JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS // 2018

Here is the first wrap-up post of the new year! January isn't quite over, but it will be in a few more days. (which means that we're 1/12 of the way through the year! yikes.) It felt so weird typing in 2018 for the post title. 'Tis insane.

I started off 2018 by celebrating Christmas. Yes, that sounds confusing, but we had to postpone our celebrations because of sickness. It's that time of year where everyone and their cousin's cat has come down with some cold/flu/sore throat/etc type of thing. I basically need to enter a quarantine center to stay away from it all. o.o 

One of my favorite presents for Christmas (Though I don't think I can actually narrow it down to one favorite, because each is special in it's own way. :P) was a daisy tote bag that I can use for lugging all of my writing stuff to and from the coffeeshop! Daisies are my favorite flower -- they're happy-looking, and I like happy things. :)

It's been a cold January. And to make things worse, during one of the coldest weeks (when we were experiencing temperatures in the -20s, brrr), our family's car lost heat. That was not a fun week of travel to and from work. xD BUT THANKFULLY IT'S FIXED! But it was strange seeing my breath in the car and losing feeling in my fingers. xD

Speaking of winter, I WATCHED THE WINTER SOLDIER THIS MONTH. Goodness, I adore that movie. So many feelings. and scenes that brought tears to my eyes. <3 <3 Also, the countdown for Infinity Wars continues. 96 DAYS! (I apologize, but I probably won't stop screaming about it until it comes out. :P)

I saw Darkest Hour in the theater which was pretty good! My favorite part about the whole experience was this nice, old dude who sat next to me. He started talking about how he lived through the history of the movie and fought in the Korean War. I think it's so cool to hear about a stranger's story. (and kind of sad, because you'll probably never see them again)

A random joke that I came across while procrastinating: Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. (it took me a moment to get it, but when I did I couldn't stop laughing)

Fawkes [5/5] - YOU GUYS. YOU NEED TO READ THIS WHEN IT COMES OUT. It's a beautiful historical/fantasy retelling of Thomas Fawkes and the gunpowder plot. Nadine's words are magical. :D

The Picture of Dorian Gray [3/5] - I actually enjoyed this one! Usually classics aren't my cup of tea, but THAT ENDING. Oh my gosh it was great. o.o

Scythe [5/5] - This was a reread in anticipation for the sequel coming out! It's been awhile since I've read this one so I forgot some of the twists that happened. xD 

Thunderhead [4/5] - This was the sequel to Scythe! And... it wasn't as good as the first one. *sobs* It was still interesting... but... kind of long. And I didn't care for some of the characters. Sigh. I'm still excited for the third one, though!

After taking a couple months off, I'm back into the swing of edits! Right now I'm working on the third draft of Where Shadows Lie, and having a really fun time with it (me, having fun editing? whaaaaaat?). In February I plan to do a post explaining my process with third-drafting. I'm editing on paper for the first time (which means fun pens and notebooks!) and it's been so incredibly helpful.

As I finish up chapters of this third draft, I'm meeting with my friend Emma to exchange chapters with each other. I'm not going to lie: it was terrifying. This is the first time anyone's read past the first three pages, but she's already proven to be so helpful with her comments. And it's so good to meet in person so I can ask her questions and get an immediate, honest answer. 

I already have a page filled with things to change -- and that's just from her reading the first three chapters. The edits just never stop. xD

Here are the posts I published this month! If you missed any of them, clicking on the picture will lead you to the post. :)

That's all I've got for today (I feel like this was a shorter monthly highlights post?) -- I hope the last couple days of January are absolutely fabulous for all of you! These next few days are filled with work and school and writing for me (and a dentist appointment, ugh), but they should be good anyway. It's what you make of it, right?

I'd love to hear about your January! Did the first month of the year live up to your expectations? If this month was a bit chaotic and crazy, don't fear, because you're not alone in that. And February's coming up for a fresh, new start. *puts on cool sunglasses* Let's go and conquer.

<3,
katie grace

did you see any good movies this month?

