The Knife of Never Letting Go Review!

*cue trumpets* That's right! I finally finished The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness! The first book in the Chaos Walking series, and is I believe one of three books. What a read, ye gods this book was going to be the death of me! It took enough time to finish it let's not dawdle on the review.

Synopsis:
Todd lives in a town where woman don't exist anymore and he's the last boy in town. This means a lot of things for Todd, for the town. A boy growing up in a town of men in a world where thoughts ring out as clear as day. A town with a shady past cut off from the rest of the world and a boy who seems outside their normal. And then Todd finds the silence, slicing through the noise of men's thoughts like a razor and he's running, running, running.

Review:

4/5

I've never wanted to hate a book and love a book so much at once. Hence why it took so long to read. The first day I sat down with this book I wanted to burn it. This is one speshul, annoying,  frushtrating book. And yes, I know how I wrote it and I ain't fixing it! I cringe at it and have grown used to it. If you want to read this book it's words like that that you'll have to get used to. I highly, HIGHLY suggest you read the first couple of chapters in one sitting and then put it down. Rant to high heaven about it's spelling and it's weird fonts and everything that makes you think this is the first book you'll put down this year and scream at it and say 'I'm never picking this stupid book up again!'.

Then do one more thing- a favour to yourself really. Pick. Up. The. Book.

Say what?

PICK UP THE BOOK! *embodies the mom from the new karate kid movie. You know what I'm talking about. (and if for some reason you don't: watch this.)*

Then when you reach the end you can thank me. I swore I was going to hate this book and burn it, but I would read it because it's on my 2015 pop sugar list and I refuse to not read it if it's on my list. Then I read it and things changed. Manchee goes from unbearably annoying to a lovable, enjoyable character. Todd goes from not very enjoyable to that character you're rooting for through everything. And that ending, that ending Patrick Ness! OH THE FEELS! I need the next book, and if I didn't just buy eight more on top of the six I still have to read on my shelves I would finish work and go to the bookstore no stops in between.

STOP. Let's slow down and break it down.

1. That grammar and those words are painful, and at the start you think everyone's going to be talkin' speshul like and then you're so relieved when they don't! And there's weird font changes and random words... let me show you:

*These images are strictly for the intent of showing the uniqueness of the book, they are not intended to violate any copyrights. The writing and all it's glory belong to Patrick Ness and Candlewick Press. 

2. That ^ occurs a number of times. First thought when I saw it: what a waste of paper... You can read some of it, but it doesn't tell you anything important and it doesn't even make sense if you try to string it together, believe me I tried.

3. You quickly find out that all the quirky writing and fonts are to set the mood of the book. Different characters have different ways of talking and spelling and fonts. The pages of words tell you just how busy the world is, what it's like when you can hear everyone's thoughts.

Bottom line:

Let go of everything your brain is telling you is wrong and just read it, you will enjoy it.

WARNING:
If you have the same copy as above, when you get to the end and have read the short story and you see a 'read the next instalment in the Chaos Walking series... blah blah blah' and there's a picture and some blurbs beside it DON'T READ THEM because the third book description has a spoiler in it and now I'm mad.

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That's it for this series right now, at least until I get a few of my books out of my TBR pile. Be on the lookout for my next review for Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I'm excited for this one, I've heard good things. So until then, my friends.

Everlost Review!

I know I intended to finish The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness first but I wasn't feeling it and decided to finish this series up! If you read my review for the last book (here) then you know I was a little weary of the third installment in this series, so let's get on to it and see if my predictions were true or not!

Synopsis:
Tatiana is stuck in Natatoria in a crumbling kingdom bound to the man she hated with a passion, but things change. Facing a war in her own mind, a constant fluctuation of anger and love Tatiana faces her own truths and sees first hand the deceit and lies that make up the kingdom. Left alone in a kingdom she must decide for herself to do what's easy or to do what's right.

Review:

3 or 3.5/5

Though this book was fun, it didn't have me gripping my phone in a death vice like the last one. I started this book right after I finished the second one and just finished it now. Unlike the previous one, this one didn't hold my attention very well. There's lots of good and not so good things I found with this book so I guess we should sift through that now.

The fear I had expressed in the last review was that we'd go back to under developed characters and a strange point of view. Thankfully I was wrong on the character point so let's all throw a mini dance party there! WOO! Tatchi is the character that throughout the series you know what she wants and what she's like. She's a mermaid who wants to live like a human, she wants choices, she wants to empower the female Mers and control her own destiny. Through Ash's eyes we learned a lot about Tatchi, so when this one came in her point of view it wasn't nearly as startling as I expected it to be. Points for Pandos.

The downfall was how achingly annoying Tatchi became. At times I wanted to shake some sense into the girl. I feel like the same points could have been made without it being drawn out for the majority of the book. Her love / hate promised feelings with Azor was giving me whiplash. I understand that the promise makes people act strange but this abusive relationship seemed like a stretch for a character that has always had more backbone than any of the ones before her. I won't go into details cause spoilers but I really don't feel like the extremity of the situation and the duration it was drawn out for fit this character. 

Points for Pandos again with the action, there was stuff happening in this book, albeit there were some faults here and there. If it wasn't a physical fight in this book it was mental. However, there was a slight downfall - the mental side of things didn't seem to have a whole lot of progression. Until towards the end of the book there didn't seem to be any earth shattering realizations here which meant a whole lot of scenarios that were basically the same situation rehashed in as many ways possible. On the other hand the physical fighting was progressing, you could see the reason behind the actions be it. Azor's anger, or his greed, Jacob's loyalty and desires which were changing and progressing through the book which made Tatiana's mental standstill all the more frustrating to me.

Unfortunately it wasn't until the mental game starting progressing that I finally found myself able to engage. After that, things got a lot more interesting, unfortunately this affected how I approached the rating of this read. The start of the book is a three, it was good not great and didn't hold my attention well. Had the ending been attached to a better beginning I might have boosted it to a 4 but it's pulled down and is stuck with a 3.5.

Overall Series:

 Overall I would say this series was enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend it for a younger reader than myself. There's a lot of series and books that can cross the age gap but this one doesn't seem to quite have that yet. If the first and the last books were like the second book and matched in intensity and purpose this would have been a phenomenal series! In the meantime if you want something fun and easy to read this is your find.

Blurred Lines Series Review!

It's been a while, but if you've read the title than you may have a clue of what's going on. I haven't read just one book, I have read five and a half since my last review! Coincidentally five of them happened to be books I read on my trip and five of them also happen to be from the same series. However, rather than break these ones up I decided to keep them together due to their similarities and why not do a whole series? I also will be posting a book haul soon because I grabbed up a bunch of really good finds while I was away too!

