“Good morning world, just wanted to let you know that I’m not dead. Yes all you haters, I’m still alive.”

Yeah, so, by now everyone who reads this blog should know that it is rarely ever updated and that I rarely ever speak about things that matter to anyone else. Only things that matter to me!

And that’s the way it’s staying!

In other news:

I participated in NaNoWriMo 2013 last month and although I didn't reach 50,000 words I came a little over half way and am proud of that.

I also then decided after the clock of November ticked over into December, to lay my story to bed for a while to try and conjure up some new ideas before I work too hard on it and end up either writing it into a corner or printing it all off just for the satisfaction of throwing it in the fire out of pure frustration.

Yes, dear world, you heard me correctly. I have laid “The Maiden Squire” in a folder in a dark corner of my laptop’s memory and left it to fester and bubble over with new ideas.

Hopefully this break will give some fresh inspiration for it come April next year when I attempt the first Camp NaNo of 2014.

Until then though I would like to point out that I will not be idle in the months between now and that next Camp NaNo.

No Sirree, my dear world. I am not going to be idle at all. In fact I have recently started writing a novelette/short story of a similar genre but about something I have loved ever since I was a little girl.
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When I was about six, I would walk down the road to the local library and fetch handfuls of books to bring home with me. On of these days I found a children’s book with strange picturesin it. 

Almost like an original Grimm’s fairy book.

It told the story of how elves, pixies, trolls and goblins would sneak into the human world and change their own young for the child of a human. 

The human child that was taken would reside in peace with the fairy folk who stole it but the child left behind for the humans would often be unruly and disobedient to the point where the parents would know that they had been tricked and that their child was not really their child.

Those children left behind were known as Changeling Children.

Later on in life when I fell into the embrace of poetry, I remember reading a poem by William Butler Yeats, *. In it he spoke of, what I now know to be, a changeling child:

Come away, O human child!
To the water’s and the wild
With a faery hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand
I recently rediscovered that poem and fell in love with the mystic ways of Elven and Faerie folk. I guess it’s the pure Celtic blood in me.

And so I give you my own rendition of the classic tale of a changeling child. No research, no months of planning, just a spontaneous story that has started sprouting in my mind after years of dormancy.

I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath for a spectacular spectacle of young creative talent, but I would definitely love to send it out to any of you readers for constructive criticism. If you so wished to read it.

Let me know via email, PM or in a comment below what your opinions of faeries and folk lore are and what you think about the changeling child myth.

Without further ado, and with a lightened heart, I bid you all adieu. Until next we meet.

 
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So it’s been about 2 months since I last updated my blog and wrote an entry. But this time I do really have an excuse. I’ve just been so engrossed in life!

Don’t judge me internet for not signing up to facebook till last month but yeah, that’s what I did. And I have to say… I didn’t know what I was missing. 

Also I recently started working full time so I had hardly any time on my hands for writing or anything else, though I did manage to start up a cover making forum on the NaNo website (See my October 06 post on the NaNo Tab above to see more on this).

 But most of all, what I wanted to talk about was that over the last few weeks since I started work I’ve been catching up on my reading (since the bus ride to and from work is so long). Last week I read and finished the “Uglies” Series by Scott Westerfeld and was absolutely blown away by it. 












 
The character development and the world building that Scott Westerfeld has done with his world is amazing. I recently found out that he also wrote a steampunk series so that’s next on my list of “To read”. 

I think Westerfeld’s portrayal of the protagonist, Tally Youngblood, is very realistic and very appealing to not only teen but young adults and adults too. She’s just so confused and whatever she tries to do seems to have double meaning. There’s betrayal, secret organizations, mind experimentation, young love, love triangles and revolution. Everything a good dystopian YA novel needs.

 I’d definitely recommend them to anyone. And as a footnote I have my sister to thank for buying me this series.  Thanks a bunch Sis.

 So briefly, here’s me saying that over the next few weeks I am going to be a little more active and try and post a few more blogs. I’m tempted to say that I’ll be posting one a week but I won’t dig myself into a hole by saying how frequently I’ll be doing it.

