Two Weeks Later

It's been two weeks since I last wrote here, and since then things have been pretty slow in the writing world over here. Right now the rough draft of the book I wrote for NaNo is with my critiquer, and I am waiting for her to get back to me before I do anything with that project.

I've been telling myself that I'll start working on something else for the past two weeks, but I keep putting it off. I was afraid this would happen. I can't let this happen; I need to write. And I will, I promise. I just need a little push.

But tonight something awesome happened. I won't share anything yet, but I will give you some information. 1) It is a book I am writing. 2) Leah Clifford. 3)Other authors. That's all I'll say right now, and I can tell you right now that it's probably not what you think, and that's okay. When things are more set in stone, I'll tell you more because I love you.

Also, regarding this blog... I think I'll try to get at least one post a week, maybe two. It just depends on how my writing goes in the future, but there should be at least one a week for the foreseeable future.

NaNoWriMo: Day 30

I did it. I did it! I won NaNoWriMo. Second year doing it, and my second win. This year, it was a challenge. I was ready go give up so many times but thanks to a very special supporter, I marched on and wrote. And you know what, it feels awesome.

It was really easy to get the words out today. Every day should be the last day of NaNo, because that made me just want to write in a way I usually don't. And now that I've won, it's so worth it.

So, now I just have to finish writing the book. Sure, I have those 50,000 words all written down on that nice Word doc, but now I have to write the ending. I am just about there too, just one more scene to go until Charmed (the title needs to be changed, also) is done.

So, what's next? Well, I am going to let the book sit for a month, like I said yesterday. And I'm going to keep writing. That's my number one priority right now, not waiting for NaNo again to write again. I want to write my middle grade book I started in October from December to probably February. Besides that, I want to write at least two more books next year, not including next year's NaNo. Can I do it? I don't know. But I am going to try.

Also, I got a critiquer tonight. It's that special supporter/cheerleader who made me want to finish NaNo this year, and I wouldn't want anyone else to help me with my writing than her. She's blunt and brutal, and kind and supportive. The perfect person to tell me what I need to fix, and what's perfect the way it is, in my opinion.

To all of those people who did NaNo this year, you rock. If you won, yay! We won! If you didn't, WRITE ALL OF THOSE WORDS TONIGHT. Seriously, do it. You'll feel so good about yourself if you do.

NaNoWriMo: Day 29

One. More. Day. Those are the best words ever right now. As exciting as it is to have another novel nearly under my belt, this month has been super hard. Last year, it was easy as pie, but this year it hasn't been nearly as simple to accomplish.

But looking back, I was ready to give up just a few days ago, when I was nearly 20000 words behind. But I didn't quit, thankfully, and now I am nearly all caught up. I'm still behind, but I will write those final words tomorrow, and I will win NaNoWriMo. And it will be an amazing feeling.

I don't think I'll be able to wrap up my NaNo in 50,000 words, it will probably be about 55,000, which is about how long my NaNo last year was. I am nearing the end of this first draft, though, and I am so ready to finish it.

My plan right now is to finish this book, let it sit for the month of December, while working on other stuff. One of the publishers I intern for is opening for submission the first day of December, and I will start working on another book in December, and will write that (at a slower pace than my NaNo book, of course).

Then in January, I will edit this NaNo. I am at a complete loss at what exactly editing a rough draft really means, and I am freaked out. I think that's a big problem with my book last year, was that I was too scared to edit. So, if anyone out there has edited a book, WHERE DO I BEGIN? And where do I go from there?

So, one more day. I am going to win NaNoWriMo tomorrow, and it feels amazing.

Words written today: 3339
Total word count: 46696
Recommended word count: 48333

NaNoWriMo: Day 28

Well, I wrote the 3333 words I needed to today, and then some. And let me tell you, it was almost as hard as writing my over 8500 words yesterday.

The thing is, I was super tired today. I felt like everything I wrote was crap, but I kept going anyway. I just can't lose. I need to just win NaNo, then make the book good. I know now that it will need lots of work, but I'm not going to give up on this one like I did with last year's NaNo.

Words written today: 3354
Total word count: 43357
Recommended word count: 46666

NaNoWriMo: Day 27

You guys will not believe what happened. I hit 40,000 words! This is pretty much the best thing ever. Even better, I wrote over 8750 words today so I could hit this goal. It was pretty ridiculous to sit here all freaking day, but I am so glad I did it.

I started thinking about possible endings today, and there are three or four I am tossing around in my mind. Most of them are pretty sad, but when I talked about this on Twitter, people said to choose the happy choice, but I seriously don't know. I feel like there are no YA books with depressing endings, and maybe I could spice it up by doing one.

So it looks like there are only three days left of NaNoWriMo. I'm excited for all this stress to be over, but I am also kind of dreading it. After NaNo last year, I sort of stopped writing until this December. I'm gonna need a little motivation to keep writing this year, but I will, will do it.

Words written today: 8752
Total word count: 40003
Recommended word count: 45000

NaNoWriMo: Day 26

So... yeah, I didn't do it. I had hoped to write 5000 words today, but I wrote about 4000 less than that. But I do have a valid excuse: I was out all day.

I woke up at 11 (I stayed up late last night), and read for a little bit, and then got a text from my friend telling me that a few of my friends were going downtown today. So I was all, "Yay, I want to go." And then I went, and didn't get home until 8.

But right when I got home, I sat down and wrote as much as I could while keeping my eyes open. I'm tired, and I want to sleep.

