[SEPT UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : September Edition ~

Okay, I have read a few books this month and the one I have to choose is City of Lost Souls, Book #5 in The Mortal Instruments. My GoodReads review is one big gushy ramble of mostly "Clace"-related blabbering, but I did edit the review later to talk about "the rest of those characters" who are in fact quite significant. So I'll try to make this review some semblance of useful for anyone unfamiliar with and curious about the book and/or series.

** If you don't want to know ANY LITTLE HINT OF A THING about Book #5, maybe skip the review. Okay **

This entire series has been a combination of "eewwww", "OMG" and "aaaaahhhh must read on ASAP" for me. I struggled with Books #2 & #3, and if any of you have read the series you may be able to relate. After Book #3 was done, I foolishly thought there might be some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of character happiness. What was I thinking, huh? These books are definitely full of teen angst and drama, but I think the kids have good reason to be angsty, quite frankly, so I don't hold it against them.

Something to note about this book is that my respect for Clary grew so much. Sure, she frustrated me at times, but I thought she was so brave most of the way through, and the epitome of her bravery was in that epic scene near the end when she made the hardest decision she'd ever had to make before - you know the one, right?! I was really, seriously impressed with her at that point.

On a sort of related note, I actually do feel sorry for "the bad guy" of the story, because despite the fact that he is truly a heinous bad guy, Clary was right when she said he's incredibly lonely. Yeah, he's a creep, there's no denying that, but still, it's not his fault he was born the way he was, is it? He had no control over how he turned out, and a great wrong was done to him very early in his life.

This book was quite a slow and torturous read (even though it was good at the same time, and sort of psychologically harrowing), and I was very tempted to skip ahead just so I knew that something good would happen in the end, but I hung in there and kept reading the pages in the proper order, as is usual for me. It felt like it took forever to read this book, but in fact it only took me a few days.

Regarding other characters, Alec continued to annoy me, and I was totally on Magnus's side with that whole thing. I'm a fan of Maia and "Kyle". As for "Sizzy", I'm torn, but mostly because I don't really find vampires hot in general, because they're actually dead people and I don't think dead people are hot. Like, why would anyone want to be with a corpse? That said, I do love my Buffy and Angel hotties. Sigh. Anyway, yeah, I'm torn on this one. Isabelle is so full of life and warm and all that, and I just don't know if she's suited to dating a dead guy. But I'll reserve judgment till I conclude the series I guess. Also, I was happy to see Maryse Lightwood kicking arse, as well as Jocelyn. But when Jocelyn was telling Clary to get off Jace, I was like, "Step off, woman! Get ye gone! Leave your daughter be!"

All in all, I loved this book, and I'm now reading Book #6 and hoping the light will be VERY bright at the end of this long, hard-slog tunnel. 

This is the GoodReads blurb:

"The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series."

Currently Reading: City of Heavenly Fire,

Book #6 in The Mortal Instruments series

~ Do You Have Goals? : September Edition ~

Just a repeat of last month's 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:

• DAPHNE - I'm a little stalled on this one, but I've had a break from it so maybe it's time to return and try to tackle that third chapter again. I was happy with it until I realised the second half of it had a lot of dialogue. I want to rework the lead-in to that dialogue and think about what parts of the long chat I really want to keep.
• Critique Partner Group! - Last time I mentioned I had found a new critique partner. Well, we have sucked another lady from AbsoluteWrite into our circle and now we are a little critique trio, and have our own PBWorks site to share our stories in and put feedback comments up, etc. It's really motivating and we are talking about NaNo plans and so on. So all is good there!
• ON THE OUTSIDE - Last time I mentioned I had been revising Chapter #1 of this novel, and I finished that and shared it on my critique group. I got some good feedback and overall I feel like the revised chapter is better than what I had before, but it still needs some work. I think I'm going to leave it where it is for now, though, as I'm a little burned out on OtO at present.
• NaNoWriMo 2017 - So yeah, speaking of NaNo 2017, I do have a sort of rough plan for what to write this time, but I only have plans for the beginning, and a hint of the end, and a very vague middle. I feel like I should at least have a skeleton plot worked out before November starts, despite my notorious pantsing ways. ;)

That's a wrap for September. How are you doing with your goals/projects/etc?

