Recap for 2014 and Goals for 2015

Happy New Year's Eve!!

I did a New Year's resolutions post here last year and let me just say, it didn't go wellXD I completed a grand total or zero of my writing goals! I completed six out of eight of my personal goals and two out of two musical goals. That's eight out of eighteen goals. I'd say I failed miserablyXD Some of the goals I'm most proud of myself for completing are:

- Making a new friend (that I talk to outside of church). I completed this. I talk to my youth group on out group text all the timeXD and I text this other girl from youth group on a pretty much daily basis. I also have an online friend that I e-mail daily. I think I did pretty good:)

- Try to get over some of the introverted-ness. Done. I am now almost completely ok with meeting new people, which is huge. I still don't talk a ton if I don't know someone, but I'm better than I was last year!

- I GOT MY DRIVER'S LICENSE!  AND A CAR!!

- I went to at least one new city/town/state. Gatlinburgh! So much fun!

Some of exciting things I've done this year:

- I turned 17! 

- I got a car and my license (yes, I know that's listed above. It's worth mentioning twiceXD).

- I FINISHED A NOVEL FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!!

- I WON NANOWRIMO FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!

- I figured out what I want to do with my life.

- I started shadowing a paralegal at a law office and went to court with them a couple of time.

- I decided to be an overachiever and graduate a year early. I'll be graduating in May:D

- I took the ACTs for the first time AND MADE 26 (for those who don't know, a 26 is amazing for a first time! The average score for first-timers is a 18-22).

Now for my goals for 2015!

Writing Goals

1. Do some edits to my first completed novel, Blurred Lines.

2. Outline and write book 2, Pressure Points.

3. Finish plotting my trilogy, The Trying Times Trilogy (Blurred Lines and Pressure Points are the first 2 books).

Personal Goals

1. Graduate.

2. Get my paralegal license and my Investigations license.

3. Start college majoring in Criminology.

4. Possibly get a job as a paralegal or something like that.

5. Visit one new city, town, or state (yes, this makes the list again this year! We're considering going to New Orleans!:D)

Musical Goals

1. Perform at church more.

2. Learn a few new songs.

3. Compose my own piece.

And there you it! I went a little less ambitious this yearXD But that's still eleven new goals! Wish me luck, blogosphere!

Tell me: what goals do you have for 2015? What exciting things happened in 2014?

Christmas Haul 2014

It's that time of year! Tis' the season of Christmas haul posts from tons of blogger.

Here's most of the new crew all together. It's not all of it, Just the favorite (minus the gifts I get from my best friend's whom I haven't been able to get together with).

Pictured to the right is the Maze Runner DVD from my parents which I 200% loved! It was way better than I expected! To the left is a Frozen necklace and two bracelets from a friend and a pink cross necklace from my grandma.

<--That's what I like to call my "Cass Keychain" from my grandma and grandpa. When I opened it I looked at mom (who is also a Supernatural fan) and said, "A Cass keychain!!" And nail polish from my mom because I've been eyeballing the Sally Hansen fuzzy coat for a while and I love glitter polishXD

Ok, so, anyone who knows me knows Disney is the best thin ever in my eyesXD All the Disney stuff came form the same friend that bought me the Frozen necklace. I love it all!! Disney and snow globes are 2 of my favorite things and those two things combined are the best everXD

LOOK AT THE PRETTY VANS!!!!!!!! I am officially part of the Vans club in my youth groupXD There are three of usXD These are my first pair and I've already bought a second pairXD Those, the comforter, and the 28" Vizio Smart TV are from my parents. Would it been immature to put "#Love"?XD

This is something my grandpa picked out for me. It's made of paper beads! So cool!

Not pictured: 

-$40 worth of sonic cards (I love you Mom and DadXD But it'd swear you're trying to make me fatXD)

- Candy (like I said, my parents are trying to make me fatXD)

- $100 from my Aunt and Uncle (Ya'll are the best!) (even though you'll never see thisXD)

- $50 from my grandparents (same set that bought me all that stuff up thereXD)

I used some of the money for the nice, pretty boxed set of The Maze Runner series. The rest is going towards a completely redecorated room for myselfXD Mom and Dad bought the comforter, they're getting the paint, and dad's building me hanging box shelves. I just have to buy wall decor!!:D Pictures will be posted! I might even vlog;P Maybe. 

