Book And Writing Insanity Linkup

I'm doing a link-up!!!:) 
Cait and Mime over at The Notebook Sisters is hosting a link-up/giveaway!

   

Here are the rules:

 

1. Grab the Book and Writing Insanity button above! (Or link to our blog, notebooksisters.com, somewhere in your post.)
2. Pick a set of questions. We have TWO sets. One for writers. One for readers. (Psst! You can do both if you so wish it.)
3. Copy the 20 questions below. You can use all of them or just pick out a few!
4. Add your link to our marvellous linky widget below. It'll be open all of December.
5. Visit AT LEAST the blog linked up in front of you. (The point of linkups is to meet new bloggy friends and squeak over books/writing together. Plus who doesn't like comments? Share the love!)
6. WE LOVE BOOKS!!! (Okay, that isn't really helpful, but who cares?)

You will have to go to their blog to get the button. And to add your link to the "marvelous linky widget".

 

There are two sets of questions, one for bookworms, and one for writers. I'm going to split them up into two posts! This one will be the bookworms questions.

 

1. What was your overall favourite book this year? (Yes. Pick one.)

Pick one? You guys are always so mean with your tag/link-up questions! Just kidding. Ok, now, I would have to say Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Gosh, I feel like I've betrayed all of the other books I loved!

2. Favourite debut(s)? (Author must have been first published in 2013.)I honestly don't think I've read any books by any authors that were published for the first time this year. I need to change that!

 

3. Which books did you reread this year?The first and second Series of Unfortunate Events books and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Both were just as good as the first time I read them!

 

4. Favourite cover(s) this year!Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, United We Spy by Ally Carter, and Unremembered by Jessica Brody.

 

5. Worst cover(s)?I haven't seen any bad covers this year!:)

 

6. What self-published books did you read this year?I don't know. I'm not sure that I've even read any.

 

7. Which book(s) gave you a massive hangover?Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer! I read them both in the same week and for a whole month after I couldn't even pick up another book! The Dreamhouse Kings Series did the same thing!

 

8. Best standalone you read?Unremembered by Jessica Brody!

 

9. Biggest book(s) you've read this year?I'm currently tackling Divergent by Veronica Roth. That's the biggest so far. I'm not one who tends to read very big books.

 

10. Book(s) you followed the hype for and then loved!The Heist Society!

 

11. Most disappointing book(s) you read this year?Dark Eden by Patrick Carmen. I've read several books by this author that I loved! I expected the same for this book. It was significantly below my expectations.

 

12. Favourite leading-female character?Scarlet (Scarlet by Marissa Meyer), Cammie (United We Spy by Ally Carter), and Kat (Heist Society by Ally Carter).

 

13. Favourite leading-male character?Kai (Cinder and Scarlet) even though he made dumb decisions, Hale (Heist Society) even though I don't know his real name, and Xander (Dreamhouse Kings Series.

 

14. Best romance(s)?Scarlet and Wolf! And Cammie and Zach! And Rachel and Solomon (United We Spy)!

 

15. What book(s) hit the DNF list? (Did not finish.)Merlin: The Lost Years and Maze Runner. Not because I didn't like them. It was because other books demanded my attention.

 

16. What book(s) did you read out of your comfort-zone?20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. It was for school and I never even finished it! Add it to the above question in your head.

 

17. Which author did you read the most from?Robert Liparulo (I still don't know how to pronounce his name)! I read his whole Dreamhouse Kings Series in a week! Here's a cool little story: He has am e-mail me thingy on his website! Me and my friend emailed him about who should play in the movie adaptation (if there ever was one) and to tell him how much we loved the books! HE E-MAILED US BACK!!!!!! We basically screamed in excitement! He told us he loved our cast ideas and that a movie was in the works! It has only been optioned, though. We plan on printing a copy for ourselves and framing them for our rooms! We Were totally fangirling over that one!!

 

18. Top 5 books you'd recommend from all the books you've read this year?Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

The Dreamhouse Kinds Series by Robert Liparulo (yes, I'm counting that as one book)

The Gallagher Girls books by Ally Carter

The Trackers books by Patrick Carmen

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

 

19. How many books did you read this year all up?

Maybe 50? I'm not really sure. I don't really count.

 

20. What's a book you're hugely excited for coming out in 2014?!

Cress by Marissa Meyer!!!!! I preordered it Monday!!!!

NaNoWriMo Is Over!!