[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.

[JUNE UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

The last time I participated properly in this bloghop was September 2016! Yes, I've been very slack since then, or rather I've just found it hard to keep up with everything else in life as well as the few blog hops I am still committed to. I was going to skip this one, since I thought I hadn't read any books this month, but then I realised (after checking GoodReads) that I in fact have. :)

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : June Edition ~

Last time I updated, I was reading Poldark. I got to the end of the main series since then, but haven't read the "next generation" books yet. My mum has read my copies and claims they are just as good, so I will get around to it sometime. For now... I read a memoir this month!

In this memoir, Jessica Bell weaves a compelling story of a painful coming-of-age in an unusual setting. As the daughter of rock'n'rollers in the 80s and early 90s, Bell certainly had an upbringing different to most of us - and yet I could still relate to parts of what she experienced, since I was also a child of the 80s and 90s in Australia, and big time into music.

I loved the way the book progressed with its sections of Jessica talking to her reflection. It was intriguing to see her relationship with her reflection change over the course of the book as well.

Jessica has led a life of adventure seemingly largely because of her constant need to run. But this book seems to represent a time in her life when she has finally stopped running and is facing her reflection at last - and coming to realise that her reflection is her friend, supporter, etc.

As usual, this is a well-written book that compels the reader onward. It's even more special because of the bravery it took the author to put it out there for all to read and judge in whatever way they choose.

This is a snippet from the GoodReads blurb:

"Jessica Bell never meant to be a rebel. But growing up with two gothic rockers as parents seemed to make it inevitable.
​
In 1980s Australia, Erika Bach and Demetri Vlass founded Ape the Cry and Hard Candy, two of Melbourne’s iconic indie bands. They encouraged Jessica with unreserved love to pick up the guitar and write her own songs. But Erika’s back problem became a nightmare of pill popping, alcohol abuse, and anxiety attacks. Demetri retreated into silence for fear of triggering Erika’s drug-induced psychosis. And Jessica turned inwards, to her own reflection.

But her mirror self was a fiend, not a friend. All it took was one secret drink at fifteen, and Jessica dove headlong into depression and self-destruction to escape the madness at home."

Currently Reading: my own novels...for editing

~ Do You Have Goals? : June Edition ~

I had a long period of time when nothing much was happening with my goals. I'm glad to say (as you will have seen if you have looked at any of my recent blog posts - yes, I have recent blog posts!!) that this is no longer the case. Here are some general updates:

• I've completed my latest edit of SUNDOWN, and am now letting that novel rest.
• I'm currently reading through my DAPHNE novel, although I had a lot of edit notes that I lost by accidentally deleting the wrong version of the novel from my Kindle. ARGH, basically. But that happened to me once with my SUNDOWN edits too. Hopefully it will happen no longer!
• I've also had quick read throughs of some of my other novels, like ON THE OUTSIDE and LOST & FOUND. Yep, I've been on an editing / revising binge.
• I've also kind of edited / written new material for a couple of SUNDOWN-related projects.

I'm not sure which novel I will be focusing on properly next, the way I did with SUNDOWN, but it sure feels good to be compelled to do all this editing. I had a long hiatus when I struggled to get motivation, but I've got it in spades now.

As mentioned in other posts, I am also gearing up for my next lot of study (my last semester is coming up), so I will have to concentrate more on that and less on editing until the year's end. But I feel like I've achieved a lot already this year, and that makes me very happy. Someday soon I hope I will be ready to seek out beta readers for at least one of my novels.

P.S. The area still being neglected is my music. But I fully intend to get to that very soon!

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.

[FEB UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

I'm on time this time!! Woo!