So, I know you guys are dying to spill it: What did you get for Christmas? DO you like my things (because I love it when people faun over my stuffXD)? And now, the burning question: should I vlog?

Have Yourself a Nerdy Little Christmas!

Ok, instead of a big, drawn out thing I'm just going to say Merry Christmas and leave you with these cute little things!:)

That one's my favorite;P

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Books Linkup #3: Let's Talk Editing

The Beautiful Book linkup is hosted by Cait and Sky on their blogs. It's a linkup they created for writer bloggers to talk about their books. Part one was in October for planning and plotting. Part two took place in November, the month of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and was on writing that first draft. This is part 3 and it's on editing.



Let's get started, shall we?:)

1. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) how well do you think this book turned out?
Maybe this is a little unrealistic, but I'm going to say a 6 or 7!

2. Have you ever rewritten or edited one of your books before? If so, what do you do to prepare yourself? If not, what's your plan?
I'm definitely not rewriting! My first draft doesn't need that much major work. Just mainly little corrections.

3. What's your final wordcount? Do you plan to lengthen of trim your book?
51,173 words. Lengthen. Definitely lengthen. I need more description and internal talking to balance out the mountain of dialogueXD

4. What are you most proud of? Plot, characters, or pacing?
Umm...I'm pretty proud of the plot, but I'm probably most proud of the characters. Even the side characters that only get to be in like 1 chapter.

5. What's your favorite bit of prose or line from this from this novel?
Let's see, I really like my last line. It's a recording being aired to the whole world. Maybe it won't give away the whole plotXD

“Essentially it’s a plan for world domination one continent at a time. The end game is to rule the world.”

And this little speech from Gwen to the villain:

“I’m here to burn your kingdom down.” I lifted my eyes from the card house I was building to peer at Silverton.

"Do you honestly think three misfits stand a chance up against the government?"

"Not as a whole, no, but the government is like a house of cards. All it takes is one. Little. Blow." With that I blew on the house of cards I was building and the whole thing tumbled.

“You don’t scare me.”

“Good. That means you’ll underestimate us. Which is good for me because I’m not afraid of you.”

“How do you know you won’t underestimate me?”

“Because I know exactly how far you’re willing to go to stop us.”

“And how far is that?”

“I think you’d go tell some government person that’s not in your little scheme everything in exchange for immunity. Or you’d just omit the little part about how you manipulated, threatened, and murder people.”

“See, that’s where you have underestimated me. I didn’t just murder, threatened, and manipulate people. I was the brains of the whole operation. I orchestrated every detail. And I got every government official, including FBI, CIA, DOD, and all the other annoying initials, in the East in on it.”

“I know. I just needed you to admit it.”

I have a ton more, but I'll stop thereXD

6. What aspect of your book needs the most work?
Probably the description.

7. What aspect of your book is your favorite?
Character, hands down!!!:D

8. How are your characters? Well-rounded, or do they still need to be fleshed out?
I think they're pretty well-rounded, but they still need a little bit of work. Not much, but some.

9. If you had to do it over again, what would you change about the whole process?
I'm really not sure. I'm pretty happy with how it went.

10. Did anything happen in your book that completely surprised you? Have any scenes or characters turned out differently to what you planned? Good or bad?
Yes! my characters dyed their hair halfway through (all 3 of the main ones!). It totally messed me up when I forgot to writing it into my character profiles. And I almost forgot to add one major plot twistsXD And Walter (my characters' hack and tech guy) decided he didn't know how to do this one thing, which delayed the ending. And Sammy turned out a bit different than I planned. And so did Gwen. And Chris. And I added this one character spur of the moment and fell in love with him, but he only got to be featured one chapter. So he shall return in book 2!

