Tuesday 2 May 2017

April: mostly Camp NaNo, right?





Here's my slightly late recap for April. (but maybe that's a good thing, that it's late? because I know on the 30th of April my Blogger feed exploded and I still haven't gotten to you all yet, sorry!)


Obviously, April was Camp NaNo month. I survived. Just.

As you can see from the graph, I started off fine. Life rapidly caught up. I had trouble writing; not that I never had time, or that I was 'blocked', but I'd sit down and I simply didn't want to write.

The situation seemed dire. (Actually it was quite bad.) But I discovered myWriteClub (which I may have mentioned?) and managed to get a good 8 days or so of 1.2-1.8k.

 
 Three Sisters is nowhere near finished, though! The graph will tell you that my goal was 'only' 15k; I'm not slamming myself, I'm just accepting that although this is a great achievement for me, my story is obviously going to take more than 15,000 words. (Haven't even got the girl + guy to meet yet! ....that's my Cinderella thread; the whole story is not a romance. Imagine if I was writing a romance and, 15k into the story, they hadn't met yet??)

Maybe I'll do some snippets or something of Three Sisters sometime. Not now, though... there is no way I'm letting my NaNo writing out. Even to you guys. I didn't have a plan (still don't know how I'm meant to wrap up all my characters' problems??), and my characters are still developing and changing as I write. (I barely recognise the characters on the first page, to be honest.) But sometime I'll tell you more about the sisters; Billie (who feels responsible for her sisters' safety) and Elsie (who lost her happily-ever-after) and Josie (impulsive Josie, whose sister stood in front of a Beast for her and now she can't shake the guilt). 

We had two weeks of school holidays - which doesn't really affect me directly anymore! - but it meant we spent a lot of time catching up with family. 

Also, I did that local comic-con volunteer thing. It was awesome. There was a ten-year-old kid who was a super ninth Doctor with his leather jacket, and every time I saw him I wanted to tell him how pleased I was someone remembered Nine, but I didn't want to be a creepy stranger-lady. ;) Of course, I hadn't had any previous experience with comic-cons, and apparently the point is to walk up to a random stranger who'd dressed like a character you love, and ask for a photo with them? Is this conclusion I drew correct?? (Forgot a camera, though, so... Nine/Eleven/Batman/Galadriel/etc escaped.)

Read: 
Fairest, Marissa Meyer. Did not enjoy. I like happy endings. Sorry, all you fans. I'll still give Cinder a chance, though.
The New Recruit, Jill Williamson. GoTeenWriters author + free on Kindle? Obviously I'm reading that.
By Darkness Hid, Jill Williamson. Now I have to find the rest of the series!
The Iron Queen [+ series], Julie Kagawa. Read at your own discretion; these books go full 'fey' (Oberon/Mab/Puck), which was a bit too much for me; also there seemed to be a compulsory pre-battle sleeping-together-for-the-first-time scene for both of the couples, which mostly 'faded out', but it's pretty obvious what happened. Morally, I do not recommend these (also contain a few explosive swears with no warning); story-wise, meh - in my opinion they aren't worth the risk.
Scythe, Neal Shusterman. Okay. So I enjoyed reading this book, but when my mum read it, her opinion was 'sick' and 'not helpful'. That made me think a bit more. It's true that this book is... morally ambiguous. It doesn't say killing is wrong. Right at the start, Faraday took the kitchen knife to carve their neighbour up with (that's when my mum started saying it was sick, which that bit completely is). There were several spots I thought the author could put in a redemptive bit, about the whole situation showing how much we need God or something, but he didn't. I suppose the rest of the series could be where that comes in, but on its own, Scythe doesn't have that. 
The False Prince, Jennifer A. Nielsen. I love these books. Although by the third one, it gets to the point where everything goes catastrophically wrong and I just squint at Sage and mutter, 'How is this part of your plan because I know it is and you can't trick me.'
Rogue, Mark Walden. Book 6 or something? of the H.I.V.E. series - about a school for training kid villains. Which sounds worse than it is, because the main characters spend all their time stopping villains (??). Contains violence, but cartoonish violence.
Watched:  
The Great Escape. DID I MENTION I LIKE HAPPY ENDINGS WELL THIS WASN'T.
The Desolation of Smaug. A rewatch, but I wanted to see Thranduil and Legolas and Bard and of course more Bilbo. And more Thorin and Fili and Kili and Bofur and all of them. *squees* *and doesn't watch Battle of the Three Armies because nooo* *nopity nope*
Muppets Most Wanted. Only watched because my cousins were; I FORGOT TOM HIDDLESTON MAKES A 10-SECOND GUEST APPEARANCE. That was the best bit of the whole movie.
Doctor Who (season 5): Time of the Angels, Flesh and Stone. Rewatch, but the angels were still totally creepy. ...I actually just wanted to see River again.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Rewatch. Because Bucky. (And Natasha. But not together, sadly.)
Thor. Loki had the potential to be a good guy. :'( Also Thor is sweet as always (once he loses his arrogance).

Music:
At Last, The King and Ghost of a King by Grey Havens. I have been listening to these on repeat.
He's a Pirate theme, violin cover, by Taylor Davis. Great for writing. 


Agents of Shield (season 2). Borrowed it from the library and I'm trying to watch it while I write this post, which is most of the reason it's late. :P
Doctor Who (season 8). I want to give Twelve a chance, even if it's just for Clara's sake. I miss Eleven, though; he was my first Doctor.