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : February Edition ~

This is definitely one of my fave books read in the last few years - which was a surprise, because I'm not religious, so not particularly into the romantic notion of angels, etc. However, these angels weren't romantic - they were jerks!

After reading Book #1, I wasn't entirely sure whether Raffe was a jerk or not, because what did he really think of the invasion of the angels? We didn't have much insight into his opinion by the end of this book - he always went silent whenever Penryn showed any distress over the state of the world she once lived in, a world largely destroyed by angels.

I quickly moved on to reading Book #2, and I enjoyed it as well. I did notice some unflattering reviews of Books #2 and particularly #3. And I have since read them both - thankfully I enjoyed them all. I must say though, that of all the books, Book #1 was the most incredible - fast-paced, action-packed, horrifying, and all in all a real page-turner. Generally, any book that makes me feel compelled to keep reading it, is a winner.

Currently Reading: Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass

~ Do You Have Goals? : February Edition ~

Last time I posted about my goals, I mentioned that I was working on preliminary edits for ON THE OUTSIDE. Since then, I have updated my blog mentioning that I cut out a large number of words from Chapter 1, a very troublesome chapter (same old story). Well, I haven't done much since then. I've been grappling with the other things in my life, and the editing as fallen away. However, I still have the burning desire to keep going with it.

My studies began this week, so I have to factor them in (which I'm not doing too well at so far). I'm also still busy with kitty rescue stuff, but am trying to pull back from that a little. It so happens it's the busiest time of year for Aussie cat rescues, with lots of kittens being born during the summer months, and lots of people going on holiday and dumping their cats at the pound as they were too disorganised to find / pay for holiday care well ahead of time. We are all eager for this year's "kitten season" to end, though many in rescue say that kitten season never really ends.

So with all that, the editing has fallen away again. But I hope to at least get a little bit of it done this weekend. I'm still pleased about cutting out 8 pages of Chapter 1, though, even if I do have to add some of it back in for the remains to make sense.

First chapter update

Thank you to everyone who left a note on my IWSG post - it's great to get thoughts / encouragement from this awesome bloggy-writey community when working on a writing project. That's another thing I've been missing during my "I can't bring myself to write one single word or edit one single sentence" slump of the last few ... years.

I wanted to give a quick update on how Chapter 1 of ON THE OUTSIDE is shaping up. I haven't done much work on it, except that I cut a significant portion of the chapter - the first 8 pages, to be precise. I know I'm going to have to take a few snippets from those 8 pages and stick them somewhere in the remainder, because otherwise things aren't making sense. But I feel really good about the new point I've chosen to start the story at.

I really appreciate the offers from you guys to beta read my chapter for me. I am actually wondering if it might be a good idea to tidy up this new version of Chapter 1, then send both versions along to some betas & see what they think of the "before" and "after". But I wouldn't want to get anyone bogged down in 8 useless pages of writing bloat. :) Still, you could skim read!

Anyway...I'll post another update sometime soon. It feels SO GOOD to be motivated and actually doing something significant to one of my novels, again.

IWSG #18 - First chapter editing

It's IWSG day, so I thought I'd edit this and include the badge. I think my post fits the overall "insecure" theme, because I know often first chapters can be the most challenging in novels, and the most demoralising. In my case, I almost always have to edit the crap out of them to make them passable. But it can take a while for me to get to the point of being daring enough to take big steps.

* * *

Last time I posted, I mentioned that I had switched editing projects. I mistakenly said I was working on LOST & FOUND, when in fact I'm working on ON THE OUTSIDE. Maybe this goes to show that I have a stupid amount of novels to choose from when it comes to editing, and easily get confused between them all? ;)

Anyway, yes, I'm editing ON THE OUTSIDE. I sort of jump around a bit when editing, as there are so many bits I have wanted to edit, for so long (same with all my novels). This is the result of many skims / reads of the novel draft on my Kindle, where I put all drafts for convenient reading. But the bit that most troubles me about this novel appears to be the first chapter. It's a little bloated and boring, and I've already cut a bit out of it. But the other day I was thinking maybe I should just totally condense it down, and start off with the main point of the chapter - Livia (formerly named Nora...but it was too confusing having a Nora and her best friend Nina) is about to be abandoned by her bestie. Instead of a chapter that wafts around, slowly getting to the point, why not get straight to the point?