For now we'll move onto the reviewing!

By the picture above you can learn a few things, like the fact that I read these on my phone, they are some sort of romance and the series in question is Blurred Lines by Erin McCarthy. This is going to be a bit different so I'm going to do series, then break it down to book and wrap up with some full series thoughts at the end. I'll mark individual book reviews by pictures of their covers and because they're e-reads I'll even post the price I got them for... you know what, let's just do this.

So originally the first book in this series came up in my daily BookBub suggestions. (If you don't know what BookBub is check it out here. Basically, gives you lists of cheap e-books!) I'll be the first to admit that I don't like buying e-books, I'll download the free ones and the really cheap ones but I have a fear that I'll lose them and my money will be wasted. So when the first book in the series came up with that glorious word 'Free' beside it, well, you couldn't stop me!

I picked it up to kill time really, but then I ended up bingeing the whole series - it was better than anticipated. Overall, this New Adult Contemporary - Romance was brilliant so let me tell you a bit about it.

Overview:
The Blurred Lines series takes place predominantly in the state of Maine and prominently features a town called Vinalhaven and University of Maine. The series circles around the romances of a group of individuals that are all in some way connected. Through various ups and downs they find their own place in their worlds and their relationships, interlocking together in a way they never thought would be possible. Starting with the story of Cat and Heath and ending with the story of Anya and Kane, covering everyone in between.

Book One: You Make Me

Purchase Info: Purchased for free on the iTunes/ iBook platform.

Synopsis:
Cat is a girl with a less than ideal family situation in her past she's hiding and a determination to become the perfect girl with her prize catch Ethan at her side. With dreams of the perfect job, perfect guy, perfect family, how can she resist when he pops the big question? Had she known the past would come streaking into the future at mach fifty, she might have held off. Enter Heath, Cat's first love - a love that neither of them has let go of with questions that need more than answers, they need explanation. Now Cat is faced with a choice: past self, or future self? And can Ethan marry a woman he has come to realize he really knows nothing about?

Review:

4/5

This is where it all begins, Cat and Heath. From the beginning you're pining for Heath, well, at least I was cause hot ex-marine, come on people! You feel bad for Ethan but... they weren't as compatible, so, moving on. All and all I enjoyed this, it's a contemporary romance, it's not meant to be some Earth shattering story it's meant to be light and fun and easy to read and it was all of these things. However, no matter how much I like a book there are always areas that didn't seem quite perfect. So what kept it from being a 5/5? Firstly, as much as I enjoyed it there were some issues regarding reality, the main one being the fact that she's going to get married and then within days she's in the arms of another man! Despite their past that seems a little far fetched to me, I mean you were prepared to marry someone, is it just me or is that not something you just get over? Putting that aside, I did enjoy the dynamic of the relationships Cat has and the closeness she shares with her foster siblings but not her biological sibling. The twisted history they share and the stories where they all connect. All and all, even though there were a couple typos and a couple minor unrealistic parts the actual story was interesting. The characters had history to them and relationships, they had identities individual to themselves and if you didn't learn as much about them as you wanted it was probably because one of the next books is about them!

Book Two: Live For Me

favourite of the series!

Purchase Info: Purchased for $3.99 on the iTunes / iBooks platform

Synopsis:

Tiffany has been in the foster system for nearly her whole life, despite the fact she has a living grandma nearby. When her grandmother gets sick, Tiffany takes the bait, despite what her foster sister Cat says and goes to help her sick, ungrateful grandmother. It isn't long before she's kicked out once again on her own. Old enough now to not be in the foster system she's left to fend for herself. With the want to help people in life the way they never helped her, she takes on a job as a house sitter for a man who's hardly ever home. What better way to get to nursing school than by hardly seeing anyone and getting paid for it? Of course things change when the owner - music producer Devin Gold stops by one Tiffany's first day of work. She likes him, he likes her, the problem? She may be eighteen but she looks sixteen and he's in his thirties. Hailing from two completely different worlds they're thrown together in a tempting but dangerous relationship.

Review:

4.5/5

I think this one was my favourite in the series as there is a lot going on outside of their relationship. What turned me off that point five you ask? The exact same line, that's what! At one point in this novel (as I was reading this the same day I read the first one) I noticed something so incredibly blatant I actually stopped reading and read it again in hopes it wasn't real! Devin has a line in this book that is the exact same as a line Heath says in the first book. Now I know it's a romance but come on! Once I got past that little tidbit, I'm happy to inform that there wasn't another line that was so blatantly obvious that it was the same in the rest of the series. I liked the dynamic of this duo, it wasn't a love at first sight relationship like the first one, this was a work in progress and even when they got to the point of facing the relationship it was still a work in progress! Plus there was psychotic famous ex-wife action on top of a few other things as well as some other drama both famous world and not famous world that had some big repercussions. I don't want to give away all of the things, but this one had the most action in it and I love me some high action everything!  

Book Three: Let Me In

Purchase Info: Purchased for $3.99 for the iTunes/ iBooks platform.

Synopsis:
After being jealous of Cat for so long about her ability to attract relationships and not losers, Aubrey finally finds herself in a relationship of her own. Little did she know how it would turn out. When her 'man' (I use that term extremely loosely here people) Jared hits her with a belt and knocks her teeth out Aubrey realizes something serious - he might just kill her. She runs, but is constantly afraid of what's behind her. She moves somewhere far away, somewhere he's not likely to find her, she runs to her friend Cat in the small town of Vinalhaven. An island with one way in and out - the ferry and if he catches up with her there, she knows that will be it. Aubrey isn't expecting that her panicked visit to the rocky shore would lead her to fall halfway down a cliff to be rescued by a local guy named Riker. When Riker finds out about Jared it's game on, when Aubrey finds out the truth about Riker will it be game off?

Review:

4.5/5

Though this one didn't quite give me the feels book two did, it certainly deserves it's 4.5/5. This is probably my second favourite in the series as it also has a lot of action in it. It misses the five for one solid reason - Riker and Aubrey remind me a lot of Cat and Heath. Aubrey and Cat are from the same sorority not to mention Aubrey is Ethan's sister, aka Cat's ex fiancee. They're best friends and in a sense, their personalities are fairly close. Enter Riker who's Army to Heath's Marines, difference is Riker isn't ex-army and he doesn't exactly have a stellar job. I'm not going to go further because spoilers but there's a lot Aubrey doesn't know about this guy she's fallen for. The secrets in this book are slightly f#^*%*& up. Seriously, like end game serious here people, but at the same time you can't help but like Riker. All and all I enjoyed the action and the hint of mystery that came with the secrets in this book.