But, if I do not make plans tomorrow, rest assured that I will write those 4000 words I missed, plus more if I can manage. My real goal for tomorrow is 9000, but I don't know if I can handle that. Either way, I am winning NaNoWriMo this year.

There is no turning back after all this work.

Words written today: 944
Total word count: 31011
Recommended word count: 43333


UPDATE: You know what, no! I will not sleep until I get to 35000 tonight. That's my final word on that. So, I'm gonna go grab me some diet coke and get to work. Wish me luck!


UPDATE #2: I couldn't do it. I wrote another 250 words, but I am so drained. 

NaNoWriMo: Day 25

I wrote the 3000 words I was hoping to today! Hooray! I wrote some pretty sad stuff, and almost cried writing it. What a baby I am! But yeah, I wrote what I wanted and feel good about it.

I wanted to write one or two thousand more words once I hit 3000, but didn't. I probably should have, but I felt like rewarding myself after a day of hard work. And so I did!

I was hoping to write 10000 words over tomorrow and Sunday, but I have plans for both days, so I don't know if that will happen. It would be great if it did, though.

Words written today: 3348
Total word count: 30067
Recommended word count: 41666

NaNoWriMo: Day 24

I did it, I did it, I did it, yay! I wrote over 2000 words today, so you don't get to punish me... yet. But tomorrow, if I don't write 3000 words, you can punish me again.

I'm trying to get really serious about this, because there is only six more days of writing, and I am way behind. I need to get my butt into gear, and work hard. I have tomorrow to myself, and I intend to use it to my advantage.

Words written today: 2018
Total word count: 26719
Recommended word count: 40000

NaNoWriMo: Day 23

Long story short, I had another wordless day. Here's the thing: right after school, I went shopping, and didn't get home for a few hours. I had stuff to do to get ready for Thansgiving, and I just finished that. I would stay up to write, but I took cough medicine and it is knocking me out. I'm finding it hard to stay awake just writing this.

I'm not that busy tomorrow. Thanksgiving with my family is being held at my house, and people will only be over for a few hours. I WILL WRITE tomorrow. At least 2000 words. If I don't, I'll let you guys choose a punishment I have to do and record.

Words written today: 0
Total word count: 24701
Recommended word count: 38333

NaNoWriMo: Day 22

So today I stayed after school for play practice, and then I had a choir concert. It didn't end until, like, five minutes ago, so I clearly didn't have time to write anything today. Bummer, right.

But thanks to a pep talk I got yesterday in the comments of my Day 21 post, I have decided not to give up. Tomorrow is a half day, and I am going to try my hardest to catch up with NaNoWriMo. I want to win this year, I really do. And I will try, I really will.

Words written today: 0
Total word count: 24701
Recommended word count: 35000

NaNoWriMo: Day 21

So at this rate, it doesn't look like I will be winning NaNoWriMo this year, which is a total bummer. I wish they would have a month-long break from school in November, so I could spend a few hours and write the right amount of words. I just... haven't been into it lately.

I lost momentum, which was my problem. Last year, I just went at it and didn't look back. Now, I'm trying to write something decent that I can actually work with. But I just can't get in the mood to write it. I'll sit down and get ready to write, then find a million other things to do on the internet before doing it. I don't even do productive things, just random stuff so I don't have to write. It's annoying. I'm annoyed with myself.

Is this what writer's block is? I hope not, because that sounds annoying. I seem like I'm in a bad mood, don't I? I don't know why... maybe because I'm tired. But that doesn't make much sense, because I got, like, nine hours of sleep last night. Hmm, who knows.

I'm thinking of crazy ideas for this NaNo book, and I can't wait to write them, really. But I just... I don't know. I like the story I'm writing with, but I'm worried that once I look it over I'll be terrified to do anything with it, because I will think it's crap. I don't know why I have this fear, since I am a pretty professional-ish book reviewer, and even do editing work for the publishers I intern for.

I'm clearly a mess.

Words written today: 690
Total word count: 24701
Recommended word count: 35000

NaNoWriMo: Day 20

I actually did write today, even though I didn't think I would. I had only a few hours to write, and was only able to write a few hundred words today. But it's... I don't know. I don't want to say it's okay, but I don''t really feel bad about it.

The thing is, I don't want to have to spend all of my free time writing. I want it to be something I can do, and dedicate time to, but not the thing that dominates everything else in my life. At least for now. I have so many things I do every single day, and writing can't just be... it.

Should I feel this way? Am I not a real writer because I don't want to write every second of my free time? I feel like I'm wrong, that I'm doing it all wrong. I don't know.

Words written today: 387
Total word count: 24011
Recommended word count: 33333

NaNoWriMo: Day 18

A day of no writing. I don't really even feel like it was a fail today. I went from school straight to the movies, and then came home. And I didn't feel like reading. I have family coming up tonight, and I will be with them all weekend, away from home and unable to write.

I should have probably sprinted to try to get ahead so I won't be way behind, but I am already way behind. I think I'm in that I-can't-do-it phase. I don't remember going through it last year, but I am this year. And it sucks. But I have things to do. For example, the day I finished reading a book last was October 30. That is no coincidence.

Words written today: 0
Total word count: 23624
Suggested word count: 30000

NaNoWriMo: Day 17

So... yeah, today was a fail day. I just... didn't feel like writing. So I didn't write very much. That's the story, you know. It seems like I write a lot one day, then a little the next.

I wrote some words. A crazy plot twist came into play, so that was fun to write.

And that's about it.

Words written today: 570
Total word count: 23624

NaNoWriMo: Day 16

I accomplished things today! Hooray! I still didn't get the amount of words I was hoping to but, wow did I improve my word count.