It's funny how editing can work - sometimes you'll tweak a chapter over and over, rewrite sentences, chop out a word here & there. And then one night when you're trying to get to sleep, you'll stare into the dark and wonder if maybe you shouldn't just chop out most of the pages in that first chapter. Your chapter is feeling bloated, it's suffocating you, and it's in severe need of a good hacking.

Well, that's what happened to me the other night. I haven't got my axe out yet, but I will be reading the chapter and considering how best to wield that axe.

It feels good to be in editing mode again.

[JAN UPDATE] Cephalopod Book Club & Goals

I am posting this a day late, but I really wanted to post it because I think the last time I posted one of these was in October last year!! I want to be better at keeping up with the few blog hops I actually still participate in, in 2016.

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : January Edition ~

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this read, but what I got was something different to what I sort of-maybe-kinda expected. It was a really enjoyable and engrossing read, even though I sometimes don't like books that skip around a lot with time, which this did.

What I found impressive about this book was that I was interested in every character I was reading about, which when there are a lot of characters in a book, sometimes fails to happen. I found the whole story haunting but beautifully written. As I read along, I was constantly wondering who would survive and who wouldn't. The story managed to frequently surprise me, too.

It really made me think about all the things in this world we all take for granted, like electricity, planes flying in the air, etc. Imagine if all that went away!

Currently Reading: Susan Ee's Angelfall

~ Do You Have Goals? : January Edition ~

Oh, gosh. Do I have goals? Last time I wrote about this, I was working on SUNDOWN III. Slowly, but still, I was working on it! Since then, I wrote 50k during NaNo, we had Christmas, I went to hospital with a cat bite, and I've now gone back to work.

I'm no longer working on SUNDOWN III. Yep, once again I've abandoned an editing project only to move onto another one. I am now looking at ON THE OUTSIDE. I want to try to get large edits done (this involves rewriting some scenes, removing other scenes, and general polishing).

I've also done a bit of recording for my next album, which my bandmate Billy is now back at work on, making new sounds and tweaking old ones like a madman. We have all the songs done in terms of music, but he has redone a few guitar parts and most of the drums, and has a bit more to do. It's largely up to me to get on with vocals. Some of the songs I'm already happy with, and others not so much. Some are only in rough 'draft' form.

So those are my two major goals at this time. Getting vocals done for "WAG Album #2" as I refer to it, and getting major editing stuff done for ON THE OUTSIDE.

[May Update] GOALS & Cephalopod Coffeehouse

~ The Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club : May Edition ~

I have wanted to read this book pretty much from the moment I heard about it and first saw the cover. I finally got around to it this month, and promptly ordered books 2 & 3 as well (I'm now reading book #2). It was a good book, really enjoyable and easy to devour, though I probably can't say it's the most mindblowing book I've ever read. But all in all I thought it was great, and I would absolutely love to see a movie of it.

The story was fast-paced and gripping, and the characters were people I could really get behind. I saw another review that suggested the characters seem a lot older than they are in reality - but I don't know about that. They live in a world that has made them harder and more 'grown up' than a typical teenager in our world, so I found it believable. But maybe I'm too far removed from my own teenaged years to really be able to comment on that with accuracy.

Anyway, all in all I recommend this book if you like futuristic settings, YA drama / action, and kick-arse characters. And just for the record, book #2 is continuing the theme of books I would LOVE to see on the big screen.

~ Do You Have Goals? : May Edition ~

I don't want to talk about it.

No, really.

Okay, I did get ONE thing done since my last update - I went to a writer meeting, and actually did some editing! I didn't get through an entire chapter, but still, I did some editing. And it felt good.