Book Four: Meant For Me

Purchase Info: Purchased for $3.99 for the iTunes/ iBooks platform

Synopsis:
After breaking things off with his fiancee Cat, Ethan finds himself in a downward spiral. Dropping out of law school and getting drunk every night Ethan hates himself for waking up next to various women on a regular basis, but faces it with a 'who cares?' attitude. Hungover and heading out to visit his sister Aubrey in Vinalhaven Ethan is faced with a reality he's struggling to come to terms with - that he will inevitably face Cat on this trip. When he surprises himself by falling for a girl with no voice he's the first and the last to expect it. Frustrated with his inability to communicate effectively with Chloe, his silent girl he begs to know what's going on in her head and when he finally gets it, he's surprised to say the least.

Review:

4/5

This one fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed the story and the characters but I just wasn't feeling this one that much. I was happy to see Ethan finally moved on from his moping, but after the last two books this one was quite a bit less dramatic. This was probably one of my least favourite in the series between this one and the fifth book. Don't get me wrong this is a good book, but come this point in the series I'm kind of sick of hearing about Ethan's downward spiral. I am also thoroughly disappointed that Ethan didn't meet Riker, I would have loved to see how that conversation went, reaction and then the question 'What do you do for work' would have been an amazing addition to this book. That briefest interaction would have had me liking this so much more. I am happy however, that we changed perspectives here! This book is from Ethan's perspective and it was nice for the change, had it been the other way around I'm not sure it would have been as good as it was. I did like the addition to the ending with Anya, won't say much there cause spoilers, but it really broke up the 'I wish I knew what she was thinking' and 'I wish I could hear her voice' thoughts from Ethan. Basically just compared to the last two this one dulled a bit in comparison. Good, not great.

Book Five: Breathe Me In

Purchase Info: Purchased for $4.99 on the iTunes/ iBooks platform.

Synopsis:

After meeting Chloe and Ethan and being kicked out of her apartment in New York Anya's got nowhere left to turn but to them. With nothing but the clothes on her back and her baby on her hip she travels from New York to the door of her just met and last hope sister Chloe. If only it was that easy. After stealing some baby food from a convenience store she passes out and is helped by Kane, a local off duty police officer. Their paths aren't to be split yet as they cross in a dangerous tango of deceit as Anya tries to use her feminine powers to get more than the forty bucks he already gave her out of him. Kane knows that Anya's game can't be true, he knows he's probably going to be conned, but he can't help but feel something for her. Kane hails from a large family unit and Anya hails from a fend for yourself foster care raising with two different mind sets and feelings in between they fight to figure out what it all means.

Review:

3.5/5

This is probably my least favourite in the series for quite a few reasons, but ultimately I felt like this one was really predictable and I wasn't a fan of the end. Their relationship starts off weird from the get go and falls apart which is no shock, at all. What starts to make it unrealistic for me is when she starts listing off her rap sheet and he's still all in. Ok, I'll roll with it, love is blind, yadda yadda. She needs help but refuses it at every turn, and I know she's supposed to be all independent and stuff but when you're passing out because you haven't ate in days and someone gives you money for lunch, you take it no questions asked. It just felt like she was stretching it a little too far. My kid doesn't have diapers, I don't have a job or money, but I won't accept that you want to buy us some? The reality of this one is a little too far off for me, and from experience I know that when you're that down and out, you'll accept a little help survival partially depends on that. I tried to move past that, about mid way things started to get a little more realistic and I was like, 'ok I can deal with this'. I enjoyed that middle section of the book, wasn't super realistic to me, but I enjoyed it. Then that ending happened and it was a little too nonchalant for me. Still a good story, and it was interesting to see both characters point of views but it was little killer to feel so out of reality. 

Series:

Overall I really liked this series, if you like New Adult romances you'll enjoy Blurred Lines. Like every series there's high points and lower points so I wouldn't be turned off by the flux in ratings here, they were all good stories. The fact that I binged them all one after the other in less than a week should tell you that! They are not completely dependant on each other, you can figure out what happened quite easily especially since they primarily focus on their own relationships. However, you do risk spoilers if you jump around in this series, they aren't that disconnected. Overall the whole series I would rate 4/5 and would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, light read.

In other news, as I mentioned at the start, be on the lookout for a new haul post! I am also halfway through The Knife of Never Letting go by Patrick Ness so there should be a review for it soon as I am returning to it now. If you have suggestions for books, let me know! Also, was this post a little too long?

Afterworlds Review!

So after seeing it on my Goodreads currently reading list for what feels like ever, I finally got around to finishing this. Which means that I successfully have knocked another book off of my 2015 Reading Challenge list- the book I started but never finished.

I originally started this book in December and literally about half way through I put it down and didn't pick it up again until now. There's mixed feelings on this one and some definite ups and downs, points I like and points I really don't so this may be a long one folks, but here we go.

Synopsis:
18 year old Darcy writes a novel and finds herself travelling through her first big trip into the world of publication. Meanwhile her character Lizzie lives the life Darcy has wrote her. Darcy follows a path of personal ups and downs living a year of firsts: first time living on her own, first time publishing, first loves, first heartbreaks. Lizzie lives through a life changing terrorist attack that changes her life and death in a way she's never expected.

Review:

3/5

I gave these nearly 600 pages a 3/5 for lots of reasons, which was a little disappointing. I'll start by saying I became interested in this book after watching Benjaminoftomes talk about it in one of his videos on Youtube. The idea is really promising, really interesting and I had high hopes and if I was younger this might have done it for me, but at 22 it really didn't.

For the first half of the book Darcy's personal story is nothing short of boring. In some perfect world maybe everything happening to her would be possible, but it's all just a little too good to be true. She participates in what is obviously Nanowrimo and her 'wrote in 30 days novel' is sent to a publishing company. She gets a massive advance and they think she's going to be mega popular with her first book. Not realistic. If Westerfeld had toned it down a little bit then this could have been a believable story. 30 day novel, fixed up and sent to publishing, they take it on she gets some sort of advance and on and on. But it wouldn't have been as glamorous. 

Ultimately, I only wanted to read every other chapter in the first half - as in Lizzie's story. Then the second half happened and things picked up a little bit on Darcy's end. However, at that point I was getting over Lizzie's situation and was starting to find it a little repetitive. With about a quarter of the book left, both stories heated up for a decent finale. Overall I think I would have enjoyed the actual book Darcy was writing as a full, proper read on it's own. At times I feel like Darcy's stories muddied it up a bit. It almost would have been a better choice to sandwich large sections of each instead of chapter by chapter, I feel like I might have connected quicker and maybe not put this down. 

