[APRIL UPDATE] The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club & GOALS

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : April 2018 ~

I missed last month's update, and this wasn't intentional but it happened and I decided to just let it go. I guess you could say I've been busy with my rescue group, with work, and with life in general, so that has sort of taken over. But I'm here this month, and I've got a book to talk about! I must say that it's not a particularly amazing book, but it's certainly the one that entertained me the most this month. That book is ... 

R.L. Stine's Point books were a staple of my childhood/tween years, and I still enjoy re-reading them today. As an adult woman it's interesting to read back and realise how un-pc certain aspects of these books are through the viewpoint of today's lens. This book, for e.g., features a teen girl getting both scared and a little excited when she's surrounded by menacing dudes in heavy metal t-shirts.

Still, despite the awkward moments like the one described above, I found a lot to love about this re-read. One of the things I loved most was the description of the garishly 90s clothing the characters wore. Examples:

• The dudes in Def Leppard shirts paying to get their white "high tops" polished
• Jerry's tie-dyed jean cut-offs and a black-and-white striped crew-neck pullover (wuhhh?)
• Karen's short pink skirt over black bicycle tights and a white midriff top, and of course her rollerskates (date with Jerry!)
• Jerry's white tennis shorts and a shiny blue, sleeveless t-shirt
• Vince's faded cutoffs and no shirt (hey, Vince? You had me at your metal shirt from earlier in the book!)
• Ann-Marie's Day-Glo green bikini

There was a lot else to like, too, such as these favourite moments of mine:

• The jellyfish. Oh man, that amused me!

• The part where we get the imagery in the narrative that matches the book's front cover. Noice!

• The fact that certain expectations of characters' natures get turned on their head in the end

• This quote which is a thought from Karen after she finds a note from Ann-Marie on the fridge, held by a magnet: "How did people ever communicate before refrigerator magnets? she thought." Keep in mind this was before mobile phones were a general fact of life.

• The phrase: "... bombed off to the hospital."

And my personal favourite quote from the entire book, which made me burst out laughing:

"She could hear the wet suit ripping, a frightening sound,

like a lobster being torn apart."

So this re-read was quite a bizarre experience for me. For one, I didn't really remember much about the book at all - I'm not 100% convinced I ever read it in the old days, but then I think I must have. For another, it was extremely dated, but in a delightfully amusing way.

This is the GoodReads blurb:

"It's the ultimate beach party in California. And Karen, who's just broken up with her boyfriend, is going to enjoy every minute of it--especially having two new guys who like her. But the party takes a nasty turn when Karen realizes someone is out to spoil the fun by getting rid of her."

Currently (re-)Reading:

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Currently Reading:

Alice Will (Dreams of Chaos, #1) by Ashley Chappell

~ Do You Have Goals? : April 2018 ~

Each month, a group of bloggers report on what goals they have been working to achieve in the last month. A while ago now we set longish-term goals (and they were meant to be big goals, so we could feel bold and daring!) and each month we're tracking our progress towards achieving those goals. Check out the Do You Have Goals? blog for a list of participants, and feel free to join our hop if you want to have some extra motivation for achieving your goals. :)

This month's updates on my own creative goals:

• EDITS/WRITING - Things have really slowed down for me lately, as mentioned above - rescue chaos is getting in the way of my story plotting/editing/etc. But I've still got thoughts churning away in my head, and I'm eager to get stuck in as soon as I can. My little critique group is my main lifeline to this at the moment.
• Music - It's all completed from my end, in terms of vocals and final thoughts, but apparently my bandmate's computer just died, so not sure if that affects our project's outcome or not. ;) 

And that's about it for now. How are you doing with your goals/projects/etc?

[FEB UPDATE] The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club & GOALS

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : Feb 2018 ~

Wow, here it is! My first post for 2018. I've done a lot of reading so far this year, largely because while I was overseas I was sick practically the entire time, so on those days when I did a lot of lazing around I took to reading. And reading. And reading. Anyway, for February this is the book I enjoyed the most, keeping in mind that I didn't rate any of my reads 5 stars during January or February.

