The Post About Posting

Wow.

15 days since my last blog post.

As you've probably noticed (meep), I have completely and utterly failed on my 'this-time-I-am-going-to-blog-consistantly' plan.

I'm not running out of things to post about, at least I don't think I'm running out of things to post. I'm pretty sure I haven't posted in a while because I am a forgetful person who remembers that I need to post at the worst possible time of day.

Middle of the night? Oh, I should probably post.

Driving with no internet? Oh, I should probably post.

In the middle of the invitation at Church? Oh, I should probably post.

Anyways. I think you get my point.

Thankfully, I've got an abundance of blogpost ideas coming up (ironically, none of which have anything really to do with writing).

So, my dear blog readers, I apologize again for my unpredictability and am going to try really really hard to keep a more consistent pace.

See you again soon.

baiiii

The Plottiest of Plot Bunnies

After the craziness, sleeplessness, and general obsessive consumption of all things chocolate, I promised myself a break from writing in December. It's only been eight days and I'm ready to start on my next project.

Once upon a casual scroll through Pinterest, I found a quote--a fantastic quote that pretty much summed up my life. "You can take a break from writing, but not from being a writer."

Like the last time I quoted something, I have no idea who said/wrote this. I know. I'm pretty lame.

Okay. Back to my idea. Basically, it's Merlin meets Sherlock Holmes.

I'm so freaking excited about this, I can't even. I'm so serious about this idea, in fact, I made a Pinterest board.

So, one of my main concerns is that I've got no clue how to go about writing a murder mystery.

Thankfully, Emma found me this wonderful blogpost.

In other words, I've got a lot of plotting ahead of me, which is going to be hard for this pantser.

NaNoWriMo: a Summary

OH.

MY.

FREAKING. 

 GOD.

Guys. Guys I did it. On November 27th, 2014, I beat NaNo.

How is this even possible? Just a few days ago it was November 10th and I was crying because words.

Basically, this month has been a roller coaster. And I don't mean a kiddy roller coaster with like, one hill. This roller coaster had hundreds of ups and downs and spinning twists and upside down parts. Nutella, Emma, Mariesa, and my Mother are the only reasons I survived this month.

With as much as I complain and whine about writing, I don't think I've enjoyed a month like I have November of this year. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I wanted to give up. Yes, I probably could have had a normal November if I had. But guys. I wrote a novel. Like, a full-sized, more than 2 and a half chapters, novel.

I feel accomplished. Like mega accomplished. Accomplished like this girl.

Congratulations all you NaNo winners. And congratulations to all those who didn't make the 50,000. Why? You wrote something, even if it was only 5,000 words. You're 5,000 words farther than you would have been.

So. I'm off to collapse. Good night, everyone, and congratulations again!

NaNoWriMo Update #4

Wow. I just…

Wow.

Where did November even go you guys? Just a few days ago it was November 10th, I swear.

I can't believe NaNo is almost over. I can't believe I'm almost done with a freaking novel. Basically, I just can't believe this entire month. Like… Wow.

I'm feeling super accomplished (even though I've still got about 10k to do (10k? Pshaah. I've already done 40k, thank you very much)).

I'm getting really excited. I can see the end of the road, the top of the hill. I can taste the victory (or is that just all the chocolate I've ingested this month?). Both maybe?

I don't know. All I know is that I am killing it. Slaying. Slaughtering. Beasting. Whatever you wish to call it. Maybe I'm not moving as fast as I had originally planned, and I might not be going as fast as some of the other writers, but I am going far faster than I've ever gone before.

I've almost written a novel in a month! That's awesome! And that goes for anyone else who's working on NaNo. You're amazing. Think about how many people say they want to write a novel, and let's take it a step further, think about how many people started NaNo then just quit.

But not you. Not me. Let's win this together! Let's finish NaNo strong!

#honorarynanopeptalk-er

Alright… Onto the stats for today.

Words Completed Today: 2,201 (but I want to churn out a few more before the night's up)

Total Words Completed: 42,355

Favorite Snippet: Guardian spun around, flying backwards, and he exploded into light. The Dustless closest to us screamed, crumpling to the ground.

I felt panic spear through me. I hadn't realized they were that close. I hadn't even heard them.

A gunshot broke through the air and I spun around, my eyes wide. She lay on the ground, a Dustless twisted on top of her. Black blood dribbled from the hole in it's head onto her, burning dark against her skin.

No.

She kicked it off of her and stared down at her arm in horror. Four arching scratch marks cut across her forearm and ruby red blood trickled down it, dripping from her elbow down onto the snow. It froze almost instantly.

The scarlet drops bounced against the ice, splattering in striking contract. I found a sick fascination in the color.

That's it for now. 

