Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

Name: Four Dead Queens
Author: Astrid Scholte
Series Number/Standalone: Standalone
Dates Read: May 7-June 2
Rating: 3.5
ISBN: 9781101951026

Summary: 
A divided nation. Four Queens. A ruthless pickpocket. A noble messenger. And the murders that unite them.
​
Get in quick, get out quicker.

These are the words Keralie Corrington lives by as the preeminent dipper in the Concord, the central area uniting the four quadrants of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:

Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambition
Ludia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainment
Archia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and nature
Eonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community

When Keralie intercepts a comm disk coming from the House of Concord, what seems like a standard job goes horribly wrong. Upon watching the comm disks, Keralie sees all four queens murdered in four brutal ways. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – information that is bound to be valuable bartering material with the palace – Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, to complete Varin’s original job and see where it takes them - Goodreads

Review:
I went on a bit of a rollercoaster with this book in terms of how much I was enjoying it while reading it.

When I first started the book, I was enjoying the writing and the concept, but the characters weren't really doing anything for me. I was prepared to have it end up being a two star book.

However, around 100 pages in, I got super invested in the story and the characters really started to click with me. The world started to make more sense and the mystery aspect of the plot really started to take off. In fact, I would say everything from parts 2 and 3 were fantastic. I practically doubled my reading speed from the first 100 pages because I was so enthusiastic to keep going and see what the outcome would be. Through here, I thought the book might end up being a 4-4.5 stars.

However, part 4 of the book fell a little flat for me. Especially in the last 60 or so pages. I felt like the solution to the murder was a little bit of a cop out. I felt like some of the conversations that took place should have been a bit more impactful than they turned out to be - as many of them were kind of glossed over and solved easily. This is a large part of what brought the rating down to a 3.5-3.75.

I was also very conflicted with the romance throughout this book. I enjoyed it, generally speaking. I liked both characters and I liked how they interacted with each other. My main problem came from the time frame. By the end of the book, the characters have known each other for about a week and one of them is willing to say that they're in love with the other, which is just a bit much for me.

That being said, I think that this book was a lot of fun and very well done, especially for a debut novel with a concept that was this complex. The story did wrap itself up relatively nicely, even though it felt a bit rushed. I'll definitely try whatever Astrid Sholte writes in the future!

God I'm bad at this

Wow. I guess it's been another 2 years, huh?
Sorry fam. I keep intending to stay active on here and then just falling off the bandwagon.
Honestly, I wasn't reading a whole lot over the last while, but so far this year reading has been going significantly better, so I think it might be time to raise this blog from the grave.

Hopefully I'll have another post up soon!

The Reading Quest

Hey all,
So if you haven't heard already, there is a really cool reading event that is about to take place! It's called The Reading Quest, and it's a reading challenge based on RPG style video games. Since I am a human who has played far too many of those, it would be a shame if I didn't take part!

This challenge is being hosted by Read at Midnight (click here for the post) and all of the artwork was done by CW of Read, Think, Ponder.

Here is the quest board:

I am going to be following along the Rogue path to start!

 For a Banned Book, I am going to read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, which is a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. It covers a fairly taboo subject, which is why it has been banned in so many places, but I've heard such great things about it that I want to give it a chance.

For a cover with a partially obscured face, I intend to read Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. Again, this is a bookt hat I've just been hearing nothing but amazing things about, and it's one of the few books that I currently have with me. I've been meaning to read it since it came out because I have a feeling that I'm really going to enjoy it!

For a book with less than 500 reviews on goodreads, I intend to read Traitor's Masque by Kenley Davidson. This is a self published novel with around 400 reviews, currently, on goodreads. It is supposed to be a retelling of the Cinderella story with some fantastical twists, so I'm really looking forward to diving into it.

For a book published by a small press I want to read Flame by E. Latimer, which is the second book in her Frost Chronicles series which is being published by Patchwork Press. I read the first book last year and really enjoyed it, so I'm looking forward to diving into this one.

And finally, for a book with a one word title, I want to read Rooms by Lauren Oliver. I have loved both of the books that I've read by this author in the past, and this book is also fairly short, which is nice! I'm hoping that I'll love it just as much as her other books and that I'll fly through it!















So those are all of the books I'm currently planning on reading! Are any of you guys taking part? You should let me know! I would love to keep up with your progress. I'm going to be posting at least once a week on here with my updates, mostly because I think it will help me keep track of everything!

