Me.
So now it's nine at night and I want to finish a novel and prepare for Camp NaNo and bullet journal and make tea and reply to emails all before midnight and I think I have a bit of a problem. Sometimes doing all the things is not possible and that's unfortunate. xD
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| *whisper* I think this is my favorite picture I've ever taken. I REALLY LOVE DAISES. <3 |
I discovered an amazing new music artist, Aurora! She has a hauntingly beautiful voice and her songs are perfect for writing -- especially fantasy. One of my favorite songs by her is Nature Boy. This song is a cover, but most of her others are beautiful originals.
Speaking of music, I saw Switchfoot in concert -- one of my favorite bands. THEIR LYRICS. THEIR SONGS. Ugh, they just make my heart happy. I also saw For King and Country at the same music festival, and while I don't like their songs quite as much... they put on such a good show. I couldn't stop grinning from the epicness. xD
At the end of the month, I traveled to a lakeside resort with my extended family, which meant volleyball, rock painting, reading, singing twenty one pilots by the fire, and writing by the lake. It's refreshing to get away, and I made major progress on writing. So yay!
I've also started school. (surprisingly, I've done this voluntarily. :P) Being homeschooled allows flexible scheduling, so I've decided to take advantage of that and start early so I can finish sooner next year. Hopefully I will stick to this. We'll see. xD
Also, we're halfway through the year. Heh. (scary thought, isn't it?)
(left) rock painting for Where Shadows Lie!
(right) the gorgeous cover of the Evaporation of Sofi Snow
FINALLY a good month for books! Which is very needed, since I'm eighteen books behind on my Goodreads goal. Yup. Eighteen. I did the math (basically the only time I'll do math by choice), and I have to read a book every 2.5 days to meet my goal of 100 books. Please tell me I'm not the only one behind on my reading goal. :P
Oh! For the first time in forever (*resists the urge to start singing Frozen*), I read a book in one sitting! My attention span is too small to do that normally, but Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore held me tight and I couldn't put it down. o.o Sooo good, even though I'm not usually interested in that genre.
Oh! For the first time in forever (*resists the urge to start singing Frozen*), I read a book in one sitting! My attention span is too small to do that normally, but Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore held me tight and I couldn't put it down. o.o Sooo good, even though I'm not usually interested in that genre.
The Knife of Never Letting Go [3.5/5]
Angel Eyes [5/5]
The Evaporation of Sofi Snow [3/5]
Real Friends [5/5]
The Wish Granter [2.5/5]
A Torch Against the Night [3/5]
Unfolding [2/5]
An Ember in the Ashes [3/5]
AVERAGE RATING: 3.38
And congratulations to my friend, Brianna, for published her book Unsanctioned Eyes this month! I have a giveaway going for a paperback copy, a notebook, and bookmarks, so might want to check that out. ;)
There wasn't a lot of writing done this month, but I'm starting to get into the swing of things again! I got around 15,000 words written, and I wrote about 5,000 of those words on paper! I never thought I would enjoy writing on paper because it goes sooo slowlyyy.. but I've found that the words come a lot smoother. There's never the problem of staring at the paper unsure of what to write next -- it all flowed beautifully. So maybe writing a whole novel on paper will be in my future. :D
Who else is doing Camp NaNoWriMo? IT'S NEVER TO LATE TO JOIN THE CRAZINESS! I will be editing my novel, Where Shadows Lie. (and finishing my prequel novel but that should hopefully only take one or two days) My goal is 45 hours, which is 1.5 hours a day. It'll be tough, but I'm READY FOR THE CHALLENGE. I've got an amazing cabin to help me out with the insanity. :D
Along the lines of writing, I went to the Minneapolis Young Writer's Workshop this month! It was a fabulous time of learning and friendship and sitting by established editors and authors over lunch. Such an amazing opportunity. <3
I had a bunch of my internet friends come to stay at my house (aka no sleep ever and bunches of giggles over silly puns instead), which made the experiences 100000x better. These ladies have encouraged me in my writing and faith and my general journey in life, and I owe them so much. <3
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| top: laura, hannah, olivia, kristana bottom: aimee, caroline, meee! xD |
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Overall, it was a fabulous month. July will return to the normal hustle of work and school and writing and blogging and friends and all the things, but June was a nice (and exhausting) change of pace.
May Camp NaNo be fabulous and filled with many words and productivity. You can do this.
<3,
katie grace
what's your camp nano goal?
anyone else behind on their reading challenge?