I invented a reward system to get things done. I had about two hours to write, and for every five hundred words, I watched another part of A Very Potter Musical. It worked really well!

I think what I wrote today was probably boring pretty boring, but who knows. It seemed a bit like that to me, but I can fix that.

So no I am not at the point I'm supposed to be at, but I'm okay with that. I'm pretty sure I can catch up. So yeah.

Words written today: 2301
Total word count: 23054

NaNoWriMo: Day 15

Hello everyone! Today marks the halfway mark of NaNoWriMo, so word counts should be to 25000. I know mine isn't that high, but it is pretty close. I didn't write as much as I was hoping to today, but that's okay. For the time I had, I am proud of what I accomplished.

So I got home, did some chores, and wrote a little bit. And then I had to go to a friend's house to work on an English project, and that took about two hours. I got back home, and wrote, wrote, wrote. I wrote a lot in a short amount of time, and I was surprised at how fast I was going.

So that's the story, short and sweet.

Words written today: 1890
Total word count: 20753

NaNoWriMo: Day 14

Well, poo! Here's the story of how I totally was going to write 2500 words today, but... didn't.

So I was cruising along, writing words and whatnot, writing backstory and building up to the end-of-the-first-part-climax-thing, and I am doing really well. I am writing words like it's no feat, and I start to get cocky.

"This is totally easy," I say to myself. "I can totally do this." So then I do other things, things that don't get words added onto my novel, and things that I really don't need to be doing. Like turning around, just looking at my bookshelf, or watching the Hunger Games trailer a few times.

I'm doing nonsensical things, and then I'm all, "Well, I should write some more words now." So then I do that. And then after some words, I do other things. Like make food, and eat, and think about how I want to read Twilight again.

And then more words. And then procrastination, and nonsensical things. And now here I am. I'm a big advocate for getting a good night's sleep, and to have a working, regular sleep cycle, so I'm not going to stay up another hour to write. I'm about 1000 words short of what I wanted to write today, which was 2500, so I'll have to write 2750 words tomorrow-Friday. And I. Will. Do. It. I know I said the same thing yesterday, but it will be different tomorrow, I swear!

Words written today: 1354
Total word count: 18863

NaNoWriMo: Day 13

Grr. I didn't write anything today. NaNo is so much harder this year than last. Somehow, I was able to write 25000 words in the first week last night, and it is now the second week of NaNo, and I am a few thousand words behind.

I did figure out that if I write 2500 words a day Monday-Friday this week, I will be caught up. So I will do that. I will do that. Even though I have a lot of stuff going on, and even though it will be hard. I have to, because I can't lose this. I can't let myself down.

Because when I win NaNo, that will inspire me. If the book isn't done by then, that will inspire me to finish it. When I finish it, that will inspire me to write something else for a month, and that will inspire me to edit my NaNo book in January. And after that, I don't know. Maybe I'll get an agent, and get published, and all that stuff. Maybe not. All I can do is work hard and cross my fingers.

Words written today: 0
Total word count: 17518

NaNoWriMo: Day 12

I forgot to blog yesterday! Oh no! Anyway, I wrote 500-ish words yesterday, but then I went out and didn't get home until late.

So, on to today. I wrote more than 500 words, but not as many as I was hoping, and not enough to catch up. Which sucks. I am still hoping to get caught up tomorrow, but who knows what will really happen. Catching up is hard. Much harder than writing the 1667 words you should be writing everyday if you are doing NaNo.

Today, I wrote the big revelation scene, and now the story will really take a new direction. The crazy stuff can happen now, and that's going to be fun to write.

Words written yesterday & today: 2519
Total word count: 17518

NaNoWriMo: Day 10

This post will be rushed, as The Vampire Diaries is on in nine minutes.

Though I am still not caught up with NaNo, I have made a plan which will enable me to be all caught up after tomorrow night's writing session. All I have to do is write about 3.5K tomorrow, which is what I did today, and I will be at the suggested word count goal for day 11.

I wrote a lot of words today, and am really getting into the thick of the plot. Evil character is really getting some spotlight, while hero guy is being pushed back a little. I think Charmed is pretty unique, even though it's a paranormal romance. I've read enough YA to know what works and what doesn't, and to know what is overdone. I'm trying to avoid the negatives, and bring uniqueness and stuff to this book.

I am still having doubts about it daily, but I feel like this could be something, with work.

Words written today: 3381
Total word count: 14999

NaNoWriMo: Day 9

So. I didn't write anything today. I just wasn't feeling it today. I know, I know, I should do it anyway. But.... I didn't. So, yeah. I can totally catch up, though, because I have half days tomorrow and Friday. And then there's a weekend, so yeah! I can do this!

Words written today: 0
Total word count: 11618

NaNoWriMo: Day 8

Success! Yesterday I said I had a plan to get back on track with NaNoWriMo. And I have accomplished that! If my calculations are correct, I wrote just enough words today that I can write the regular amount tomorrow and get all caught up. But, despite me having an A+ in math, I'm not that good at it, so I could be totally off. NOTE: I did the calculations again, and I was so off. It looks like I'm going to have to write 3500 words tomorrow to get caught up. I'm so dumb.

Today I had a really traumatic experience, and this next paragraph has nothing to do with writing, so read it if you want, or don't. The thing is, I have my leaner's permit, and I was driving home with my mother in the passenger seat, and my sister in the backseat. I am driving through "town" (which, there's like 1000 people in my township, so I use the word 'town' loosely), you see. It is dark because of daylight saving time, and because I am in "town", I can't have my brights on. So I'm driving along, when all the sudden a black and white cat runs into the road. It's only a few feet in front of me, and I freeze up and don't know what to do. And then I ran it over. I felt it's little body get ran over, and I started crying right then and there. My mom laughed at me, and told me she once ran over a squirrel on a moped. She's ridiculous. So yeah, I just needed to get all of that out.