I've had this book on my Kindle for aaaages but only just read it now. Even though it was a light-hearted kind of simple little story, I really loved it - it had me cracking up on a regular basis, and the romance was pretty steamy even with two virgins as the main characters. ;)

Emma annoyed and (totally) exasperated me sometimes, but I couldn't hold it against her when she pretty quickly realised what an idiot she was after every idiotic thing she did. Guy had a lot of patience considering he's 70k years old and definitely knew better in some instances than the 22-year-old (yep, quite the age difference, and Emma comments on this at one point too!) with far less life experience.

I'd recommend this for anyone who wants a fun, light read that includes some parts that may or may not make one gigglesnort.

Some of my fave quotes:

• It was like being trapped in a huge spinach salad.
  
• This coming from someone who'd seen it all over the course of tens of thousands of years: the rise and fall of dozens of empires, entire civilisations disappearing, some into the ocean--countless genocides and wars, the birth of gangster rap and reality television.
  Yes. Terrible, awful things.
  
  
• “Holy crap, woman! What was that?' Guy stared down at the twitching right half of the body. He was morbidly shocked and incredibly proud.
  
  She shrugged casually. 'Payback. Hell hath no fury like a Payal scorned. Can we go now?”
  
• "You're an awesome god of death and war."

This is the GoodReads blurb:

"Twenty-two-year-old Emma Keane has a secret friend. He’s powerful, mysterious, and devastatingly handsome. In her dreams, anyway.

In real life, he’s an enigma. Maybe just a teensie jealous. Definitely overbearing. He’s also a voice only she can hear.

So who or what is he? He won’t say. But if she wants to be free, to be normal, Emma will have to trek to the jungles once ruled by the Mayans and find the forgotten ruin holding the answers.

However, the ruthless deity she’s about to unknowingly unleash on the modern world, might not be so easily extracted from her life. Bottom line, he’s got enemies, and now, so does she."

Currently (re-)Reading:

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

~ Do You Have Goals? : February 2018 ~

Each month, a group of bloggers report on what goals they have been working to achieve in the last month. A while ago now we set longish-term goals (and they were meant to be big goals, so we could feel bold and daring!) and each month we're tracking our progress towards achieving those goals. Check out the Do You Have Goals? blog for a list of participants, and feel free to join our hop if you want to have some extra motivation for achieving your goals. :)

This month's updates on my own creative goals:

• EDITS/WRITING - I keep getting assaulted by new story ideas! They are more enticing than trying to untangle the messes that are the existing stories. But I have my little critique group to keep encouraging me to do the "hard" stuff as well as nurture my shiny new ideas. Currently I'm trying to figure out how my novel SUNDOWN fits into a template of accepted romance story 'beats', to help me identify what needs working on.
• NaNoWriMo '18- I know, I know, it's REALLY early to be thinking about this, but with the numerous ideas that have sprung themselves on me in recent months, I will have a big decision to make come November. Still, I'm pretty sure I know which idea I'll be running with ... at least until the next "better" idea leaps at me, anyway.
• Music - My task at the moment is to have a good listen to the final mixes my bandmate has sent me and send him back any notes. From what I've heard so far, there's one song I'm not sure I'm happy with in terms of the vocals, but I hope I'll get over that and realise it's great as is, so I don't have to do anymore recording. :P I'm hoping to have my notes back to my bandmate by this coming weekend.

And that's about it for now. How are you doing with your goals/projects/etc?

A 2017 GOALS review

~ Do You Have Goals? : December 2017 ~

As I mentioned on Friday, I'm not sure if this month's update is going ahead, since I had to schedule this one ahead of time as I'm currently travelling (happy New Year's Eve!). But even if others aren't posting, this is my end-of-year update on my goals for the year.

