The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill

Don’t just get even. Write a novel. Ellie Sweet is a lot of things—good girl, novelist, silent adorer of the new boy at school, Palmer. But when “outcast” gets added to the list, she decides it’s time to take reality into her own hands … and tweak it as needed. In the pages of her book, she’s Lady Gabrielle, favorite of the medieval Italian court. Her once-friends are reduced to catty ladies-in-waiting, and the too-charming Palmer—who in real life never spares her a second word—gets to be nothing more than a rake wracked by unrequited love for her. She even has a perfect real-life villain in the brooding Chase, who hails from the wrong side of town. But just when she’s getting along great in her fictional world, the real one throws her a few curves. With Chase pursuing her, Palmer wanting to date her—but in secret—and the details of her manuscript going public, Ellie suddenly receives more attention than she ever really wanted. And when her former-friends discover what she’s been writing, they’re determined to teach Ellie a lesson about the severe consequences of using her pen as her sword.

So. First off. I don't usually read books like these. I'm not really big on slice-of-life romances. However, I won this book along with a few others from Stephanie Morrill at Go Teen Writers and figured I ought to read it at some point. Last summer, I'd finished all the other books I wanted to read when I remembered this one.

At first I was hesitant, because like I said just a minute ago, I didn't like these books. I almost didn't read it, after all, I was a science fiction/fantasy girl. I thought that I would most definitely not enjoy it. I was so wrong.

As a female teenage writer, I found this book ridiculously inspiring. Ellie is a wonderful character and one of those rare characters that I would love to sit down and have coffee (or in my case tea) with. Despite the fact that it's not my usual genre, there's no shortage of action or emotion that I get from other books.

I finished this book in one sitting. That is the highest form of praise I can offer. I didn't even finish most of my favorite books (and this is one of them, mind you) in one sitting.

As soon as I could, I got my hands on the second Ellie book. I remember when it came in from Amazon, I ripped open the box, grabbed the book, and ran back to my room to read.

Just like the first one, I finished it in one sitting.

Emma had finished it a few days before I had so all through the night I was sending her live updates.

I loved this one just about as much as the first one. It didn't end quite how I wanted (my poor ship ;_;), but it was still a great wrap up to a good series. 

Secretly, or I guess not-so-secretly, I'm hoping for more books about Ellie.

To wrap this whole thing up, if you are a writer, you need to read this. If you are not a writer, you still need to read this.

Thank you so much Stephanie for giving me the privilege of reading your book. I loved it!

4 Things That Made Me a Better Writer

There have been many times in my life (in the past few weeks, actually) where I've found myself in front of my laptop, staring at a document full of words and phrases that I don't like.

Their not good. Like, at all.

It's bad. But I have absolutely no idea how to fix it. 

One of the most frustrating feelings, right?

I did what many of you might have. I went to a trusted source.

I went… to Google.

I started searching terms like 'how to write better descriptions,' or 'how to write better dialogue,' succeeding in one thing: making myself even more frustrated. Yeah, what they said made sense, but none of it was translating into my own writing.

If any of you are like me, this situation might sound familiar. I go through a lot of ups and downs with my writing. Sometimes, I think I might be able to do this writing thing. It's conceivable that I could get published and be the next J. K. Rowling. Then, next day I look at it, it's complete and total crap.

Does that also sound familiar?

Let me give you some assurance, dear writer, even if you can't see it, I'm sure there's improvement.

*cue self-example*

This is something I wrote about six or seven years ago with one of my friends. I am the Irish accent person (*headdesk*), and he wrote for Delta. The parenthesis are my added comments.

My face right now.

A few minutes later Delta finally answered me.
"I don't know," Delta said quietly, "But I know that I'm not going to clean this place for you. I swear the dust is at least an inch thick."He crossed his arms while I smirked and switched over to my Irish accent (what the even heck), while grabbing a broom 
"Fine! OUT WITH YE! OUT! OUT I SAY! OUT!" (I think this is causing me physical pain) I said while poking Delta with the end of my broom. After a few seconds I burst out laughing. Delta laughed slightly at my sudden 'outburst'.

For comparison, here's something I wrote yesterday (which also happens to be two of the opening paragraphs for Stardust).

The hallway around me was enveloped in the blurriness that often accompanies reading far too long into the night, and the plush carpet underneath me appeared to be no more than a gray blob. Dated oil pantings of my parents, faded by time, were almost indistinguishable against the plain white wallpaper and wainscoting, swirling in and out of focus in a haze of unimpressive hues. (Descriptions are fun. <3 )

I squinted at the silver-plated analogue clock mounted above the antique ebony accent table. The numbers danced around the face of the clock like a dozen gerridae bugs skating across a murky pond. (I spent probably five or six minutes on this one sentence and I think I'm in love.)

