Friday 2 June 2017

May: it's over?? (no it isn't, go away)

Me: (approximately half-way through May) Huh look at that. Some bloggers are doing May recaps already!
Me: I don't need to worry about that yet, obviously. Those are the serious bloggers. No one expects me to be too organised.
Me: *internets a bit more*
Me: What day is it?
Calendar: 1 June.
Me: ...
Me: liar there is no way I missed May.

Unfortunately for me, it is, in fact, June. (Winter, and the cold's arrived right on time. Help.) And, May being over, I am to inform all you lovely [organised] people how I spent my time.






So my goal was to work on Three Sisters.

HAHAHAHA.

I wrote 500 words one day - when I couldn't bear the guilt - and ignored it every. other. day. I have been thinking about it, of course, but not as much as I should have been.

Part of me is whispering, "why are you even telling them that?!", and another part is retorting "accountability!!" quite sternly. That's why I'm telling you guys - so you can... what was it Kenzie said? *switches tab* Okay, and I quote: "If you fail [at your writing goals], everyone screams at you like a wild black-toothed banshee and stabs you in the left toe with a rusted metal pitchfork". [Seriously, follow Kenzie. She's one of the funniest writer-bloggers this side of the internet.] [Also seriously, please do not stab me with a rusted metal pitchfork. I happen to be extremely attached to my left big toe. Some stern words - or even banshee screams - would suffice.]

I don't know if you've noticed yet - I think I've done a pretty good job of hiding it - but I don't actually have a life?

I honestly have no idea what I've been doing. Which makes me very nervous when people ask. 



Read:

Entwined (Heather Dixon). I LOVED THIS BOOK. Even though at times I was a leeetle thrown by the technology in the fairy tale (they talk about building an underground railway, for example, and have pistols), I decided it added character. And the romance[s]! *squees*

A heap of ebooks/novellas that were free on Amazon.Most of them were - okay. Not great. One in particular was terrible - although I thought at the start it had potential, I just couldn't figure out what was going on... or why I should care. (I will not name it.) A few novellas of Jodi Hedlund were cute, and I read Fairchild's Lady by Roseanna M. White, who blogs on GoTeenWriters sometimes.

In Between (Jenny B. Jones). Free on Amazon, but really enjoyable! The narrator is snarky to cover her emotional vulnerability, and the characters jump off the page. My only complaint would be that the ending felt a bit off, but that's probably because it's the first book of a series.

At First Sight (Jennifer Lynn Barnes). An assassin falls in love with his target, who's the first person to look at him and actually see him - usually people's gaze slides right off. I quite enjoyed it (although there are a few little uncorrected moral issues, such as petty theft). Someone recommended this and the book below, but I don't remember who.

The Winner's Curse (Marie Rutkosk). Five stars! If only the library had the rest of the trilogy... >.<

The Sorceress and the Squid (Emily Mundell). I got an ARC copy from the author! I GOT TO READ THE BOOK EARLY! *coughs* I mean, I am to write an honest review to help promote the book, which required me to read it before its release.


Watched:
Agents of Shield: Season 2. Oookay. This is rated MA15 for good reasons. Torture (really made me wince), death (obviously), boy/girl stuff (can we leave it at kissing, guys??), and cutting up a dead body (that really freaked me out I was covering my eyes gross gross gross). There were good parts too, though. That Hydra double agent from season 1? That person totally got even creepier and started torturing/killing people for 'closure'! uhhh... not a good part, sorry. Well... FitzSimmons (my OTP!) finally decided to get their act together!! (actual good news!)

(actual bad news: -- straight after Fitz manages to arrange a first date, Simmons gets sucked into a rock, which promptly re-solidifies.-- NOT OKAY. [select to read]) And in other OTP news: my new OTP - Static Quake (Lincoln x Daisy) - has had a very promising start! (on the other hand, I've looked up enough Season 3 spoilers on YouTube... -- I LOVED LINCOLN why can't they let Daisy be happy, okay?!-- Yup.

Doctor Who: Season 8. Apparently I just needed a bit of a break between Eleven and Twelve? Because Twelve is actually quite good, in a bitingly sarcastic (but brittle) way.

Arrival - on recommendation from Faith. That twist - it made me rethink the whole movie (and I'm still not sure I got it?) But it's a brilliant movie and I loved the incredibly different structure of the alien language (and Jeremy Renner, of course... although I struggle to see him as not Hawkeye)

Amazing Grace. Rewatch because it's been ages. (And because when I first watched it I didn't know Benedict Cumberbatch.) (Not that I know him now, but I'm familiar with some of his wor- scratch that, I now know Benedict Cumberbatch.) BUT I FORGOT THAT WILLIAM PITT DIES IN THE MOVIE.

Music:
Owl City -Fireflies and Vanilla Twilight are my new favourite songs. I have been listening to them on loop and that's rare for me. 
2Cellos - Wake Me Up and Game of Thrones Theme. I haven't seen the show, but it's great music for my WIP. And Wake Me Up... watch it, okay?


[I should probably call this section my TBR additions, or something, but it tends to include movies, so I have no idea what to call it.]

Illuminae (Amie Kaufman), The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre (Gail Carson Levine), The Beautiful Pretender (Melanie Dickerson).

La La Land (is it okay? I mean, for those who've seen it, is it appropriate?)


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

Oh. And I suppose I should do my assignment for my tertiary education thingy. It's Library Studies - and yet it's really boring??