Good luck, and happy reading,
Helen.

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Affair
Author: Mindee Arnett
Series: The Arkwell Academy Book One
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target. - Goodreads

The Nightmare Affair is a quick and fun paranormal read that had me flipping the pages as quickly as possible to find out what was going to happen next. This book took me by surprise with how much it dragged me in and wouldn't let me go. I had so much fun while reading it that upon finishing it, I found myself wishing that I owned the rest of the trilogy so that I could simply marathon my way through it, but alas, I do not, and so the marathon will have to wait.

While I did, obviously, love this book, it does have some flaws, most of which didn't take away from my over all enjoyment of the story. The two flaws that immediately stand out to me are some aspects of Dusty's personality, and how predictable one of the plot twists was. 

To elaborate on those points, there were times when I found Dusty to be a bit annoying. She takes everything at face value and doesn't stop to think about things before she acts. Of course, this is what leads to the vast majority of the events that happen in this book, but it would have been nice to have her doubt some of the things being told to her, at least a little bit. Or to have her be a bit stronger in her convictions. As for the plot twist, I'm not going to go into it because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read this book yet, but I will say that I did guess at least one of the people who had a hand in the murders fairly early on. This part, in particular, didn't necessarily take away from my experience of the book, but it did make a lot of the things that this character did throughout the story seem far less genuine than they were supposed to feel at the time.

So, long story short, I liked this book a lot despite its short comings, and I am really looking forward to picking up the rest of the trilogy in the future. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a quick, fun read, or someone who wants a fun paranormal book centering around a type of creature who doesn't get a whole lot of spotlight in current media. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Purchase: Amazon (Available in e-book, hardback, and paperback editions)

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Shelved on Goodreads As: Read, Books of 2017

So it's been two years...

Hey all, How you doin'?
Okay, there's no getting around this. It's been two years since I've posted on this blog. I don't even have an excuse. I loved running this blog, and I loved writing the book reviews that I used to post on here, among the other things.
I've been having a lot of trouble lately keeping up with my youtube channel. I don't have as much time as I used to any more, so filming and editing videos is difficult. I'm hoping to make up for some of that lost content on here, as finding an hour to set aside to write a blog post is much easier than finding 3-8 hours to make a video.
I'm hoping that I'll be posting on here again, soon. Keep an eye out, and try to hold me accountable.

Ciao for now,
Helen.

Every Day by David Levithan

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Series: Every Day Book One
Synopsis: "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day." -Goodreads.

Review: This book is amazing, first of all. I needed to get that out of the way right away. I can't even begin to explain all of the intricacies of this book or the amount of thought that David Levithan must have put into it. Even though A wakes up in the body of only sixteen year olds in the state of Maryland, none of the stories become repetitive. Every body is unique, every experience is unique. 

This book also manages to tackle some pretty big topics, some surrounding love, but not all of them. It handles LGBTQIA issues with David Levithan's usual ease, while also having chapters that deal with drug addiction and depression, as well as many different types of families in general. All of them were presented in ways which showed respect and understanding for the people who are dealing with the problems that they may be dealing with on a regular basis.

Seeing as I can't really go much further into a discussion without spoilers, and I really don't want to spoil anybody on this glorious book, I shall have to end my review here. Just know that I absolutely loved this book, and the only problems I really had with it were the last two chapters, and the relative insta-love quality that it has, at least on one side. The saving grace for the love story was the fact that the love wasn't reciprocated off of the bat, and in fact all of the issues surrounding the love story were addressed as the story went on. 

But seriously, this book is amazing. GO READ IT.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Shelved on Goodreads as:

1. Read
2. Books of 2015
3. Favorites
4. Unbelievably Cute

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

Title: Landry Park
Author: Bethany Hagen
Series: Landry Park, Book One
Synopsis: "Downton Abbey meets The Selection in this dystopian tale of love and betrayal
In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire." - Goodreads.

Review: I listened to this on an audiobook which I got from Scribd, a site which I have absolutely fallen in love with. I have to say that I'm really glad that I did because I don't know if I would have finished it if I had just been reading it like any other book.

The thing is, the writing in this book was absolutely stunning. It was weirdly poetic and super descriptive, and an absolute pleasure to read, but sometimes the pacing of the book was just a tad too slow for my liking. I feel like, even though a fair bit did actually happen within the span of this book, it didn't FEEL like a whole lot happened. Sometimes the descriptions, which were beautifully well done, would kind of take away from the actual story.