I worked on ON THE OUTSIDE, my 2013 NaNo novel that has been stewing for a while now. I've been reading it on my Kindle over and over again (mostly reading this bit, then that bit, then an earlier bit, jumping all over the place) and basically letting all the things I want to change and fix sink into my brain. So I'm going to have those things in mind while editing.

I haven't gone to the writer's meeting since, but I totally want to. I just need to have weekends where I have nothing else on at all, so I am emotionally prepared for going somewhere on the Sunday.

That hasn't happened in quite some time.

Anyway, at least I have something to report this time other than the usual "foster cats have taken over my life!" line.

I was away, now I'm back

My "R" theme was Reflections, but
another possible theme I was
considering was "Roads".

After the A to Z finished, I managed to put up my reflection post, and then I had to prepare for a work trip. I'm back from that trip as of tonight, and the weekend to come is going to be filled with collecting all my kitties back (my two, and some foster kitties).

I have yet to continue with my blog visiting catch-up, but I still plan on doing that. Meanwhile I have actual homework to do, because I'm doing a course in PHP & APIs during this month of May.

I also have a presentation at work to prepare for, this Tuesday, and I won't have a car all week because I got rear-ended a few weeks ago and the car needs to be at the shop for a whole week.

Another "Road" photo I would have included.

Hopefully some time soon I will actually have more writing stuff to talk about. I will say that I went to one Sunday session a few weeks back, and it was great. I did get stuck into revising one of my projects that's been stewing a while. But I haven't been able to get back since. That's yet another thing I fully intend on doing more of in the relatively future.

So there is all that. But I'm here basically to say hi, and to let you all know that I truly do want to be here more! ;)

Post-NaNo slump ... ish thing (and IWSG #1)

So I finished NaNo and my word count was 106,132 words. I'm happy with the story even if I'm not yet quite happy with the writing - it is a rough draft after all. I now have twelve complete novel drafts. None of them are ready for publication or even for a final read-through by a CP or beta. So that will be my goal next year - get some of my stuff pub-ready (or at least final read-through ready).

Since NaNo ended, I've watched a lot of DVDs - Veronica Mars is my latest addiction, thanks to a friend's recommendation; and did you know there's a movie coming out next year?!! Woo! - and done very little of anything. Things are also crazy busy at work with huge projects underway (many due by year's end. ha.). So I am getting home each arvo having to resist the urge to go out and charge a 6-pack of beer to credit card. Yes, I'm also waiting eagerly for payday (story of my life lately).

So that's what's going on with me right now. And it's already December 5th!

How has the start of December gone for you guys?

P.S. I just read a news story about these guys - and I think they're awesome!

I am editing this post because I only just realised today I'm also meant to post for the IWSG - this is my first time posting, and I guess I am a bit insecure about jumping on this very large and shiny bandwagon! I have visited numerous blogs over the months/years and commented on IWSG posts - but I have always felt a bit intimidated about joining in. Silly, isn't it? But that's how I felt!

I also feel a tiny bit insecure around all the writers out there who are already published, because while I now have twelve novel drafts to my name, not one of them is publication-worthy right now. The thought of publishing something (anything), all on my own, quite frankly terrifies me. I am going to do it, but it's just plain scary. Since releasing my first CD of music, I've found out just how crap I am at selling my "wares", so to speak. And I don't doubt I'll be equally as crap at selling my book wares.

I had a taste of self-promotion when organising my first (and only) blogfest last year. That was hard enough. But trying to convince people to buy stuff I've created, as in really trying hard to talk them into it, is definitely not going to be one of my strengths.

So there you go. That's my first foray into the world if the IWSG. I'm sure I'll have more to say next time ... and yet that's another source of insecurity. What if I never have anything good to say on IWSG day ever again? :)

Write ... Edit ... Publish (Nov. ed. ~ SHARING)

It's that time again, when a bunch of us get together to participate in Denise Covey's full-of-awesome monthly blogfest, Write ... Edit ... Publish. This month's theme, as the image above suggests, is "SHARING", and here are some of the suggested themes:

SUGGESTIONS:

• tell us about your writing in November

• write a flash fiction piece with SHARING as a theme - maybe an Adam and Eve story?

