Cephalopod Coffeehouse & Do You Have Goals? [Mar.]

As it's the last Friday of the month, I'm here to post for the Do You Have Goals? hop (hosted by Misha and Beth), as well as the Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club (hosted by the Armchair Squid).

This month I've read 5 books, and they've all be 4 or 5 star books, so it's been a pretty darn good reading month compared to some others I've known. ;) It's kind of hard to pick a favourite because I've read books from very different genres, but I think I'll go with ...

Finally this month, I got around to starting this series, knowing I wanted to see the movie when it comes out here (next month). I really loved this book, and read it fairly quickly, by my standards. It was fast-paced and gripping, and the setting was fascinating.

I guess you could say I didn't really have any complaints, though I did get annoyed at a critical moment when Tris and Four, reunited, get too busy making out to remember they have to save thousands of people from dying right that second. I kind of don't blame them for taking their moment, since it was a very intense, full-on time, but still, PEOPLE DYING, DUDES. I do wonder how many actually did die while the heroes were having their little love fest. But I do get that it wasn't just a normal make-out session. :P

Since I haven't exactly drowned myself in dystopian books since the genre became "big", I'm still not sick of the genre as other people seem to be, so I very much enjoy reading books set in futuristic, run-down worlds like this one.

Oh, and I really loved that Tris wasn't a stunningly beautiful, physically perfect heroine. It was a nice change.

Last month I reported that I'd made some progress with editing SQUEAKY. I can say the same this month. I've made more progress in March, yes, but it's been very slow going, and some chapters are proving particularly torturous to edit. As I edit on paper, I often wind up with pages so heavily scribbled on I can barely read what was originally there. I'm getting the work done ... but at a snail's pace.

I'm stuck on chapter 8, which has been divided into 2 chapters. The second half is now a tiny chapter 9, which definitely needs fleshing out in one section in particular. The first half was, I thought, mostly done, but tonight I went through again and scribbled heavily on a few sections. And even after transcribing those edits, I realise I am probably going to have to do a lot more rearranging of one section in particular, before I can finally say this chapter is done.

March was NaNoEdMo month (even though EdMo isn't running officially this year), and yet I have only done about 15 hours of editing, which is FAR less than the aimed-for 50 hours of EdMo. That is a fail, for sure, but on the win side, at least I'm still going.

See you next month. ;)

Write ... Edit ... Publish ~ THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD (Mar.)

It's that time of the month again when we participants in the WEP get together and share our thoughts on the monthly theme, set by Denise Covey. This month's theme is as follows:

What comes to mind for the March WEP challenge - Through the eyes of a child? Rewriting a passage from a child's POV? A montage of images through the eyes of a child? A poignant or exhilarating poem? A non-fiction piece told from a child's POV? The possibilities are limitless! 

I thought about this briefly, and came up with the idea to share some diary entries I wrote when I was in primary school:

January 1 - 1/01/1991

The first day of 1991 We are going to Lake Leschenaultia. Annie is comeing.

January 13 - 13/01/1991

Today Annie goes home Bye Annie

January 23 - 23/01/1991

We are going to kings park Today to do bike riding, it is free.

January 24 - 24/01/1991

Today we are going to rottnest We're getting gloucouse lollies to take there

March 31 - 31/03/1991

Today is Easter Sunday. I'll get lots of EASTer eggs

May 29 - 29/01/1991

Sure, the turtles are only half human, but I don't know what makes me like them.....

LEONARDO

He seems sensible and witty. He does take things seriously, although he does often long for a hang out with a pretty gal. I really admire him.

Mike.

He's a fat pig. But he's real good. angry

DON Don is never angry. I like him.

Raph. Raph stores the most radical JOKES.

May 30 - 30/05/1991

I KNOW A SECRET, ESTELLE HATES THE TURTY'S That's Dumb

May 31 - 31/05/1991

OLIVIA'S Birthday I KNOW ANOTHER SECRET, ESY'S FAVOROUT COULOR IS GREEN some people are strange ? MEANIG meaning Estelle

June 10 - 20/06/1991

Today is 2 days before Jakes birth day

July 10 - 10/07/1991

Today is Jesse's birth day. he is 10

July 25 - 25/07/1991

Today is my birthday. I am 11 years old.

July 26 - 26/07/1991

Mum, I saw anelec-trec train go by. and Mum, I thought, I could take you for a ride. Oh oh yeah Mum, I saw, an eletrec train go by. and mum, yeah, with a flash of mind my brillient mind. I saw on the time table ooooooh the price of the tickets, woh ho yeah, It s said on a ticket, lieing on the groud ground, enjoy the joyride, your body is bound.

August 1 - 1/08/1991

Today we are goin' to Dwellingup with Carlos and Olivia and it will be fun. We are nearly there now. I can see little roads in the hills and the lambs are just sitting. We can see Caliminos and chestnuts. It is great here because I got a bunk and I'm on the top! James can't have his way! We are goin' to the river soon and I have green bathers.

My favourite has always been the last one, with the "little lambs just sitting". But there are more I haven't got around to transcribing yet. Most of the time it was just boring stuff like "Today is Jesse's birthday, he is 10", or "Today we are going to King's Park." :P

I also wanted to link back to a post I put up back in Feb 2012, for the Origins blogfest. In this post I shared a bunch of primary school art, and sometimes stories I'd written that were accompanied by art. So that post can be found HERE.