END OF THE YEAR WRAP UP POST // 2017

IT'S THE END OF 2017. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

There. I think I screamed enough for everyone reading this post. If not, feel free to scream with me in the comments. I'm happy with how 2017 went. Obviously it had it's ups and downs... but that's just life for ya. Overall it was an improvement from 2016, and I'm feeling good about where I am in life. So, success! :P

And before we enter the craziness of 2018... here's one last look back at this year. :D

WRITING:

pictures in this post are an assortment from 2017

Ahh, writing. Writing this year has been a journey. A roller coaster type journey, with all of it's ups and downs and twisty loop-de-loops. I shifted my focus from my desert fantasy duology, to my heart's novel, Where Shadows Lie. It's always sad to shelve a project... but I'm confident I made the right decision and I'm ridiculously excited about moving forward.

I wrote two books this year -- my superhero novel, and the prequel to Where Shadows Lie. *celebrates* Both of them were for NaNo events (because NaNo + I = best friends), and after I wrote the first drafts, I made them into real-life copies! (except I'm still waiting for my superhero book to arrive. I ordered it a month ago... so I think it went missing in the mail. Or fell into a portal and land in the fires of Mt. Doom. Either or. (UPDATE: now as I'm editing this post, the book has arrived! so it made it out of Mt. Doom. Huzzah!))

After adding up the ending word counts of those two books + flash fiction + rewrites, the total words written this year came to 200,000. A little less than normal, as you can see below, but I'm happy with the outcome. :D

2014: 123,000
2015: 240,000
2016: 222,000
2017: 200,000
total: 785,000.

That means I'm 215,000 words away from writing one million words. UM. WHAT. (poor noodle fingers) I know I spend a lot of time writing, but... it's weird to actually think about how much energy and thought and emotion I've poured into my novels over the years. *mind explodes*

Oh and hey -- speaking of writing and stories, I posted two flash fictions on the blog this year! I read over them again before putting the links in this post, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I wrote a sci-fi retelling of the pied piper, and then a tale about the dreaded "NaNoWriMo Beast." (the last one is more comical than serious. xD)

When I wasn't writing, I was editing! (and plotting... and procrastinating... but mostly editing.) In the beginning of the year I worked hard on my desert fantasy duology, but once I shelved that for the time being, I spent the rest of the time editing Where Shadows Lie. I CANNOT WAIT FOR JANUARY TO COME SO I CAN START EDITING AGAIN. << That's a big statement coming from the person who would usually choose to watch paint dry rather than edit. But I'm really pumped to dive into the third draft of this story!

BOOKISH

 

I'm hoping to end this year with a total of 60 books. (I'm at 58... ALMOST THERE!) It's slightly disappointing since my original goal was one hundred. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. Last year I whizzed through 120 books, and it was hard for me to even hit half of that this year. *sniff* Oh well. 

Below are my five star reads of 2017! There are only five... but that's because I've grown strict about how I rate books. I used to give out five stars to most of the books I read, but then that "high rating" becomes rather meaningless.

The majority of the books I read were fantasy, which came as no surprise to me. But I did read about equal amounts of sci-fi and contemporary? I'm starting to really like contemporary novels, because they're able to take the perspective of a beautiful story from the ordinary world.

There weren't a huge amount of bookish posts that appeared on the blog this year, but the one I did write turned out to be one of my most popular ones: Why I Would Be A Horrible Book Character. (I'm tempted to do a part two eventually, because it's just so easy to come up with reasons why I would never survive in fantasy novels. For example: the obvious lack of pizza. xD)

And now comes the big question: how many books do I shoot for in my 2018 Goodreads challenge? To which I immediately answer: I DON'T KNOWWW! But after a bit of thinking, I might need to set it for under sixty books. *cue the tears* I'm thinking about fifty-two, because that would equal to a book a week! We'll see -- I'll update you as I ponder on that a bit more. :P

BLOGGING: 

YAY FOR BLOGGING. It's a huge part of my life, and I'm so thankful for it. Sure, it's hard and sometimes I run out of inspiration for posts and I stare at that screen, the clock ticking past midnight. I don't like the hard parts of blogging but yet I do, because blogging has taught me so much. It's taught me how to work toward a deadline and how to continually find ways to grow in my craft.