This is my 2017 Goals page.

Edits / Revisions / etc.
I guess my primary aim this year was to do more work on my revisions, and I did do quite a bit this year. I got back into posting on the AbsoluteWrite forums, and through those forums I found two new critique partners with whom I formed a little off-site group. On that group we're doing a lot of work on novel structure in general, as well as running story ideas by each other and keeping each other inspired.

New writing
I did a little bit of new writing outside of November, but the main bulk of new stuff was created during NaNoWriMo when I wrote most of THE FULL CIRCLE, as well as a small number of words on JARED & JENNA and another new story called HOTEL LOBBY. In December I managed to finish off THE FULL CIRCLE and now I'm starting a not-too-in-depth read-through/edit of it. I have bigger changes I want to implement, but I think I'll give the novel a breather before hacking at it too much. It's good to get distance sometimes! Meanwhile, I'll have to pick another project to revise.

Music
I really have finished all songs for the new WAG album, and my bandmate has approved them! We're looking at a Jan/Feb release, so we'll see how that goes. I'm pretty excited about this album, and now that I'm recovering from my studies, I'm excited about my creative stuff in general! Bring on 2018!

ReadingThis year's reading goals went well, especially after I decided towards the end of this year that I was going to count re-reads in my total reads for each year. I didn't realise that you can count multiple reads on GoodReads, but now that I do, everything with my reading goals each year will change! So far I've read 50 out of the desired 40 reads, including a handful of re-reads.

So... What's the plan for 2018?

• Release new Woody's A Girl album (titled OBLIVION)

• Revise THE FULL CIRCLE

• Revise at least one other pre-existing novel (maybe SUNDOWN? I have my CP's notes to work off, and she's given me a LOT to work on)

• Compete in (and win!) NaNoWriMo 2018 (I have so many new ideas to choose from...somebody stop me!)

• Possibly participate in the A-to-Z challenge in 2018, assuming it's still running

• Re-read at least 20 books that are on my "to-re-read-and-review" GoodReads bookshelf

• Read at least 40 books in total as part of my annual GR challenge

And I guess that's a wrap for 2017! 

How did you all go with your goals this year? 

Do you have any plans in place for 2018?

[AUGUST UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : August Edition ~

This month it was difficult to choose between the two novels I read. In the end I've gone with Katie McGarry's Dare You To, Book #2 in the Pushing the Limits series and actually my favourite to date. The honourable mention was Nyrae Dawn's Façade (Games, #2). Click HERE for my full GoodReads review of Dare You To, which contains spoilers.

I wasn't really sure what I would think of this book, since I'd recently re-read Book #1 and remembered why I loved it...and why I didn't. I can't remember Book #3 very well, but I think I'm safe in saying Dare You To is my favourite.

A problem I had with Book #1 was the patheticness of the heroine, Echo. Beth is a totally different kettle of fish; she's no shrinking violet, and doesn't faint against walls or black out. Wow, what a meanie I am! Poor Echo. ;) But seriously, I like that Beth didn't need to be constantly caught (literally, caught before she fell over) by the sexy hero. Ryan also gets major stars for not calling Beth "baby". He didn't, right?! I only remember Noah doing that with Echo... Disclaimer: I love Noah.

Dare You To cracked me up on many occasions - Beth's language is just as foul as mine (well, okay, I'm worse), and she was so fiery. Her early exchanges with Ryan were hilarious - she was a real force for him to reckon with. I also found it refreshing that Ryan was the 'innocent' one in this story, as opposed to the usual 'good' girl / bad boy dynamic in this series. Ryan was still sexy, so there was no letdown there. But Beth taught him a thing or two about life. That said, of course I adore bad boy characters - as long as they're not total assholes.

I remember reading Pushing the Limits and always wishing that Echo would become more of a rock for Noah. The school counsellor did that instead, while Noah was always having to be Echo's rock. Not that he was complaining. I was the one complaining. And I'm not really sure that Beth went much further in this regard than Echo did, but she had her moments. It was such a relief when she finally realised Ryan was right about her fear of having a new life...and possible happiness.