I had a couple of issues with the characters. Madeline and David both fell quite flat for me, especially considering that they were supposed to be the two main-ish characters. Unfortunately, their flatness wasn't saved by any of the side characters either. All of the characters were fairly flat (at least in my opinion), and none of them were particularly likable. I don't know if it was just me, but even though I could connect with Madeline on several levels as we have some similar tendencies, I just couldn't stand listening to her back and forth constantly going. The relationship between her and David, which did take a long time to actually become anything, still managed to feel rather insta-lovey. After seeing David for the first time, Madeline never stopped thinking about him, which did get rather annoying.

Over all, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought that I would. It was okay, but I don't think I'll be continuing on with the series. That being said, if Bethany Hagen ever puts out a different book, whether it be a stand alone or a new series, I will definitely give it a shot if only for her amazing writing.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Shelved on Goodreads as:

1. Read
2. Books of 2015

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Title: The House of the Scorpion
Author: Nancy Farmer
Series: Matteo Alacran, Book One
Synopsis: "Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free?" -Goodreads.


Review: Earlier this moth, I was having a lot of trouble with a reading slump. I had finished a book around the third of April, and then finished nothing until I finished this book, which happened on April twenty-third. I had tried to pick up several books, but none of them was able to keep my attention until I picked up this book. I was enjoying it so much that I started a little book club on goodreads, so that I could enjoy it with others if they so chose.


I initially picked up this book last year from a second hand shop after hearing Regan from PeruseProject talk about how much she enjoyed it in a wrap up. As per usual, I took forever to actually pick it up, but MAN am I ever glad that I did.

This book took me a bit by surprise, as I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it. The title gives absolutely nothing away about the story itself, and in fact doesn't make sense until a fair way into the book, but when it makes sense, does it ever make sense. I have such a love for this book now, I can't even begin to explain it. All I can really say is that if you haven't picked up this book yet, that you really, really should. It will surprise you, and it will make you fall in love with it. It will make you feel so many different kinds of emotions, and it will make you frustrated in the most fantastic way.

I need the next book in this series. I have to know where the story is going to go, what is going to happen to the characters. I want to say that I am ready for all of the twists and turns it will throw at me, but I could never be prepared for what Nancy Farmer will give me. I can just hope and pray that it will live up to the expectations that I have for it after reading this book.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Shelved on Goodreads as:

1. Read
2. Books of 2015
3. Favorites

Wow, It's Been a While...

Wow, I've just realized how long its been since I posted on here.
Its been almost six months, and that is just not good.

Hello everybody, if you are still looking at this, I'm sorry I've been away for so long. Things have been a bit hectic with this semester of school and I've been moving all of my stuff into storage so that I can go back home for the summer. Today I wrote my last final exam, so I thought it would be a good time to reboot my blog.

I'm hoping that I can do a bit of an overhaul over the summer. I don't know how much I will truly be able to do, but I hope that I can make it a habit to write on here again.

What will this overhaul entail?

Well, mostly, it will be me actually using this damn thing again. I have lots of books to read, which means I have lots of books to review. I really want to start reviewing all of the books that I read again I loved doing it when I did it, and I still don't know why I ever stopped.

That being said, I also don't want this blog to be nothing but book reviews. I want to have some fun with it! I'm still not entirely sure what other types of posts I will be making, but you can expect to see something different from time to time. It might be a tag, it might be a personal ramble, it might be something about Scarlett (my NaNoWriMo novel) and editing my manuscript, maybe it will even be the return of TARDIS Tuesdays! We will have to wait and see.

I hope that you all are having a lovely day, wherever you may be.
What books are you reading right now? Let me know down below!
I respond to every comment, and I love hearing from you!

Until next time,
Helen.

January 2015 TBR

Hello Everybody,
Since I do not currently have the use of my camera and I can't post any videos on my channel for a while, I thought I would make a blog post with my January 2015 To Be Read, just in case its too late into the month to do it on my channel by the time I have the use of my camera back.

The first thing I plan to read this month is Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I have been too intimidated to read this book for a very long time because of how long it is. However, I have always wanted to watch the show and read the books, and I think I'm finally ready to take on the challenge. I did start this in December of last year, but only read about 77 pages. I am loving it so far, I just had some other things that I wanted to read, and unfortunately I am terrible at reading more than one book at once, even if I am doing it right now.