Aside from the work, blogging has brought me immense amounts of joy. ALL THE BLOGGING BUDDIES. Dude, that's what is so fun about the blogosphere. I get so happy interacting with people who can relate to me that are halfway around the world. Ugh, I wish there was a way to teleport to meet you all for Christmas because THAT WOULD BE THE BEST THING EVER.

For the majority of the year I kept up fairly well with visiting blogs and commenting and all that fun stuff... but I have failed miserably with that since NaNoWriMo began. *cringe* Like, I have close to a hundred unread posts kind of miserably. So I'll have to catch up on all of your lovely blogs in the new year. :D

I'm excited to see where blogging takes me in 2018, and the new people I'll meet through it. <3

Some of my most popular posts: editing encouragement, five reasons to participate in camp nanowrimo

LIFE:

Last year, 2016, was a year of change, and 2018 will be the same way. So 2017 was a nice "break" in between all the new things thrown at me. It was a year of enjoying where I am in life and trying to look forward at what's to come.

I posted about my "new findings of 2017," which captures some of the random fun of this year. And did anyone else enjoy Spotify's end of the year stats? (no big surprise seeing that Twenty One Pilots is my top artist. I don't that'll change anytime soon. xD)

Instead of boring you all with endless paragraphs, I'll list the top couple highlights of each month. Just to keep it short and simple. :P

JANUARY || bullet journaling, trying to stay steady with my new resolutions

FEBRUARY || twenty one pilots concert (AHHH), southwest vacation, Goodreads released their reread option!

MARCH || turned seventeen

APRIL || failed camp nano, went through a major writing burnout, but also had an awesome writing retreat

MAY || break from writing, finished eleventh grade

JUNE || started my senior year of school in order to graduate early, MYWW conference, finished my Camp NaNo novel

JULY || spider-man homecoming, began edits for Where Shadows Lie, got the idea for my superhero novel, finally finding the joy in writing again

AUGUST: lots of rewriting (on paper), three year blog anniversary, dear senior year

SEPTEMBER || lots more editing, lovely, relaxing vacation

OCTOBER || halfway done with school, #nanoprep, about my superhero novel

NOVEMBER || nanowrimo (duh), painted my room, infinity wars trailer

DECEMBER || break from writing, christmas craziness, began watching the Marvel movies chronologically

Thank you for being with me on this journey. I can't wait to see what 2018 brings for all of us. <3

<3,
katie grace

what were your top three highlights of 2017?

NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS // 2017

*barges in with carols and cookies and Christmas trees* MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Yes, I know there are still twenty-three days until Christmas, but who doesn't love a little extra Christmas cheer? 

At least I need some extra Christmas cheer. Even though it's December, it doesn't feel like Christmas. All of the snow we had on the ground melted, I haven't listened to much Christmas music, and our tree isn't even set up. O.O (not to mention all of the cards and presents I haven't started on... *cries because I am the worst gift giver*)

ANYWAY, I'm here to talk about the highlights of November, so let's get into them!

THE INFINITY WARS TRAILER. PLEASE TELL ME YOU'VE SEEN IT SO WE CAN FREAK OUT TOGETHER. (here's the link if you haven't) I've already watched it five times and have freaked out every time. I only shed a couple tears out of excitement, so be proud. *absolutely cannot wait* (only 152 days away!!) It's been fun to see the internet explode with the conjoined excitement for this movie. :D

Speaking of movies, I watched more movies than I read books this month. (can I even call myself a bookworm?? o.o) It was a good mix -- Wonder, Thor: Ragnarok, Murder on the Orient Express, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, and Wonder Woman. I feel like there was maybe one other I watched, but my mind is blanking, so it must've not been that memorable. :P

The other "big happening" of November is that I repainted my room! Guys, painting takes so long. It took several days of me working from after lunch until nine at night to complete this project, but the finished result was worth it. *happy squeal* (is it okay if I dump a few pictures on you? Because that's totally what I'm going to do)

There aren't as many highlights as usual, but it's proving difficult to think past, "wait, I did other things than write this month??" #NaNoWriMoProbs

The Book of Lost Things [3.5/5] - for some reason I thought this was a middle grade book, but... #nope It was kind of a mashup of fairytales, each of them taking an unexpectedly dark twist. Very unique! But also somewhat scattered.