Anyway, I wrote all night, from when I got home after running that cat over, until now. I had insecurities about my NaNo today, and am in that "this is the worst thing ever, I might as well quit writing forever" stage that I'm sure I went through last year, but cannot remember. I hope I'm not the only one this happens to.

Words written today: 2053
Total word count: 11618 (I'm in the five-digits range!)

NaNoWriMo: Day 7

So I have good news and bad news. The bad news: I didn't write as much as I was hoping to today, and I am not caught up with NaNo. The good news: I wrote a lot of words today, and have a very easy solution to get caught up with NaNo.

I was hoping to write, like, 4000 words today, but I didn't quite, ya know, do that. I did however write several thousand, and have gotten to a place in my NaNo where I know where the story will be going. There is a lot of mysterious stuff happening in it right now, and I should have the big revelation happen either tomorrow or the next day. I'm excited for that, because that's where the book will really kick off. I don't know what exactly will happen when it kicks off quite yet, but know that it will be super fabulous.

I used the whole Write or Die technique again today, but this time I wrote in larger chunks, instead of just aiming for 100 words every time.

I wasted a lot of time today, and I don't really know why. I didn't have school, and this would be the perfect time to write, get caught up, and shoot past the word count goal. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I procrastinated all day, wasting so many hours I could have been doing productive things. Oh well, you can't change the past.

Words written today: 2461
Total word count: 9565

NaNoWriMo: Day 6

I got stuff done today! Score! I didn't write as many words as I was hoping to today, but I can make up for it tomorrow, since I have the whole day to myself.

I used Write or Die today, and wrote in one hundred word sections, then copied and pasted the words into my Word file. It worked really well and helped push me forward without overwhelming me.

I am in the middle of writing a really beautiful scene in Charmed right now, and so far the book is going great. It's definitely not as bad as my NaNo last year, which we won't ever mention again. Okay, that's probably a lie, but it's whatever.

Words written today: 1850
Total word count: 7104

NaNoWriMo: Day 5

This is going to be just a quick update, because I am beyond tired.

I failed again today. I wrote a little this morning, but then I went out with my friends and by the time I got back home, I was super tired. I plan on using Sunday and Monday to catch up, since I am not doing anything Sunday and I have no school on Monday.

Words written today: 235
Total word count: 5254

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

Hey everybody! Today was kinda fail-y over here. After school, I went straight to my friend's house and was over there until about 8, and by the time I got home I was really tired. I did manage to write a little bit, but I did not reach today's word count goal.

The thing is, I really just didn't feel like writing. I'm exhausted, and know I should try to keep writing the 1667 words a day, but it can really be hard. I was just in a slump today. An exhausted, uncreative slump.

But here's the good side: I have no school on Monday, so hopefully I can write all day then. And I half half-days on both Thursday and Friday, so I can write then too. Plus, all of the other days. I can easily catch up, I think, so I'm not super worried yet.

I am just one day behind, which I know isn't good, but I can fix this.

Words written today: 377
Total word count: 5019

NaNoWriMo: Day 3

Hey, everyone! How is your NaNoing going? Are you up to the suggested word count for the day, 5000 words? I'm not. Let me explain...

So I was writing along, and then I realized that it was almost seven o'clock. By then, I had reached 4000 words, and only had 1000 to write until I reached 5000 words. But the thing about it being seven o'clock is that at eight The Vampire Diaries is on, and then The Secret Circle. So I prioritized, and decided I'd write the remaining 1000 words after I watched the shows.

I then did basically nothing for an hour, waiting for the shows to go on. I know I logically should have been using that time to write, but ya know, I thought I had it in the bag.

And then after ten, I wasted more time, until I finally sat down to keep writing. In that time, I got nearly 650 words written, leaving only 350 to write to reach the word goal for the day. But then I had to blog about it, and here I am now!

So this basically means I'm going to have to write about 2000 words tomorrow, which shouldn't be too bad since it's a weekend and I can go to sleep whenever I want. Or not to go sleep at all.

Next week is going to be really good for my writing, because I have no school on Monday, and half days on Thursday and Friday. I can use all of that time to write if I want!

So that's what happened today.

Words written today: 1219
Current word count: 4642

NaNoWriMo: Day 2

Good news! I'm all caught up with the suggested word count for my NaNoWriMo project, and then some! Tonight I had a hardcore writing session, and managed to write 3154 words, making the total word count on Charmed 3,423 words!

Yesterday I was freaking out that Charmed was going to be terrible, but I no longer feel that way. I mean, it's no Harry Potter or anything, but it could definitely work. I introduced some new characters today, and really love writing them. One's a love interest and so far he's a total bad boy.

Though my whole night is now gone, I now totally am on the right track for this whole NaNoWriMo thing. Last year, I had 25000 words after week one, but with everything I have going this year, I doubt that will be the case this time. I do think I have a good chance of winning NaNoWriMo, with a decent book this year, however, and that's totally okay with me.

NaNoWriMo: Day 1

So here's what happened.

I started to write a book. It's a really serious book and it's about a girl who gets raped, tries to tell people she trusts, but they don't believe her. I got about fifty words in and realized that if she told an adult or counselor or something, they would have to believe her. So I decided not to write that since I didn't have it figured out enough.

