Happy Leap Day!

Today is a kinda sad day. It is the last day inkpop will be around, and I was only 9 days away from my 2 year anniversary!  Ah well, I guess I'll have to live.

But I think, at the moment, my writing's taken a big hit. I've always wanted to receive a review from HC, which was a pretty strong motivation to get things done, but now it's just like ... two more years until it is recommended that I can query (darn me for being so young, and agents wanting 17+ older query-ies if that's even a word). So, for now, I'll just try to finish my current works and see about

• editing them
• finishing a series
• and creating a writing/critique circle. You know, in published books, the author's always thanking a handful of people who helped critique the work? I wanna be in one of those. :o

And, I have no clue if I'll let people read my projects again. A handful of people who I email a lot, yes, but I don't know what else I'll do. (Speaking of which, I should email my friends the first chapter of Enigma  (Smolder rewrite)...)

Now I shall get to writing and help my mother make dinner. Happy Leap Day, and I hope all of you inkpoppers go far with your writing (same to everyone, too)! (And inkpoppers who need/want to contact me, I'm on wattpad.)

Advanced Placement

For those American students, you know what AP classes are.  And for the next year, I plan on taking 3, along with some Honors classes, and marching band first semester.  Watch me die this school year of 2012-2013.

And, as I think about it, I realize that so much is different now.  I'm going to be in AP classes.  I don't feel like an upperclassman (even though I've got a few months).  And then school's almost over!  At this rate, I'll be section leader for band in the fall.  Another factoid that will lead to my demise.

For this summer, I really hope I can just enjoy it.  I think I'll get some community service done, and start running (in preparation for band, and maybe tennis/track).

I have summer goals, I guess.  Let's just hope I can achieve them.

And now my random update is done. Ta-ta!

White Cat by Holly Black

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Pitches and image provided by goodreads.

The reason I read this was because I'd forgotten my book one day, and knew I'd get some reading done at school.  Plus, I'd been interested in this book for a while and finally got to reading it.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the idea of people able to do different things through touch, and that there was a limited variety of different powers. And that it appears to be genetic.  But what I didn't like was the fact that it was hard to follow.  I forgot the drawbacks for the powers, especially the ones that were brought up a lot.  I felt that those points need to have been brought out more, instead of random glimpses of it.

Cassel himself ... well, it was obvious after a while that he had powers too.  But it's one of those things that an author can't really hide--not unless they're some sort of master.  Black didn't do so good at the secrets; they weren't well hidden, but that may or may not have been the point.  Really, it didn't bother me.


What did bother me was his brothers.  They were so uncaring!  Black definitely made sure that I didn't like them, but I did feel sorry for Barron at the end.  I wished that Cassel would feel more toward him, considering what had happened.  


I enjoyed the relationship between Lila and Cassel.  I just wished that Cassel's relationship with his previous girlfriend had been brought out.  Give them more depth, because his previous girlfriend (I forgot her name) was mentioned, but not really used.  One of those characters that wasn't really important.


Overall, I did like the plot, and the characters, no matter how evil they were to each other.  I didn't find any really noticeable flaws (none that kept with me, at least). I'd give this 4 stars.

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Over the past few weeks, I have received/purchased...

2 ARC copies of The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks (Thank you Random House)
Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
Switched by Amanda Hocking
And a signed copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I've already finished Cryer's Cross and Everneath, and hope to post reviews for them sometime soon.

So, what have you guys gotten? Feel free to share below!

Oh look, a new idea!

Yes, I think I'm going to make a weekly Sunday appearance.  But, now that I'll have internet access whenever I go to my friend's house, that might change a bit.  I promise that, for next month, I'll be a little bit better at posting. (Even if I have an evil research paper due at the end of that month.)

As the title suggests, I've got a new idea. And (grand pause) it's contemporary!  (For those of you who don't know: I generally write fantasy or paranormal novels.)  I'm pretty certain it's a load of crap, as it feels like nothing's going on, so now it's time to fix things up!  (Hopefully...)

If you're interested in reading the accursed thing, it will be posted on inkpop on Valentine's Day, so just stop by my account and check it out.  (But be warned, it's horrible.) (I know, I know, I'm not doing very good at pitching this story.  I just speak the truth when I say it needs work, but that's predictable.)

So ... um ... yeah.  Let's see, I'm reading Everneath right now, and I don't know whether I like it or not.  Definitely not what I expected.

And I think that's it.  I need to get to editing so the Accursed Thing isn't so horrible when I release it on inkpop in two days.

For those American students who get tomorrow off, I hope you have a nice three-day weekend!

Ta-ta to all and have a nice day!

Quick little pop in.

I'm still not completely back, but I might be.  My friend who has been in the hospital for a month should be going home tomorrow, or a tad bit later, meaning I can bring my laptop and have wi-fi when I go visit.

Which means I should get some more writing done, especially when I completely forgot about Writing Hell this month. I think I'll start that this Friday, so we Americans have a three day weekend to get some writing done.

Reading-wise, I've read two books, and am reading five, I believe.
Writing-wise, well, that's not a whole lot. I've come up with two new dystopian ideas, and am rewriting Smolder, which is now titled Paradox.

And I hope to get back into the blogging swing soon.

Until this Thursday/Friday, I'm retreating back into my little Hell Hole that is my new social life.