11. What was the theme and message? D you think it came across? If not, is there anything you could do to bring it out more?
No matter how bad of a person you think you are, you can change.
And
Sometimes you might have to "break the rules" to get the right thing done.
And
Don't trust the government.
And
Never investigate a series of deaths within the government. Bad things will happen.
I think all of those came across pretty wellXD

12. Do you like writing with a deadline (like NaNoWriMo) or do you prefer to write-as-it-comes?
I prefer a deadline. If I don't have a deadline I might not write for a whole week!

13. Comparative title time! What published books, movies, or TV shows are like your book? (Ex: Inkheart meets X-Men, etc.)
If you take the secret society (Hydra) and Bucky from Captain America 2 you have a bit of the future of the story. But I can't for the life of me think of anything right now! Oh! My MC's "team" later on reminds me of the Leverage team a bit!

14. How do you celebrate a finished novel?!
I text/e-mail all of the friends who knew I was working on the story and get all smile-y and happy and type in all caps and seriously overuse exclamation marks and smiley facesXD

15. When people are done reading your book, what feeling do you want them to come away with?
Desperation for book 2!XD Haha I really don't know. I know I want them to remember all the things Sammy tells Gwen when she's being down on herself. All the encouragement he gives her.

And there you have it!!:D I'm pretty much in love with this book!

ATTENTION!!! ATTENTION! IMPORTANT NOVEL ANNOUNCEMENT!

I JUST FINISHED A NOVEL FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!

I'm still in shock, I think.
I never did a "NaNo wrap up" post on it because I was so close to finishing it that I wanted to wait. I can do it now!:D Maybe this coming weekXD I'm too busy celebrating right nowXD

Best Blogging Buddies Award

I was tagged for this award by two different people, so I'm going to answer all thirty questions in one post. I was tagged by Ginny @ Spirit Working In Me and Rachel @ Secret Scribblings.

Rules:
1). You must make a post to show your award on your main blog.
2). You must tag the person who nominated you in your post.
3). You must nominate all of your best buddies, and those whom you want to become best buddies with, who, to your knowledge, have not been nominated, for this award.
4). You must ask your buddies at least 15 questions on your post.
5). You must answer all of the questions your buddies ask you. On your post.

Now, question set #1 is from Ginny!
1). Sweet tea or Lemonade? 
Umm...Can I say both? Because I love both. But, I drink more water than anything.

2). What's your favorite era? 
The 50s, hands down!!! 

3). French Fries or Onion Rings? 
French Fries! No doubt about it! I'm addicted to french fries!

4). What's your favorite band?
Right now it's Imagine Dragons or For King and Country. As for individual artist: Lauren Daigle or Plumb.

5).Which is worse? Having a sore throat or stuffy nose?
Stuffy nose! Ugh!
 
6). What's your favorite NFL team? 
Umm......I don't watch football. But, my youth pastor loves the Steelers and my pastor loves the Cowboys. 

7). Cream cheese or cottage cheese? 
Cottage cheese is one of the grossest things ever! Does that answer your question?

8). Crab or Shrimp? 
Neither. I hate any and all seafood. 

9). History or Science? 
History. But even though I like it more than science, I still don't like it unless I have a teacher who makes it interestingXD

10). Leading or Following? 
I'm a little of both. It depends on my mood and who I'm around.

11). Beef or Pork? 
That is a really hard one. I eat mainly chicken and turkey meat because it's healthier, but I do love steak and BBQ. Hmm...I'm not even going to try to pick oneXD

12). Pencil or Pen? 
It depends on what I'm going to be doing. If I'm writing very much at one time, a pencil. If I'm working out a problem: pencil. If I'm planning a novel or editing, I want a pen.

13). Pizza or Fried Chicken? 
Another really hard one!!!!!!! Umm.....Don't make me choose!!

14). Divergent or The Fault In Our Stars? 
I haven't read either, soooo.....

15). Flip flops or Sandals?
Flip flops! 

Now set #2 from Rachel!
1). What is your favorite book from your childhood?
Ummm...I LOVED the Magic Treehouse Books and the Junie B. Jones, First Grader books and Cam Jensen Mysteries and tons of others. OH!! A Series of Unfortunate Events! I LOVED THOSE!!!!!! I was an avid reader as a child (Spoiler Alert: I still am!)