I'll see you guys at the end of the month, or maybe before. I want to do a Thanksgiving post, but I'm not sure how that'll work with actually doing Thanksgiving and NaNo too.

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy NaNo! Good Luck!!

NaNoWriMo Update #3

I can't believe it. NaNoWriMo is already half over. The hours spent in front of my laptop have flown by surprisingly fast.

I'm over half way done with my novel.

In seventeen freaking days.

Do you know how long it took me to get to the halfway point last time?

Six months.

And it took me six months to get a quarter of the words I've written for NaNo already.

It's strange, I keep flip flopping between feeling on top of the world and like I'm withering away. For example, Thursday of last week, I think, I flew through my words, getting them done rather quickly, but then today I've been doing a lot of staring at an empty screen.

I just can't get my brain to communicate with my fingers.

I'm having a really hard time writing.

Words Completed Today: 832 (but imma do more, i promise *cries*)
Words Completed Total: 29152
Favorite Snippet:

(Just a little explanation: this is not Pryor narrating, this is Livvy, his little sister who's been infected and is slowly being changed by the disease, both mentally and physically.)

We watch the wall. No. I watch the wall.
I thread my fingers through my hair, pulling until the stinging sensation in my scalp brings back a shred of sanity. The room is empty. White. You are alone, surrounded by nothing by unforgiving silence. You glanced towards the solid wall of shimmering exo-glass and realize that you are not you.
The girl's mind is cluttered by a thousand voices vying for control, for attention. I am not me. Something terrible is in my head, breaking her—breaking me—down piece by piece. I am loosing myself.
I look to the exo-glass, expecting to see Pryor's back pressed against it. She doesn't hear his voice. How long has it been since he came back?
A day? A year? A single minute?
I don't understand where he is. You crawl towards the wall, your fingernails, untrimmed and caked in dried blood-
Blood. She feels sick.
Why is there blood on my hands?
Then you remember. Your teeth sunk into her neck. Screaming. Hands scratching—hers and mine. Scarlet liquid flowing down your chin and onto the floor.
Tears wells up in my eyes, falling down her cheeks. You are scared. I'm so much worse than even a few days ago—or am I? I can't remember. You don't remember.
She curls in on herself and cries.
Where is Pryor?


There you have it, folks.

Until next time.

NaNoWriMo Update #2

Wow. So, um, hey guys. It's been a while guys. Sorry about that, by the way. I meant to do another blog post late last week, but it kind of got away from me (really tho, it was thursday one second then monday the next).

Anyways. NaNo update. Is that what I'm supposed to be doing? *is a little brain dead*

Sheesh. Where do I even begin? A lot can happen (and has) in 10,000 words. 

I guess we'll start with the bad news, which in this case, isn't really that bad. A couple of times last week, I had a mini panic attack. Why, do you ask? Because I sort of, more or less, kind of ran out of plot.

I am not a plotter. I am a pantser. I find I work best when I have no real plan. Except, working with my daily 2000 word quota, I'm chewing through my ideas almost faster (and in some cases faster, which caused my previously mentioned panic attacks) than I can make them up.

Thankfully, one quote, from a very wise person whose name I cannot for the life of me recall, saved my life (and plot (and dignity)). He/She/It said: 

"Don't try and figure what should happen, but what should go wrong."

And don't quote me on that, because that could be a total paraphrasing too. XD

Onto the good news, friends. I have four words for you: Jeremiah Lynch and Grae. Seriously, these guys are closely rivaling Emmeth for the coveted position of my favorite character. Also, I'm actually kind of on schedule *points to progress bar to your left*. LOOK.

Anyways. Onto what you all really care about.

First. A gif.

This has pretty much been me as of late. I'm just like get the words down. Get them down. XD

My stats: 

Completed words today: 2075

Total word count: 17504

Favorite snippet(s): 
“Psh. As if.” She said, jogging in front then turning around to walk backwards, wagging her finger at me. “I'm not passing up an opportunity to save the world. Besides, what if you need me?”
“I'm not going to need you.”
“Do you know how to hot-wire a car?”
I shot her an irriated look. “No.”
“Well, me either, but I'm sure I could figure it out.” She said, chuckling. She found herself far too amusing. “But really, I have this really good recipe for soup and all you need is-” She counted on her fingers as she listed the ingredients “Chicken stock, salt, pepper, and your favorite flavor of cardboard.”
“How are we going to get any of that in Antarctica?”
“That's your job to figure out, Pryor. You need to pitch in somehow, since I'll be the one doing the hot-wiring and cooking.”
“You're incredibly obnoxious.”
“I know.” She seemed very proud of that fact.

