Adventures in Crafting with Words

I know, you are probably waiting with baited breath, or at least pretending to, on information about that cryptic NaNoWriMo project.  Surprisingly, I haven't finished yet.  I don't have a title.  Or a cover - because of lack of title mostly.  So that reveal will have to wait. Some of you might even be waiting for an announcement about The Trouble With Chasing Aileen - The Hastings Sisters number 2.  - Soon.  I promise.  Final rewrites and Beta reads got caught in the middle of finals (for the Beta) and NaNoWriMo (me).  Now, to the point of the blog - Betas.  What are they good for.  (Absolutely nothing!) Joking.  Joking.  That's a dig at my current Beta who is only still around because she's my best friend and she's in college while dealing with a four year old.  Betas aren't perfect, after all.  They can't spend all their time reading over your manuscript.  Why?  It's my livelihood isn't it? ...

Every day that I pull out my notebook or laptop I don't plan what goes down on the paper.  I don't know quite where my characters want to lead me yet. Sometimes it's a matter of going back and seeing, 'Oh, I'm missing this...' or 'I need to add a scene to link these chapters together. Sometimes the plot bunnies invade and I have to write a scene for a part of the story not yet started. But every day I hit my NaNoWriMo daily goal, or personal goal, or even get words down on the page, is one more day I can feel good about working on this rough draft. Today I reached the halfway mark - 25,000 words.  I have more words to add.  I have more story to develop.  I have more ideas, plot bunnies, and writing prompts to work with. And then, once this rough draft is finished, I'll introduce this new story to my beloved readers (and the world). Then the real work begins.  Editing and polishing and titling and all that. Stay tuned. Alicia

I first encountered John Green the spring of 2009.  Not literally, although that would be great.  I had just graduated college and still wasn't through the young adult stage of books. I grew up on The Baby Sitters Club, Sweet Valley High, and a few other serial teen books that released one new book a month (written by a ghost writer) for over a hundred months. And I could eat one of those books in a day or two.  Again, not literally. The Young Adult books as we know them now didn't come out until my senior year of high school and college. And I love them! So I spent a fair amount of time going to the library and checking out books I didn't have to pay for past updating my definitely expired library card.  (At least 5 years expired.) And there I found An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska, and Paper Towns.  Consumed one by one in a week. And I waited for more.  Finally came The Fault in Our Stars. And Hank Green's YouTube webseries l...

It's quickly approaching and I had to pick just one project to work on.  Do I finish the second Enchanted Forest?  The third Hastings?  The College Edition of Bookworm Next Door that is taking me forever? Do I tackle one of the other five project ideas that have appeared to me? Or the non-young adult romance that has been floating around in my cluttered brain? One particular project is prodding at me, telling me to write this one.   Character names. Plot line issues.  Motivations.  Pretty much falling into place with some exceptions. This particular project has a friend prodding me as well, but that's beside the point. So... what will the NaNoWriMo2107 project be? You'll just have to wait and see. However, want to tackle a 50,000 word lightening manuscript in a month? A month with Thanksgiving in it! Know your story.  Prep. Plot. Know your characters.  The journey might change, but regardless... Be Prepared.  And most i...

Here's another new find I ran across during Megan O'Russell's book launch party for The Tale of Bryant Adams or How I Magically Messed Up My Life in 4 Freakin Days. K.M. Robinson's Jaded (book one of the duology) left me staying up way too late reading two nights in a row.  If you knew from a young age that you were promised to marry the Leader's (Commander in this series) son AND that they were going to kill you, what would you do? If you knew from a young age you were meant to marry the leader of the rebellion's daughter AND you were trained to kill here, what would you do? Things were going according to plan.  Jade married Roan.   Then they start to get to know each other... All, up until this point, that Jade knows about Roan is that he is his father's son.  The reverse is true for what Roan knows about Jade. Then she learns he's a painter and he learns she is kind-hearted and people love her. Then they both discover t...