2). What is your method for keeping track of your writing ideas? (e.g., I have mine all categorized in a three-ring binder.)
Most of the time I type the vague ideas into the notes app on my phone.

3). Have you ever participated in any writing contests (e.g. NaNoWriMo, 100/100), and how did you do?
I've done NaNo 3 times. I lost the first 2 times and won this year!!!!!:D I did 100 for 100 once and did pretty good with it.

4). Tea of coffee (or hot chocolate)?
Tea or Hot Chocolate (but only with the caramel ice cream topping in it)! I hate coffee!

5). Have you ever traveled outside your country? Where?
NoDX I really want to go to England and Australia! I have step cousins and a blogging friend in Australia, so I really want to go there! And I want to go to England so bad because I swear I should have been born BritishXD

6). How long have you been blogging? Is this your first blog?
I've been blogging for about 3 years and yes, this is my first blog.

7). Where do you usually do most of your writing?
Either in my room at my desk or in the recliner in the denXD

8). Of all the characters you've ever written, who is your favorite and why?
Hmm.....Either Midnight from Midnight Run (NaNo '13) or Sammy from Blurred Lines (NaNo '14). Midnight is a very strong individual and I admire her for that (I know I wrote her, but she sort of took on a ind of her own), but she's not afraid to break down when things get bad. She gets scared and she cries and she breaks, but it doesn't make her look weak. And she's very good under pressure.
Sammy is a very optimistic person. He jokes and teases and just basically loves life. He'll admit when things are bad, but he always says that it will be ok no matter what happens. He's very nice and easy going. But, he, too, breaks down in Blurred Lines when things get really bad. Breaks down big time. But he bounces back and then things are good again.

9). Do you have any pets? Do you want any?
I have a poodle named Mitzie and a Yorkie named Chester. I want a husky so bad! And a Border Collie!! And I would love to have a kitten!

10). What do you do when you're not writing?
Um, I make things with polymer clay, play piano, play Nancy Drew games, binge watch netflix, listen to tons of music, read, blog, tons of stuffXD

11). Do you ever get writing inspiration from tv shows/movies?
All. The. Time!!! Shows, movies, books, life, anything!!!!

12). Horror or thrillers, or neither of them, ever?
BOTH!!!!! But, if I have to pick, horror movies!

13). Was there ever a time you thought the movie was actually better than the book?
Not that I can think of. There have been movie adaptations that I thought we as good as the book! Like, I love the Hobbit movies and the Hobbit book both equally. There are aspects of the movie I like better and aspects of the book I like better. I want the same way with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

14). What is your favorite holiday/special occasion and why?
CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!! I love the meaning of Christmas! And we do a lot of helping people throughout the year, but we do a ton more around Christmas (Operation Christmas Child, things like that). Our church also supports a family in another country and we give a big church offering to them around Christmas:)

15). Would you rather BE a dragon or HAVE a dragon?
I would rather HAVE a dragon because I'm afraid of heights, so flying would be an issue if I WAS a dragonXD Yes, that is my logic behind the answerXD

BONUS ROUND:
And now these age old questions; Which is better?

1. Pirates or Ninjas?
A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME!!!!XD Mainly because I love ships and sword fighting and that sort of thing better than all black and martial artsXD

2. Ninjas or Jedi?
Ninjas. I don't like Star Wars. Just saying. *ducks gunshots* I've watched all 6 movies several times through and I just really can't get into it.

And why?
Um....I explained why up there^^ XD

Now my questions:
1). What's your favorite Christmas song ever?
2). Have you ever met a famous person? Who?
3). Favorite fandom?
4). Who is your all-time favorite villain and why?
5). Marvel or DC?
6). Sci-fi or fantasy?
7). Favorite actor?
8). Actress?
9). Favorite Christmas movie?
10). If you could be in any tv show, what would it be?
11). Can you keep a secret?
12). Are you sure?
13). Promise me?
14). Cross your heart?
15). Ok, here goes: Do you know the Muffin Man? XD

Those last 5 questionsXD I'm laughing at my own jokeXD

Anywho! I had fun doing this and I now tag everyone who follows me who hasn't done it yet!:D Have fun!