NaNoWriMo is officially over! I know I promised this post would be up three days ago, but I figured I deserved a break from any kind of writing!

I didn't write 50,000 words, but I'm still proud of myself for even trying! I got a total of 25,020 words! That beat last years word count!

TIME FOR SNIPPETS!!!!

To set his up, the foretold 'bay guys' have come for Jac. He fled to London like he was told to.

It was just getting dark and I decided to find a hotel. I called for a taxi and was just about to get in when I saw a flash of red hair and felt someone bump into me.

“Never mind,” I told the cab driver.

I checked my pocket, and sure enough, there was another letter.

 Jacory,

 They’ve come for you, haven’t they? That’s why you’re here. Don’t worry. And don’t be afraid of the dark. No one will hurt you. I can assure you of that. Quite a few metaphorical bombs are about to be dropped on you, so brace yourself. Also, just remember, we won’t hurt you. We only want to help you.

      Now, walk into the tall, black building in front of you. Walk up to the front desk, and say: Time is not a straight line. I’ll come get you after that. 

 It will be fine,

                                                      CS

 

Here Midnight is explaining time travel to Jac.

“Ok, explain to me again how this works?” They explained time travel to me yesterday, but I had no clue what they were talking about.

“Right now, just know that you set the date, time, and location on the wrist ark, synchronize it with whoever is going with you, and hit the red button,” Midnight explained as Robyn hit buttons on my wrist ark.

 “Kind of ironic that you hit the red button, isn’t it? Usually you hit the green button, and the red button does something bad.”

Here, Jac, Midnight, Shaun, and Robyn have take a trip to 1883 Paris to board the Orient Express!

I looked down at myself and notice that my clothes were changed. I was now wearing the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen! I recognized it from pictures that Robyn had shown me during one of her time period obsessions.

 “Robyn! Did you put me in a ‘dodo’ suit?!” I complained. Everyone burst into laughter and wouldn’t tell me why. I assumed it was because of how I looked.

 “It’s a ‘ditto’ suit, Dumbo!” Robyn smacked my arm.

This is only a few paragraphs after the 'dodo' suit conversation!:)

“Robyn?” I asked.

 “Hmm?”

 “Does Grandma Taylor know that you stole her drapes to make a dress?” I teased. Shaun and I laughed.

 “That was a good one!” He said.

 “No. I hope you don’t mind, boys, but I used camel hair to make your suits.”

 “Shaun and I stopped laughing abruptly. Surely she wouldn’t use the wool we were allergic to.

 “Hey, Jac, are you getting itchy, too?”

 “Sort of?” Our eyes bulged in horror.

  “Just kidding. That’ll teach you to mess with me, though!”

Alright, that's all you get for now. More snippets will be posted as I write, though:)

I'll probably post a few time over the next week because I'm doing a couple link ups!:)

Actually, forget I said that! It will probably be within the next few weeks! We are expecting an ice storm to hit tomorrow evening and they are saying that the power will probably go out. If the storm is anywhere near as bad as 2009, we'll be out of power for at least a week! If that happens, say a little prayer for my sanity! I'll try to post again today, or tomorrow before the ice hits!

BYE!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm Thankful For.....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I just wanted to do a little post listing what I'm thankful for:)

1. God! Without him I would be nothing!

2. My family. They might drive me insane, but I love them.

3. My friends. All of the true, good friends came along about 4-5 years ago. Wow. Has it been that long? Victoria, Lana, Allison, and Lydia! We might not talk everyday, or see each other all the time, but they're my best friends!

4. My church! We haven't been going there for long, but they've treated us like family! I couldn't ask for a better church family!

5. Books! I think everyone agrees with me there! They offer the perfect escape from reality:)

6. Music. Whenever I'm in a bad mood or sad, listening to music makes me feel better. And, of course, you have to have it for jam sessions:)

7. Homeschool! I'm so thankful for homeschool! Without it I would be stuck in public school dealing with those people.

8. Writing! It provides me with the perfect outlet for my creative juices.

9. Piano. An hour at the piano can make my day so much better!

10. All of my second familes! That means the families of all of my friends:)

And last, but certainly not least:

11. My blogosphere friends!!!! You guys's posts and comments never fail to brighten my day!!

Well, that's all I had to say:) 

What are you guys thankful for?

Once again, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Progress Report 3

Well, turns out progress reports weren't a very god idea. I always pick tv or piano over them. 