So then I started writing Charmed, which is also known as the Leprechaun Book. I wrote 269 words of that, and think it's off to an okay start. I wasn't able to write any more because my new bookshelves arrived, and I had to set them up. It took five hours, and I didn't finish until 11:30. And it's a school night, so yeah.

What'd I'd really like to work on is the #magicmgwip, but I've already started writing that and have about 1,000 words of it written already. Plus, I seriously doubt that book will amount to 50,000 when it's finished.

The problem I face is that right now I don't think I am capable of making Charmed the best it can be, so I am worried to write a terrible book. I did that last year, and it resulted in me not writing for... a year. I know rough drafts are supposed to be... rough, but I want something I can at least work with.

So I don't know what to do. I'll have to write at least 3065 words tomorrow to get caught up, so yeah. I'll do that I guess.

Entangled: A Short Story by Alexander Bennett

A bit of info before you read: This is a short story I decided to write for you guys. It's about 1,500 words long, so it's not too much. I didn't have any idea what I was going to write about until I started writing. It ended up kinda turning into a... prequel-ish or chapter-ish story. It could totally be expanded into a full book or something. I tried to give enough background info in the story without slowing down the pace, so none of you should be confused, ya dig? There was a lot less detail in the first few drafts, but I was told by someone that I needed to slow it down and give more information. So, without further ado, I present ENTANGLED...

It would be a lot easier to get away from Kellan Delaney if he couldn’t read my mind.

Minutes ago, right after leaving my final class of the day—Herbal Studies—I felt the tingling sensation around my ears that let me know someone sensing my thoughts. As a human, I was able to tell when a faerie was invading my mind. And if someone was able to break through the mind barriers my father put on me, they were a lot stronger than most of the students here. 

I turned around, and there he was—Kellan Delaney, The Institution’s most popular and, I admit, hottest student. If he went to the human world, he would have about seventy-two modeling agents after him in an hour. I felt drab in comparison to my unearthly classmates, with my straight, dark hair and midnight blue eyes.

 If Kellan didn’t want me dead, I would be elated at the fact that he was interested enough to read my mind.

The thing is, right before I was sent to live in Fae, my faerie father overthrew Kellan’s—after Minister Delaney tried to reinstate the practice of taking children from the human world— and is now High Minister. I would probably hate me too if I was Kellan.

When I finally reached the main entrance to the wing of The Institution that hosted my Herbal Studies class, I kicked the door open and started swiftly towards the girls’ dorm.

            “Inara! Inara, stop!” I heard Kellan’s deep, soothing voice calling to me, and I actually did hesitate for a moment, but only for that one moment. Once I regained my composure, I picked up my pace in an effort to evade Kellan, heart running rampant in my chest.

I moved quickly, and I could no longer see Kellan when I took a look behind my back. I blinked thrice, but my eyes remained flooded. Without warning, I tripped, and was flying towards the stone sidewalk at an unimaginable speed.

And then I wasn’t doing… anything.

My body hung in midair, not six centimeters from the ground. It had to be faerie magic that was doing this, but I couldn’t think of anyone in Fae—besides my father—who would care enough to stop me from wiping out.

“Inara,” I heard the rumble of Kellan’s voice, and immediately tried to bolt for the dorms again, but I couldn’t budge. No. It was Kellan who had saved me from falling. But of course, he most likely did it so I wouldn’t be able to fight him off when he ended my life.

It never seemed fair to me, the prejudice the people of Fae had against me. They said it was because I was not truly faerie. They were right of course, my mother was human and I had no magic to speak of. But when your father is High Minister of Fae, you would think people would be more hospitable.

“I’m so glad I finally stopped you, Inara,” it was Kellan again, and after the words left his lips, I realized that I was no longer floating centimeters from the ground, but instead resting in his arms. “Oh, and you’re welcome.”

“Let go of me!” I screamed, while kicking and doing anything I could to free myself from his muscular arms. Arms which I could admire, if they did not belong to the faerie who loathed me most.  Other students were staring at us, but didn’t move to help.

I had a flashback of the first time I met Kellan, when I first got to the palace after being thrown out by my mother after I came home from a party smelling a wee bit like vodka—and taken in by my father within minutes. Kellan took one look at me and told me that my father and I would be sorry. That was the only hint I needed to know that we would not get along.

To my surprise, Kellan actually released me from his grasp. When I stood on my own, and glanced back at him before gearing up to zoom away once more, I noticed that he looked almost… embarrassed.

I didn’t know if it was just one of his little games, or if he actually felt remorse for being such an ass, but I wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

I took off again, and didn’t look back until I had reached the building my dorm room was in. Once I got there, I wiped sweat from my forehead, and plopped down onto my king-sized bed—one of the many perks of being the High Minister’s daughter—surrounded by purple drapes. Everything in my room was either purple or gold, the colors of Fae Royalty.

I don’t know what faerie magic made beds so soft and comfortable in Fae, but whatever it was, I was thankful for it. I was asleep in minutes, but to my utter dismay I dreamed of Kellan.

I was once again in his arms, but this time I was enjoying it. He was holding me close to his chest, and I breathed in his scent, which was a combination of ice and fire, excitement and serenity.

            “Inara,” he whispered, “you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this.” And before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine. The kiss was soft and tender, but soon turned into an embrace 0f pure passion, and then all of my reprehensions were abated. Who knew when I would be able to kiss Kellan like this again?

            Kellan pulled back and looked at me earnestly. “Kellan, I lo—” I awoke, and was immediately greeted by the tingling sensation around my ears. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Who the hell was reading my mind, and how much did they see?