One downside to this read was seeing Isaiah so forlorn, but since I knew this gets addressed in Book #3, it wasn't really a problem.

I gave this book five stars!

This is the GoodReads blurb:

"If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs-until the day her uncle swoops in, and Beth finds herself starting over at a school where no one understands her. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does. 

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him. 

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image is risking everything for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...."

Currently Reading: City of Glass,

Book #3 in The Mortal Insruments series

(a re-read so I can finally read the last three books).

~ Do You Have Goals? : August Edition ~

First up, some news! There is a new blog for this blog hop, rather than us going straight to Misha's blog. Check out the new Do You Have Goals? blog, and join our hop if you want to have some extra motivation for achieving your goals. :)

Now, some updates on my own creative goals:

• Music - Somehow I believed I had recorded a song for our new album that I had never even downloaded the instrumental track for. Apparently I hallucinated an entire thing where this song was totally done already. So I still have one more song to do... Thankfully, Billy is happy with the other two, so no more work required on those!
• DAPHNE - I'm continuing to post stuff at Absolute Write. I've had a lot of help from people with my opening few scenes for DAPHNE. It's been a hard slog (and isn't over yet), but I feel like I'm finally getting to the right place with the opening scenes.
• Critique Partner! - In other exciting news, I appear to have found myself a new critique partner, one of the ladies who's been helping me on AW. So that's great! I'm excited at the chance to start getting some more in-depth and focused help on my work again, and to give said help in return.
• ON THE OUTSIDE - I've been revising the first chapter of OTO, which has been driving me nuts. As usual with my stories, there's a lot of bloating that needs culling, and the first scene possibly needs to be merged with a bit of the next scene. I've whittled it a lot so far, but have a way to go. I wanted to post it on AW for critique, but my perfectionist self won't allow that till I've got it into better shape.

So, that's about it for August. How are you all going with your various creative / other goals? And yes, I have some catching up to do with your blogs too.

[JULY UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

Oops! I missed the deadline, but oh well, I'm still here to post for this month's book club & goals blog hops.

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : July Edition ~

I've read three novels / novellas this month, and have chosen Eleanor & Park as my novel of the month to share a review for. This is the non-spoilery version of the GoodReads (spoilery) version.

I vaguely remember back when I first heard about this book, reading some reviews of it that were mixed - I remember not everyone loving the book for whatever reason. I admit I was a bit influenced by that memory when I started reading - I was in the first chapter and wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy the read. Well, now that I've finished reading, I can say without hesitation that I loved Eleanor & Park! It was tragic, romantic, and funny. I love the emphasis on music, too.

The book ends on an interesting note that has seemingly divided readers - some are dying to know more, while others (like me) think that what we are left with is enough. It's not a neatly tied up ending, but there is a sense of hope that makes me happy.

Richie was such a creepy character - yech! I felt sorry for Eleanor's mum, but also angry with her, for much of the book. But I loved Park and his family - his parents were great characters.

This is the GoodReads blurb:

"Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try."

Currently Reading: my own novels...for editing.

But hopefully soon, book #2 in Lydia Kang's duology.

~ Do You Have Goals? : July Edition ~

I'm continuing to work on my revisions for DAPHNE II, but now that studies are starting up as of Monday, I'm not sure how much progress I'll be making for the time being. I also did another thing - I logged back into Absolute Write (the Water Cooler forums) after approximately 6 years of absence, and started posting again.

I've shared the beginning of DIE BEACHSIDE and the first chapter of SUNDOWN III. The former has attracted feedback that surprised me - I need to cut out perhaps the first 1k of words. And I thought that little novella was pretty lean. Gosh, critique feedback is good. It wakes you up from your slumber. As for the SUNDOWN III chapter, that also needs some condensing, but the feedback was overall more favourable. I got some great feedback that I can work with for that one.