YOU GOT TO HAVE THE AIMEE HUMAN BEAN OVER AT YOUR HOUSE I'M SO JEALOUS BECAUSE AIMEE SEEMS LIKE SUCH AN AWESOME WRITER BEAN. I WISH I COULD MEET YOU KATIE GRACE YOU ARE JUST SO PRECIOUS AND YOU ARE SO WISE THANK YOU FOR BLOGGING AND SHARING YOUR WISDOM. *composes self* ..............AHHHH ONE OF THE GIRLS WAS WEARING A TØP BLURRYFACE SHIRT AND I RECENTLY FELL IN LOVE WITH TØP SO YAS I LOVE THE THING. (My favorite songs are Doubt, Message Man, Truce, and The Judge.)
ReplyDeleteAh yes, school over summer. I'm doing the same thing, though it's not by choice, it's so I can actually graduate on time. #I💜homeschooling. Ugh, I could never read that many books in a year. I feel like super accomplished cause I've read TEN books so far since Christmas and that's like a major accomplishment cause I hit a reading slump awhile back, so yeah, hopefully it'll go better from here on. How's the Harry Potter rereading going?
YESS IT WAS VERY FABULOUS! Do you think you'll ever go to a writer's conference in the near future? Maybe someday we can meet at one of them. :D
DeleteOhhh, The Judge is probably my favorite Twenty One Pilots song to sing. My sister and I belt it out all the time and it's great. xD
Eek, you can do it! Do you graduate next year as well? HEY that's still good! What's your favorite book you've read out of those ten so far?
It's... paused for the moment. :P I've read all of them except the last one, but I just got a huge stack of library books, so I'm reading through those first. You're so sweet for remembering! <3
Sadly, I probably won't cause I just don't have time...:( but I would loveeee to meet you!!! <3
DeleteHaha, that sounds great! I'm the only one in my family that's really obsessed with them...although my dad does kinda like them...my all-time favorite is definitely Doubt.
Yep, Class of 2018! You graduate then too, right? Ooh...favorite book I've read this year...um...well I really liked Divergent...but I REALLY REALLY LOVE UNWIND SO PROBABLY UNWIND. *flails because Conner and Risa*
Do you mean The Deathly Hallows or The Cursed Child? I've read all of the books once, but I really need to reread them because they're just so amazing. Which book is your favorite? Deathly Hallows is mine.
Oh and did I mention that today is my one year blogoversary? *throws confetti*
DeleteNooo that is sad. *sniff* Someday!
DeleteI do! EEEP UNWIND IS REALLY AMAZING. I can't remember -- have you read the others yet? Ahh they get so good. o.o
Oops, The Deathly Hallows! I don't know if I'm really counting The Cursed Child as one of the original... I haven't read that yet but I might soon. *thinks about the favorite book question for a good solid two minutes and then just gives up because they're all good* :P (except... I don't love the third quite as much.)
AHH IT IS?? I didn't even know you had a blog! I've clicked on your profile name but it's not linked to your blog so I thought you just didn't have one. EEEP!
I know, it's really sad...*cries* Yes, SOMEDAY I SHALL!!
DeleteI've read Unwholly too and I'm planning to read the rest, but I'm in the middle of Allegiant right now. YES RISA IS THE MOST RELATABLE CHARACTER!! I LOVE HER!!
Yah, Cursed Child is good, but it's not like my favorite or anything. They're all are so great, it's hard to choose a favorite!
Yeah I made the mistake of giving my blog link to a person I didn't know on the internet and for safety reasons, turned it private. So that's why I don't have it linked to my blog. But if I ever get a public blog, I'll be sure to drop the link in a comment for you. :)
YESS RISA IS GREAT. <3 <3
DeleteOhh that makes sense. Yes! Definitely make sure to link me to it if it ever becomes public again. I would love to check it out. :D
And Conner...*heart clutch*
DeleteWOOT I'M SO EXCITED FOR CAAAAAMP. *flails* Me and my cousin stayed up to midnight together to write and IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
ReplyDeleteAND OMW THAT ROCK IS SO COOL. *flails*
YESSS! Didn't you stay up with your cousin for NaNo last year as well? That's so cool that you do that together. xD
DeleteEEEK THANK YOU. *flails with you*
GOOD LUCK ON CAMP!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! Are you doing Camp this month?
DeleteI love your monthly recaps! And hey, yes I'm doing NaNo for the first time :D I'm doing 50,000 words just to see if I can survive the real one come July.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had lots of fun this month xD I am like 12 books behind my GR challenge :P And I did not do so well in reading this June only 8 and a half books *sigh* *blames school* I will prbably study all summer too. I hope. No I haven't read any of those books but I've heard so much about the Evaporation of Sofi Snow I want to! Also I don't know Twenty One Pilots or Aurora *must fix this* I will be searching them out soon when I have a moment which I won't because NaNa is here *cue some freaking out* lotsa luck for editing Katie!