-like, 8000 or so words later-

He took the gauze from Rina and began to re-wrap Conrad's leg, tying it off in a tight knot. “You can't cure Ignis Necrosis.” He said flatly. “Trust me, I've tried.”
“Pryor Mason is not who you think he is, Jeremiah Lynch.” Guardian flew up in front of me, next to Lynch's shoulder. “He is the Harbinger.”
Lynch went rigid. His eyes narrowed and he stood. “That... That isn't possible.” He bit out. “The Harbinger died. Or have you forgotten that too, Cloud Walker?”
“You know as well as I do that he was but an imposter.”
“He was my son, you pretentious b*****.” Lynch growled. He turned towards Guardian. “There is no Harbinger. There is no cure. Do you hear me, Cloud Walker? There. Is. No. Cure. Get the h*** out of my camp, before I shoot you myself.”

(I apologize for Lynch, he's kind of a potty mouth… But I luffs him anyways.)

Until next time.

NaNoWriMo So Far...

Day three of NaNoWriMo is almost over.

It's only been three days guys and I've already lost control of my life.

I've been sitting back in my room for like, the past four hours trying to do 2000 words.

I. Am. Dying.

But I love it.

I've never written this much so quickly.

NaNo and I have a love/hate relationship.

Anwayssssss. My stats for this week:

Completed words today: 2065
Total word count: 6214
Favorite snippet:  “Pryor Mason,” He whispered. “We are not alone.”
My stomach plummeted, and I cursed myself. Carlton and Ms. Bently should still be here. Why weren't the lights on?
“Carlton?” I whispered, as loud as I dared. Fear and adrenaline coursed through my veins—all I could hear was my pounding heart. If the power was out... Or, if there had been some sort of malfunction…
Exo-glass was reinforced with electricity.
Almost in answer, a ear piercing shriek ripped through the chilled air. Panic rippled through my muscles, freezing them in place. My eyes darted to the left.

I'm going to bed now. 

K. Bye.

NaNoWriMo Survival Kit

My mother is the most wonderful human-being in the whole world.

I told her a few weeks ago that I was in desperate need of a NaNoWriMo Survival Kit. I politely informed her that I would require copious amounts of chocolate, candy, and general edible pick-me-ups.

I remembered to remind her every time we went to Walmart, Publix, Winn Dixie, or where ever else it would be possible to purchase smooth, creamy, Nutella. She always put it off, and I didn't really understand why.

She kept saying she wanted to wait until after Halloween incase any of was put on sale and I didn't argue (did roll my eyes though (sorry Mom (I actually don't even know if she reads this?))).

So, anyways, multiple (agonizing) weeks went by, and I was still left candyless--which I suppose could be a good thing, since I might have eaten it all by now. But, that aside, I had pretty much forgotten about it.

Theeeeeeen… *insert dramatic drumroll*

She surprised me with this.

Is this not the most wonderful thing you've ever set your eyes on? *wipes tears*

Thank you, Mommy! <3

This is Halloween

Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Greetings, my dearest fiends and freaks.

It's that time of year again.

This is Halloween,
This is Halloween

Probably one of my favorite holidays all year--actually, I really love all holidays, but that isn't the point of this post. Halloween has a special place in my heart because of exactly two reasons (and probably more that I'll edit in later).

1. I can cosplay like nobody's business, and no one looks at me strange.
2. CANDY

But no, really. Candy is my one, true love. I could drown in a swimming pool of Nutella and I think I would be alright with that (as long as I've finished my novels first(wow, look at that shameless self promoting. ;) )).

Candy aside (and let's not even mention how little I gathered tonight…) I know you're curious. Who exactly did I dress up as?

Why Emmeth, of course (my brother said I am the epitome of narcissism, which could be true). 

This is me (on the right), Emma (in the middle), and Bethany (on the left). 

Now we've come to the part of the blog post where I attempt to stay up until midnight and write my first days of words with Emma. 

Wish me luck...

*heavy sigh*

Does anyone have the marvelous, beautiful, natural ability to sing whatever you want and sound amazing while doing it? If you do, I envy you. I like to say that when I sing, on a good day, I sound like a dying walrus (which I honestly don't think is an exaggeration). But, I still love to sing, just not in front of people.

I listen to a lot of music while I write and work on school work. Since I live in a house crammed full of people, I don't have much privacy, even behind a closed door. Often, I find myself overwhelmed by the intense desire to belt out the lyrics to songs like 'No Good Deed' and 'Defying Gravity' and 'As Long As You're Mine' and basically every other Wicked song ever.

[BY THE WAYS GUYS, WICKED IS TOURING AGAIN AND THERE'S A SHOW ONLY A FEW HOURS AWAY FROM WHERE I LIVE.]

Anywhoooo, since I have no ability to sing and can't hold a tune to save my life, I compensate by mouthing the words in a flashy, and generally dramatic manner. I find my inner super star is best suppressed by screwing my face up in ugly expressions and flipping my hair around like a mad woman.

