day. God, was that annoying. More often than not, I would start writing my daily chuck at 10:30pm. Yes, 10:30pm. I know that's kind of early for some people, but I'm not really a functioning being past 11:30pm. And seeing as it would take me until 12am, you got to wonder exactly how the heck I managed to write some actual quality stuff. Needless to say, heavy editing will be required eventually.

Actually, it's kind of funny. I started out writing a separate novel for the first three days, decided it was pure crap, and then started a new one. Then I worked my butt off on it for the next week, seeing as I had lost three day's worth of writing and thus had three day's worth of writing to make up for. Ugh. 

But I made it through. I prevailed. I hit that 50 000 words. I learned so much from my characters. And I feel awesome.

That's kind of why I love NaNo WriMo.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Kiss of Deception Review: Lia

I am a princess.

I am a First Daughter.
I am supposed to have a gift, as all First Daughters do, but I have none.

I am to be married off, to help settle an allegiance between my father's country and another.
I am but a solider in my father's army, a pawn. 

I am now a runaway.

Today, I am Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia. 
Aka Princess Lia. 
Or just Lia.


That's right! Today I'm Lia from Kiss of Deception, by Mary E. Pearson!

Book: Kiss of Deception
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles
Book Status: First book
Setting: Kingdom of Morrighan (I can't find the name of the world it's set in...can someone tell me?)
POV: told in 3 POVs, all first person
Genre: YA fantasy, bit of romance. I don't consider it heavy fantasy, as there aren't any dragons and such in it. But there's still some magic in it. Plus it's in another world.

Reading: First time
Favorite Line: "I answer to Lia."
Rating: 4 Stars
I'm not really a review person, because I have a tendency to be nice, so I'm not going to really talk about the book. Also because I don't want to spoil anything. I'm just going to talk about how I feel about being a runaway princess.

So yeah. I have officially graduated (what's the word for rising above royalty ranks?) from unroyal me to a runaway princess!

I don't know about you, but if my parents tried to set me up to some prince I'd never met before (also who refused to meet me when I asked to) just to help the country, I would totally run away. Yeah, I know, there's the whole "tradition" and "duty" thing (two words Lia really hates), but still. Got to go with your heart, and if your heart plain out says no, then don't. Be reckless. Be a rebel. And above all, be true to your heart.

I got to say, it's a nice change, being brash and bold. To actually have the courage to go against not only your parents' wishes, but also your entire kingdom? Takes guts. And getting the chance to start a new life, all over again? The possibilities are endless. 

Though as a runaway princess, I totally would feel invincible after a while. Probably not a good thing. Which is to say it's good thing I'm not actually Lia, huh? I'd be terrible at calling the shots. But, you know, if you happen to fall in love at the same time, I guess it's not too bad, right? Title does have the word "kiss" in it, so I don't think that's really much of a spoiler. 

I've never been a princess on the run before. It's kind of nice :)

Thursday, November 27, 2014

New Blog!

Oh hiii :)

New blog! I'm so excited! This will be the place where I shall let loose all my bookish feelings, because I happen to be a huge nerd on all things YA. Where to begin, where to begin? There's so much I want to say!

The thing about books is that every time you pick one up, you're someone different. Suddenly you're not you anymore; you're an assassin hunting a pirate throughout the night, sometimes a princess of a faraway land, other times a wandering gypsy, or maybe even a to-be prom queen with a newly discovered cheating boyfriend. The possibilities are endless.

Me, I'm always someone different. It's so exciting, being someone else, and I can't wait to tell you who I become with every book I read!

Let's compare who we are each day, okay? :D