The characters I thought, were very contrasting. Darcy seemed to wait for things to be handed to her where Lizzie wanted to take action and solve things on her own. This did make it a little difficult for me to set into a 'deep read' and live in the story, which paired with the chapter situation I already mentioned made me want to move on from this book with no urge to pick it up.

This is a really frustrating book to rate as it is basically two drastically different novels binded together. 'Afterworlds' (Darcy's novel), is a story I would pick up and devour. 'Afterworlds' (Westerfeld's story of Darcy) would have made a cute contemporary that I probably would have looked past and never had a second thought about it. 

In the end, the writing was done well and it's a beautiful book and maybe one day I'll read it again. But because I'm so split, I'm giving this book a middle score of 3/5. Next time around I might just read all the black sections and then all of the white and see if that changes my opinion any. Until that time I'll be moving on to another. My next read will be The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. 

Book vs. Movie: Warm Bodies

A book I've been meaning to read ever since I saw the movie, but after my last Book vs. Movie read I was tentative to pick up a new one. However, after many hours creeping the Booktube world I was brought back to it again and this time I went for it.

So if you're reading this and thinking 'Warm Bodies? What is this, some terrible promo?' hahahahaha! No. Zombies ladies and gents, get your heads out of the gutter!

Either way here's a quick run down:

Synopsis:
A group of zombies live in an abandoned airport, they live day to day shuffling and groaning and every so often they go to the city to feed on the living. Things take a drastic change for the main zombie man 'R' on one fate filled hunt that will leave him questioning life as he knows it. Enter Julie, the human girl that has become the eye of R's attraction. From two completely different lives and facing all odds they are thrust into the unaccepting world where they must change the people's minds or die trying.

Review:
I'm relieved to say that this wasn't another Silence of the Lambs as there were some significant differences between this book and it's movie counterpart. But ultimately the movie is a good representation of the book and if you weren't in to reading I would recommend it as a worthy replacement. (Though I'm a reader so, THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE!........ in like 99% of cases.)

Random cool thing about this book - the chapters aren't actually labelled as chapters which is both cool and terrible. Your chapters are labelled with pictures like this:

(Random Chapter picture from Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion)

Cool because hey, they're body parts and it's warm bodies and they're zombies and they're ripping bodies apart and it's a little genius, right? Terrible because I couldn't imagine having this for a book report or something and trying to find a quote and remember what chapter it was in. 'oh yeah, that's in the ear canal chapter or the eyeball chapter' doesn't seem very memorable or effective to me. Especially because some of them I'd actually have to go back and study the grainy picture to figure out what it was. That neat little nugget aside shall we begin to compare the two?

The book is a lot more of a personal experience than the movie feels. From the movie you gather that the zombies eat the brains, they receive snippets of memories from the owner of said brain. What they don't tell you is that Julie's now dead ex boyfriend is a special case that gives R a little more than a snippet. Also, the movie is very much that R and Perry are two completely separate entities and their memories are two completely different things where the book blurs those lines a bit and makes it maybe a little more realistic. After all, if you're experiencing the emotions and memories of someone else would they not consume you a bit?

Another interesting thing about the book is you realize there's a little more to the zombie life than the grunting and shuffling that the movie portrays. They have their own little twisted society too which makes their saving seem a little more possible. It's interesting to see that perspective and learn a little more about R before Julie.

I love that this is one of those movie adaptations that takes lines right out of the book but isn't word for word. The comedy that fills the movie is shared in the book, I was relieved to see that that wasn't just the hollywood twist on things and that it originated in the book. There were some moments I wish were a little more meaningful, and there were others that I maybe wasn't quite sure why they were kept. I was relieved to find differences between the novel and the movie and if you're a purist like R you might enjoy the read for those little details and the slight changes in how things happen.

Mostly, I want more of this and I'm so glad to see that there's a sequel coming. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a movie to re-watch.

PS. The next book on my list is actually one I started and need to finish, keep an eye out for my review of Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld!

The Infinite Sea Review!

It's about time, am I right? I didn't get back into the swing of reading for a bit after Nano and was surprised to find myself finally gravitating towards this for more reasons than the 52 books challenge.
Expect a lot of reviews coming up because I've got catching up to do! WOO HOO! Another book off then to be read list! This is the sequel to The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey and if you've read that you'll probably understand why I needed to read this one.


Synopsis:
Cassie Sullivan and her other surviving companions are faced with yet another dilemma come the end of the world - winter. With few options on the table it's time the group make their decision: prepare for winter and hope Cassie's Silencer finds them or search out others like them. But like any alien invasion, things aren't quite that simple, or are they?

Review: 

4/5

Let me start by saying that this book was on the brink of falling to 4.5 or 5 but there were a couple obvious things I couldn't ignore that solidified it's fate. So rather than just tell you that, let me explain:

First and I've seen this in a few reviews is the confusion. That is until you realize what the hell Yancey is doing. I attempted to read this book once got like three chapters in and was just really confused and disappointed. So rather than pick up from where I left off, I started it again. This time around I caught on fast. So what makes it so confusing? The character hopping. The first book The 5th Wave did some of this but not nearly to this extent which I think what left a lot of people confused. 

In this book we're in Evan's perspective, Ringer's perspective, Poundcake's perspective, Cassie's Perspective, in short we're in some heads we weren't in last time around. What makes it a little more frustrating is that we open to a prologue that doesn't include any of the characters we know, it's point isn't revealed until more than half-way through the novel.

This wouldn't be a huge problem if things were marked, identifying what character's perspective you're in, instead you're left to figure it out yourself. I didn't figure it out until a few chapters in that part one is Ringer's perspective. Once I figured that out I was searching for the clues in every section until I found them. 

There's quite a bit that happens in this book and it's happening simultaneously, meaning that we get fragments from different characters perspectives which slows it all down a bit. Can you say frustrating? As a result there's lots of action, but I don't see a whole lot of progression in the grand scheme of things. So the next book might be a sh!t show - I look forward to it. 

Casting the negative aside, there's a bunch of great points to this book. There is action and theres all kinds of relationship building and history. In short there was a fair bit of character development going on in this instalment. We learn a lot more about how the aliens work, how the crew got their names and how they lost the ones they loved. We see how the crew works together despite their conflicting judgement. 

I didn't want to stop reading this book and I'm excited for the next one. Was it the most excited I have been while reading a book? No. Was I ever bored while reading it? No. Will I continue reading it? Absolutely.

That's about all I have to say without giving stuff away. I'm starting my next book Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion so be on the lookout for that review soon!

Camp Nanowrimo: VICTORY!

This isn't going to be a terribly long post, more just a quick update. I have finally completed April's Camp Nanowrimo and my goal of 50,000 words in one month. Though it's far from perfect I'm super excited about it and know that all of my work paid off! WOO! So while I'm over here binge watching The Flash, just know that things will be going back to reviews here very soon as I'm almost caught up with my shows. I have plenty of books to review so hopefully I'll be posting lots soon!