I hope to have this book finished by the end of the month!

I am also currently reading Prophesy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink. I also started this in December, but have only read about 40 pages of it so far. My understanding of it is that Alice and Lia, twin sisters, are prophesied to fight against one another. They both have the same goal, but go about it in opposite ways. So far, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book, but I do want to finish it seeing as I also own the second book in this trilogy.

I am also currently reading Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. (For someone who doesn't do well with reading more than one book at once, it is probably a bad idea to be reading three). I am listening to the Audiobook of this one, which is Narrated by Neil Patrick Harris himself. I am just over 10% of the way through, and I am absolutely loving it.

The first book that I plan to pick up after I have finished the previous three is The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. I read The Maze Runner in September, in order to prepare myself for the movie, and I ended up really enjoying it. I finally got my hands on a copy of the sequel, so I am looking forward to reading it. However, if The Maze Runner has mixed reviews, I don't even want to talk about the reviews for this one. In general, the rating is lower than it is for the first book and everyone seems to agree that it isn't as good, but I am still looking forward to seeing what happens to our cast of characters. Who knows? Maybe having such low expectations going into it will make me like it a bit more.

And of course, as if it is any surprise, when I finish The Scorch Trials, I want to pick up The Death Cure by James Dashner, which is the third and final book in The Maze Runner Trilogy. If I do manage to finish this book, which I think I will, then this will be my first completed series of 2015.

I am also hoping that, if I am lucky, I can also start Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I did technically start this book back in October, but I was in a bit of a slump and couldn't get into it. Now, I am hoping that my mood will be much better and that I can enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen, which I read in October of 2013.

And finally, if I manage to get through all of those, I hope to read From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry my Justin Pearson. This is another sort-of autobiography about Justin's life before, during, and after he played in some of the largest band names in the punk sphere. I got this book from my friend Colton for Christmas, and when I flipped through it and read the chapter heads, I was doubled over laughing already, so I'm excited to dive into this one, because it promises a lot of good times and good laughs.










That's it! These are all of the books that I plan to read this month. If you have read any of these books, please feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments down below. I do respond to every comment I receive, and I love hearing from you!

Lots of Love,
Helen.

Channel Hiatus

Hello everybody,
For those of you who follow my youtube channel, you may have already seen the very very low quality webcam video that I posted yesterday about my channel going on a bit of a hiatus. I have already been gone for a while because while I was at home, my computer wouldn't connect to the internet, so with three weeks of already having no videos, this wasn't fun for me to post.

The cord that I need to use to connect my camera to the computer so that I can upload its contents, as well as to charge it, was accidentally left at my parents house over Christmas break. My Mumzie says that she is going to attempt to send it out as soon as possible, if she can find it. If not, I have to scour tech stores to see if they have a cord that I can use for my camera, and if not, then I will have to buy a new camera all together, and I might not be able to afford that, depending on the price. I'm hoping that she will be able to find the cord quickly and send it to me so that videos can be up as soon as possible.

Videos that you can expect once my cord is back include:
December Book Haul
December Wrap Up
January TBR
Year in Books (2014)
Top 10 Books of 2014
and maybe (but that is a big maybe) a tour of my University book 'shelf'

Hopefully, expecting these videos will be enough to keep you guys here, but I also totally understand if you decide to leave. I'll be back as soon as possible, I promise you that.

Lots of Love,
Helen.

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Title: Juliet Immortal
Author: Stacey Jay
Series: Juliet Immortal Duology: Book One
Star Rating: ★★★★

"Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love." -Goodreads.

Over all I was pleasantly surprised by this story. I found it on the bargain shelf at my local bookstore and decided to give it a shot after seeing Ariel Bissett's review of it, saying that she gave it three out of five stars. I was expecting to enjoy it, but not as much as I did. I ended up falling in love with the story, the only thing that really bothered me was the serious case of Insta-love that this book suffers from. As soon as Juliet takes over Ariel's body, she immediately falls in love with this boy, and she goes back and forth between him and Romeo for quite a bit of the book. The thing that I enjoyed the most about this book, however, was Romeo. 