            “Dreaming of me?” Crap. Of all the people to have seen that dream, it just had to be Kellan Delaney. In fact, he had probably used his crazy-ass powers to trigger the dream in the first place, just to be able to rub it in later.

            “Get out of my room!” Before I said it, I hadn’t even realized where we were. There wasn’t time to figure out how Kellan had gotten past the guards (guards that my father had insisted be placed all around the school once I arrived) at the dorm entrance, for I was too occupied trying to come up with an escape plan. Oh why couldn’t I have been born with my father’s faerie powers?

            “Not so fast, fireball,” Kellan was confident now that we were alone. “We need to have a talk.”

            I was of course scared, but I tried not to let it show. “So talk,” I managed to keep my voice level, but the smirk that formed on Kellan’s near-perfect face showed that he knew I was terrified.

            “It’s about your father,” he said, and was silent for a moment, probably waiting for me to ask him for more information. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

            “What about him?” I asked.

            “Well, the thing is, as my father is Vice Minister, your father thinks it wise for us to be…close. We will need to work together someday, when we take over for our fathers.” Kellan pushed a few locks of his wavy, chestnut hair from his eyes.

            “Hopefully not.”

             “Yeah, you’ll probably end up getting yourself killed first,” he was back to his ass-hat self. “Anyway, it looks like you and I will be spending a lot time together.” He didn’t really seem thrilled by the idea.

            “The hell we will be,” I liked standing up to him. He may have magical faerie powers, but I could tell it like it is.

            “Yes. We will be. Your father has told mine that I am to,” he paused, and it looked as if whatever he was about to say would cause immense pain. “I am now legally your… sentry.”

            I looked right into Kellan’s forest-green eyes, but didn’t know what to say. If my father had pronounced Kellan as my sentry, there didn’t seem to be many options. A sentry is the equivalent to a body guard in the human world. Except sentries took an oath that they could not break unless they wanted to lose all of their faerie magic. Forever. My father had six.

            “I’m just as disappointed by the news as you are, Ara,” Kellan said, seeming to look through me as he spoke. “But one can’t just up and defy the High Minister of Fae.”

            “First of all, don’t call me that. Second, maybe you can’t,” I said, “but that’s because he’s not your dad.” He shook his head, and was about to object, but I cut him off. “Come with me, sentry, we’re going to get this taken care of.”

So what did you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts, please! I'd like to take this time to thank @rwbofficial @readingvacation and @darthdeatheater for reading ENTANGLED early and letting me know it wasn't horrible, and to @bookaliciouspam for letting me know which parts were.

I've Got the Tiger by the Toe

Good news! I finished the short story I will be posting on Halloween and it clocked in at around 1,220 words, which is 220 words over the goal I had set for it. You'll have to wait until Monday to read it, but I will give you some sneak peeks. 1) It is about faeries. 2) There is a kissing scene. 3) There is a chase scene.

It's not as scary as you'd expect a Halloween story to be, but it is pretty thrilling if I do say so myself. I finished the first draft today, went over it and did a round of edits, and it is now with my buddy Pam, and after I get feedback from her (and probably change some stuff), it will be ready to be posted! I'm still trying to figure out a title for the story.

NaNoWriMo update: I still haven't really plotted out Charmed, my NaNoWriMo book. And now I'm not 100% sure that Charmed is the book I will be writing. I'd better figure that stuff out, since NaNoWriMo starts on Tuesday.

Recently, I found this blog post by C.J. Omololu, author of Dirty Little Secrets, about how to write a novel in 90 days or less. I found it extremely informative, and in case you don't want to read the whole blog post, I will sum it up: write 1,000 words a day. Every day. No exceptions. And if you write 4,000 words one day, you still have to write your 1,000 the next day. Also, make sure you have at least a basic outline of the main plot points in your book before writing. Let the idea sit for a while before writing it.

So yeah, I think I'm going to try this technique for my next book I write, which will be my NaNo novel. But instead of 1,000 words, I'm going to have to write at least 1,667 a day. I was able to do it last year, so I shouldn't have a problem. My main issue is going to be plotting the book before I write. I had a basic outline for my NaNo book last year, and that didn't go so well.

So who knows. I should have decided on a NaNo book to write by tomorrow, so stay tuned for that. Also, don't forget about my short story which will be posted on this blog on Halloween.

Bis bald! 

Good to See You Again, Old Chap

So... NaBloWriMo... yeah, that didn't happen. And I even promised you guys! I am the worst, obviously. So here are some updates since last time we spoke:

I've been slowly writing the new middle grade book, and it's at about 1,000 words. Which, clearly, is bad. I could write a lot more, but I seem to always find other things to do first. But that will soon change because in just a few days is NaNoWriMo.

So here's what happened with last year's NaNoWriMo... I won, and the book I had written ended up at 55,000+ words. I just let it sit there for a while, and then I remembered that it COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY sucked. I don't want that to happen this year, obviously. I don't know what the problem was last year, but I am hoping that doesn't happen to my NaNo project this year.

For NaNoWriMo this year, I will not be continuing on with any of my current WIPs. That would be against the rules anyway. I've decided that on November first, I will be starting Charmed. It's going to be really fun to write. It's very light YA, and it has a leprechaun in it. Total win.

Also, I am hoping to write some sort of short story to get to you guys by Halloween. It's only going to be about 1,000 words long, and I will probably get it done this weekend. I'm also going to have to start thinking about Charmed this weekend, because all I know right now is that there is a girl who likes this guy, and a leprechaun comes in and messes things up.

Au revoir!