Eliza and her Monsters [5/5] - THIS BOOK. *hugs it* It's about a webcomic writer whose work goes viral, and how she deals with the confusing meld of her online life and "real" life. I really, really loved it and could relate. <3

The Girl Who Drank the Moon [3/5] - I wanted to love this book, but... it kind of dragged on and on and not much happened. :/

December is going to be my month of BOOKS. I have a long list on my phone of books I want to read in December, so we'll see if it's possible to get through all of them. Renegades is my next read! Also look -- I received pretty buttons for preordering it. <3

*tries to refrain from mentioning the obvious* *fails* So, NaNoWriMo happened. (duhhh) Instead of repeating more rambles about the insanity, here are the links to my wrap up posts:

Week #1 - I Broke My Coffeemaker And Might Be Going Insane

Week #2 - 50,000 Words And My First Write-In

Week #3 - Thor: Ragnarok, Less Words, More Sleep

Week #4 - Lots of Movie Watching and I Wrote "The End"

If you don't want to commit to reading through all of those posts, here's a short rundown:

• Coffeemaker broke 
• Sadness over coffeemaker
• New coffeemaker bought!
• Words written
• Lots of words written
• Words deleted (not on purpose. bothersome crashing computer -.-)
• Some despair
• Some excitement
• MORE words written
• YAY I HIT 50k
• So many characters, much character problems
• Strange lacking of pizza eating
• Lots of yawning
• Lots of staring at the ceiling
• Lots of procrastination
• LOTS OF WRITING
• Wrote The End!
• Time to sleep
• Poor sore fingers

I saw this challenge below on my Facebook feed and couldn't help but participate: Scroll through your manuscript. Let the cursor fall where it may and you have one terrible title.

1. Weak Attempts At Talking

2. The Bottom

3. A Strange Experience

4. Kind Of A Mess

5. Screamed And Dropped

6. I Could Fly

7. Her Parents' Planters

8. Worrying About Life 

It's so hard for me to even choose a favorite. The last one is hilariously and unfortunately relatable, but "Kind Of A Mess" describes the novel's current state well. xD

What's next for me writing-wise? I usually take a writing break in December, but I'm so eager to start editing Where Shadows Lie again that I might just take it slowly. I ordered a coil-bound draft from Lulu for making scene edits which should be super fun. I've never edited on paper before. o.o

And I also ordered my first-draft copy of my superhero novel! (when I first wrote that sentence I accidentally wrote first draft coffee. #fail) I cannot wait to add it to my collection. I don't think I ever shared this in my NaNo posts, but there's a really special significance about my superhero story that I just realized. The whole concept is about superheros losing their powers at age eighteen, yeah? It's all about growing up and moving on from childhood, which is crazy because this is my last novel I wrote as a teen. o.o *sniff* I just thought that was really special. <3

Congrats to all the NaNoWriMo winners! It was neat scrolling through Twitter and seeing all the "winner" badges. But honestly congrats to anyone who managed to write words during this crazy month. You guys are all superheroes. <3

December is my annual blogging break! Which is sad, but I am looking forward to a break. Here's what the month will look like:

2nd - this post! yay for monthly highlights!

9th - a lovely guest post by a certain lovely author. (there may or may not be a giveaway, so be here for that!)

16th - no post! 

23rd - no post, but ON THIS DAY THERE WILL JUST BE TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS. o.o

30th - end of the year wrap-up post!

I hope you all enjoy your December! This is the last month of the year, so let's try to make it count. 

<3,
katie grace

so. how are you nanoers?

what did you come up with in the "terrible title" challenge? xD

OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS // 2017

I woke up this morning to snow. I think the dread of the oncoming winter made my heart sink right through my toes and into the floor. *sniff* Every year I get excited over fall, but forget the season of freezing temperatures that comes next. :P

Beside snow, this month was a good one. Here's what went down.