In the original play by Shakespeare, I absolutely hated Romeo. He annoyed me to no end, however in this book, I really enjoyed him. He was sarcastic and witty, and the way that he would push Juliet's buttons just made me giggle constantly. To be honest, the main reason that I want to continue on with this series is the fact that the next book follows Romeo instead of Juliet, and therefor promises me a good time. I definitely look forward to reading it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who didn't really enjoy the play when they had to read it in school. I am sure that some people who did enjoy it would like it as well, but they would have to be open to the spin that this book takes. It was a fun read, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day 23

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Today is day 23 of NaNoWriMo, and as of 11:30 this morning, I have 50k words, and Scarlett is officially complete! I still can't believe that everything is said and done, and I am so happy that Scarlett is on paper, even if its a super, super rough draft.

I have spent the last little while working to format it properly for printing so that I can have the manuscript ready for editing and revisions. I love having a printed copy of my manuscript to work on.

This is going to be a super short entry, but I hope that you all are doing well! Have any of you won NaNoWriMo yet, or are you close to winning? Let me know down in the comments!

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day 22

Good Morning Everyone,
Today is day 22 of NaNoWriMo and the word count goal for today is 36,666, and my word count goal is still currently sitting at 40,076. Yes, I know. I didn't write at all yesterday.

I ended up spending some time with my friend Kelly, whom I hadn't seen in almost three weeks, even though we live in the same town and go to the same University. We used to hang out a lot before this month, but things got a bit crazy. We met up at the mall, she helped me with my grocery shopping, we got some lunch, and we went to an early showing of Guardians of the Galaxy which just got to the cheap theatre down the street from my University. We had a lot of fun, although I discovered that Kelly hadn't watched any Marvel movies up until yesterday, so now I have to make her watch everything. Marvel movie marathon, here we come!

Anyway, since I was spending time with Kelly, I decided to take a break from writing for the day (and Isadora gave me permission to do so, since she still hadn't read the three chapters that I had posted on Thursday). Today, I get to finish my last essay of the semester, and then I am going to dedicate my time and energy into writing as much of Scarlett as possible. I think that I can finish it today if I try hard enough, but we will have to see.

Again, this is going to be a short entry, but instead of it being because I'm falling asleep at my keyboard, it is simply because I have said everything that I wanted to say. I hope that you are all having a great time, we are finally in the last week of NaNoWriMo! It is crunch time! Are you keeping up, or is this the week of marathon writing so that you can still get to the 50k goal? Let me know in the comments how your novel is coming along.

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day Twenty-One

Hello Everyone,
Normally I would be writing this when I wake up in the morning, but seeing as its past midnight, and I'm awake, I figured I might as well just get this out of the way. Today is day 21 of NaNoWriMo and the word count goal for today is 35,000 words, and I am currently sitting at 40,076 words!

All of the writing that I did towards that was done by 11:30, so it all counts as yesterday's words, but I plan on writing a fair bit today. I have to write my last essay, and that will be the first thing I tackle (After I go grocery shopping. Seriously, I'm almost out of food and its terrifying), and I have to register for classes this afternoon as well. I have two classes that I REALLY want to take, so I'm going to be in there like a dirty shirt as soon as registration opens up for me.

I am hoping that once I have that essay done and I'm registered for my classes next semester that I will be able to just sit down and write Scarlett for the rest of the day. Maybe even finish it, which would be amazing. I only have six chapters left to write, seven if I decide to do the epilogue. It is a lot to do, but I think that I could get it done if I was motivated enough.

Also, Scarlett hit 100 views on Tablo today, so if you've been reading it at all, I want to thank you. I am so close to being on the emerging page that its kind of terrifying. I hope that things have been going well for you guys!

I'm sorry that today's entry is so short, but I took a sleeping pill about ten minutes ago, and its starting to get increasingly difficult to type. Like the number of times that I have hit backspace over the last couple of sentences is ridiculous. As always leave your Tablo accounts in the comments so that I can check you out and give you a follow.

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day twenty

Hello Everyone!
Today is day twenty of NaNoWriMo and the word count goal for today is 33,333 words! My word count is currently sitting at 35,438 words! I did manage to write another chapter of Scarlett last night, and I also managed to write about 1,200 words towards the essay that was really giving me trouble, so over all, I would call yesterday a writing success.

Around this time of the month is where things start to get crazy for NaNoWriMo. As of today, you can officially validate your novel! Now is your chance to shine! If you have already written 50k words, then go and validate! Get your winner's certificate!