Calendar: ... now it's June second.
Me:

20 comments:

  1. This was hilarious! And excellent! I know the feeling. I really liked Entwined- it felt like fantasy, but it was in the actual world, I guess? That sounded really lame.
    Aawww. You watched Arrival on my recommendation? All the heart eyes for that movie. I'm so fond of it <3 The twist is weird, but... whatever. I loved it so much.

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    1. That didn't sound lame at all, Faith - Entwined definitely felt like it could have been an actual historic country. And once I thought about it, the pistols and underground trainways in Entwined made sense? I mean, why do we always write fantasy where they've got swords, clockwork, and occasionally cannons, but can't progress any further? *plot bunnies dance*

      I did :) (and I shipped those two so hard... and then there was the twist... and I couldn't figure out if they'd be better together or not??)

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    1. For some reason I am reminded of something I read ages ago:
      "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
      ...I have a weird sense of humour. Sorry, Gray. ;)

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  3. Ah Arrival was AMAZING, wasn't it?!! I was totally blown away by that movie. And gosh the twist had me absolutely speechless.
    LA LA Land is BEAUUUUTIFUL! I watched it recently and cried my eyes out and fell in love. It's gorgeous.

    Hope you have a wonderful June :)

    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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    1. Arrival was incredible... and that TWIST... it made me reconsider /everything/ I thought I'd been shown about her. And it sounds like you recommend La La Land, then?

      I hope your June is awesome too, Amy! :)

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  4. OMW dude you are me... I can relate SO much. Especially about life. *thumbs up* basically me! And those two Owl City songs always remind me of like 2 years ago, because I would ALWAYS listen to those two song all. the. time. I still love them, they're amazing and asjdlfdldjk. But you know. I just discovered Panic at the disco, Ed Sheeran, Hamilton, and Ben Rector... so they're kind all I'm breathing right now lol.

    Just found your blog and subscribed! It's great here:))

    Jazzy

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    1. I'm pretty sure I'm really behind in my new love for Owl City! I've only recently become active on the internet, so any trends I catch are so old they often aren't trends any more xP I've heard of those other musicians/groups, but the only one I've actually listened to is Ed Sheeran... and that was one song - I See Fire. Because it was in the Hobbit. ;) I'll have to look into some of them!

      Aw, thanks, Jazzy! *sends gift of lamingtons*

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  5. Yessss please read Illuminae and watch La La Land! They're so great and brilliant and I have so much LOVE for both! (In case you couldn't tell.) I am also very annoyed the cold has come on time. I mean, how dare it? XD

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    1. Okey-dokey! I shall accept your recommendations, Melissa. (when you nice blogger people say you love a book, that bumps it up my TBR...) ;)

      Nooo to the nasty cold! LEAVE US AT ONCE WINTER (and tell Spring we're waiting already) xD

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  6. Illuminae was really good! I haven't watched La La Land yet, though. Good job on your writing, though! I'd definitely love to read more updates on Three Sisters.

    - andrea at a surge of thunder

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    1. I've read several bloggers' recommendations of Illuminae, so I'm going to have to read that one as soon as I can get my sticky paws on it! ;)

      And nooo - NOT good job on my writing! *hides* xD Three Sisters is going to have to be my July Camp project as well... but once that's over, I miiight share some stuff. Summaries, characters, anything at all really... If people were interested.

      (Well done on finishing your WIP's first draft, by the way, Andrea!)

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  7. *squeals* Oooohh you read Entwined! *happy dance* Now you need to read Illusionarium! It's just as good (one word: Lockwood xD). And you're listening to Owl City, so that is also epic. =D And I know where did May go!?!?

    Micaiah @ Notebooks and Novels

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    1. *happy dances with you* I LOVED the romances in Entwined; they were so sweet! Especially whenever the younger sisters behaved just like younger sisters do... ;D Ooh, okay, Micaiah, Illusionarium's going on my list too!

      I love the Owl City songs I've been listening too - I'm not usually into anything rock-ish, which probably explains why my favourites are the softer Vanilla Twilight and Fireflies (I am SO behind on the trend, though!!) ;)

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  8. I feel exactly the same about it being June, like WHAAA? When did this happen. 2017 is killing me with it's hyper speed. Perhaps I'm just excited for summer.

    So are you Australian then though, if it's becoming winter now for you?

    Sharing writing goals is SOHARD because accountability, as you say. Ugh.

    Keep plugging away though, you can totally do this! :DD

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    1. Also, thank YOU for mentioning me in your "reads"!!!

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    2. I have no idea how we're in June already, Emily. And yes - Australian, and I'm really not enjoying the cold! 2 degrees this morning... which isn't much for people who are used to the cold, but I don't enjoy it. xD

      Accountability for my writing... I don't want it and I think I need a lot more of it?? ugh.

      The Sorceress and the Squid is definitely one of my important reads for May! (I can't stop being excited... I'd seen other bloggers talking about their ARCs, and I just thought, "HOW. HOW do you get to read the book - before it's PUBLISHED - and talk to the AUTHOR - and help promote the book?? WHERE DO I SIGN UP??" So I'm happy to be on your team! :D)

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  9. Oh goodness, it's June. That means less than a month until Camp starts again! #cantwait

    ~Sarah R.

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    1. I saw you've got the cabin organised already, Sarah! That means almost a month of talking before Camp starts again! ;P

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    2. Oh yeah, I'm obsessive! And I have some newbies starting this round, so I wanted to give them enough time to figure things out.

      ~Sarah R.

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