NaNo is killing me! GRR!! My total wordcount so far is a whopping 18,891 words-_- Stellar right? Why did I just say "stellar". It must have something to do with the fact that I just watched Teen Beach Movie. Most of it is set in a movie that's set in 1962, I think. It's all very confusing.

Seeing as I will not be able to reach 50K, my new goal is 20K. It beats last years record, so I'm happy with it! 

I had a very huge problem with my novel that I didn't realize I had until today. My problem was that I was trying to take one book and stretch it into two books. So, I was basically just writing filler words that had no significance whatsoever. I'm done with filler words. I will write them no more (kudos if you got that reference)!

I don't have any snippets for you this time, because I'm posting from my phone, not my computer.

By the way, I saw Thor 2!!! Oh. My. GOODNESS!!!!! It was A-MA-ZING!!!!!!! The ending was just-WOW!!! A bit confusing as to where loyalties lie, though. And the after credits!!!! Never leave a Marvel movie until all of the credits are over!! Spoilers! (Again kudos if you get that reference, too. Hint: they're from the same show)

I guess I better go now. Seeing as I'm supposed to be going to sleep. I'll post my final progress report on Sunday, after I have my final wordcount.

Later dudes. Again with the Teen beach Movie words.

Progress Report 2

Before I go any further, you guys should know that you should feel special! I should be writing right now, but I'm posting this while mentally kicking myself for not writing first.

As of yesterday, my total word count was 10,961 words. I'm behind by about 15,000. I know, that's a lot of catching up to do. I've been word warring though, and that helps!

Let me tell you a few things that happened this week that kept me busy enough that I couldn't write much:

       - We babysat continually from 3:00 Monday to 3:00 Wednesday.
       - I've had church, praise team practice, Christmas play filming, piano lessons, and Christmas Show Box packing to do this week.
       - I have a piano recital Sunday, so I've been practicing like crazy!
       - I've been super stuck with my story.

I know, I know, they're not really good reasons, but they are. Now, let me tell you things I've accomplished with the story in the last two days!

       -I got to the central action!
       - I wrote 6,000 words!
       - I finally introduced my FMC!!!
       - Three of the four MC's participated in an epic battle of skill, precision, and endurance. It's called a snowball fight.
       - The time frame went from Christmas to January 7th.
       - I got about 9 chapters!
       -I broke the 10,000 mark!

All of those things are pretty big for me!

Now for the snippets:)

In this scene, the three are outside riding horses.

“Snow!” Robyn and Shaun exclaimed in unison.

 “You know, sometimes you two can be just like kids. You’re not adults, your kids in adult bodies,” I teased.

 “I believe the term is being a “kid at heart” and I totally agree, Jac. But, I’m not about to change that. I perfectly enjoy it,” Shaun stated matter-of-factly.

      “Yep! Watching Disney movies, loving the toy stores, getting excited about snow, that’s us! We’re just not ready to grow up all the way,” Robyn agreed.

  “And there isn’t anything wrong with that. We just like to have fun, but we know how to be serious and mature when it counts.”

      “Like at work,” I offered.

“Yeah, we’re definitely mature and serious at work when we’re around all of our friends. Seriously, Jac, you’d think after knowing us for twenty years you would know better than that,” Robyn teased.

      “Yeah, and you’d think that after knowing you two for twenty years I would be able to tell the difference between you when you both dress the same and you put your hair in a hat. But, I don’t and I never will.” We all laughed at that. For years they’ve done that to me and they get me every time.

I this one, Shaun and Jac are talking about Jac's mom.

 

  Is your mom hosting the New Year’s Party again this year that she always does?”

“Yeah, and I have to come,” I rolled my eyes, “She wants me to come and meet the son of some corporate guy she knows. She wants me to get a job with the guy’s son. Apparently she’s not happy that I’m working the register at a shop, but I’m perfectly happy. She’s always been like that, though.”

  “You could always come work at my factory. We always have room for another janitor.” Shaun joked.

 “Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”

“Hey, it’s a corporation job! Our factory makes pencils that the Queen of England herself uses! Wouldn’t your mom he proud of that?” He asked sarcastically.

  “Oh, yeah, totally. She wouldn’t be able to wait to tell her friends that her son sweeps the factory that makes pencils that the queen uses!” We laughed.

This one needs no explanation!

I woke the next morning to the smell of bacon. There’s nothing like waking up to the smell of bacon.

I love this one.

I poked my head in the room that Shaun and Robyn shared. They were both still sleeping soundly. I flipped on the lights.