PS. If you're still working on your Nanowrimo best of luck! Remember, you still have time!

Camp Nanowrimo: When Characters go Rogue...

When your characters suddenly go rogue and take on a life of their own. This of course means a couple of things when you sit back and think about it.

Firstly, congratulate yourself because you made characters real enough that they can surprise even you! Note: keep telling yourself you're perfectly sane, despite the fact there's voices in your head that have taken on a mind of their own... I won't judge you. I would advise you don't go telling people who don't write that this is what you're experiencing...


Secondly, you're probably feeling something like this:

Everything is just back asswards. Depending on the severity of the change, you might be able to write it out, things might shift a bit but overall the integrity of your story should stay intact. This is where I am right now, not derailing but shifting the track a little.

You could also be sitting in front of your screen going 'noooooooo!' because you have to change everything now. Suddenly your character is from another part of the world and has an accent or suddenly they're not a pirate, but a part of the royal navy. So in story world, your character just crated anarchy on a dime.

How I've got through both the easier and the harder situations brought on by rogue characters:

1. If you fall under group one, where your character has only gone a little off there's a couple things you can do. If you've planned your story then you can try and guide your character back into the master plan. If that fails, assess the plan and not the character. Find out if there's another way to reach the end goal you desired. There's a lot more space between the mid-way point and the end of your story than you thought. In many cases, you'll still be able to do this if you still want things to turn out the way your originally planned.

For example:

You planned that your MC (lets call her Sally) would be kidnapped, taken half way around the world and your second MC (we'll call him John) would find her in Italy in the end. The lovers would be reunited and the bad guys turned over to the feds. But SURPRISE! Half-way through your story, you learn that Sally is a fighter. This changes things doesn't it? So we go back and look at the plan. The main goal I'm looking for is that the lovers are reunited and the bad-guys are gone. So I decide that Sally escapes once they arrive in Italy. Meanwhile, John is hot on their trail. With Sally being a fighter, I decide they pair fight off the bad guys and escape with their lives. Lovers reunited? Check! Bad-guys gone? Check!

Of course if you're a pantser, you might just take this type of rogue and run with it. See where they're trying to go. It's always an interesting way to explore, just beware of pointless adventures your characters may want to run you around on. Try and gain some idea of where they should be headed, to avoid this and stay on task.

2. If you've got yourself a wild one you're probably feeling very frustrated about now and you fall in group two. This is obviously the more difficult of the two because no matter how much you try to turn focus on the plan and tweek it, you know that you're more than likely going to have to throw the whole thing away. Some things are easier to fix than others and mostly it's going to come down to editing. Unfortunately there's a lot less you can do in this case. If you are writing for fun and not for something with a deadline you can make your big changes now. If your character has an accent now, go make it so. If your character is actually sailing with the navy, make those character adjustments now. Of course, if you're writing for fun you can also scrap it entirely and start over but that's not very encouraging.

If you are on a timeline your best bet is to make the changes now and keep going. If you're participating in something like Nanowrimo where your word count is everything do not scrap and do not re-haul. I know that going back and editing was one of my tips, but something this big will eat up way to much time and you'll be deleting way too much. If the change is vital and will drastically change your story you may edit. Not like my MC was a pirate and is now a royal navy officer chasing the pirates where you're just switching the perspectives. Heck you can keep most of the characters and change their dress and you're good to go. Though it's annoying, keep writing you've got time to edit later! I'm talking about like my MC decided he's a she and is going to be saved by the pirates. Go back and edit what's necessary because that's going to be completely different as that character is likely going to spend a chunk of the story nowhere near a pirate ship, or a ship of any sort. Scavenge what scenes you can, if you've got a drunken party on deck one night, have your character forced into the middle of it. Use what you can and don't just think 'I can re-write this anyways.'.

If your pirate decides he's a pop star I've got nothing. I don't know why the hell you thought he was a pirate, so you better scrap that and go re-think your choices.

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 13

I HAVEN'T WORKED ON ANY OF IT SINCE FRIDAY!!! 

So... that's a thing. I was ahead and doing so well and now I've hit a wall where nothing wants to happen. The characters I wanted relationships with have been standoffish and the characters I didn't really care about have come running in guns blazing f$%*&@# shit up. The second problem I'm facing? I found out that I was writing towards a scene. It's one of those moments where I thought I had things figured out, only to find out that I in fact only had enough planned to get me to one of my bigger scenes. Now I have nothing, no idea of where to go and we're on a tight schedule here. So today is an exercise in crawling. 

Today will be a little bit different as I won't be posting random goals, it's more of a plan really to what I'm going to do today. Today is all about word count, we're going to write with the knowledge that yes, most of this may be deleted later, but for now I'll act like it's good! 

Day 13 Goals/ Plans

• Crawl! First Crawl for the day will be The Pirate Adventure Crawl Part One to begin.
• Break Time! Read a chapter of a book.
• Crawl! Second Crawl for the day will be The Hunger Games Crawl
• Break Time! Read a chapter of a book & eat dinner.
• Crawl! Third Crawl of the day Complete Part Two of first crawl.
• Break Time! Done for the day.

Feelings on this day 13:

I'll update later with my word count at the end of all of this. Hope you're all doing better on your novels than me! haha!

Update!

1. My first crawl listed left me with a solid 1,476 words written. Though that's not as good as it could have been it's a hell of a lot better than the 77 words I wrote over the weekend. That's nearly a full day's worth of writing done in a short, quick crawl. If anyone's curious and is also doing the crawl I'm with captain Tack, though it was because I was kidnapped. I have a dagger and I got three shots of rum at the end. Yee haw! Break time :)
2. I am currently done stage one and moving onto stage two adding almost another 1000 words onto my count. Another thousand and change and I should be caught back up. The wonders of crawls! Part way through stage two, I find myself passing the elusive 20K mark. One day's worth of writing left and I'll be completely caught up! (Isn't that crazy!) In other news, I feel like the wall I had hit is now completely gone. I'm heading into the final stage now, but at this rate, I'm not sure if I'll finish the other crawl today. 

I am calling an end to this day clocking in a solid 4108 words.

**Just got some family news and will not be completing another crawl tonight.

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 07

Day seven is here, marking the end to week one of this crazy writing thing. Already beginning to experience the ups and downs of the month's work I'm ready for it to be done with. I was worried that yesterday was going to mark a descent into another failure, yet another Nano I didn't complete, but I woke today and sat at the computer ready to write. 