I just bought some new headphones. They're fantastic. Like, noise canceling and everything. Unfortunately, they cancel a little too much voice.

Guys. My mom just walked in. 

I have never been this embarrassed.

Fire Fixes Everything

After my post last week about testing and stressing, I had a wonderful idea, and, like any normal, rational human-being, I acted on it--I burned my PSAT book.

It would have been way cooler to soak the thing in gasoline first (fwoossshhhh), but I didn't think about that until after.

Mwehe. Guys. Seriously, this was one of the funnest things (and most cathartic too, in a weird way) I've done in a while, which might be kind of sad. Maybe, maybe not. *shrug*

Oh. And… Uh…

WARNING: Don't try this at home? I don't think it's that dangerous, but I guess if you're particularly prone to accidents…

[notapyromaniaciswear]

Here's take two (dem shovel skillz tho).

And, finally, the aftermath (please excuse my crappy iPhone photos).

#burnbabyburn

Standardized Tests Suck

Let me tell you a story…

Nine days ago, a stressed young writer sat down in her local high school, surrounded by other not-nearly-as-nervous-seeming-test-takers, no. 2 soft lead pencil and scientific calculator in hand, and dared to take the PSAT/NMSQT.

This stressed young writer hates standardized tests that have a pesky habit of determining the academic future of a person, and as such, had a near panic attack on the way to said local high school. Once the building, a squat, wide complex stinking of opportunity, came into view, all bets were off. Her heart sped up, thudding dully inside her chest, and her palms began to sweat. She walked inside, chewing her bottom lip as if it were her only hope.

While her mother reported the reluctant arrival of her daughter, all our stressed young writer could hear and comprehend was the pounding of her heart. The next ten minutes passed slow (her family was notorious for arriving early) and all she wanted to do was crawl under the nearest blue cushioned chair and hide.

Finally, after an eternity, it was time. Our young writer was lost, with no idea where to go, seeing as she's a homeschooler who only sets foot on high school grounds to take said standardized tests. One, brave, front office worker offered to take the writer, and another home schooled boy, to the testing room. The walk was long, and quite painful in the writer's mind.

Upon arriving to the dreaded testing room, the writer was ushered inside, pushed to a seat in the front row, and given her testing materials. A very long time elapsed, filled with the furious filling in of personal information that will not be disclosed in such a public place at the world wide web--she was grateful though, as it gave her hands time to stop shaking.

Over all, the young writer feels good about how she did. Her overwhelming sense of panic and foreboding was replaced with a strange, fragile calm once the test booklet was opened and she read the first question. Unfortunately, she/we/I won't know just how well (or poorly) she did until December.

Now, with all that backstory out of the way (no, I won't be offended if you skipped all of that (okayiwillbutjustalittlebuthey)), I can get to what I actually wanted to tell you about.

This morning, after my very long, very warm shower, my Mom registered me for the ACT in December… And she's also looking at signing me up for the SAT. In December.

'Yay' does not even cover what I'm feeling right now.

Like I said, I just got finished with the PSAT. NaNoWriMo is going to basically take over my November, and now I might have not one, but two, tests in December.

somebodyhelpme
._.

NaNoWriMo 2014

At this time, in a just little under two weeks, I'll be in the middle of my second day of NaNoWriMo. What is NaNoWriMo? I'm glad you asked (and if you didn't, I'm just going to pretend you did). NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. NaNo is exactly what it sounds like; starting November 1st, writers around the world attempt to write 50,000 words in one month.

Now, just for context, Fool Me Once..., my first ever semi-completed novel, took me a little under a year to complete, and it's only about 25,000 words. This pretty much goes without saying, but this is a very big undertaking for me. It's weird, I feel totally prepared, and at the same time completely unprepared.

I've got my characters all created and named (one of my absolute favorite parts), I'm happy with them, and I think (key word there is think) that my story world is pretty solid too. Only problem is that I have pretty much zero plot--but I think (there's that pesky think again) that's okay. I'm more of a pantser when I write.

To be quite honest, I'm terrified. I'm one of those annoying perfectionists and I'm worried I won't be able to reach my word count every day. Luckily, I've got a friend to help me. Emma (cue shameless plug-in) is one of the big reasons I'm even attempting NaNo in the first place. I'd heard about it but always figured, due to the lack of a completed novel,  it would be too hard.

So, in conclusion, this is probably going to be me in a couple of weeks (please direct your attention to the gif on your right).

I do wish you guys the best of luck if any of you are trying NaNo this year. I'm going to link my profile page here and if any of you want to brain storm, word war, or just cry about how many words we have to catch up on, shoot me a message.

Signing off,

Samantha