 “Hurry, get up! Dad’s about to leave without us!” I shouted.

Shaun shot up out of bed and Robyn grumbled.

 “Let him leave us. I’m sleeping.” She murmured.

  “Alright, then. I guess you won’t get any bacon.” I grinned.

 “Did somebody say ‘bacon’?” She jumped up and out of bed.

Her sandy blonde hair looked like she had just fixed it. The same could not be said for Shaun. His hair stuck out in every direction. They both had bags under their chocolate brown eyes.

I chuckled.

"Let’s go eat.” 

This is a scene from the snowball fight.

 

Then it happened. The one thing none of us ever thought would happen. Shaun got hit.

He fell down to the ground and gripped his chest, putting on a show for the kids.

“Robyn! I’m hit!”

“Shaun!”

“Robyn, get out of here. Save yourself.”

“No, Shaun. I’m not leaving you.”

“No, go!”

“I will avenge you!”

She looked at me and winked. She jumped up and shouted,

“Avengers Assemble!”

I stood next to her and we held our fists out in front of us.

“One,” she said.

“Two,” I replied.

“Three!” We yelled and threw everything we had at Dad and Uncle Arthur.

Again, so explanation.

 

By noon Robyn, Shaun, Dad, and I had said our goodbyes and loaded into Dad’s grey Mustang.

“How come every time I ride in this thing it’s too cold to put the top down?” Robyn asked no one in particular. She crossed her arms and pretended to pout.

This one's longer. It's from Shaun's POV and the men in the letter from the previous progress report have come for Jac. Jac is currently wandering around London. Now, I'm not explaining anything else so that I can avoid spoilers.

“I thought you said they would have come for him by now?” I asked Midnight. We were sitting in her office with Robyn while Midnight went over some work stuff.

“They already have,” a new, but not so new, voice said behind me. I turned, and sure enough, there was another Midnight standing behind me.

“He’s here in London now. It’s time for you to go to him, Midnight,” the second Midnight continued, “But remember, don’t let him see your face. He’ll remember it from New Year’s Eve.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry about that.” Midnight got up and put on her scarlet trench coat. And the other Midnight pressed a button on her watch and disappeared into thin air.

I grabbed Midnight’s arm before she could exit through the door.

“Are you sure about this?” I whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

“I have to. Time can’t be rewritten.”

“But what if the goons are who you think they are? What if they’re still following him? What if they see you? And what if they take you?”

“That’s a risk I have to take.”

I studied her face as if it were the last time I would ever see it. Her beautiful eyes were filled with sadness and they turned a darker shade of blue. Her lips were set in a frown. And in that moment, she looked  like she had aged ten years. She no longer looked twenty. I puller her close and held her there. Then, I let her go.

“Be careful.”

“Always am.” She smiled and squeezed my hand one last time before she walked through the door and left.

Robyn walked up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. I turned and I hugged her, too.

“She’ll be fine.”

“She better be.”

 

That's a lot of snippets, but I was behind on them, too!

I'll soon catch up. I have to.

Are any of you doing NaNo? If so, how are you doing?

Until next time!

 

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Reveal!

Jack, over at However Improbable has a book releasing next month! So, to celebrate, she's doing a cover reveal party, and I'm participating! So, here's a little about her book, Abolished Impracticality, :

 

The enemy draws close. Cities will fall. And few can stand in Morcoft's way.

Peter Jones has been betrayed by the man he trusted as his own father. Now he is forced to question everything he has ever been told, and learn the truth of his past. Isidore Thaddeus Reichmann has finally found the person he has hunted all over England for. Yet, not all is as it seems and he begins to fear he might be on the wrong side. Singur faces down his worst fear and comes out a victor, but the price of his triumph may put the last member of his family in grave danger.
Choices now stand before all three young men and the paths they take will not only change their lives, but the whole world.

Battles are coming. Enemies are made. Friendships are questioned. When the only world you've ever known is a lie, where do you go?

And now, a little about Jack herself:

Jack Lewis Baillot is Spartacus! She also likes to believe she's an author. She likes to write books, while drinking tea, and likes to read while eating cookies, but she doesn't like to do Math, even while drinking tea and eating cookies.

 You can find more about Jack and her books on her website.

 

 

I intend to read the book as soon as I can get my hands on it! It sounds amazing!

And, now, for the big revealing!

1....2....3!!

 

 

Doesn't it look amazing!