HIGHLIGHTS

I'M HALFWAY DONE WITH SCHOOL! My pace has slowed with work and life piling on, but I'm making progress. I just have to survive the winter. (which I will do by burying myself in fuzzy blankets 97% of the time) I CAN DO THIS. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Working at Starbucks is still a thing and I'm still loving it. All of the fun Holiday promo is coming out, and I get to help transform our store into a winter wonderland. (which means setting up decorations until midnight. SO PUMPED.) The zombie frappuccino released, which is popular, but nowhere near the crazy disaster of the unicorn frappuccino.  So I'm a happy barista. xD

LOOK. AT. THIS. FENCE. It's right outside my neighborhood so every time I drive home from somewhere I get to gaze upon its amazingness. The Calvin and Hobbes comics are close to my heart and hold a special nostalgia with them... so this fence always brightens my day. <3

MY MIND IS BLANKING ON MORE HIGHLIGHTS. Usually I write them down as I go throughout the month... but I was a slacker and totally forgot. #oops 

(Also, while writing this post I accidentally clicked publish on a very, very rough draft. *heart attack* (so sorry if you read that) But I mean, which genius decided it was a good idea to put the save and publish buttons right next to each other?!)

(speaking of blogging... I've noticed that the GFC widget on blogspot blogs are giving some sort of error.  Please tell me if you figure out how to fix it. I'll give you pizza. Virtually. ;)

BOOKISH STUFF

Invictus [3/5] - so the beginning started off SUPER awesome, but as it went on I lost interest and wasn't emotionally involved with the characters. (and my poor mind was very confused about the time travel stuff SAMxD)

Wildwood [2/5] - this book had so much potential! The aesthetic and illustrations were gorgeous... but it was so loooong and boooring.

Knife [4/5] - definitely not my normal kind of story... but I loved it because of the nostalgia! When I was little I read fairy stories all the time, so I adored the trip back to the past. <3

When Dimple Met Rishi [2/5] - cute at times, but didn't live up to the hype. It's hard for me to read a romance story when I don't like either of the main characters very much. :/

Earlier this month I went to a book clearance sale and bought seven barely-used hardcovers for seven dollars. Um, yes please. The only bad thing is that I now have to start stacking books on my floor since my shelves are completely full. :P

Oh! And mark your calendars for November 13th. Why? The amazing Nadine Brandes is revealing the title and cover of her latest YA novel! I'M SO EXCITED TO FLAIL OVER IT WITH EVERYONE. *hype intensifies*

THE WRITING WORLD

I FINISHED PLOTTING MY NANO NOVEL! I was done a week before NaNoWriMo, which is crazy because I am never that organized. But, hey, there's always a first for everything! :P

I debated on whether or not to work on a different project during my free week... but instead I decided to spend my extra time reading. Yes, I could've pushed myself, but I also know that it would've backfired once NaNo started. I need to stalk up on my energy while I have the chance. Beside -- reading is part of  being a writer! And I don't do nearly enough of it. *sniff*

My plotting motto for this year: ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS. FIND ALL THE ANSWERS. And that's basically what I did until I figured out my novel's plot. xD I'm more prepared than I've ever been. For instance:

time spent prepping for NaNo 2016: thirteen hours.

time spent prepping for NaNo 2017: thirty-seven hours.

Yeah. 37. That's thirty-seven focused hours. I'm trying to become better at just plotting/writing/blogging, and not getting distracted by taking quick little breaks to scroll through social media. I found this app called Forest that is AMAZING. It helps keep me on task and make the best of my time. Huzzah!

Also, look! I ordered NaNoWriMo merch for the first time! I'm hoping to go to a few write-ins in November, so I'll be able to properly show off my obsession with NaNo. xD

#dorkysuperheropose

RAMBLINGS OF THE MONTH

THINGS TO COME

The last two NaNoWriMos I've done a weekly NaNo recap on the blog, and I'm going to continue that for this year! Stay tuned for excitement, revelations, sleep-deprived moaning about word counts, and incoherent babblings. (what more could you ask for? ;)

And, if I remember, I'll be doing a daily NaNo vlog that I'll put together and post at the end of the month. I'm so excited for the craziness to begin! *hands out cookies for you all to enjoy*

(and here's my NaNo profile if we're not buddies yet!)

<3,
katie grace

are you prepared for nanowrimo?

what book(s) do you associate with your childhood?