• post some pictures to suit the theme (raid Pinterest!)

• share something memoir-ish about your travels, experiences, your life

• write a poem that encapsulates SHARING in some way

• other...?

For me it was pretty easy to choose what to write about this month - NaNoWriMo!

You know, I can't tell you all how happy I am that NaNo has become so immense since the days of its humble inception. Sometimes, great ideas flare for a while, and then burn out. Maybe the great minds that come up with these ideas work so hard and get worn out, with nobody there to take up the slack and keep their great idea alive. Thankfully that didn't happen with NaNo, and I can't see it happening anytime soon. NaNo is basically an institution now!

I've participated since 2002, failing twice and participating "unofficially" one year. Most of my 11 novels have been NaNo-born. And I guess that's a good enough reason for me to love NaNo!

In truth, I seem to do my best work during months like November, when I'm given permission to just write like a nutter. And by "best" I don't mean "really great writing", just that I get a lot of work done. Of course, it never feels like work, per se. It's more like freedom from work, actually. NaNo is my time to slack off from what I probably should be doing (revision, editing, etc.) and do something for the pure exhilarating fun of it. So this month, I haven't been doing hard work at all. I've been having a supreme amount of fun.

During November so far, I've written 83,305 words (and a tiny bit more as of tonight, which I haven't counted up yet. Too busy writing up this post!). I've loved pretty much every second of it.

(I usually forget to share the linky list of all

the participants, but I didn't this time! Here it is)

Too many words, and I'm glad

It's November 18th, and my NaNo word count is 68,820. I still have a number of juicy scenes to write (by "juicy" I mean dramatic, horrific, sappy, any of that). And I'm pretty sure my word count is going to end up being the usual overbloated type I'm so good at producing.

Sometimes people are daunted by the idea of editing stories that have at least 40k too many words. I know I have been in the past, with some of my other bloated works. ;) But in this case, I'll be glad to have all that extra padding to work with, since I'll have to start things off with some of the old slash 'n burn. I have high hopes of being left with a good amount of quality(ish) wordage afterward. And yeah, I'm already looking forward to revisions, without even having finished the story. But once I've finished, I'll do my usual thing and set the novel aside for a while. Let it stew.

I've got other things I want to achieve before picking this novel back up for revisions (rewriting my novella, reading a new novel I'm beta-ing, and revising at least one of my other novels). But you never know ... the temptation to return to Nora's world earlier than planned might become too great.

For now, I'm still enjoying the slightly shadowy initial journey. And I'm pretty sure this story is gonna end up being one of my favourites.

I hope you're all having a great November!

A NaNo update!

Hi everyone. I'm here to report that I won NaNo on November 13th (last weekend I wrote over 18k, just on Saturday and Sunday. It was bliss!), and I am currently sitting on 54,909 words. I'm still loving the story, so much so in fact that it keeps me up at night (not good for my health, but very good for the creative part of my brain!). I still have juicy bits to write, and am pretty much desperate to get around to writing them. This is definitely a good sign.

There have been other NaNos where once I hit 50k, I really had to struggle to write anything on the project for the rest of the month. There have also been NaNos where it took me most of November to hit 50k. And of course there was one NaNo where I wrote 120k in 30 days (NaNo kept me up at night for all the right reasons that year, too). It really varies from year to year, I think. But one thing I know is that I better enjoy this "last hurrah (for the time being)", because next year I hope to use June (BuNo) and November (NaNo '14) to do serious revision work. Then again, maybe I'll just use the rest of the year for that. Problem is, I tried that this year and just slacked way too much.

For me I guess there's just something magical about both June and November that makes me really inspired to write something new. Nowadays I always have a new exciting idea to write. But the consequence of this is that currently, my ratio of rough-ish drafts to ready-to-publish drafts is 11:0. In other words, not too good. ;)

Did you do/are you doing NaNo this year?