YAY! Welcome to the NaNo insanity, mwahaha. Oh my goodness, you're jumping right into the 50k goal? o.o Wow, I'm totally impressed. What's your Camp NaNo name?
DeleteSigh, school is always a good thing to blame. :P I hope you'll be able to find some time to read! Have you given audiobooks a try? (Or wait... did you already mention audiobooks in your email to me? I can't remember. xD)
YES YOU MUST FIX THAT. Aurora is great music for writing to, and Twenty One Pilots is fantastic for literally everything. xD
You rock this NaNo, Lisa! <3
Yes thank you! It feels good to be stretching so hard xD we will see how this goes. My NaNo name is "Lisa // Inkwell" (because they say Lisa is a common spammer name :P). And I did a post on my wip if you didn't already see it :)
DeleteYeah I'm very fond of audiobooks and I did mention them! But listening while studying? Guess what I will end up doing instead of the other :P
Yah, Aurora sounds good and I will check on 21Pilots next :D
Thank you!
Hmm weird I can't find your Camp profile? I'll have to go stalk your blog post instead. xD
DeleteHa! Yeah, that would be extremely difficult. :P I can do music while studying, but audiobooks would be an entirely different matter...
YO I'm so glad you've had such a great month! Love your rock painting. My month has been...interesting. I accidentally listened to nothing but musicals for five weeks straight. Me and the guy I've liked for forever started actually dating. It's been a busy time.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to read Angel Eyes sometime! It looks super interesting. Hope you meet all your goals and have a great Camp NaNo and an amazing July!,
Hey, listening to musicals is a great thing. xD What are some of your favorite musicals?
DeleteAwhhh, that is the cutest thing! I hope everything works out well between you two. ^.^ (And yeah, now life must be even more crazy! o.o)
Yes you totally have to! It has a little bit of everything and the writing is absolute goals. :P
I have waaaayyyy too many favorite musicals, but a few are Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Anastasia, Newsies, Bonnie & Clyde, Finding Neverland, In the Heights, and The Sound of Music. That's still a long list, yikes haha.
DeleteI've heard SO MUCH about Newsies. I think that's the next one I need to listen to. o.o
DeleteJuly definitely sounds like it was amazing for you - so much fun stuffed in one month :D I've got to go to a concert like that one of these days! (Also I'm behind on my Goodreads goal BIG TIME too ha)
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to get 50K for Camp NaNo this year *crosses fingers*
Ah June** My brain is dead this morning.
DeleteI know it was a crazy month. o.o
DeleteWhat concert would you go to, if you had the choice?
AHH YOU CAN TOTALLY DO THIS! Is this your first time doing the 50,000 words?
My brain is always dead in the mornings, so I completely understand. Brain dead comments are welcome here. ;)
(also, I tried to post a comment on your blog... but it didn't let me for some reason?)
DeleteI was so jealous when I saw everyone's Instagram pictures of the writing workshop! Looks so fun. The lakeside resort sounds awesome too. I am SO unprepared for NaNo 😭 We'll see how it goes!
ReplyDeleteHailey
www.haileyhudson.wordpress.com
Wahh I wish everyone could've been there! *sniff* It would've been interesting squishing all the internet people in our house, but... eh. xD
DeleteUgh, I feel you on the preparation levels. Are you writing or editing this month?
Sounds like an awesome month!! HAPPY JULY AND GOOD LUCK WITH CAMP NANO!!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! Good luck with Camp if you're participating as well!
DeleteTHE PHOTO IS SO PRETTY OMW. ahem. and GOOD LUCK WITH CAMP NANO. I'm way ahead on my reading challenge because I basically have no life :p
ReplyDeleteAHH THANK YOU! I love that you're one to appreciate it because of your name, hehe. xD
DeleteOOH GOOD FOR YOU! I'm very impressed. xD
I wish you the best on NANO! Yes, writing on paper is the best thing ever. My first drafts always go down on paper first. Then I move on to my laptop for editing.
ReplyDelete~ Pip
Ooh, really? That's so cool! Do you type it up on the computer as you go or do you choose to type it up in one big stretch?
DeleteI usually type it up all at once. I feel like it helps because it makes me read the whole novel (or at least my first draft of it) before I start editing. It is more time consuming, but I have more inspiration when writing on paper.
