WRiTE CLUB

On a whim I entered WRiTE CLUB the other day. Don't know what it is? Go here to check it out. I'll wait.
Are you back? Good. For those of you who didn't read the post I'll give you a brief rundown. Each WRiTER must submit one 500 word sample of their writing. Once a week two random entries will be placed head to head for a WRiTE. For each WRiTE members vote for their favorite sample. After the 12 week preliminaries the winners will go head to head with other winners until a final winner is chosen.
Everything is anonymous. All entries have pen names and the WRiTERS aren't allowed to tell people to vote for them. That's totally cool too it's good clean fun.
There are many more rules, but if you want to check it out you have to go here. If you want to submit an entry there is still time left. Also you have to register if you want to vote on entries. I hope you consider joining this awesome event.

Happy Reading!

YA Highway RTW: Leslie Enchanted

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This Week's Topic, to prepare for our Bookmobile chat about INCARNATE with author Jodi Meadows next Tuesday, July 31: 
If you could be reincarnated as any fictional character, which would it be?


This one was really hard to do. Not because I thought of too many, but I couldn't think of a really good one. So I just did the ultimate cop-out and chose Ella from Ella Enchanted. Ella Enchanted is the only books I've read over ten times. It never gets old.

My tattered copy

Ella is very strong, independent and a overall funny gal. Despite her curse she tries her hardest to stay true to herself no matter what order is given to her. (She not afraid to sock a girl in the face.) When she's sick of the orders given to her, she take her life into her own hands and sets off on a journey to find Lucinda, the fairy who cursed her. Ella also isn't afraid of all of the magic in her world. She shows no fear when it comes to giants, elves and ogres. I mean, the girl can talk a pack of hungry ogres to sleep. This girl doesn't need saving.
*coughcoughAnneHathawaycoughcouch*

Not only is she a strong person with a great personality,  but her strength and personality catches the eye of Prince Char. Oh Prince Char...next to Westley from the Princess Bride, he's at the top of my list of fictional crushes.

What characters would you like to be reincarnated as? And just for fun who is your fictional character crush?

Life Update

So this week I started a Vlog. Here's the video I made today. There are more. If you want to watch them all in order go here

I'm not getting as much writing in as I want to. But I did get a nice start. This week I am dedicating myself 100% to get 1000+ words in a day. I'll keep you updated.

Still haven't finished reading any books. Life's crazy like that.

I think I need to be on the internet less. That will solve 95% of my problems.

Skinny Cow Caramel Truffle=perfection

Too much math for one day.

Happy Reading!

YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This Week's Topic: When you need creative inspiration, where do you go?

Since I am home for the summer I have limited transportation to go where I want to go when I write. So most of the time I am stuck at home. Sometimes I'm desperate for a change of scenery so I move around my house. Sometimes I go to the kitchen. Other times I go to the living room. I rarely write in my bedroom. I'm boring I know.

One thing that really got my creative juices flowing was walking around the block with my mom. I talk a lot, but when I am at home no one wants to listen to me rambling about my WIP. When I am walking with my mom I finally have a chance to explain to someone what I'm writing, new ideas and how excited I am to finish. And she listens! That's all I ask for. Once I'm back in the house I can crank out about 1k. 

Sometimes for creative inspiration I go to my best friend. My current WIP is about two best friends and I basically take elements from our friendship (the good and the bad) and put it in my story. Whether it's through text, tweets or I have the rare chance to hang out with her, she always inspires new ideas for my WIP. 

Reading also inspires me. It reminds me of what I my ultimate goal is when I write. Sometimes I lose sight of that. 

So tell me readers, where do do you for creative inspiration? Who inspires you to write? Leave a comment below.

Happy Reading!

P.S. If you want to learn more about YA Highway and Road Trip Wednesday go here.

30 Days of Vlogging

To kick myself in the pants to start vlogging more like a promised I started a 30 Days of Vlogging. I'm excited to see what kind of topics I'll talk about this month. I know I'll be packing and getting ready for school during that last week so that will be interesting. To start things off I declared Mondays as Morphinominal Mondays where I talk about Power Rangers. It's the one thing I know a lot about. I'm a dork. Anyway here is my first vlog, I hope you enjoy!

YA Highway Anniversary Giveaway

The ladies over at YA Highway are having a massive giveaway to celebrate their 3rd year anniversary. They are giving away a ton of stuff including books, ARCs and query critiques. Also a grand prize so big you have to click here to see for yourself.
YA Highway is an amazing blog written by some amazing people. I personally have been following this blog for years and I love it. They have great features like Road Trip Wednesday, Field Trip Friday, lots of book reviews and author and agent interviews. So hurry up and check it out.


Happy Reading!

Relaxation

Lately I've been stressed. I have a million things on my mind and it's been affecting my writing. Sometimes the stress is good. Like when I have a bunch of ideas that I just have to it write down and crack out 2000 words in a night. However, other times on top of the ideas I start thinking about life in general and as a college student, life is pretty complicated. On those days I can't even get out 200 words.
It kind of sucks, but I found that relaxation helps me with clearing my head. I'm not really stating anything new, but this is what was on my mind.
So what did I do to help with my stress? I learned ho to knit a hat. Actually two hats I'm working on my third one right now.

School Colors

While knitting I'm not really thinking about my WIP or school or my life struggles. I'm just trying to make sure I don't mess up the hat. I'll hopefully learn how to knit something other than a hat. Since my head it is clear sitting down to write has been much easier.

Reading Update: I started chapter two in Catch-22. I'm trying. My dad assures me it gets better. Currently on my list of summer reads I am a third of the way through The Liar Society.

Writing Update: So as you can see from my word count meter I have reached over14,000 words in my WIP. This is the farthest I've gotten since I finished my first novel junior year in high school. 

Chocolate Update: Skinny Cow White Mint Truffle bars. Best ice cream bar EVER. I'm addicted. It's minty with a little chocolate drizzle to satisfy my chocolate cravings. I'm going to try other ice cream bars in that brand. I'll keep you updated.

What do you do to relax when stressed? How does it work for you? What chocolaty treat should I try?

Made this one for mom

Happy Reading!

PS: Someone left an anonymous comment on the Just For Fins swag giveaway post. Who ever left can you please DM on twitter @laboyden so we could sort out the details. Also if anyone wants a bookmark I have a few left. Just leave a comment or Tweet me and I'll send you one. Thanks