Camp NaNo and Writing Hell!

So, tomorrow not only starts the monthly Writing Hell hosted here, but also Camp NaNoWriMo.

But, I shall first say this: as of today, I have finished another year of high school and am now on summer break! Only one more night of driver's ed, then my first behind the wheel, and I get to write all day.

Tomorrow, I will begin my work on completing Sever.  I'll be starting Camp NaNo at 20033 words, and will hopefully be adding another 60k (the 60k will be for NaNo, not the 20k I'm starting with).  I'll also have 10k for The Girl of Eternal Fire, but that isn't as important.

And for Writing Hell, I don't know whether or not I want to include Sever, or the The Reborn idea.  This month, it'll be for ten days, and I plan to write 5k per day.  The Reborn will most likely be the choice then.

Lot's of writing for me this month!  I hope to get to editing Rush, Nightland, or Sever (if plan goes well) in July. I hope more of you guys join in on either Camp NaNo, or Writing Hell!

Well, I think that's all for today.  Go get some writing done! 

Camp NaNoWriMo?

This year, I'm going to be a part of the Camp NaNoWriMo in both June and August.  For the past two years, I've tried NaNoWriMo, but I get too busy and lazy that I just can't do it.  And it doesn't help that this year, I'll have two AP classes plus marching band plus all of my Honors classes.  So, unless I can slack of in Honors Spanish 3 (Spanish, for the past two years, has been my slack-off period), I may be able to do it.

Anyways, after that lovely rant...

Last year, I wrote a novel in three weeks time.  For those of you from inkpop, you may know my project, Rush (or Deception).  Well, this year, I plan to write another novel (or maybe to).  I plan on completing Sever, and if I can get to it, either edit Rush or work on my idea I'm currently calling RUT.

Oh! And I have the pitches for Sever.  Look:

Sora has spent the last six years toughening up after the disappearance of her older brothers. No matter what, she wants them back. When she hears word of her elder brother, now the Lord of the land of Cura, all of her training and courage is put to the test. She must travel across two unfamiliar lands in order to find her brother—all the while remaining undetected.

With the help of Eli, everything seems a little more possible. His past is filled with knowledge of the lands, and how to get around without being caught. A promise made in magic binds Eli in Sora’s debt until she finds her brother, assuring his help until the end.

But a revolution is starting in the land of Cura. The only chance Sora has at keeping her brother alive is if she can convince him to step down from power. It’s only a slight bump in the path to what she’s always wanted: her family whole again.

Even then, speaking to him doesn’t mean everything is closer to normal.

(I do not own the image used in the cover.)

So, now that I can update that one page...

For those of you who're going to participate in Camp NaNo, let me know! Maybe we can be cabin mates, or just message each other.

You can find me here.

Have a fun summer guys!  I've only got three more days left.  Oh, and those of you who're American: Happy Memorial Day and I hope you guys enjoy your three day weekend!

Ta-ta!

In My Mailbox (8)

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


This week I bought...

Endure by Carrie Jones (goodreads)
Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins (goodreads)

What'd you guys get this week?

The Eighteenth is a Lovely Day

Today...

• I finally passed my permit test
• is exactly one month from my birthday
• was an early out at school
• means there's only one Friday left before school ends

There's only one full week of school left! And then I don't have too many more classes left for driver's ed.  Things are pretty much looking up now.  Though, I can't wait to not have to deal with people for a while.  Too emotionally stressful.

And summer means more writing and my birthday.  Speaking of writing, I should go do that right now...

Review: Dark Eyes

Dark Eyes
by William Richter
Published: March 15, 2012 by Razorbill

Get ready for the vigilante girl detective of the next generation.

Wally was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child and grew up in a wealthy New York City family. At fifteen, her obsessive need to rebel led her to life on the streets.

Now the sixteen-year-old is beautiful and hardened, and she's just stumbled across the possibility of discovering who she really is. She’ll stop at nothing to find her birth mother before Klesko—her dark eyed father—finds her. Because Klesko will stop at nothing to reclaim the fortune Wally’s mother stole from him long ago. Even if that means murdering his own blood. But Wallys had her own killer training, and she's hungry for justice.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for teens, this debut thriller introduces our next big series heroine!

(Goodreads)

I will start by saying that yes, I really enjoyed this book, but it confused me at some points.  Oh, and I vow to never look ahead in a book again.  If you look ahead in this book (a.k.a last 100 pages), you will ruin the story.