In a Pickle

Oh hey there! So guess what month it is... OCTOBER! It's also NaBloWriMo, which translates to National Blog Writing Month! So I decided I'm going to write a blog post about writing and stuff everyday on this blog! Yay! I know I missed three days, but that's because... well, I have no excuse. But ta-da!

So next month is NaNoWriMo and I'm in a pickle. The book I want to write for NaNo is the first in a new middle grade series I have planned, and the word count will be less than 50,000 words. I know NaNo is more about writing a book and all, but I won't feel like a real winner unless I write a book with 50,000. And I don't want to write the second book in the series when I'm done, because I want to let the first book sit for a while so I can edit later, then submit to agents, etc, etc.

The NaNo book I wrote last year was basically a disaster and I hope to never write anything like it ever again because it was bad. Hopefully that taught me not to write as bad. The book was so stupid, and had so much unnecessary detail and was boring until the absolute end. So yeah, let's not do that again.

I have a few ideas could also write for NaNo, but I am just so excited to work on the new middle grade series. What do you think I should do... write the middle grade book even though it won't be 50,000 words, or write a different idea that definitely will reach the minimum word goal?

A Bunch of Random Updates Which Relate to This Blog

...Awkward moment.

I know I've been horrible to all of you loyal, awesome followers who actually care about what I do. I haven't really written all that much in the past, you know, almost year. And it's just as hard for me as it is... well, none of you are probably affected by it, so... yeah. BUT the point is that in the past week or so, I have been writing.

It's weird the way I operate. It seems like if I am not doing a million things at once, I can't do anything. It's just easier for me to write now that school has started again, and I have two internships, and whilst I still operate Electrifying Reviews. It's weird, I know.

So here are updates on what I am currently writing:

The Heart of the Beast (short story): 216 words
The Curse: 251 words
Outlawed: 3049 words
Slice: 4001 words

I don't know why I have so many WIPs. It's probably not a good thing. And I just keep coming up with more ideas, and I will probably start working on those too. Will I ever get another book written? I hope so. But maybe not. But I really hope so.

Speaking of books written, Enchanted. I don't know if it's worth the effort it's going to take to turn this into a book even near the point it will need to be to take it to the next step. Most writers don't get their first book ever written published, and I don't think mine will be. It's just not that good. So I guess that trilogy is cancelled. I might write it again in the future, when I don't have so many more ideas that have so much more potential.

So that's pretty much what's been happening with me and my writing. Again, I really hope to finish another book. Soon. I'm aiming for November to have one finished so I can start something new for NaNo. But who knows.

Oh, and I am really going to try to blog at least once a week here. So PLEASE let me know what you want me to write about in these blog posts or else I will not have anything to say and won't be able to post as much as I want to.

Exciting News That Hasn't Been Announced Yet

Oh hey everybody! So I have some really cool news to share! L.J. Smith (The Vampire Diaries, Night World, Secret Circle), my favorite author, like, ever is currently hosting a contest for aspiring authors and I entered and... I am a finalist! Not officially, but L.J. did send me an email with the questions she is asking each finalist.

Basically, the contest was for writers who have finished a novel to submit the first three chapters, and the final chapter, of their finished manuscript and L.J. is paying for an editing company to edit and give feedback. I submitted the first three chapters of Enchanted, my NaNo10 novel, but my first three chapters were only thirteen pages long, so she emailed asking for more and I sent them. She then asked me to answer the questions each finalist will be asked.

L.J. hasn't made any official announcements yet, but I am very excited. It would be awesome to have Enchanted edited so I can make the next big step.

Oh, and here are some other things:

- I'm going to start writing again. I promise. As you probably know, I've barely written anything since NaNo10, but I am really feeling inspired to get back into it. I think I'll start slow, with 500-1000 words a day.

- What is up with the new blogger layout? Not on my  blog, but from blogger as a whole. Me no likey.

- Please leave comments telling me what to blog about here. I'm at a loss.

Starting What You Finish

I've always heard that you should finish one WIP before starting another. From lots of people. I seem to have a problem with this. A while back, if you remember, I started my contemporary WIP, Slice. It was going great and I got a few chapters in and then the plot turned into something drastically different than what I originally had in mind. You see, it was originally supposed to be paranormal. Yeah, now it's not.

Then a week or so ago, I just had to start my dystopian WIP, Outlawed. That's going even better and it has garnered interest from some very influential people. Which is awesome. I've only written the first chapter, but it is already going great and I am in love with the story.

Just a few minutes ago, I was struck with a line. And I realized it is the perfect line for a book I've been wanting to write, The Curse. And I started thinking about the line, adding more in my head. And that story is already taking a turn and changing into something different than what I thought it was going to be. I'm going to start it tonight.

So, I now have three WIPs. And I don't know if this is good or bad. I know people say that you should finish one before starting another, but my overactive imagination just has all these ideas and I can't seem to turn them off.

So what are your thoughts on this? Do you write more than one book at a time? Should I just finish one of these and then go back and do the others, one at a time?

Worry and Failure

Tomorrow, I am starting something new. And I am scared. I am putting Slice away for now, because I really want to write this new idea. This new idea is a dystopian. It is called Outlawed. More info can be found in the "My Books" tab.

I've never really worried about writing before. But with dystopians, I am. What if I suck at it? What if I can't make a convincing futuristic world? What if it is just...bad? All of these worries have prevented me from writing dystopian before, but I have this idea and I just need to write it.

I have the same worry with historical fiction. I have one or two of those that I want to write, but what if I get it all wrong? What if I don't research enough and fail?