My character's weren't putting up a fight, they just needed a beak and they sure as hell weren't having it when I thought about starting to read another book. They were ready and raring to go.

(What my character's must have been thinking this morning as I contemplated the fact that I'm still ahead and reading wouldn't hurt.)

  

I admit I spent most of the day editing, trying to think through where the story was going to go. But with a little bit of writing, maybe 600 words or so, the other 1000 I've wrote so far today being all editing (see, like I said, go back and edit, flush the scenes out more you know your characters now, they're opening up to you). I'm feeling pretty good.

I feel like now is a good time to go back and touch on some tips I wrote before the beginning of Nanowrimo. So we can see if I'm following my own advice and where it's got me, what's working and what's not.

1. The first goal I had mentioned in my Tips to Slay 50K post was planning. I fell a little lax on this, this round. I knew my basics and just went in feet first and hoped to come out running. I did some mild planning, I knew who everyone was and how they connected together, I knew the basics of what I would have liked to happen and I knew what real life people, places and things I wanted to reference in my story. However, what was actually going to happen was nothing more than a shell, I didn't know which guy would end up being the love interest or who would fall for who. There were no chapters or actual rise and falls planned out, I just went in and so far I guess I'm running. 

2. I had also said I like to edit as I go and most people don't. A point proven today with more than 1000 words coming from going back and flushing scenes out more. I haven't even got to the point that I'm currently writing. If you are at a point where you're stuck, the end of the week is always a good place to go back to the top. The week is a good marker, you could do it sooner, but things are still going to be really fresh in your mind. I find that by this point I've forgotten a lot of the smaller details I wrote seven days earlier, it's now new all over again as I read through.  I do like to comb through the chapters frequently editing them over and over a bit every time I find myself stuck, generally by the end of three reads I'll leave a chapter be.

Don't get me wrong, I erase some things when I go back days later NEVER when I'm writing the scene. You may find that you read it now and go, 'oh I didn't explain that very well' or, 'hmm, this might be better with this extra bit of dialogue in here.' I always feel like you don't know your characters well when you start, after a week of spending every day with them, I feel like I can go back and make their personalities a little deeper. It's also a great way to get you back into your story if you're stuck. Reading over all of that and adjusting gives you a rest from just driving forward at full force in hopes of reaching that 50K. 

3. I have explored this a little bit this year and found that the best way I write is by starting early in the morning and working until around 3. I also find that I'm better if I just browse the internet between breaks (or write here). Also, it's the first time I've allowed myself to just go with what pours out and I think I now have fallen in love with a head hopping style I hope makes sense when I come back to edit in a month or so.

4. This tip has saved me! Writing more than I have to has kept me a cozy two days ahead of schedule sometimes more, which means the days that I'm in a slump are covered and I'm not way behind and trying to force words out for the day's count. Also I find myself feeling so refreshed and wanting to write after I'm able to take a break every few days and maybe write a couple hundred words instead of a couple thousand. If you are able to do this, I highly suggest it.

5. This hasn't really come into play yet as I headed the advice of tip 4.

6. I still work day by day, I just push myself to reach a day extra to keep myself ahead. As of now, tip 4 has put me in the place that I haven't had to utilize this yet.

8. (This is a fail because I forgot 7!)

7. (8) Forums and cabins are the perfect break from writing to me. Check out what everyone else is up to, gather some motivation from some other people. I have utilized this to my advantage when I started to wonder if my head hopping style was a little too much. There is support for everyone, for everything in the forums!

8.(9) I haven't done any word sprints yet. I'm not trying to force out words this time around (yet) so I haven't found the need to. You never know though, it's still really early in the game.

9.(10) I am certainly having fun. I'm making sure I'm taking a day or two here and there and I'm not beating myself up about it. This is an awesome round of Nanowrimo.

I'm not going to break down the goals too far today but here's where I stand:

Day Seven Goals

• Word count of 16666 by the end of the day. [might yet happen as I am very close to 16,000 now]
• Reach a word count of 15,000 by the end of the morning. [done]
• Ideally break the 17,000 mark before sleep happens [not likely to happen today, got busier than expected.]

How I'm feeling as I near the end of day seven:

Evergreen Review!

If you read my last review then you know that I recently finished the first in this series - Everblue. Unlike the first one, this one was not free but it was fairly cheap from the Google Play store so I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't hesitate over it now and I'll likely be purchasing book three very soon.

Synopsis:
Ashlyn and Fin have been apart for only a short time but it feels like forever and just as they had thought Fin's house has been re-taken by his uncle and his annoying cousin. As the danger surrounding Ash's family increases, Fin gets more and more irritable about being away his family refusing return. With the biggest choice of their lives on the line, the decision of a Human or Mer life hangs over their heads. Time is running out.

Review:

4.5/5

  What the hell happened here?! There is a drastic change between the writing in book one and the writing in book two. With the first book hanging on Middle Grade I wasn't sure what kind of action was going to happen in this one, I just hoped it would be good. I was not disappointed! This one definitely pings Young Adult right on the head. This book was drastically better than the first.

 First, the actual writing itself, the first one seemed to be geared towards a younger audience which had taken me by surprise with it's YA tag on it. The characters were quite shallow and well... fluffy and just seemed childish. There really wasn't much to the book, it had been a nice quick read and left a nice little hanger at the end that suggested things would happen in the next book. So I read on. Pandos seems to have evolved tremendously between book one and book two, the level of writing increased dramatically. The characters got a bit more substance, the story flushed out more, the details of the world became more real and I felt a lot more connected to the characters in this one than in the last one. I don't know what she did between books but whatever it was she needs to share.

Let me talk about the suspense in this book. I read this on my phone, and I have to say that I'm surprised how many times I found myself squeezing my phone as hard as I could while reading. It's a good thing it wasn't an iPhone... Unlike the first book, this one was packed with action. Rather than the moping on one side and action on the other, there was action in Fin's world and in Ashlyn's world which kept me excited to keep reading. The twists, oh lordy the twist that was in there! I wondered a little but didn't expect it to actually happen. I won't say more 'cause spoilers but let's just say I was guessing what was going to happen all the way through the book. I enjoyed that even the fall from the climax of this book involved more action.

The characters - a little fluffy and shallow in the last book I was impressed by the character development that happened in this one. We learn about Fin's mysterious family, we learn about Ashlyn and her family. I'm happy things focused down for her, I wouldn't continue if she carried on with her fluff and whining she did in the first one. Plus there's a good handful of characters that are introduced in this one, the world is getting bigger!

The first book proved to me that everything wasn't like The Little Mermaid in Mer people stories. It also proved that Mermaid stories are fluffy in general. This one though proved me wrong, Mermaid stories can have substance. I would recommend this to someone that likes a suspenseful book with a touch of fantasy. I applaud Brenda Pandos and I will be reading the next in the series. Also, I would like to note that I would love this series to join my physical collection soon, e-books are great but I can't stare at the covers all day.