Moving on.  Wally is a tough girl who doesn't let much of her feelings show.  She is the leader of her little gang, and once lived a life everyone would want.  The reason why she abandons that is because she isn't comfortable with her life--that's what I got from it, at least.  What really nags me is the thing about her mom, which I can't really talk about 'cause that'd ruin the whole book.  Let's just say that I didn't understand everything about her mother's reasonings.

The story does flow a lot like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I know I'm horrible for basing my views on the movie) in that it switches from different important characters.

Richter did a good job at keeping the reader guessing--even down to the point that, after I formed a question, it was answered within pages.  I found that rather cool.  As for the writing, it wasn't too spectacular.  It fit well for the story, though, but it didn't really wow me.

For a lot of the plot, I didn't completely understand why stuff was happening, but I think those were the instances where my question was answered after a few pages.  And the pace wasn't too slow.  I guess you can say I devoured the book in about a week, I think.

I will definitely be getting the next book.  I can't wait to see what will happen with Wally now that so many things have happened.

Overall, I'd say this would be 4 stars.

Back From the Dead, Ye Come

First off, I want to say that it's rather weird that over 80% of my recent viewers are in Russia. Just a wee bit weird.

Last night, I had the urge to edit either one of my two completed first draft manuscripts, Nightland and Rush.  Of course, right after I had that thought, I decided to go clean out my desk, which resulted in a mess of my room.

Anyways, I decided to, first off, reformat Nightland so it was double spaced and in black font. Took a while, so now I can get to reading over that.  And the same goes for Rush, though I may save that for a few weeks longer.

And because all of the other pitches for Nightland are horrendous, I shall type a new one just for you:

Berlin has only ever visited Nightland in her dreams--or so she thought. Upon arriving in this land of dark, she's pulled off the streets and sent into hiding with friends she doesn't remember. Turns out, the evil ruler of the land is after her, for reasons no one knows.

She is quickly shepherded across the land, searching for an appropriate hiding place so she can learn the ways of the land. There isn't much time for her to learn anything as the ruler's minions scour the land, growing closer and closer to find her.

All Berlin wants is to go home and leave this mess behind, but in order to do that, she needs power doesn't have--yet.

Yeah, very lovely.  Nightland is a YA fantasy with aspects of romance at over 81k.  First novel I ever finished writing.  It was even finished one year ago, this month.  And needs a lot of work.

Now I shall be off to go make people (characters) nice and what not.

Writing Hell 5.10

Yeah, so I kind of failed at Writing Hell, but I did write over a total of 8900 words for Sever.  Next month will be better, because I'll be on break.  Maybe I can even write 50k in 10 days...  Last summer I wrote Rush in about 2-3 weeks, and that was averaging at least 2-3k a day or more.

I hope I can get more participants next month.  I would love to see how people do with these sorts of goals, and what they get written, too.

So, until the next Writing Hell, I hope you guys get all sorts of writing done!

Writing Hell 5.7

Welcome to day 7! Hope you guys are reaching your goals.

Today, I have driver's ed. Not really looking forward to that, but I do plan to get some writing done during the videos, since that seems to take up a lot of the time.  Otherwise, I won't be getting a whole lot written today, either.

Sever
Starting word count: 12694
Ending word count: 13337

No excerpt today...

In My Mailbox (7)

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

This is a combination of two weeks, because it isn't a whole lot.

The Selection by Kiera Cass (goodreads)

Partials by Dan Wells (goodreads)

Dark Eyes by William Richter (goodreads)

Writing Hell 5.6

Day 6! I still need to catch up, so ... yeah. When I'm finally on task, I'll let you guys know! Today also comes with a new idea, which is why my word count has not changed... But I shall save this idea for a month or so to see if I'll have anything finished by then.  And that's a maybe.

Sever
Starting word count: 12377
Ending word count: 12694

Now to get on task...

Writing Hell 5.5

Welcome to day 5!  Good news for me today: I may get my mom's car in about 6 months (when I start driving).  I think it's more likely than not.  So happy.  But, then I have to catch up on my word counts, so ... yeah, not so fun.  The same goes for driver's ed.



Sever
Starting word count: 11560
Ending word count: 12377

Excerpt:

“If I could send people with you, I would, but we don’t need to risk people noticing travelers from Vita. They don’t really like us,” he says. He takes a step back and smiles down at me. “Be careful, Sora. I’m expecting to be able to speak with you when you return.” He ruffles my hair, then takes a step back. “Good luck, and good night.”

With a nod, he takes a few backward steps, then turns and disappears into the forest. It only takes a few feet before he fully disappeared. Leaving me here, in the middle of the forest, to follow the rest of the path into the town.