 

I'll be doing my NaNo progress report tomorrow! I forgot to on Monday because we  were babysitting. My mom's friend was rushed to the ER and we watched her baby for her and her husband. She's fine now though. Her blood pressure was just up and they told her to get to the hospital. We had him until Wednesday, though. So, it will be up tomorrow:)

Till tomorrow:)

Progress Report 1

So, I decided that Monday's would be NaNo progress report days! On progress report days I will tell you guys my total word count, whether or not I'm on track, and I'll post my favorite snippets from that week.

This Monday, I'm behind by like, two days! But, for a good reason! A friend of ours had her baby this morning. We were there yesterday, last night, and most of today. And writing  at the hospital was near impossible! I only got about 500 words done before I gave it up. There were too many people coming in and out for me to be able to concentrate.

So far, my total word count is 4,104 words. As of midnight tonight, I need to have 6,668 words. As you can see, I'm wayyy behind!

Now, for the snippets!:)

I'm going to set the scene for this snippet. So, Jacory is out doing some Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve when a woman slips a note into his hand. This snippet is what the letter says.

Jacory,

At this current time you have no idea who I am or why I am writing this letter, but in the months to come you will begin to understand. My name is Cynthia Storm. You will never hear me called this, though. I will not introduce myself with that name when we meet, either. I know you are wondering why I wrote a letter to begin with- why not call, or say all of this in person?- but it has to be this way. We cannot meet until the appointed day. If we meet any sooner it would alter the flow of events and it could (possibly) change how and when everything takes place. It’s not hard to guess that if that happens- well, never mind. Let’s just make sure that doesn’t happen.

The main reason I am writing this letter is to warn you. I need to warn you that some men are going to come after you. I don’t know exactly when, but it will be sometime in the next two weeks. Don’t let them catch you. They catch you; they kill you. They’ll seem like your friends. Like someone you want to trust. They’ll even tell you that you can’t trust me. That I mean to kill you. If that were true, I would have already done it. When they come for you, you need to run! Get away from them as quickly as possible. You can’t leave until they come to your house, though. When they do come, you need to get to London. I can’t tell you why, and I don’t care how, just get there. Preferably without getting killed, okay?

I promise that when we meet I will be able to tell you a little more. Not everything, but I will be able to tell you a little. I wish I could tell you more now, but it would cause trouble. I know you are very confused and undoubtedly a little afraid, but just remember these things: get away from the men, get to London, and don’t die. Easy, right?

                                                                      Can’t wait to meet you,

                                                                                                     CS

For the next scene, Jac just showed up at his family's Christmas party. He's being greeted by his cousins Shaun and Robyn. Shaun and Robyn are time-travelers, but no one in their family knows that. Their cover jobs are that Shaun is the manager of a pencil-making factory and Robyn is his personal assistant.

“Hey man! How’ve you been?” Shaun asked, shaking my hand.  

      “Pretty good, how about yourself?”

      “Busy, busy. Work has kicked up. It’s been a bit stressful.”

      “Oh, yeah. I’m sure the pencil factory business is just so stressful!” I remarked.

      Robyn hugged me and then backed up Shaun’s statement,

      “He’s not lying, you know. It is stressful right now.”  

      “Oh, so you’re in the business now, too? Leave it to me to be the cousin of the two most boring people in the world.” I teased.

 

In this next snippet, Jac is still teasing the twins about their jobs, but the setting has changed. Now they're walking to the barn from Jac's parents house.

 

     “I love your parents’ place, Jac,” Shaun announced, “I want to move somewhere like this one day.”

     “Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it?”

     My parents lived on a farm. Growing up we always had at least ten horses along with goats, peacocks (my mother loved them), and tons of dogs. Now that I was gone, they cut the horses down to five.

    “Why’d you ever want to move in the first place, Jac?” Robyn questioned me.

     “I wanted to get away for a while. I might move back when my lease is up.”

    “I bet you regret moving. Now you’re stuck working in a shop nine to five every weekday. What a drag.” Robyn teased.

    “Coming from the girl who works as an assistant to the manager of a pencil-making factory. And since when did you start saying ‘drag’?” I could dish it right back.

    “Since I fell in love with nineteen-fifties America.”

    “I’ll have you know, managing a factory is much better than working the register at a clothing shop.” Robyn nodded in agreement with what Shaun said, and Shaun gave me his best snob impression.

      “Alright, alright, I deserved that! But that still didn’t mean you had to say it.” I pretended to be hurt. Neither fell for it.

 

 

Ok, progress report over!