There is just something about a socially awkward heroine... Add in the fact that she's been trained at a young age to be a jewel thief... fascinating. We start off in the middle of a musesum jewelry heist meant to help Marisol and her mother start over.  It quickly goes south when Petrov Rosinsky and his men hijack their burglary. With this book you have to have some suspension of belief. Cut to Marisol's first day at her sixth high school in three years - yup, our jewel thief is a high school junior! Before she even makes it into the school she's stopped by Nicky and graces us, Nicky, Will, and an unnamed third with her awkwardness... starting with her insta-crush on Will. Turns out he feels the same, literally pushing a guy out of a seat in front of him in their shared Pre-Cal class... all so Marisol would sit in front of him. Whatever he's feeling must be strong enough to overlook the back and forth ways that Marisol reacts around him.  Or he was just r...

There is one thing I envy - the ability to successfully tackle writing in First Person without seeming shallow or self-absorbed.  Too many writers, in my opinion, fail at writing in First Person when Third Person or Omniscient works even better with their writing style. Megan O'Russell has succeeded where others fail. The Tale of Bryant Adams or How I Magically Messed Up My Life In 4 Freaking Days is a mix of what makes Harry Potter and Percy Jackson succeed with the author's own magical twist added to the mix. As her own author's bio reads - this book gets to combine mole people, Manhattan, and magic! Oh my! What would you do if you found a cell phone? Keep it? Try to return in? What if this phone made it impossible? No contacts. No call log. No text messaging or email icons.  And it only lets you open it. In a matter of minutes and a swipe of his finger Bryant manages to burn down his high school theatre.  It was purely an accident; he would never intentiona...

I discovered a cache of promising indie/self-published authors while attending the FB Book Release Party of Megan O'Russell's latest book -  How I Magically.... The Tale of Bryant Adams (to be read and reviewed soon). So many books captured my attention, one of which was I Am Amyara by Hannah Earl.  The premise caught it so  quickly I couldn't wait a couple of hours to see if I'd won the giveaway and went ahead and bought it! (I did win the giveaway, by the way,  which was surprising because I never win giveaways, but I'll get Book 2 instead of book one. Female readers of the Percy Jackson series will enjoy this one. We meet Sophia Pappas and her sister, Callidora, in the middle of a life-threatening car accident.  We don't know the cause until later, but this car accident plays a big role in Sophia's - and Callidora's - life. Turns out Sophia is the daughter of the Greek God Eros! No, he isn't a chubby baby that shoots arrows at people; an...

A few weeks ago I mentioned checking out two Sarah Dessen books - Once and For All  ( click here for review ->    ) and Saint Anything. Whereas OaFA had more light-hearted moments, Saint Anything is darker. We begin in a courthouse hearing a verdict when we meet Sydney and her family.  Her older brother - the charming, bigger than life, troublemaker - was being sentenced for an accident when he was under the influence and hit a 15-year old boy, leaving the boy paralyzed and in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The rest of book takes up months later when Sydney is trying to start over at the local public school.  In order to avoid 3 hours at home along (her 'old' friends are busy after school) she stops by the pizza place close to the school. There she meets Mac and Layla - siblings whose family runs the pizza parlor with the best pizza ever. Layla adopts Sydney into her bunch of friends and everything takes of from there. This book is about f...

I first encountered Sarah J. Maas on fictionpress.com. She was a popular author on there with a very popular first draft of Throne of Glass. I couldn't ve happier for her when the final draft of ToG was published. It's the dream most authors have. This book review is not about ToG and its sequels.  I'm still working on them.  This review is for The Court of Thorns and Roses. When I first started reading I got Beauty and the Beast vibes.  Not the cartoon B&B either but the original tale with the three sisters and merchant father.  But with Fae. You can see the set-up as it's happening.  A mix of modern and fairy tale. Old and new.  Modern sensibilities about relationships and proper sensibilities about relationships mixed in one. Yes, that was a subtle hint towards the main character, Feyre, having a friends with benefits relationship amid people arranging marriages for money, to get enough food to eat. To using marriage to g...

