Absences

Hm, I wonder if I should get back into blogging . . .

You know what? I think I will.

Well, it's been about a year since I last posted, and a lot has happened in that time. I'm now in grade eleven, I now have a severe hate for physics, and I can now say I've been to a Caribbean country. Rather than wasting time with seemingly endless paragraphs, I'll just summarize the past year in point form (though there were only a few key events).

• I did end up winning NaNoWriMo 2012 with 53k. Still lacking motivation to edit that novel.
• My school put on a drama production of Korczak's Children, a play about the Holocaust, which earned us 7 Cappies nominations (think Oscars at a high school level).
• Went on a service trip with my school to Jamaica in January. We built a house for a family down there. I hated getting up at 5 am every morning, but it was an amazing experience.
• In May my school also put on a production of Bye Bye Birdie. 
• Summer involved procrastination, books, and the Okanagan.
• Now my school is currently in the process of preparing for another drama production. This time, it's Alice in Wonderland.
• I will be returning to Jamaica in January.
• I will be participating in NaNo next month, and already have a set novel (which will be discussed further in another blog post).

So yeah. Looks like I'm back. 

NaNoWriMo

This blog post is a bit overdue. Ten days, to be exact. But whatever. I procrastinate.

Ahh, November, the month of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), aka the month where writers torture themselves 24/7. To write 50k in a single month, now that is one difficult task, and it's amazing how people manage to write that, even more, in such a short time. Hell, the most I've ever written for NaNo is 15k. But things are looking up this year.

I've had the idea for Frost, my NaNo novel, in my head for months. I already had ideas for it to be trilogy, all the characters, and key events that would occur, though I never sat down to write it until now.

At first, I was planning on working on a dystopian/sci-fi/zombie novel by the name of Centre Base, but on the final day of October, I decided to make a last minute switch to Frost. And just so there's no confusion, this is what Frost is about:

When Harlow moves to Reverie, a town in the middle of nowhere, she doesn't expect much. Just the regular, small town hospitality, with her constantly missing her friends from New York. What she didn't expect was to be attacked by a wolf.

Soon enough she learns who she truly is; that she was born a wolf. She discovers that she was cursed into human form by the wolf Wyvern, and if Harlow wants to be her true wolf self again, she's going to have to find Wyvern. Easier said than done.

With the help of her pack, she uncovers secrets of her past, finds answers as to why she was cursed, and follow the path that will lead them to Wyvern.

And that folks is what Frost is about.

I have a really good feeling about this novel, and I feel confident that I will be able to write 50k for it by the end of the month. I'm currently at about 15k with it, and I still have plenty more ideas for it. Just thinking about this novel makes me feel giddy and excited.

And if anyone is interested, here is the link to it on Wattpad.

http://www.wattpad.com/story/2556094-frost

To everyone else participating in NaNo: Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour!

"172 Hours on the Moon" Review

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad is an absolutely brilliant and addicting book. I've always been interested in space and astronomy, so it's no surprise I checked out this book from the library. Boy, am I glad I did. Throughout the story, the intensity and conflict just kept building up, page after page. After the first hundred pages, I already felt like I knew the three protagonists - Mia, Midori, and Antoine. You get to know the characters and their pasts, and why they're happy they have the opportunity to go to the moon. But like any good story, something bad happens, sparking the conflict. While the three teens are on the moon with five other, professional astronauts, many things go wrong; two astronauts get trapped and can't escape, their ship is destroyed, and several other things. The whole thing is a scary situation for the characters, and they aren't even sure that they'll make it out alive. The ending was amazing as well as heartbreaking, and totally unexpected. Even by the end of the novel, the conflict is still not completely resolved; it makes you wonder, what's going to happen now? Will there be a sequel? I would definitely recommend this book to any creepy fiction lovers, sci-fi lovers, or space lovers.

NaNoWriMo.

Ah, November is next month, which means National November Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. Don't know what that is? Simply put, you write 50, 000 words in the month of November. Sound easy? Haha, not so much.

The farthest I've gotten was 15k. Not super impressive. Heck, I haven't even reached 50k with anything. The most I've accomplished is a mere 25k. Is this time gonna be different? Gosh, I sure hope so. But the thing is, I know that I won't reach 50k. I'm probably gonna start working again in November (IF I get the job I applied for), which would keep me busy a few nights a week. And then there's school, that hellish place you're forced to attend five out of seven days. But who knows? Maybe I will reach 50k. Or not.

Now, you're probably wondering what I'll be writing. Okay, maybe you're not wondering, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

I'm gonna work on this novel called Frost, which is first in a trilogy. The following titles are called Bite and Hunt. I don't have a proper pitch for it quite yet, but when I come up with one, I'll be sure to share it. It's a story about wolves, but not of the were variety. The main character, Harlow, discovers that she's really a wolf who was cursed into human form (see? not a werewolf), and has to readjust to wolf life and hunt down the person who cursed her, and find out why she was cursed in the first place.

I'm actually really excited about this. The idea has been in my head for a while, so I'm pretty pumped to start writing it soon.

Oh, and here's the pretty cover, made by the wonderful Mishy. Beautiful, I know.

The Importance of Balance

Psh, I can handle soccer Tuesdays and Thursdays, homework and chores, guitar lessons on Wednesdays, as well as swim meets early in the morning. And oh, I can still attend church and socialize. I won't get stressed out or anything.

Haha, 'won't get stressed out or anything?' Nice try, buddy. I've learned the hard way that it's extremely, EXTREMELY important to have balance in your life. I'm a writer, I'm a reader, I have school to attend and grades to maintain. I have chores to fulfill, a part time job, and piano lessons every Thursday, as well as a script to memorize. I get stressed out very easily, over the tiniest things.

I have to tell myself that school, chores, and my job come before writing (even though, in a way, writing is my job). My grades are super important, and if I fail - well, I can kiss all possible scholarships goodbye. And now that I'm in high school* things will be even more difficult than they were the past few years.

Even though it's only the beginning of the year, I make sure that I focus on the most important things first, but still manage to fulfill the lesser important things. It's good to have a balance of work, fun, and physical activity, as well as any other factors that are important to you.

And stress - well, don't take more than you can eat. I've also learned that the hard way, and look at me, I ended up on medication.

Photo Booth. WHOOT.

My brother and I having some fun with Photo Booth.

Covers & Camp

First of all, I should probably mention that I'll be gone all week. CAMP FTW. The only depressing part about it is that there will be no wifi. NOOOOOOO HOW WILL I SURVIVE.

Anyway, it's time to share some of my beautiful covers for my projects.

The Sent Trilogy

The Hollow Trilogy 

The Pacific Trilogy

Essence

Falling

Song of Serenity

Haze