Anyway, here’s me signing on and letting the world know that I’m not dead. xD

 
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So here I am again with another book review. This time I will be talking about Beth Revis’ “Across the Universe”.
 
I was very excited to read this book, after waiting a few weeks for it to arrive and so once started it was determined to take my time and enjoy the story.
 
Yeah, that really worked! I started reading it and couldn’t put it
down. I finished it within 2 days and am absolutely dying to read the next instalment in the story. 
 
The character were very VERY well written and the descriptions were amazing. I’ve never been one for Science-Fiction but this was great! Beth Revis really made me see and believe where she had set the characters.

The plot was very well paced and just right for the two main characters. A theme of suspense and decent runs through the whole book gracefully and climaxes to an amazing and totally unexpected finale at the end.
 
I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the next one. Beth Revis has such a way of writing that I really want to imitate, and as of now is my all time favourite author.
 
So after reading this book I’m giving it a rating of 5 STARS! I’d definitely recommend anyone reading it. I was thoroughly surprised by what it was like even though I’m not a fan of Sci-Fi. 

Must Read! You won’t be disappointed!

 
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After reading the Delierium and Pandemonium books by Lauren Oliver couldn't wait for the third and last book of the series to be released. I waited patiently for months and as soon as it came out in my local library I was there to snatch it up. 

I took it home and read it within two days. I was not impressed.

I was expecting a dramatic climax and finale in the last book of the trilogy. The first book was full of suspense and tension and the second resolved some of it but then created even more tension and question that needed to be answered. Therefore when I read Requiem I was expecting my questions to be answered in way that would entertain and fulfil my needs as a reader.

Instead, when I read Requiem, I found it hard to follow, slow to get to any kind of action, and the characters were very feeble, weak and the dialogue even more so.

Another thing that almost made me put the book down a few times was the fact that she refers to the Cured as "Zombies". Though Lauren Oliver may be trying to appeal to the masses with this word association, not all the masses appreciate that wording.

In short I would not recommend reading this book. I really looked forwards to reading it and it let me down. I won't say "never read it", as many people need the answers to certain questions raised in the book, but I do not rate it highly. Don't expect much from this book if you decide to read it.

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On the other hand, I read the write-up for this book and instantly wanted to read it. It took me three months to get my hands on but now that I've started it I don't know why it's not as popular as the Hunger Games. 

The storyline, characters, descriptions and dialogue are all amazing and gripping. It took me three tries to put the book down earlier and go eat something before I passed out.

I know that it is part of a trilogy and so wonder if the other two books are like the delirium trilogy or more like The Hunger Games? 

My take on the Hunger Games may be different from everyone else's but in my opinion I found the first book amazing, the second great but the third a little slow and hard to follow.

The story remained well written and in actuality, I enjoyed that series a lot. And not to give away any spoilers to anyone who's not read the series, it has a good ending (though some readers don't like it).

It remains to be seen weather Across the Universe is as good as it seems. For now though I'm going to divulge my inner fantasies and delve back into the pages of this book.

Let me know what your take on all the books I've mentioned are in the comments below.

So all in all I rate this book as a 1 STAR and will definitely NOT recommend it to anyone

 
After finishing with Camp NaNo for the month of April I tried to stop myself
from editing the draft I had written by doing some other creative writing. I
tend to research until the sun comes up but then never get to writing anything
with that research in hand. So I decided to start writing from imagination and
on a random topic and inevitably fell into the snare of research. 