But in the end, I will start Outlawed tomorrow. And I will write those historical fictions later on. Because I am a writer and I need to write them.

Also, I just updated THIS PAGE. Please go look at it because I literally spent hours doing it.

Inspiration

So today I am going to start a new WIP. I am a few thousand words into one short story (that I think I am going to cancel), and another WIP (Slice). But I just have to write this new idea now. Why? Because I have been inspired!

Usually when thinking of new ideas, I start off with a creature I want to write about. From there, a story starts to mold in my head. Example: I wanted to write about witches. After some thinking, Enchant was born.

For my new WIP (The Curse), I was inspired by a song called Howl by Florence and the Machine. If you listen to the song, it is really cool and it totally just made me want to write.

So, I'm off to start this new book. What inspires you? And how do your stories first appear in your head?

All My Failures

Today's topic is ideas that have been thrown away. And trust me, I have LOADS of these failures. I can't even remember all of them, but I have been writing for a few years and most of what I have started I stopped writing after a few chapters. As I've gotten older, (if you can call fourteen older), I've stopped giving up and kept working through my stories. Well, they also are good ideas.

One idea that I trashed was pretty much an exact replica of the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. It was told from a guy's POV, and it was pretty much Sweep. I got a few chapters done with that before deleting it.

Another idea that I threw out soon after starting was about a boy who finds out he is a witch, and a girl takes him to a magic school in Italy. He gets a crush on this girl, but when he gets to the school he discovers that she is already in a relationship... with his cousin. There was also going to be some riding on sea monsters in this book. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I would like to try to revisit this story in the future. This was told in duel perspectives: one boy and one girl.

The final bad idea I am going to be talking about is The Deceased. It was a book about a girl and a guy who are seemingly the last ones left after the zombie apocalypse. This one was the farthest I've actually gotten in a book without finishing it. The problem was that the story was going way too fast, and the book was already about three fourths done when it was 15K. You can see the problem with that.

And then I wrote Enchant for NaNoWriMo. I actually finished a whole book. Admittedly, it needs a lot of work, but I think it could actually be something when I get those rough spots fixed up.

And while writing this post I've noticed something. I think the reason I've had so many flops was because I was still finding my voice. When I started writing, it was always from a boy's POV. Then I got a little better when I added some girl perspective. Now, I almost always write from a girl's POV. Don't ask why, because I can't tell you.

Anyway, those are some of my failed attempts to write a book. If you have any that you'd like to share, feel free to comment!

What I'm Working On Now

What's up everyone? So, I looked at the comments from my last post and it looks like some of you want me to share some of what I'm working on now. Well, if you ever want to know about my current WIPs, check the word counters in the sidebar. Those tell you which books and stories I'm writing. Then, just click the "My Books" page at the top of the blog and figure out what I'm writing!

Currently, I'm mainly focusing on a super secret short story that I can't share much about. I can tell you that it has one vampire/actor, two girls, and some crazy action. It's going to be around 5,000 words, I think.

Other than that, I am writing Slice, a novel that also has a bit of vampire action in it. Weird, a while ago I decided I was never going to write vampires. But... I guess I broke that promise. Oh well. Slice also deals with some heavy issues teens face sometimes. Think of it as... Skins or Degrassi with a touch of paranormal elements.

Enchant, which I already finished, is going to probably have to be rewritten. I didn't edit it at all as I wrote, since it was for NaNoWriMo, but now I am seeing the problem with that decision. I'll have to rewrite most of it, but some of it is still salvageable.

Thanks for being interested, and remember that you can still click here to tell me what you want me to be blogging about!

What Do You Want From Me?

I know I am terrible about posting on this blog, and for that I am so sorry. The thing is, I don't really know what to post about. During NaNo, I had a post almost every day. And that worked well. Now that that is over, however, I don't know what to do.

So, readers, tell me, what do you want to see? I am here to blog about writing, so anything related to the subject is open for me to blog about. I really need ideas about what to post here, so please let me know what you want.

Teaser Tuesday #1

Hello everyone! So, I've decided that since my posts here are pretty sporadic and spaced out, that I will be sharing some of my writing each week. I rarely ever post my writing here and thought it would be a good idea to start. So, without further ado, here are some excerpts of Slice.

First Teaser:

My arms felt like they had just been attacked with a chainsaw. Now, the alcohol set them on fire. But that would all go away soon, the numb wasn’t far away.

Second Teaser:

I am invincible, I am invincible. I started to wonder when I would believe it myself.

I hope you guys enjoyed the teasers! See you again soon!

In Which I Plan for the New Year

I know there are reading funks, but does the same thing exist for writing? Or am I just crazy? My answer: probably both.

In December, I took a month-long break from writing. Now, we're over a week in to January and I'm still not writing. I want to write, and I tell myself I am going to write, but I somehow always find something to do to take up that time.

The problem isn't that I am not passionate about what I am writing, because I am. And if I wasn't, I have so many other I ideas I could work on. What I think it is is that I became so accustomed to not writing, that I forgot how to make myself do it.

So here is the plan. I'm going to outline Slice. And then I'm going to start writing every day again. One of my new years resolutions this year is to write three first drafts. That means that besides the one for NaNo, I'll have to write two books. I think I might even write more since I really want to write Charmed.

First up is Slice, then me and Jackie are going to be starting LitW, then maybe something else before NaNo. Or maybe I will leave that "something else" time to edit. Since I never find time to do that. Oh, and I have to write Delicats soon. Karen deserves it.

And at some point, I have to polish up Enchant and send it to some betas, then fix the 22495806 problems it is sure to have.