Delete~ Pip
That makes sense! I'd probably do that method, too. And it's nice because you can change things as you go and make the wording a little cleaner.
DeleteTHIS LOOKS LIKE SUCH A FANTASTIC MONTH!!! The photos from the workshop make me so happy- internet friends are the best. :')
ReplyDeleteEEEP AREN'T THEY? you guys make me so warm and fuzzy inside <3
DeleteAAHH YOU MONTH LOOKS AWESOME. And OMW THAT SONG YOU MENTIONED IS *EPIC* I'm horrible at finding music, so thanks for the suggestion xD
ReplyDeleteMy nano goal is currently 30 hours of editing. This month is going to be a little hectic in that I have no clue how much writing time I'll even have since I'm going to be working for my dad a bit. Then I'm out of town the last days of the month at Realm Makers and have a feeling I won't be sitting up until 3am writing xD
<3
audrey caylin
AHH YAY I'M GLAD YOU LIKE IT! All of her songs are fantastic so just click shuffle on her spotify profile and you won't be disappointed. xD
DeleteThat's a solid goal! OH MY GOSH I FORGOT YOU WERE GOING TO REALM MAKERS THAT IS SO EXCITED. (I'm a bit jealous because I'd love to see you, but... *sniff* Maybe next year. Hopefully.) Heh, last year at Realm Makers I was up until one talking with my roommates every night, and then I stayed up until three one night writing a blog post. NEVER AGAIN, MAN.
If you have any Realm Makers related questions (first time conference going can be crazy xD), just send me an email. I'm so pumped for you! :D
Thank you so much for that offer! I just might do that xD My head is already spinning trying to figure what exactly it's going to be like.
Delete<3
Right?? It's a nervewracking experience, but definitely an awesome one. I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures. :D
DeleteYou guys look like such a fun group!! I'm so glad your month was great and I hope Nano goes well! xD
ReplyDeleteI hope NaNo goes well for you, too, Paige! (If you're doing NaNo, that is... :P)
DeleteI AM SOOO BEHIND ON MY READING CHALLENGE. Uhhh, 23 books to be exact. I started the year out pretty well with reading, but then I got a job. xD It's hard to read a lot when you feel like you spend most of your time at work and when you get home you just want to crash and do something mindless. xD
ReplyDeleteEEEK THAT'S ROUGH. But... so is my book count, so we'll get through it together. xD Where are you working? And I totally feel. Sometimes even reading takes too much mental energy. :P (which is why I'm starting to get into audiobooks, because I can just /lay/ there and have a book read to me! :P)
DeleteI work at McDonald's. And yeah, sometimes all you want to do is lay there and do NOTHING. xD
DeleteAhh I can relate. Usually I love working, but sometimes it's just very hard keeping up the energy. :P
DeleteAwwww your rock is so cute! Did you paint it, or did someone else? Also "giggling" over puns is the understatement of the year XP We tea-hehehe-ed for ages XP I'm so glad I got to stay with you this month! That week was such a beautiful experience <3
ReplyDeleteThank youuu! I painted it and it took an exasperatingly long time. xD
DeleteBASICALLY I could've gone over how ridiculous we were for paragraphs but there wasn't enough space. Ahh that memory will forever be one of my favorites. xD LOVE YOU MY FREN <3
You weren't the only one who forgot about posting! I promised my followers I would this afternoon, but it ended up being posted this evening because I forgot to write it..oops. Lol!
ReplyDeleteAnd awww, your rock is adorable! <3
Hey, at least you made it on the same day! Good for you. :D
Deleteawh, thank you! <3
I saw For King and Country once too. It was pretty grand. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved "Angel Eyes" so much too! It. Was. So. Good. http://teensliveforjesus.blogspot.com/2016/06/angel-eyes-by-shannon-dittermore.html.
Good luck with NaNo and your reading challenge!
They are so, so amazing and inspiring and energetic. o.o
DeleteEep, I'll hop on over and read your review in a moment!
Thank you! <3
This was so fun to read Katie! It's great to see you back :)
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out Aurora! I'm always looking for cool new artists...have you ever heard of Fleurie? She's great and her songs are awesome for getting inspired for writing!
I'm doing camp nano too! AHH crazy life XD Hope you have a wonderful July!
Anna - www.worldthroughherheart.blogspot.com
I'm glad to be back and connecting with all you lovely people again. :D
DeleteYES YOU MUST. I've only heard Fleurie's song, "Solider," which reminds me of Aurora's music a bit. I definitely need to listen to more of her stuff.
EEEP what's your goal? YOU GOT THIS!