I love reading dystopian books and recently read quite a few of them. I'm still waiting to read "Requiem" by Lauren Oliver and the book of the movie "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer (which I just borrowed from the library a few minutes ago and can't wait to read xD) {* listed in Read More as Photo Gallery}
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I decided I wanted to use ideas I'd come up with ages ago and locked away for specific reasons in this Dystopian book and then came upon a photo on the wonderful Wide Web of a Utopian Society concept art. I looked at similar photos and finally came up with a short story/ novelette idea which would start out at Utopian but then turn Dystopian. The storyline worked but then I remembered that while watching one of my favourite films - Ever After - that Drew Barrymore (aka. Danielle) was given a book by her 'father' called Utopia. I recalled that it was written by Thomas More and yesterday I found it as an audiobook at Learn Out Loud.com.
(** See Read More)

I downloaded a few audiobooks and finally listened to Utopia last night in front of the cosy fire in my living room. The book is very unusually written but very easy to get engrossed in.

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Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in 1516 written as a frame story (*** See Read More). The ideas and ideals put forth in the book are very forceful and very well described. It's a strange book but one that I would gladly read again. I have never read a book that old but the way that it is written is just so captivating and beautiful that I couldn't stop listening to it. It helped me greatly to have it as an audio book, as when I do read I tend to run away with my imagination and forget what I've just read, but with the audiobook I was able to close my eyes and imagine this perfect
fictional society.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something interesting to read. It is so good and now has given me some great founding for my short story/novelette. But by the time I eventually get round to writing this shorter story July will most probably be here and I'll be able to unleash the dogs of war and set to work on Part II of the Ashford Legacy. Oh well. Off to the word processor I go...


 
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I have almost completed my monthly goal of 65,000 words and am ready to start editing and revising my first draft.

The other night I grabbed four books off the shelf in my room and counted words per line (wpl), lines per page (lpp), pages per novel (ppn) and average words per book (awpb).

Here were my findings -

Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz - 10 wpl/ 30 lpp/ 392 ppn/ 1 17, 606 awpb
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz - 9 wpl/ 27 lpp/ 243 ppn/ 55,647 awpb
Treasures by Nora Roberts - 10 wpl/ 32 lpp/ 450 ppn/ 144,000 awpb
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 10 wpl/ 26 lpp/ 452 ppn/ 1 17, 520 awpb

Therefore I deduced that one burst of NaNoWriMo (namely, writing 50,000 words) would be equal to writing a book the size of Anthony Horowitz's Stormbreaker.

April is almost over and so with only five days left until my month long noveling adventure comes to an end, I have finally come to the realization that my novel will not be finished by April 30th.

I have almost reached my word count quota but now seeing just how many words that is I have decided that my April novel must now be split in two and that the end of my heroine's story will have to come in the form of a sequel.

By the time July comes around and the next camp NaNo starts I should have enough words to be able to complete my first book. Book II of The Ashford Legacy will hopefully be started when November comes around.

I plan to write a few thousand words each month in-between the NaNo's so that by the end of 2013 I shall have one 122,000 word novel and one shorter, final 60, 000 word novel.

 The figures are daunting but I know I can achieve them. And by the end of the year, I hope to be able to say that I wrote a series. Not something many people do in a year.

Of course it will take a while to revise the first draft of both novels and then some considerable time after that to revise the second draft and the final draft, I am prepared to do it and by thus posting in here, for the whole world to see I can keep myself accountable.

After all Accountability is a wonderful thing.

    Current Favourite Book....

                   UGLIES
             by Scott Westerfeld

    Out of Inspiration

    'Out of Inspiration' is a special section of my website set aside to discuss any ideas or inspiration that I've had.

    About the Author

    Young though I am, I can proudly say that I am an Author. I have written two
    novels so far and at the moment am writing my first sequel. The Ashford Legacy.

    Book Ratings

    Utopia              ~  4 STARS
    The Hunger Games ~ 5 STAR
    Catching Fire  ~ 4 STARS
    Mockingjay      ~ 3 STARS
    Delerium          ~ 4 STARS
    Pandemonium ~ 3 STARS
    Requiem          ~ 1 STAR
    Across the Universe ~ 5 STAR
    UGLIES           ~ 5 STARS
    PRETTIES       ~ 4 STARS
    SPECIALS       ~ 5 STARS
    EXTRAS          ~ 4 STARS
    The Host
    Dragonflight

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