How are you going?

Loving/hating your project?

[O&AM] Thinking about death (while not feeling depressed)

I don't really want this to be a dreary, depressing blog post, but it's a topic that's been on my list for O&AM since the beginning, and I always knew I'd get to it someday. Basically I was 17 when I first started thinking about mortality - my own and other people's. Later a friend told me this was the start of my "quarter-life crisis". A little bit early, sure, but I don't think that's particularly unusual.

The way I was at seventeen, morbidly dwelling on my inevitable demise, makes me wonder about a lot of the YA books out there. Do the teens in those books think about their own mortality? Do they get bogged down by the depressing fact of life that we're all gonna die someday? I did read one YA in recent years that dealt with heavy themes of death and abuse and all that, even though it was a funny, loveable book. Please Ignore Vera Dietz is definitely one of my favourite books ever. I briefly mentioned it back here. And I reviewed it here.

Anyway, I've had my dark times where I've been obsessed with mortality, but for the most part I've got past the obsession - the compulsion to think about it even though I never wanted to. These days I'm enjoying my life and making a lot of it, even if I'm probably not yet quite making "the most" of it. I've done some great things - travelled around the world (twice), formed strong friendships, had and lost (not-so-)great loves, released a music CD, written 11 novels, fostered homeless cats, bought a house, etc.. I will do more great things, at least that's my intention. And while I still often think about mortality - mine and other people's - 'cause I can't help it, it generally doesn't drag me down as much as it used to.

I hope this post didn't depress anyone. I just wanted to share with you a part of me that is ever-present. That's what this little series is about, after all - giving you guys the chance to know me better!

A quick NaNo update:

I hit 40k last night. Specifically, 40,346.

I wrote over 18k this weekend (0 words on Friday).

I'm still loving my story.

I still have many "meaty" scenes to write.

I think it'll wind up being a good length.

And I lurve my characters.

p.s. This is my 500th post!!!!

Mina Lobo's Resurrection II & a NaNo update

Here I was, all ready to prepare my first "proper" NaNo '13 update, and suddenly I saw a link to another blogger's post for Mina Lobo's Resurrection II blogfest. Which I signed up for. So ummm, yeah, I forgot it was on, and for some reason I wrote the date down as having been yesterday (November 6th), but over at Mina's blog it very clearly says November 7th. So I guess I get to participate still! Phew, that was lucky!

Anyway, the thing about my blog is that I don't really write awesome posts that are meant to be recyclable. I just come here and puke out (sorry for the visual) whatever I'm thinking at the time. Or else I slap something on the page that is related to some blogfest or blog hop topic that somebody else came up with. Or I do my own self-imposed regular posts like my Globetrotters posts, my "Out & About Me" posts, etc.. Now, because it's NaNo time right now and I'm madly participating (well, not so madly, but definitely participating), I was gonna just link back to some old post about NaNo (like, from last year, 'cause I participated then too). But then I went back to my November posts and I saw one that I thought was very worth re-sharing. It's this one.

Lately I've talked more about my dad because of my travel posts - Dad took me on an 8-stop world trip when I was 17. But my mum just happens to be totally, completely awesome, and November is not only the month of NaNo, it's the month of my Saggi Mum's birthday. So I figured last year's post about Mum was a very fitting choice for resurrection. :)

Right, now that most of the post has been taken up with pure rambling which passes for participation in the very super awesome Mina Lobo's super-fun blogfest, I will spare a few lines to actually update you on NaNo, as originally intended:

I'm at 18,495 words.

I haven't been writing much, generally around 2-2.5k a day. For me, this isn't a lot.

I'm okay with not writing a lot, 'cause you know, I've been busy at work with huge due-by-year's-end projects, and also I have other stuff to do. Sometimes.

I am really loving my story, even if much of it is crap right now. The story itself is good, I think, so eventually the writing will become good to match the story.

For now, I spew forth and writing comes out.

I LOVE NANO.