"Sometimes doing all the things is not possible and that's unfortunate." Yep I needed to hear that. Literally seconds before I clicked on this post, my mind was racing with "Gosh I need to fix the URL on my blog... and work on my Camp NaNo, but also figure out art instagram stuff and running my blog and reading and class schedule and--" yeah. XD
ReplyDeleteAlso, that daisy picture at the head of your post is BEAUTIFUL!
That's so funny that you read that graphic novel Friends this month. I saw it while perusing the shelves and nearly checked it out.
UGH RIGHT IT'S CRAZY. Ooh, what are you changing your URL to? I've actually always wondered about your URL and why it's called "Jenqiua" in the search bar. :P
DeleteOoh, I loved it! Definitely recommend it as a graphic novel. :D
I'd love for my Url to be just be jenecazody.com or jenecawrites.com but I can't seem to find a way to do what without shelling out loads of cash. I'd settle for jenecawrites.wordpress.com. Mergh.
DeleteJeniqua was a nickname given to me by a friend. I'm still called it a lot... but not on the internet. XD
Ahhh okay! Ooh that's exciting. I do like jenecawrites a lot. *nodnod* You're going to stick with wordpress instead of blogger?
DeleteHi, Katie! xD It's super awkward... you commented a day early before I posted a writing related post on my blog, but then again, it's NaNo and it's so hard to comment. I'm so behind on my reading challenge, as well! Twenty books behind, eep... too bad our works in progress don't automatically count as us "reading" a book, although we are reading what we crafted. I may have to resort to logging all the Dr. Seuss books I've been helping kids read aloud, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteGAH this is why life in the lower 48 (what we call the continental states up here due to our location) is super cool-- you guys have writers conferences to attend and all the bloggy friends go out and visit! It's only recently that a teen writing group popped up, and it's partially due to the person I'm working for having to take on more responsibilities, but life is good.
How's NaNo going for you? I'm editing my novel (finally) because junior year was so brutal to the point entering competitions were my only ways of writing. *sigh* It's going okay on my end-- I've had so many worldbuilding tidbits pop up over the last two months, like how people give burial ceremonies or how civil wars break out and symptoms to the deadly plague and it just makes me want to squeal really loud because all the worldbuilding is yes. ALSO. My parents know it's NaNo season, so they make sure I'm asleep and not writing at one in the morning... it's been a struggle writing in the dark in marker on your hand ideas that jolt up!
Wow. This ended up like a letter. O.o Hopefully it doesn't overwhelm. Happy writing (or editing)!
xoxo Abigail Lennah | ups & downs
Ooh I'll have to check out your latest post, then! I'm excited to read it. I still enjoyed looking at your Grand Canyon pictures, though. :D
DeleteI WISH YOU WERE ABLE TO GO TO THESE WRITER'S CONFERENCES BECAUSE IT WOULD BE GREAT TO MEET YOU. <3
AHH THAT'S SO EXCITING. Dude, all of those tidbits sound so intense and interesting. o.o Burial ceremonies?? Oh my gosh how awesome. That makes me want to go do some research about how different cultures bury people, as weird as that sounds. xD
Ahh, that is a struggle. -.- Are you one who would like to write at night?
NO IT'S NEVER OVERWHELMING! I always love reading your comments. <3
WRITE A BOOK ALL ON PAPER DO IIIIIIIITT XD
ReplyDelete*glares at the way Labyrinth flopped* BUT DOOOO IIIIIIIT
ALSO I MISS YOU
HEHE YES I SHOULDDD
DeleteMiss you toooo :(
Such a lovely blog!
ReplyDeleteI gave your blog a follow, and I would truly appreciate it if you could check out my book reviews blog located at https://elsbookreviews.blogspot.ca/ and possibly give it a follow as well! Looking forward to reading more of your reviews!
- El
Thanks, El! Glad you found me -- always nice to meet another person in the blogosphere. :)
DeleteSounds like an EPIC month, girl! :D Love the singing TOP 'round the campfire.... =D
ReplyDeleteGOOD LUCK on 'Where Shadows Lie'!! You'll do great. I'm starting a new project mid-week into Camp and so far it's going pretty well. :P
God bless you Katie!!
-Ang | thepeculiarmessenger.wordpress.com
I know it was magical. <3
DeleteEEP THANK YOU! Ooh, what genre is this project? How exciting. :D
OH LOOK PICTURES OF THE FRENSSSS <3
ReplyDeleteLOOK. BLOGGY PEOPLE TOGETHER. SQUEEEEEEE
ReplyDeleteGood luck with Camp NaNo!