That's a big difference, and I'll bet that if you go dig up some of your old writing, and compare it to how you write now, there's bound to be improvement.

How did I get from Irish accent outbursts to decent writing? Here are four things I did that you can do too.

1. { Reading }

It's more important than you might think.

One of the biggest reasons I know what I know about good writing is because I've read thousands and thousands of pages of it.

I may not know how to technically construct a complete sentence, but I know how a complete sentence should look because I've seen them over and over again.

I know what good dialogue sounds like, and I know what good prose looks like because I've been exposed to it for years.

2. { One Year Adventure Novel }

One Year Adventure Novel is a program created by Daniel Schwabauer that teaches high school students how to write a novel in a year.

This is the single, most quantifiable thing that made me a better writer. 

OYAN taught me how to write a novel from start to finish. It took me through the entire process, from character creation to the story skeleton. It taught me about how to make my writing stronger, and it taught me how to construct a good story, something that people would want to read.

3. { Workshops }

The next, semi-logical step for me was workshops. OYAN has a Summer Workshop they put on every year for OYAN students that I decided I should probably go to. It was a week long, wonder-filled learning experience that I won't ever forget.

There was probably a couple hundred of us there, all interested in bettering our craft, with amazing speakers like Jeff Gerke, Jill Williamson, Stephanie Morrill, Mark Wilson, and Mr. S himself. I was amazed by how much I learned in just the span of a week.

4. { Critique Groups }

I'm pretty sure this was the most difficult one for me. It was terrifying (like butterflies-in-the-stomach-about-to-throw-up terrifying) to even think about letting other people read my writing. It was embarrassing, and it hurt my pride, when they pointed out something I needed to fix. It was difficult for me not to get defensive and cross my arms and refuse to listen to a thing they said.

Critique groups are rough, especially for those of us who have issues with injured pride, but they will teach you a lot, especially if you let them. If you can make yourself realize that whatever they say isn't a personal attack against you, it will be that much easier. 

The majority of critique groups are there to help you, not to make you feel stupid for missing that adverb. Critique groups can help you see things that you wouldn't have ever noticed on your own.

I hope this has helped, and if not, that you at least got a laugh out of my before and after. What have you guys done to improve your writing?

The Secret to Using Pinterest

Pinterest has recently exploded into one of the most popular social media networks on the internet with 70 million users worldwide.

Okay, so I love Pinterest. Emma introduced me to it about a year or so ago, and I've been hooked ever since.

I've got around 45 different boards and a little over 2000 pins. I'm a very visual person, and a terrible neat freak (organization makes me feel warm and fuzzy), so Pinterest is a perfect way for me to sort out my thoughts into set spaces.

A lot of times, I forget that most people don't use Pinterest like I do. I don't know where I got the idea, but I started using Pinterest as a way to make writing that much easier for me. How is this possible? I'm about to show you.

Step 1: Create a "Novel Inspiration" Board

I split up my "novel inspiration" board into three sub-boards (because organization): Prompts, Plot Bunnies, and Pretty Pictures, Setting the Scene, and Charries.

My Prompts, Plotbunnies, and Pretty Pictures (PPP for short?) is exactly what it sounds like. If I come across an interesting picture like this one (--->) that sparks an idea, I pin it there. If I find a line of dialogue that I love but don't have a storyboard that fits it, I pin it there.

In my Setting the Scene board, I pin landscapes, buildings, cityscapes, or anything else that I could set future novels (or scenes of future novels) in. If you scroll through that board, you'll find everything from steampunk bars to old dilapidated churches.

Lastly, on my Charries board, I pin pictures of people who I think could eventually become characters in future projects. I like to try and find pins where the subjects seem like they have depth (if you look through my board, you'll see what I mean).

Step 2: Create a Storyboard

Next, create what I like to call a Storyboard. Storyboards are boards that are dedicated to a specific ideas. Go take another look at your Novel Inspiration board(s). Do any of those pins fit the story of the Storyboard that you just created?

If so, move them. If you hover over the pin you want to move, there will be a pencil icon in the top right-hand side. Click on that and it will take you into an editing menu where you can change the board that that pin is pinned to.

(BONUS) Tip 1: Brackets Are Your Friend

If you'd like to take your organization a step further, try this cool little trick I found.

If you put [Storyboard], or [Writing] before the name of your board, it will clump all your bracketed boards together like so.

As you can see, I've put [Storyboard] before all my storyboards and when I open the drop down menu for a pen, my writing boards are the first I see.