Oh, oh, something REALLY EXCITING? I finally got those last two songs done and sent them off to Billy. WOO! I just hope he doesn't ask me to do heaps more work on them. But if he does, so be it, I will do what I can. I'm hoping we can get down to the business of getting our second Woody's A Girl album out in the next few months.

I hope you are all doing well!

Editing, music, and study

Latest revision update - I think I might be at the point where I can leave SUNDOWN III alone and let it stew for a while. I've continuously been tweaking bits and pieces, but now even though I recognise bits that I want to improve, I'm committed to leaving the poor thing alone and letting it settle after being thoroughly worked over.

I have started to look at fixing some of my novel ON THE OUTSIDE now. That's another book I've read and re-read over and over on my Kindle, and have wanted to edit for ages. I may not do a proper systematic edit for now but I'll fix bits as I stumble across them.

Something else that is emerging from this SUNDOWN III edit is what I'm referring to as SUNDOWN 1.5, which is the Jared POV parts that were in the original SUNDOWN novel being put into a new novel or novella or whatever it's going to turn into. I don't know what will happen with that in the long run, but I still want to get it done.

Some of the artwork for our
forthcoming album.

Despite all the stuff I wish I could focus on right now in terms of editing, I have to focus instead on my upcoming studies and also trying to get my vocal tracks down for the new album (OBLIVION) coming out this year. I'll just have to save up all my editing energy for the end of the year once my studies are done.

On another note, I'm now behind in my annual Goodreads reading challenge, due to all the time I've spent reading my own novels instead of other people's. But I hope to catch up, if not now then at least during my week off work which is happening in late July.

7 days of NaNo to go

Since my last update when I reported that I'd finished my novella for this year's NaNo, I've also finished another of my unfinished novels - THE PHOTOGRAPH. I then worked on IVY NIGHT for a while, before the slog got a bit too difficult, so I moved to working on TURKEY BOURKE.

My wordcount is currently 41,255, though I haven't written any of today's words yet, as you can see from the chart. I'll continue to work on TURKEY until I feel that familiar "argggghhh" feeling. Hopefully that won't be until I'm finished the novel! It would be great to finish three works this time around. :) I'd also have liked to finish IVY NIGHT, but that one has quite a bit of writing still to do, so it's a longer-term project.

Once November's over, I need to get cracking on the last three songs for our next album. Billy has posted an update saying there is a new WAG album (ours), and a new Rotting Apples album (his) coming out next year. Eek! No pressure or anything! Sometimes he gets me to do some of his vocals for him, but I'm not sure what his plan is for the next RA album.

So that's my update for now! I hope you are all doing really well. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

Missed post, and NaNoWriMo 2016

Oops! I fully intended to participate in the "Do You Have Goals?" and Cephalopod Coffeehouse traditions on Friday. But I have been so busy and distracted that the blog post was one thing that slipped. However, in keeping with my current "tradition" of posting at least once a month, I'm lucky to still have the last day of October (today!) to at least give some sort of update.

This isn't a proper post like I would have done on Friday if I had my wits about me, but I do have updates to share, so here they are:

Halloween-ready - including cutlass
created last-minute

1. Music - only three songs left to work on for the next album! I submitted two within the last month. Slowly but surely, we're getting there.
2. Study - second-last assignment for the year is submitted, so now just one to go  and I'll be home free.
3. Halloween - went to a Halloween party, and spent way more time than usual putting my outfit together - including home-made cutlass. ;)
4. Cats - we've had a few events lately for the cat rescue, and we're all looking forward to a break. This coming Saturday we have a huge event on that goes all day. I also have two other events that day. Gahhhh. When will it end?
5. Reading - reading Poldark book #7 now - the last book in the "main series", before we start reading more about their children's stories in the next books.
6. Writing - in a moment of sheer madness I decided to do NaNoWriMo 2016. Let me explain...