I take a deep breath and plunge into the darkness, hoping the faint moonlight that appears every few feet will stay long enough for me to emerge in town safely.

Yeah, I'm not doing so good at catching up...

Writing Hell 5.4

Welcome to day 4 of Writing Hell!  After all the writing I've done (and need catch up on), it feels like it should be the end of Writing Hell.  Maybe that's because it's Friday...  Anyhow, I hope you guys are getting those words down!  I feel rather proud at finally getting Sever into the 10000 right now (word count wise).

Sever
Starting word count: 10019
Ending word count: 11560

I'm doing kind of bad at catching up, but I shall keep trying until I do!  (If that even happens.)

Well, I hope those who are participating in Writing Hell are doing well (and should totally let me know how they're doing via comments).

Writing Hell 5.3

Welcome to day 3 of Writing Hell!  Today I needed to catch up, having only written around 900 words yesterday.  So, I actually wrote in my notebook today.  It was rather help, and nice not to have a gazillion and four people ask me what I'm doing.

Sever
Starting word count: 7589
Ending word count: 10019

No preview today because I'm still behind and kinda dead right now.  Hope you guys are doing better than I am!

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week's pick is FATED.  At the beginning of Noel's Immortals series, I enjoyed the books, but now I'm not nearly as interested in them as I once was.  But I'm willing to try out this book.  It sounds rather interesting, and I love the cover.  It's so pretty.

Fated
by Alyson Noel
Publication Date: May 22, 2012

Lately strange things have been happening to Daire Santos. Animals follow her, crows mock her, and glowing people appear out of nowhere. Worried that Daire is having a nervous breakdown, her mother packs her off to stay in the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico with a grandmother she’s never met.

There she crosses paths with Dace, a gorgeous guy with unearthly blue eyes who she’s encountered before...but only in her dreams. And she’ll get to know her grandmother—a woman who recognizes Daire’s bizarre episodes for what they are. A call to her true destiny as a Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her grandmother immediately begins teaching her to harness her powers—but it’s an art that must be mastered quickly. Because Dace’s brother is an evil shape-shifter who’s out to steal her powers. Now Daire must embrace her fate as a Soul Seeker and find out if Dace is one guy she’s meant to be with...or if he’s allied with the enemy she’s destined to destroy.

(Goodreads)

So, what're you waiting for this week?

Writing Hell 5.2

Welcome to day 2 of Writing Hell.  Unfortunately for me, today also starts my first day of Driver's Ed.  I get to attend this lovely class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, for 2-4 or 5 hours (more hours on Saturdays).  Yeah, doesn't sound like any fun for me, so I planned on bringing my notebook with me so I could get some writing done.  It's what I used to do in a lot of my classes at school.

Oh, and there's a guy I've labeled 'Creep' there.  He kept looking at me during class.  Rather creepy.

Yeah, writing wise, today didn't go over very well. I wrote about 1000 words, which means I need to try and catch up in the next few days.  Hopefully I can write more tomorrow during school, and get some writing done before our concert.

Sever
Starting word count: 6907
Ending word count: 7859

Excerpt:
No excerpt today.

I hope your writing day went well!  Keep on track, guys, 'cause you know I won't.

Writing Hell 5.1

Welcome to the first day of Writing Hell!  I hope you all have gotten to writing, and have at least finished today's goal!  For the next few days, I hope to write 25k for my project Sever.  That means 2500 words per day for me.  (It's a good thing I don't get any homework!)

Sever
Starting word count: 4406
Ending word count:  6907

After I got home and started writing, it was, oh, around 4:30 I think.  And then I wrote.  Up until almost 10pm.  It took me that long to get 2500 words out, but I did it, and boy am I proud!  I just need to not get distracted by texting and Bubble Shooter and food and Pokemon (yes, I am now playing Pokemon on my Gameboy).  So, this is the first ever day that I successfully completed Writing Hell.

Excerpt:

I tense, and Brodrick pulls back. Squeezing my eyes shut, I calm myself down. It’s true, the fact that they left me was harsh enough, but with what Roth did… “Yes. They’re family. No matter what, I want them back.” I keep my eyes shut and lean against Brodrick’s solid form. “Wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

“I don’t know what I would do, even if I imagined it a thousand ways. It doesn’t mean it’ll happen that way,” he says, his voice calm and steady.

So, if you participated and posted for Writing Hell, please leave a comment!  I'd love to check out everyone's achievements of today.