Even though last night was good for productivity, it wasn't necessarily good for me. I finished all of that writing at about one in the morning (I was REALLY having trouble with that essay and wanted to get as far as I could. Getting those 1,200 words took me almost six hours), and then of course I couldn't sleep. I had resigned to the idea that I wasn't going to be able to sleep when I suddenly got a really bad stomach ache, which was at about 5:30 in the morning. I took a Gravol (And not one of the ginger ones. I took on of the old fashioned, will-knock-you-out ones) and finally fell asleep at about six. I just woke up about half an hour ago (it is currently 11:30 in the morning as I type this).

I know that might not seem to bad to a lot of you, especially since it still works out to only being five hours of sleep, but I come from a family of early-risers. I am always awake by eight, so sleeping until eleven feels wrong. However, I at least feel well rested, since I slept like a brick thanks to the Gravol.

I had originally planned to spend my morning finishing that troubling essay and then reading some of the book that I just started (Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay. I'll have a review up when I finish it!) because I have been really enjoying it, and my class today doesn't start until 2:30. I'm hoping that I can still at least finish that essay, and if I still have some time to read, that will just be a bonus.

In case you are wondering why I don't have writing Scarlett on the list of things that I wanted to do that morning, its because I find that I write better from about 8pm until Midnight. I will still be writing Chapter Twenty-Two, it will just be later tonight after I have had my evening chat with Isadora. She still hasn't read the chapter I put up yesterday on Tablo either, so it will be interesting to see what she thinks of it. It was a pretty fun chapter which just happened to be full of drunken shenanigans.

As always, if you have a Tablo account, link it in the comments so that I can check it out and give you a follow. I hope that all of your stories are coming along nicely!

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day Nineteen

Good Morning Everyone,
Today is day nineteen of NaNoWriMo and the word count goal for today is 31,666, and I am currently sitting at 33,380 words!

As you can probably tell, I did manage to write a little bit yesterday, in fact I did finish a chapter, however it was a very short chapter, coming in at just over 1,200 words. I wanted to try and add in another four hundred or so words, but no matter how I looked at it at the time, I couldn't find anything that I needed to add, so I decided to just let it be. Hopefully chapter twenty-one and twenty-two will be longer since they are more action-y chapters.

I mentioned yesterday that I had reached the end of what I had outlined again (since I didn't manage to finish my outline before November, and when I sat down to get more of it done, I got through outlining seven chapters and then just couldn't do it anymore), so yesterday I also sat down and finished outlining the rest of Scarlett. Yes, I finally have the complete outline finished, so I know what is going to happen throughout the rest of the story and in what order.  It also forced me to finally decide on a concrete ending for the story.

I was tossing around so many ideas for how the story would end. I wanted it to be something that would be fitting, but that readers might not necessarily expect. Isadora (the friend who forces me to do my writing every day) even gave me a few ideas that she had for the ending from reading the chapters as they came along. Some of the details of the endings that she gave me were actually very similar to some of the ones I had thought of, but I ended up choosing the one that I think fits the story best, and hopefully she will see it that way too.

Scarlett is going to have a grand total of thirty chapters, and a potential epilogue. I haven't decided yet if I want to put the epilogue in or not because it might take away from the story, but I'll see how I feel when it comes to writing it. If things keep going as well as they have been, then it looks like I will have written quite a bit over 50k words by the end of the month, which would be amazing.

I hope that you all are having a good day so far, and I hope that writing your novels is going well. As always, feel free to leave your Tablo account in the comments so that I can check it out and give you a follow.

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day Eighteen

Hello Everybody,
Today is day eighteen of NaNoWriMo, and the word count goal for today is 30,000 words! I am currently sitting at 32,583 words! It is just past noon here, and I haven't written yet today, but again I have reached the end of my outline, so I have to continue with that before I can write any more.

Yesterday ended up being a really good writing day for me. I managed to write chapter seventeen before I left for class (I literally finished it with two minutes before I had to leave), and then managed to write chapter eighteen when I got home that afternoon while I was waiting for Isadora to get home from her rehearsal (she is playing a part in a play back home). When she and I finished talking, I even managed to write chapter nineteen!

For those of you who are keeping track at all, between those three chapters, I wrote 4,737 words yesterday! I still can't believe it!