The next book has me a little anxious as I read the excerpt at the end of this one and found it in Tatchi's point of view. Though I'm interested in what's happening there, I'm afraid it might take a step back and we'll have to bear through another character developing. I will probably start that one tomorrow so be on the lookout for the review!

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 06

Well... I fail. I forgot to make some goals for today in yesterday's post. I guess I should probably get those out before I start my writing for the day.

Today is going to be a little more lax, I'm starting late, but I wrote a lot yesterday so I'm still sitting ahead. I'd love to get further ahead though before I hit that inevitable wall I know I'll meet in the near future. With that said, here's my goals for today:

Day Six Goals

• Hit the 15,000 word mark, effectively putting me three days ahead.
• Begin the main character's journey to resolve her conflict.
• Get the final player introduced to the story. (I'm really hoping this happens today)
• Have Draper conquer his own inner conflicts

 And here's how day six is going...

I'm so uninspired it's killing me. All I want to do is read at this point, but if I don't write the day's worth of words I know I'll be disappointed in myself, but this one's going to be like pulling teeth. I knew it was coming, I just had hoped it wouldn't be this soon into the race. Though I admit, I'm finding it hard to get into writing, once I've got the flow down I can hardly stop.

15,000 will be stretch today, I think it's more likely a 14,000 day which is a little upsetting, but we'll see what happens. Being as it's already almost one in the afternoon and I literally feel no motivation whatsoever... well, that sentences finishes itself.

I haven't touched the main character's conflict in the less than 800 words I've wrote so far today today... what a surprise. (Heavy sarcasm intended).

The last person I'm dying to get introduced for the last two/three days is no closer to being introduced than they were yesterday. I'm going to go nuts if I see it as a goal for much longer.

Finally, Draper is beginning his journey to resolve his conflicts so we'll see where that goes. At least something is on track today.

Day six feelings:

Not going over and above for day seven, I plan to just focus on word count for the day

Day Seven Goals

• Word count of 16666 by the end of the day.
• Reach a word count of 15,000 by the end of the morning.
• Ideally break the 17,000 mark before sleep happens

PS. I finished a book yesterday so be on the look out for a new review!

Everblue Review!

I recently picked this one up for free from the Google Play store, I believe it still is if you're interested. I downloaded this simply because I'm dedicating this year to absorbing all different genres and styles and authors and trying new books. When I saw mermaids I realized that I hadn't read anything ever, that had mermaids. My mermaid knowledge began and ended with The Little Mermaid. So obviously I had to give it a try.

Synopsis:

Ash finds herself feeling lost as her best friend and her twin brother disappear for a 'family emergency'. Months pass without a word and Ash begins to wonder if there's more than just a 'family emergency' they're not telling her about. Feeling lost without them she's willing to go to drastic measures to get them back, but at what cost?

Review:

3/5

This was a read that really interested me, and I'll admit, it was mostly because of the mermaid aspect. I did enjoy the story, it was fun, it was cute, and at the right times you were wondering what was going to happen next. However, though it doesn't have as much to do with the author as the publisher this seemed a little bit younger than the 'Young Adult' label it has on both Goodreads and the Google Play store. The immediate comparison I make with the style of Pandos' writing is with the Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan which has both labels of Young Adult and Middle Grade. 

However, this is a book of it's own and should be treated as such. So putting that all aside I have to say I was pleased with this. I went in without expectations and came out wanting to read the next one. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the Mer world of Natatoria and didn't find myself even once comparing it to Little Mermaid (no jokes, that's the kind of thing I picture when I think mermaids).

As far as characters go, at times I was rather annoyed by Ashlyn, the main character who seemed to fall for every guy that showed interest in her. Though she tames out a bit by the end of the novel, I have to say I was rather irked by that at the beginning. Though it's because of this I questioned some things that were going happen, and whether my predictions I made at the start were going to be true or not. It did cross my mind that it might have been an intentional move by the author to stir things up a bit. I do hope we see a little more character development in the next installment as there seemed to be a lot of surface stuff going on and not a lot of depth.

You know when mermaids are involved that the book is going to be different from your average 'Young Adult' (though I still argue it's a little closer to Middle Grade...) book. The book itself is no exception, I have a feeling that the next one is only going to get better. Unusual, as I must admit sequels are generally what slaughters a good book. This one ends off in quite a hanger, a lot of questions left open. I feel like the next one is going to pick up the pace a bit, making things a lot more interesting.

Overall I would say that this book is a great quick, light read. I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for something that isn't going to take too much out of them to read. I would not recommend this book if you are looking for some substance, this cutesy romance with mermaids probably isn't going to work for you. 

I have already purchased the next in this series 'Evergreen' and it will likely be my next read.

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 05

Well, I got lunch, that's all I can say so far. So if you happened upon my last post, you'll know that I've completed one goal so far. Thank god because I was getting really hungry.

Just some random reflection on Camp Nanowrimo so far:
I'm beginning to wonder if my narration is a little odd for my story. I'm writing it how it comes to me, which means that I'm writing in third person, but when it suits me I'm focusing on different characters but collectively if that makes any sense. So I'll be talking about Lacey and her reactions and her feelings and then when I feel I've wrote out what she had going on I switch to another character in the scene. Could be a paragraph, could be three and then I'm on to another, circling through my characters in no particular order. Is that weird?

Yes Damon, exactly I don't really know what to make of that either! What the hell is this Nanowrimo and what is it doing with my characters?! I also am finding that it seems to be almost easier to put the words down for this story than almost any other. I'm not sure if that means I'm babbling or that it's a story that needs to be told. I suppose I'll know in the end.

Enough blabbering, moving on to today's writing experience!

If you remember, my first goal was to reach the day seven goal word goal of 11,666 words or I wasn't going to let myself eat lunch. This was because I did almost no work yesterday and I felt very disappointed in myself. I am determined to stay ahead of the game this time around! No more cutting it close for this kid!

Second goal was to semi-resolve the conflict happening between two particular characters in my story. They fought it out- literally- and both of them have made their own very legitimate conclusions, which I hope to throw under the bus and run it over with a completely new player in the game, but more on that later.

My main character who I mentioned in the beginning (Lacey) is about to face her own conflict thanks to the two mentioned in the paragraph above. Soon she'll be facing a lot of life changing situations that should carry through until nearly the end of the story. Her situation is really only just starting to come to light. Not only will my main character learn something about herself, but so will everyone else. Yeehaw! Things are about to get real fun!