I don't know why I'm doing NaNo, but apparently I am. I thought I could try to work on finishing off some of my unfinished novels, but I also looked through my "novel ideas" and picked one to work on, just in case working on the unfinished novels doesn't get me enough words. I'll probably start the new idea first, because I'm like that. Then if I run out of steam I'll work on some of the other novels.

So my novel for this year is titled "Die Beachside", and was inspired by a dream (a very scary dream!) I once had. This is very much a pantsing scenario in which I have no idea how things are going to go, and had to quickly work out some details of plot in the few days leading up to November. Here is a link to my novel.

Are you doing NaNo?

If not, what else are you up to?

[AUGUST UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

Once again it's been two months since my last update. I'm okay with that. I have to be. ;)

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : August Edition ~

Last time I talked about a book I'd read, I mentioned the first in the Poldark series. I'm now on book five, which was written a long time after the first four novels. So far in August I've only finished one book, so I will have to discuss book #4 of the Poldark series.

This is the most controversial of the books to date, and you'll have to read and find out why. It's the book where we learn that Ross is far from perfect, and in my case, the book where Ross made me incredibly angry. The popular statement people seem to make while reading Warleggan is: "Ross, how could you!!"

It's good to read about imperfect characters - we know Demelza is imperfect and we have known from previous novels that Ross is as well. The two are in a frequent state of misunderstanding each other, and with some of the more heartbreaking things that have happened to them so far, the misunderstandings only grow deeper. The way this novel ended was heartening, however it's a fact that things will never be the same again. In so many ways during this and the previous novel, the damage has been irrevocably done.

The character of Elizabeth gets a bad wrap - yes, she's never been willing to let Ross go, but it's not her fault that he refuses to let go of her either. There is controversy due to the fact that many readers truly hate Elizabeth and seem to want to blame her for the ongoing attachment. But truly, it takes two to tango, so to speak. All in all I found this book to be super compelling and to me, the true hero(ine) of the story is Demelza. What a legendary character!

This is the blurb from GoodReads:

"Ross Poldark plunges into a speculative mining venture which threatens his financial security and his stormy marriage to Demelza. When the old attraction between Ross and Elizabeth begins to rekindle itself, Demelza retaliates by becoming dangerously involved with a Scottish cavalry officer."

Currently Reading: Winston Graham's The Black Moon (Poldark, #5)

~ Do You Have Goals? : August Edition ~

Last time I had a relatively bleak update. Same this time. I'm keeping up with my reading, though this semester my studies are really trying to mess with that. I've also done a bit more work on my music, but not nearly as much as I wish I had (due to studies). I'm nearly at the point where I've got another song finished, I just need to work a bit more on the backing vocals. Then I can send the GB file to my bandmate for mixing, etc.

I think this year may be filled with disappointments when it comes to most of my goals - except the reading one! I'm doing better than I expected at the start of the year in that regard.

[JUNE UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

Updating every 2 months...well, it's better than never updating at all, right?!?!

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : June Edition ~

I don't think I had heard about the Poldark series (which consists of 11 books or something!) prior to seeing this book for 50% off on Book Depository in the "bargain bin" section. Apparently my mum is familiar with a miniseries from years ago that was on telly, but I haven't seen either series (there are 2 apparently) myself. Reading the description of this book though, I decided I must buy it, and not just because it was at its bargain price.

This is the blurb from GoodReads:

"Cornwall in the 1780s - when powerful forces of revolution and reaction are at large in the world.

Tired from a grim war in America, Ross Poldark returns to his land and his family. But the joyful homecoming he has anticipated turns sour, for his father is dead, his estate is derelict and the girl he loves is engaged to his cousin.

But his sympathy for the destitute miners and farmers of the district leads him to rescue a half-starved urchin girl from a fairground brawl and take her home - an act which alters the whole course of his life..."

