[AUGUST UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : August Edition ~

Once again I've read a Katie McGarry book I really enjoyed. This one might have been my fave yet, though some of the other leading men have probably intrigued me a little more! But I really loved the story of West and Haley.

Haley reminded me a little bit of the main character in the movie "Stick It" (and it turns out her name was Haley too!), but I think book-Haley's self esteem was way lower than movie-Haley's, for most of the book.

It was really nice to see her finally start to believe in herself towards the end of the book, and stand up for herself. And the ending was perfectly happy! I look forward to seeing which book is next in line for me to read in this series!

~ Do You Have Goals? : August Edition ~

I'M SO EXCITED!! Finally I can say I have done a good amount of work on one of my editing projects (well, good compared to what I'd achieved previously, anyway ;) ). I've been working on SUNDOWN III, and my main task has been to switch from present tense to past (I have a long way to go there). I was also experimenting with doing 3rd person for one character, but it wasn't working, so I'm reversing that.

I haven't made huge progress, since I've been jumping around in the manuscript, compulsively editing scenes I've been dying to edit for a long time. Constant re-reads of a draft really get you familiar with what you don't like about your manuscript! So that aspect is exciting. But I'm still sort of figuring it out as I go. I don't expect it will be a very smooth ride, considering the jumpy nature of my editing. But it feels really good to be doing something.

I am going on holidays for three weeks, at the end of August. Though I'll be in the US and Canada with friends & family, I do hope to get some writing time in here & there. We'll see how I go, I guess. :)

Write ... Edit ... Publish ~ SPECTACULAR SETTINGS

Lake Louise.

It's back! I'm happy to be participating in the WEP Challenge once again. Thank you to Denise Covey & Yolanda Renee for starting this baby up again!

Today's theme is Spectacular Settings, and while I could have drawn inspiration from where I live, by spectacular oceans and a mighty river, I tend to be more inspired by what I can never have. Sniffle. That's why I'm going to talk a bit about snow. ;)

The photo above was taken at Lake Louise, Canada, in 2009. Lake Louise was the coldest place I've ever been to, so cold it hurt to breathe. But I love snow, and cold weather. Easy for me to say since I never have to deal with any actual snow in my daily life. But it's still true - I love snow. One might say I'm a little obsessed.

Maybe that's why the song "Falling Snow" by Agalloch first caught my attention! It's one of the most mesmerising songs I've ever heard. The lyrics are beautiful to me, though to others they may seem rather bleak and dark. I don't know what it is about metal, but to me, it's often romantic. This song is no exception. And so I thought I'd share the lyrics, though I don't expect everyone to "get" my obsession with it / them. But here they are anyway:

The water pours its embracing arms 'round the stone.

Decay drips from the unquiet void.

Where the ice forms. Where life ends.

The stone is by the crimson blood, swallowed.

The red tide beyond the ebon wound, contorted.

My sacrifice bids farewell in this river of memory:

A wave to end all time.

Red birds escape from my wounds,

And return as falling snow,

To sweep the landscape a wind haunted

Wings without bodies.

The snow, the bitter snowfall.

You long to die in her pale arms, crystalline

To become an ode to silence

In the soul of a mountain of birds, fallen.

The cascading pallor 

Of ghostless feather.

The snow has fallen

And raised this white mountain

On which you will die

And fade away in silence.

Those last four lines are the ones that get me every time! 

Thanks for visiting. :)

IWSG #14 - Boring the shrinking masses

My biggest insecurity right now, is about having to post here and say "Hey, nothing's changed!" It's getting old, and I don't doubt my visitors here are becoming quickly bored by it. However, it is just my life at the moment. I have said it recently and I'll say it again - I'm motivated, in fact I'm slightly desperate to get going again. But I just haven't shoved myself over that line yet.

I am starting to take some time back for myself as I have long felt I should, and I believe I'm creeping ever closer towards being 'ready'. I'm getting closer to that point when I will jump on my laptop and instead of going straight to Facebook to check up on the kitty rescue business, I'll open a Scrivener file instead, and get writing. Or rather, editing.

I want nothing more than to get stuck into my editing!

In other fun news, I had a DVD & pizza night at a friend's place recently, and we started our 80's fest. We watched:

• The Breakfast Club
• Some Kind of Wonderful
• Pretty in Pink.

We're not sure which movies will be on the menu next time, but the plan is to have a DVD night at least once a month, and I can't wait for the next one.

Also, another friend and I are going to a screening of Serenity this Saturday, followed by a "Shindig" at the pub next door to the venue, where apparently games will be played and prizes may be won. Woot!

[JULY UPDATE] Book Club & Goals

I meant to post this yesterday, but am only getting around to it now. Better late than never!

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : July Edition ~

I was excited to be reading this book that I just didn't want to put down, as that has seemed a little difficult to find lately.

The story in Charade flowed really well, the characters were addictive (as was the storyline), and it was just a really good read. It might not have been the most perfectly written story in terms of the actual writing, but the story was engrossing.

I was excited to see there's another book in the series, too! Thanks for a very satisfying read, Nyrae.

~ Do You Have Goals? : July Edition ~

Oh jeez, what a sad state of affairs. My goals are just lying in the dust. The only bright spot is that I'm still reading! But I have to admit that I'm lagging behind with my reading goal - five books behind, to be exact.

One of my main problems is that I am simply not dedicating enough time to reading. I desperately want to change that. Sometimes there's nothing better than chilling out on a weekend and catching up on some reading. But I guess we'll see how I go.

As for the other goals ... don't even go there. But I can say that I am motivated to do some editing. And I am going to try and step away from some of my other extracurricular commitments at least a little bit, so I can get back into writing / editing.