What am I reading? (2014 so far)

Later this week I'll be picking my favourite read of March, but for now I wanted to look back on what I've read so far this year (only 10 books, but sort of 13 if you count the Earthsea quartet as separate novels). These are not in the order that I read them:

Currently I'm reading:

And next I will be reading:

Aaand after that I want to start reading Alex Cavanaugh's CASSA series, but I also have a book by Cherie Reich to read for a review, so maybe I'll read that first. ;) In other words ... SO MANY BOOKS, so little time.

What are you reading?

Revision report #2: SQUEAKY #1

What that means is this is the second report on my revision of Squeaky book 1. Just thought I'd clarify the blog post naming convention. ;)

So, uhhh, since I last wrote about this, I've definitely got a lot done. I have edited up to chapter 7, I think, or maybe it's chapter 8. At one point, a chunk of one chapter got put into another chapter, and then two little chapters became one, so I've lost track of the count a bit. I've also lost count because it's been many days now since I last edited anything.

Firstly, last week was full of nights when I had to go out. On Friday night, not only did I have to go out, but I also picked up two foster kittens. Eek! So not only do I have kittens who take up a lot of my time and attention, I also have a bit of foster kitten anxiety (leaving them alone all day, getting their diet right so they don't have diarrhoea anymore, etc.). They are getting used to a diet of boiled chicken breast, and tonight I will be steaming some pumpkin for them too.

I feel mean leaving these little guys (well, one's a girl) alone. But hey, being alone is better than being put to sleep, right? The people I'm fostering through are very reassuring. But I do feel a bit tense!

Soooo, all of the above means I have totally slacked off on my revision. But at least I got something done. I am currently stalled needing to input edits of a chapter in Scrivener. Then I need to print the chapter out again & give it one last go over. I already have the chapter after that ready to edit. But it's proving to be a struggle to get over these hurdles as they appear before me.

So, then. That's where I'm at. I hope you are all having a much more productive time of it. :)

Blogging from A to Z - this April

I did it! I signed up for 2014's A to Z Blogging Challenge.

I really was dubious about doing the challenge this year, because I'm not entirely sure of my chances. I've felt a little uninspired when it comes to blogging, but now that I have an idea of what I'll be doing for the A to Z, I think it will be a good opportunity to get some blogging energy back.

I really hope!

So, what is the A to Z? Well, most of you probably know, but I will give a brief overview just in case somebody doesn't. The A to Z was started by the awesome Arlee Bird over at Tossing It Out. Arlee's challenge takes place during April each year, when a (large) bunch of bloggers select a theme to post to every day in April except Sundays. It's a great way to meet new people, and in past years I've always learned a lot of new stuff through reading others' posts. Here is a page that has a lot more detailed info!

Check out the list of participants and you'll see there are a lot of them. I'm currently #1086 in the queue, and since I signed up (not very long ago) 53 other people have signed up below me!

But what am I doing this year for the challenge? Well, I've decided to go with a "Books" theme, as I did in 2012 ... and indeed there will be a link between 2012 and what I'm doing this year. But I won't say more than that until closer to April. :)

Are you participating in the A to Z challenge?
Have you ever done so before?

Kyra Lennon ~ SIDELINED cover reveal

Hi gang! I know I'm a little late to this party, but it's still within the reveal week so I figure I'm good to go! I'm taking part in the cover reveal for Kyra Lennon's soon-to-be-released SIDELINED, which is book #3 in her awesome Game On series.

Title: Sidelined (Game On Book 3)
Author: Kyra Lennon
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 31^st 2014 

Blurb: At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen. 

Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make.

While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important. 

Sidelined is the third book in Kyra Lennon’s Game On series. Game On (Book 1) and Blindsided (Book 2) are available on Amazon and Smashwords.

About the Author:
Kyra is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall. And occasionally hanging out with rock stars, because that’s how she rolls!

Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go in November.

You can find Kyra at the following places:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram

IWSG #4 - When you fall behind

Hi guys. Sorry I'm posting slightly late - it's the 6th over here by now, but I know for many of you it will still be the 5th, so maybe it counts. :D Anyway, today for the IWSG I don't really have much to say, except that I guess I'm now 2 days behind in my revision goals, or more like 2.5 days. I've had appointments after work twice this week and then last night I got home and realised my cat's shoulder is out of joint (literally) again - he had a big operation last year. So today I have to take him to the vet and hope he doesn't need a leg amputation after all!

Anyway, when it does come to my revisions, I feel that I've been doing pretty well. But it can be rather daunting when I get to a chapter that needs a great deal of work, i.e. not just editing but largely rewriting. I've had one chapter so far that needed a fair bit of rewriting, and the one I'm stuck on right now needs to be entirely rewritten (I'm halfway through it). I guess it just feels like your momentum stalls, and in fact one could say mine's been stalled for 2.5 days now. But I blame my after-work appointments and my cat.

Just kidding. Really, I blame myself 'cause I could have squeezed more revision work in there somewhere. So will I be getting back on the bandwagon this evening? Wellll, I'm going out for dinner after going to see about my broken phone, so ... I dunno. ;)

P.S. I've been paper editing, and also editing one chapter at a time, over and over until I'm satisfied with what I've done. The paper edit part isn't new to me, but the one chapter at a time thing certainly is.