This is because when Pinterest shows you the boards you can pin to, it shows you them in alphabetical order. According to Pinterest's sorting system, brackets are alphabetically first. This isn't true of the mobile version, though I don't know why. If you use the [Storyboard] trick, bracket boards will end up at the bottom on the mobile version. Either way, all your boards will be easy to find.

Step 3: Get pinning!

At first it might be kind of hard finding writing pins. Searching terms like 'novel inspiration', 'character inspiration', or 'writing inspiration' will get you some good results. Alternatively, you can follow some of my writing boards such as [Writing] Charries, [Writing] Prompts, Plot Bunnies, and Pretty Pictures, or [Storyboard] Stardust.

I hoped this post has helped you get started, or continuing, on using Pinterest as writers. I want to know, how do you guys use Pinterest? Leave me a quick comment below.

Happy pinning!

The Writer's Nook - New and Improved

Wait… What?

What is this strange new blog with bright colors and fancy headers? Are you confused? Disoriented? Terrified? Never fear, dear readers, I promise you that this is still the blog of the ever-lazy blogger (though I don't seem so lazy now, do I?).

Just to cover the bases, I didn't do a whole lot. Mostly, I just changed some of the aesthetics. I can assure you that the content will be the same, as well as the infrequency of said content.

I did add a lovely Book Reviews page where you can listen to me fangirl/cry/scream over various books I'll be reading through out the year. I also updated my Works in Progress page where I made about a thousand book covers and wrote another thousand synopses's (synapse?).

Anyways. Go check it out.

You know you want to...

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Book 1

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

I'm very inclined to say that the Grisha Trilogy is the best book series I've read to date. Bardugo's first book, Shadow and Bone, drew me in and kept me hidden away in my room under the blankets for 12+ hours. Shadow and Bone made me wish I was a Grisha…Something like a Corporakli Healer, or an Etherealki Inferni. Over the course of the books, I grew so attached to Bardugo's characters (The Darkling and Nikolai especially) I'm pretty sure I spent the last half of Ruin and Rising crying tears of blood.

Book 2

I'm not kidding guys. These books are amazing. I can't recommend them enough. I have an issue with what I not-so-affectionately call the book hangover—the complete and utter inability to begin a new book because the one you just finished was just so good/heartbreaking/unforgettable etcetera. I wasn't able to start a new book after the Grisha Trilogy for like a month.

Anyways. Back to the books. 

Siege and Storm picks up right where Shadow and Bone left off. I don't think the pace dropped for even a second. I was fascinated with the world Bardugo had created. Frankly, I'm jealous I didn't come up with this idea. Grisha are cool; it's a fact of life.

It's interesting, because Siege and Storm took a different direction than I thought it would. Over all, I think Siege and Storm was my least favorite out of the series. However, it's by no means lackluster.

Now, for my favorite. Ruin and Rising. This was the book that ripped my heart in half, threw it on the ground, stomped on pieces with sharp metal cleats, sent it through the blender, and then poured it on my head.

Book 3

This book freaking sucks. In a good way though.

There's so much emotion packed into this book I don't know how she didn't just keel over and die writing it. This book destroyed my soul. 

At the end, my blankets were tear stained (I actually think I messed up some of the pages too ;_; ), I could barely see, and I wanted to read more.

It's didn't end how I wanted, but I think over all it was a great wrap up to the series. Plus, I'll always have my head cannons.

So, dear blog readers, I'll leave you with this. Go out there and get your hands on these books. Buy them, rent them, borrow them, steal them, I don't care. Go read these books. They're fantastic.

~ Sincerely, a feels starved reader

6 Ways to Get Your Readers Shipping Like Crazy

So. Writing. 

It's a thing I like to do. It's also a thing that many of you guys like to do. I've wanted to do a writing post for a while, but I don't feel qualified to give any advice of my own. In honor of Valentine's day, here's a neat post I found this afternoon.

6 Ways to Get Your Readers Shipping Like Crazy

I've wanted to include romantic subplots in my novels for a while. Problem is, I've never found one that fits. In one, the timing of the plot just didn't allow it. In another, I kind of killed the main love interest. I've also never known how to approach writing romance, since I've never been in a serious relationship before. I've never been on a one-on-one date, and I've never been kissed. 

Much like writing advice, I don't feel qualified to write romance. Sure, I've read my fair share of romantic subplots. I've squealed, hugged books to my chest, and rolled around in my bed like a crazy fangirl. Unfortunately, I can't seem to translate this into my own writing. Much like point number one in the above article, my first inclination is to shove the romance down the reader's throat.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THERE IS LOVE IN THE AIR. DO YOU HEAR THAT? LOVE. FREAKING LOVE. DELVE INTO THEIR ADORABLE-NESS.

tl;dr 

Romance is cute. I suck at writing it. Read this post instead.