You know how non your kindle book recommendations pop up underneath the "closed" title? I was taking a break from another book and rereading The Cosy Tea Shop in the Castle when this book popped up into my recommendations. The title caught my attention. On occasion a bit of whismy hopeful wishfulness pops up inside me and I start dreamimg that "someday" planning this particular hopelessly singleton is doomed to repeat on occasion. This means British authors (not classic) and/or books containing weddings. Perfect for this author/book blogger to escape into as I take a break from writing.  Set around Devon and Cornwall (I admit to being hopelessly clueless about English grography.  And using hopelessly too much.) is a a bridal shop by the sea.  There we meet Poppy - the baker, Josie - the owner, and Sera - the wedding dress designer. Book One follows Poppy. Poppy is a baker living over the wedding shop.  After what is implied to be a prett...

I've allowed a backlog of unfinished reviews pull me under (along with the etsy shop blog and up-coming craft shows). We all have that author.  The one you put on the top of your to-read pile as soon as you can get your hands on their next book.   The one where you renew expired library cards for.  Stalk their social media and author website looking for new book updates. Sarah Dessen is my young adult author of choice.  Sarah Dessen is my writing inspiration. I HIGHLY recommend her books.  All of them. I first discovered her through a really old Mandy Moore movie - How to Deal - which was a combo of two Dessen novels. Naturally I had to read them. Then every single thing she had written.  (I did the same thing with John Green before The Fault In Our Stars was written.) So now I wait and watch.  The last two books I waited for.  I was busy. Last week I headed to the library.  They had Saint Anything ...

I spent way too much time today creating promos that would fit well on Twitter.  I had been using the book covers, but it's occurred to me that those aren't the right shape for Twitter.  I know.  I know.  Social media is something I'm still getting used to, years later.  It changes.  It becomes confusing.  There's already so many things I'm having to adapt to... Familial issues. Etsy issues. Scheduling my time issues. All I'd really like to do is sit down and read a book.  I have to save that for when I'm at the gym on the treadmill. Kindle - setting font size 3.  Although I have trouble 'turning' the pages on the treadmill.  Not so much on the elliptical.  Lately I've taken to carrying the huge Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 5 book omnibus edition around.  Oh the looks I'll get at the gym. However last night and today (during Mom's cardiac rehab) I took the time to design some promos that would fit almost perf...

On Monday I found the time to make the Beta recommended changes to The Consequences of Being Aiden - my NaNoWriMo2016 project.  I was able to get it listed on Amazon and released to the world later that night. Then the world interrupted once again. CoBA Amazon Link The Consequences of Being Aiden Description When Ainsley’s older brother asks for a nearly impossibly favor, Ainsley refuses at first, but eventually she finds herself dressed up as and pretending to be her brother, Aiden, and tutoring his best friend, Brendan.   The only problem is that she doesn’t like Brendan and her best friend, Zoe does.   If Zoe ever finds out that Ainsley is pretending to be Aiden then her best friend won’t let her forget it.   Brendan has a secret.   He’s aware that Aiden has convinced Ainsley to tutor him.   He is aware that Zoe has been sabotaging Ainsley’s relationships.   However, what he feels for Ainsley is far from the surrogate protec...

I've been waiting a while in order to post my review about The Collector's Society Series by Heather Lyons.  Mostly because I was waiting for the series to be complete.  Partly because I've been so busy with outside factors.  Cleaning out my grandparent's house for example.  Taking my mom to her Cardiac Rehab three days a week for another.  First: The Basics The Collectors Society consists of 4 books - The Collector's Society, The Hidden Library, The Forgotten  Mountain, and the Lost Codex (There's also a character encyclopedia.) What happens when the stories we all know and love become actual timelines where the characters can travel between our world and various stories? Meet The Collector's Society lead by Abraham (Brom) Van Brunt.  You might recognize him as Brom Bones from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (The Headless Horseman).  As the Librarian calls him - Brom is the Head of the Organization. And meet his Sons - Victor Frankenstein J...