A Time to Speak and A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes. I've read A Time to Die, and it was pretty good! Now I just have to get my hands on the other two. :)


The only real thing I have planned for May is to continue with Three Sisters. (Maybe this will be the story I finish??)

So that's April. I'm late - as usual - to the wrap-up party, but now you're here, welcome! Talk to me in the comments! About literally anything! *side-eyes Captain Literally* Almost literally anything! Not actually 'literally anything'. That would include some freaky stuff. But definitely Studio C, if you want to talk about that (I've still been binge-watching). ;)

What cool things did you do in April? How did you go with Camp, if you did that? I'd love to hear!

14 comments:

  1. Fairest is kind of bleck, but the other books are AMAZING (except Scarlet, IMO, although a lot of people like that one.) I need to read some of the Jill Williamson books but #BrokeandNeedingANewComputer.... yeah.
    And Thor is excellent, isn't it. *loves Thor because he's just so much fun*
    Congrats on winning Camp! The important thing is to write some words, not to finish a book - so you definitely did an amazing job!

    thefloridsword.blogspot.com

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    1. I did think Fairest was a bit 'bleck' (I mean, the guy was married!). I hadn't read any of Jill Williamson's before, but they were free on Kindle, so...

      Thor's so earnest and sweet, yes. :D (...Probably sweet should not be the first word I use to describe a huge warrior who hits people with a hammer??)

      Thanks, Faith! You got a fair chunk of words from Camp yourself!

      *pretends to have been writing* *has been ignoring writing* *for a week at least* (nO I DIDN'T SAY THAT NO)

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  2. Congratulations on finishing Camp Nano!

    I remember reading By Darkness Hid. I borrowed the series from my cousin- and I think I may have to do that again sometime!

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    1. Thanks, Blue!

      I need to find the rest of the series somewhere... my library doesn't have them, but I can't just stop! I need to know what happens! (It's good you have an obliging, reader cousin!) ;)

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  3. Yay for you! I must admit I was stalking your nano page near the end!! xD

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    1. You were? *nervous grin* I suppose I did share it so that - knowing others were watching - I'd be held a bit more accountable! (I'm touched you care enough about me + my story to do that, Gray! :D)

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  4. Aggggh I LOVE THE ASCENDANCE TRILOGY! *forever flailing over it* I got to meet Jennifer A. Nielsen last summer too, and got all my books signed which was wonderful. And I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. I can't trust him by the end. For that matter, I never could trust him ...

    And I kind of agree on Skythe. It was messing with me, so I put the book down. I have so much else to read, anyway. It just didn't seem worth it to me. It was good writing and an interesting story, but I kept waiting for it to get better and it didn't. I kept waiting for them to realize how messed up it all was, and they didn't. I could think of plenty of alternatives to choosing murderers, which also didn't help my suspension of disbelief. *has a lot more to say on this book but will shut my mouth now*

    Congrats on finishing nano! *hurls confetti and coffee beans over you*

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    1. HANNAH YOU MET JENNIFER A NIELSEN? AND SHE SIGNED YOUR BOOKS? *heavy breathing* (And apparently [also /irrelevantly/, but never mind] some movie company holds the rights to The False Prince but they haven't done anything with it yet? THEY SHOULD THOUGH RIGHT?)

      Yes on Scythe! It was brilliant writing, but messed-up morally. Have you read Unwound (or whichever is first)? Is it better?

      Thanks! *dances in confetti* *and side-eyes coffee beans suspiciously* xD

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  5. *Hears the name Bucky* *peeks around the corner* 'Ello from Dixie! I had a blast with ya at Camp, Jem!! It was great to get to know you a bit, and I hope you can finish Three Sisters. It sounds super interesting, and I certainly hope to get some snippets about it sometime!

    ~Julian/Helena/Evo

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    1. *freezes in the midst of secret fangirl insanity no one was supposed to know about* Heeey Evo! ...It was awesome being in your cabin and getting to know you too. :) I expect I'll write a bit about Three Sisters here, sometime, and I hope I finish it too! ;) I'm honoured you think it sounds interesting!

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  6. YOU WON!! Congratulations, Jem!! And your story sounds really cool. Do share more about it sometime. (After all, you've made me curious now as to what Elsie's happyily-ever-after was. And why she lost it? And which sister stood in front of the Beast. And basically, you shouldn't drop hints like that if you're not going to tell us any more!! ;))

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    1. Aw, thanks, Miss March! I'm glad you're curious... *rubs hands together* MwahahAHAH- *choke* *splutter* *gasp* HELP WATER

      But I can probably share a post with some snippets or character interviews or something. (isn't there a tag? hint hint, anyone?? ;P ) Soon. Of course, I /am/ a Master Procrastinator, so 'soon' could be anything, really... ;)

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  7. I have a feeling my comment didn't go through. Which is frightfully annoying. However, if I'm mistaken and it actually did go through, I guess you'll be getting two comments from me, saying just about the same thing. (Which will be frightfully annoying as well, right? Haha. ;))

    First off...YOU WON!!! Yippee! *claps hands* Congratulations, Jem! That's awesome!

    Secondly, your story sounds really good and you must tell us more about it sometime. Because you've made me curious to know now what Elsie's happily-ever-after was. And how she lost it. And which sister stood in front of a Beast for Josie. And what impulsive Josie did to make that necessary. And yeah...basically, you can't just go dropping hints like that and then not TELL us more about it!! That would be cruel. :(

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    1. Whoops, haha (I might have been late publishing it, sorry?)... but no worries, I'd rather have two comments than none! xD

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