Today, I have a couple of plans. I need to start working on one of my essays for school, because it is due a bit earlier than I thought it was. My class today isn't until 2:30, so I still have a bit of time, and I might even try to start it before I have to leave for it. (We'll see how lazy I feel like being). I also really want to finish the book that has been plaguing me all month: Modelland by Tyra Banks. I started this book near the end of October, and I was really enjoying it at the time because it was so lighthearted and fun, and it was just what I was needing at the time. However, the book has just dragged on and on and on, which is why I still haven't finished it. However, I am down to the last 70 pages, so I should be able to just power through the end of it.

Thank god.

After I finish that, I plan to write chapter twenty of Scarlett (Cross My Heart and Hope to Die? I still can't decide between the two). As I said, I do have to do some more outlining, so I will probably do that while I wait for dinner to cook, and then after my usual evening chat with Isadora, I shall write the chapter. I really want to try and hit my 50k before the end of this week so that I don't have to worry about it while I write my essays over the weekend.

Something else which was kind of interesting, I don't know how it happened, but this morning Scarlett jumped by 20 reads on Tablo! So if any of you have been reading it, then I thank you, because it means so much to me that people are reading it as much as they are.

I hope that you all are doing well and keeping up with your word count goals. As always, leave your Tablo accounts down in the comments so that I can check it out and give you a follow!

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day Seventeen

Good Morning Everyone,
Today is day seventeen of NaNoWriMo, and the word count goal is 28,333, and I am currently sitting at 27,846. I haven't hit the word count goal yet for today, but its only eight in the morning and I haven't done any writing yet.

Yesterday, as you could probably tell from my entry, was a fairly difficult day for me. I was stuck somewhere that I wasn't fully comfortable for most of the day, but when I did finally get back to my dorm, I felt so much better. I got my review for Flashdance written, got to talk to my family, and got to talk to Isadora (who then pestered me until I started writing another chapter of Scarlett, so its thanks to her that I got all of those new words last night).

However, after all of that good, something bad apparently had to happen. I was looking at the syllabus for my Canadian Literature class, and apparently the essay that I thought was due on Monday next week for Peer Review, is actually do on Wednesday, so I don't have as much time to work on it as I thought. I still have no idea how I want to approach this essay, let alone have a full eight to ten page rough draft done for class in two days.

I'll figure it out, I always do...

on a happier note: chapter sixteen is officially my longest chapter of Scarlett so far, coming in at over 2,300 words, and whenever I actually get off of my ass to revise it, it will probably be even longer. I'm still not entirely happy with the conversation that Scarlett and Death had, and I can't wait to be able to fix it.

I'm hoping to write chapter seventeen before I leave for class at one, and then maybe I can write chapter eighteen tonight when I'm chatting with Isadora again. Hopefully I'll be able to write a little bit of that essay too, at least enough that I can bring to that peer review session and have someone look at to get feedback...

I really hate peer review...

I hope that you all are having a fantastic Day Seventeen so far! Let me know in the comments section, I always look forward to hearing from you guys!

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day Sixteen

Hello Everybody,
You may notice that I missed a day of blogging, and that is because yesterday was Flashdance day! I had to leave my dorm at 7 in the morning, travel for nearly three hours, get ready, get picked up, get lost, and finally make it to the theatre, where I watched a FANTASTIC musical. When it was done, we went to dinner and travelled back to my friend's grandparents house, where we spent the night, and where I write to you from now.

Today is now day sixteen of NaNoWriMo, and today's word count goal is 26,666 words. I am currently sitting at 25,836. I haven't been able to do much writing, as you probably guessed from the insane amount of travelling that I did yesterday, and the 400-ish words that I added all came last night right before I went to sleep. Today, I am going to be here until almost four, then it will be onto the 1.5 hour long trip back home to my dorm. I wish I could say that the wait to get back didn't bother me, but it does a bit.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm not entirely comfortable here...

They haven't done anything to make me feel uncomfortable, I just don't really gel with their family all that well. Its always super awkward when I'm with them.

I have been attempting to get as much homework as I can done while in the room that they have been letting me use. I have finished my review of Flashdance, which I have to hand in on Wednesday, and I have also been attempting to write some more of Scarlett, so that I can get ahead again before I have to write two more essays that are all going to be due next week. Maybe I could even finish Scarlett before Friday? Who knows? I guess I'll just have to try and keep writing, no matter how sucky I'm feeling (I have been feeling REALLY sucky lately, not about Scarlett, just in general. Think I might be coming down with a bit of the flu...)

I hope that you all are doing better than me right now. Hopefully I'll feel better when I get home.

Lots of NaNo-Love,
Helen.