The last person to be introduced to the story should arrive probably within the next 2-3 thousand words, I'm not quite sure yet, but I'm aiming for the start of that scene still. I have not reached it as of yet, but I will edit when I do get there.

UPDATE: I have wrote as much as I can take today, feeling barely sane after pushing out a couple thousand words.

Lastly, with just over one thousand words left to reach my final goal of at least 13,000 words I need to get writing!

UPDATE: I succeeded, just passing the 13,000 mark. I was done that by 3pm and I definitely needed a break for the rest of the day, so there will be a review up shortly!

Currently my day Five mood is:

Yeah, annoyed as &*%$.

PS.
I'm having the overwhelming urge to start reading again so I've been doing that in my breaks. Hopefully I'll have a review to post soon, as it seems like it's been forever, and I doubt anyone actually wants to hear about my Nanowrimo experience anyways.

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 04

So, about yesterday....

A whopping 547 words later I accomplished none of my goals. Today will be an exercise in mass word production. I had hoped to get in more words than that, but obviously I failed. This is not the end all however, I'm back at the desk, with coffee and ready to annihilate today's word count. Because of this I am upping the stake considerably.

Day Four Goals (aka what I didn't do)

• break the day seven word goal of 11,666 (holy crap, that's more than 10,000 already!)
• semi-resolve the conflict between the two currently main male characters
• begin inner conflict with main character
• reach the start of the scene where the last 'big player' is introduced

Day Five Goals

• break the day seven word goal of 11,666 or no lunch!
• semi-resolve the conflict between two of the characters
• begin inner conflict with main character
• FINISH the scene where our last big player is introduced
• Break 13,000 by the end of the day

Day Five will accept no survivors, all goals must be slaughtered before sleep!

I'll try to write up the day five summary today, but I make no promises. I have words to slay.

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 03

It's day 3 of Camp Nanowrimo.

Yeah, that's what I feel like my brain is saying today. I was so focused yesterday it was ridiculous and the roll I was on seems to have died in a brutal murder. Burn, burn, burn. Now the ideas are just like 'meh, no $@#%! to give, #sorrynotsorry'. Maybe it was the coffee yesterday and my groggy brain isn't having any of this thing called 'focus' without it today. As I start this post I wonder if I should just give in and go across the Timmies and get some caffeine into this bloodstream.

15 minutes later...

I understand now. Focus comes with coffee... I have never experienced this before. WHAT IS LIFE?! maybe I should start drinking this magic elixir more often... or, you know go to sleep at a regular time.

moving on...

Day Three Goals

• Get to 6666 words before the morning is through
• Finish the day with more than 8500 words
• Address the brewing conflict head on
• Introduce another character
• Add a party... cause everyone likes parties.

With my focus setting in, I think I'm back on track to complete the goals I set for today, some of them I already have so here's how my third day is going:

I successfully completed my goal of 6666 words by the end of the morning completing the goal around quarter to nine. Which puts me more than a day ahead of schedule! This makes me very happy.

My second goal is in the works, with lunchtime a mere minutes away I'm 791 words from my goal of 8500 or more, this should be easy, but if I haven't posted this by the time I reach that point I'll write in an update.

UPDATE: I broke 8500 by one o'clock. I wonder if I can push to the 10,000 mark today? Is that too big of an ambition? My focus is back and in full swing. More than two days ahead of schedule now!

The third goal was to address the brewing conflict in my story, my main character is currently being made aware that something is up as I type here instead of there... Sorry Lacey McLean, I needed a break from your story! In doing this I inevitably brought in another character, a few more to go an I'll have all of my players in the field. My main character's best friend has finally made an appearance. The lies are flowing and the craziness should soon ensue, the ideas are really rolling now.

The party that was my last goal is in the works with invites out and supplies being collected. Hopefully by the end of the day I'll have reached at least the beginning of the bonfire party. It's going to be a big scene so I probably won't be able to finish it today, but such is life, there's always tomorrow.

UPDATE: I have successfully reached the bonfire scene. I feel the urge to jump into it but with the thought that I might not be able to finish it today I'm a little weary of doing so. 

Slowly but surely I'm noticing my story starting to gain some more bones. These characters are revealing a little bit more of their history with every passing chapter and as I only have vague ideas of where I wanted it to go I'm very happy with this.

Day four goals:

• break the day seven word goal of 11,666 (holy crap, that's more than 10,000 already!)
• semi-resolve the conflict between the two currently main male characters
• begin inner conflict with main character
• reach the start of the scene where the last 'big player' is introduced

I have set the bar lower for tomorrow as it's my day off and I know I'm probably not going to write much until the next day. I'm going to try and squeeze all of these goals in but it might not happen.

This day is nowhere near done, and I have extra writing time today, so here's to ending day three feeling like a champ and wishing it would last forever!

 I hope if you're participating you're doing good, you can do it!

Camp Nanowrimo: Day 02

I'm taking a break here part way through day two of this crazy month of writing. I'm not sure if I'll write more today, but I've found that I accomplished all of the things I set out to do in day two of Nanowrimo so I figured I might as well post.

Day Two Goals:

Goals for Day Two:

• Get to 1666 before the morning is over

• Get to 3333 by the afternoon

• Introduce at least one new character to the story

• Get a more solid idea of what is going to happen

Today I felt a lot more focused, the coffee that I never drink probably helped for the most part, not to mention the delicious lunch I ate. I may need to set the bar higher for tomorrow's goals though.

My first goal was to reach 1666 words by the end of the morning, because if you read my day one post, you would know that hey, I didn't complete my word count for yesterday (BOO!). Thankfully, it was a slow day today and I had plenty of down time at work to get some writing in. I had reached the goal of 1666 words before 9am. I was on a roll!

My second goal was to reach 3333 words, the day two goal for the month and I annihilated it with a smashing 6154 words, nearly doubling my word goal for the day. WOOHOO!!!

I also successfully introduced a new character to my story, his name is Draper Ryan, not that anyone really cares because you don't actually know what my story is about... but the introduction of this character added some clarity to my otherwise loosely planned story. I finally have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen which makes pantsing the actual details a little bit easier. 

I did say I was on a roll right? At 6:30pm, I have plenty of time to continue writing, but I think I might leave it for today and hopefully start tomorrow on a good note like today was. If I can keep this up I'll be stoked. But the wrimo in me laughs and says I'll hit a wall around 20,000 -30,000 again. This is why I get ahead when I can!

Goals for Day Three:

• Get to 6666 words before the morning is through
• Finish the day with more than 8500 words
• Address the brewing conflict head on
• Introduce another character
• Add a party... cause everyone likes parties.

Mood after day two of Nanowrimo:

If this is how every day is for the rest of the month, I can deal with it.