So I bought the book, as well as books 2 & 3, and started reading. I was delighted by what I read. This book made me laugh and also made me swoon. The supporting characters are a great strength of this book, though of course Ross and Demelza provided more than enough intrigue to keep me hooked. But I love the quirkiness of the supporting characters, like Prudie and her "craw'ers" (lice), and Jud and his "tedn right, tedn fair, tedn British" (to paraphrase).

Just from reading book #1, and what little I've read of book #2 so far, I'd definitely recommend this series.

Currently Reading: Winston Graham's Demelza (Poldark, #2)

~ Do You Have Goals? : June Edition ~

Ugggghhhh, not this again.

The only updates I really have are that I'm doing well with my reading goal...and I paid for some of the chosen artwork for Woody's A Girl's next album, titled OBLIVION, which has an outer space theme (both my bandmate and I are in love with the awesome artwork by this artist named April - you can view this artwork HERE.

I hope to get at least one more song done and sent to Billy this evening. So there's that...

[APRIL UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

I'm still alive, I swear! (see? here I am)

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : April Edition ~

This series was recommended by a friend, who said she devoured them over a short week-long stay in a holiday resort. I was quite eager to get started on book #1, as a result.

It's been quite a wait between finishing this book and writing up the review. So I'm not entirely clear on what I was feeling when I did finish it. I do know that at the time, the next two books in the series had not yet arrived at my place from Book Depository, so I had to read something else in the meantime. I'm still reading that "something else" (book #3 in a trilogy), but soon I'll be ready to jump into the next book in the Selection series.

Back on point, perhaps? I did enjoy this read, however I'm not the biggest fan of love triangles, so I guess I was maybe bordering on 'bored' when it came to America and her lurve woes. It doesn't help that I'm not particularly sold on either America's love from back home, or the Prince. I don't seem to have any feels either way. So maybe I need to read on, and figure out whose team I'm on!

The writing was good and I did find myself gripped (a little bit) by the bitchy drama of a post-apocalyptic reality show. But you might say I wasn't totally enthralled and engrossed. I think one thing that might be bothering me slightly is that there doesn't seem to be much romantic struggle for America, except that she is into two guys and they're both into her (woe is her). Anyway, maybe book #2 is what it will take to get me really sucked in. Time will tell!

Since this was the only book I finished during April so far (except for two re-reads that don't count, according to my rules), I had to choose this book.

Currently Reading: Rachel Hawkins's Spell Bound (Hex Hall, #3)

~ Do You Have Goals? : April Edition ~

DO I HAVE GOALS? Why yes, I do. But most of them aren't going anywhere. :(

I feel like it's all I can do to get my study done, get my work week done, and feed all the cats (and myself too). This may be why I haven't posted anything since Feb, and missed last month's update. Sorry, booo.

Anyway, I did achieve ONE thing since I last updated. I sent off not one, not two, not three, but SIX songs to my bandmate, considering them "finished" and ready for the final mixes and so on. In truth, I hardly ever consider a song finished, and I am hardly ever happy with the final take I send off to my bandmate. Thankfully he knows how to make them sound epic, and we also pay to get them professionally mastered, which makes them sound mindblowingly awesome (by comparison). So there's that. But being a perfectionist, it can be hard to admit defeat and send off a song "as is".

In one case, I told my bandmate that I couldn't imagine being able to improve on what I had already done, even though I wasn't particularly happy with what I had done. And one of the songs I like the vocals for least, he considers one of his favourites. So I guess it's a matter of opinion! That one I haven't yet sent off to him.

SO, that's where I'm at with my goals. Don't even ask about my novels.

I hope you're all doing well. :)

P.S. Well done to anyone who's got through the A to Z!

Most years I have participated, but no way was it happening this year.

I admire everyone who has done it this year. :)

I'm gonna have to go and visit some blogs!

P.P.S. Our new album is tentatively titled "Oblivion".
We both came up with the same idea separately,
so I feel like it's meant to be!