Friday, November 6, 2015

Snazzy Snippets // NaNoWriMo Edition

I'm fully into NaNoWriMo, and this year it's coming along marvelously! I'm steadily a day ahead in my word count, which I am OVERJOYED with. And I'm loving my novel. It has no title yet, but it does have a pinterest, which you can check out if you'd like.

snazzy snippets graphic


Snazzy Snippets is a (bimonthly?) linkup hosted by Emily and Alyssa. It's a chance for us to share our writing, which I rarely do (because my babiiiiieeees are preciiiousssssss). So what better time to join in than NaNoWriMo? (Also, that means this snippet is pure first draft, so not superbly beautiful. Bear with me.)

I'm sharing a snippet that falls under the second prompt: a snippet featuring a friend/family member of your protagonist. And, since my protagonist obviously has no friends (as you will find out from the snippet), you get to meet her grandfather!

Enjoy!

Tania,” said her grandfather, slowly stumping over to the cupboard and pulling out the tea. “What was all that outside?”
Tania frowned, and said nothing, instead reaching for the cat that rubbed up against her ankles. She tried to pick it up but it scowled and dashed off. 
“Stupid cat,” she muttered. “Make up your mind.”
“Tania,” her grandfather repeated, a little more intently. “Leave the cat alone. What happened outside? Marika is a nice girl and I don’t want you getting into fights.”
Tania flopped down onto the chair by the door and closed her eyes. 
“Marika is a judgmental harpy, and the rest of this village is just like her.”
Her grandfather sighed and turned to the fire. “Honeybee. Help me make tea?” he asked, and Tania pushed the stray hairs that had escaped her braid out of her eyes and got up. As she hooked the tea kettle onto the metal rod over the fireplace, she felt her grandfather’s calloused hand touch her shoulder.
“Were they talking about your mother?” he asked gently.
“They didn’t expressly say it, but I could feel they wanted to,” she said, turning to face him. “It’s not my fault my mother couldn’t have children. Why do I have to live with her twisted decisions?”
“You are the reason for her ‘twisted’ decisions,” said her grandfather. “She loved you so much that she was willing to danger her life for the chance of giving birth to you.”
“So I was born. And then she died,” Tania replied bitterly. “All her efforts to have a child were pointless, because then she didn’t even get to enjoy me or take care of me. And I’m left with them.” She waved her hand dismissively towards the street. 
The old man sighed and sat down creakily into the chair by the fire. “Are you really having that much trouble with your friends, honeybee?”
Tania scoffed and threw a twig into the fire, making it crackle. “Friends. They hate me. They think I’m cursed. I don’t have friends.” She wished she could throw this whole damn village into the fire and watch it crackle. Then she’d live with her grandfather alone – and in peace.

So there's that! Share your snippets with me! How's your NaNo going?


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

October // NaNo prep (+ not much else)


Sheesh October was such a busy month! I barely posted anything, I read half a book (!!!!), I reviewed absolutely nothing, and I'm super behind on responding to comments and commenting on other blogs. However - I do have a giant plot for my NaNovel and got midterm grades of A on all my classes. So not entirely a slack-off month.

I went to an excellent Halloween party at school and dressed up as quite an epic pirate (if I do say so myself). I would post pictures but all the pics I have include school-friends and I do not have their approval to post online. So you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that I looked dang good. 

What else did I do in October? Hm. I'm not sure if there's anything blog-worthy that happened. My future study-abroad/adventure plans got more solidified, but they're still not 100% set, so you'll have to wait for next month's recap for the big announcement! But it's coming - with guest posting opportunities, so stay tuned!

Oh, and remember how I said my sister was considering making a blog about food? Well it is officially Happening - but not until Christmas break when she has some free time from her busy schedule. She's applying to universities now and is going mildly insane (though today she received her first acceptance email!). 

Even though I've had a slow blogging month in October, I can't promise I'll be much better in November, thanks to NaNoWriMo. However, I am hoping to get the following things posted on this blog:
~the November Beautiful Books post (read my October one and meet my NaNovel!)
~at least ONE review (hopefully two, but that may be too much to hope for).
~the writing tag that Katie tagged me for that I promised I would do two weeks ago.
~NaNo progress posts (at least two).

Now that I look over that list, I may be pushing it. Eh, it's good to have goals.


Very small - all came from the free-books-library-discards shelf at my train station. (I adore that shelf so much!) 


Ordeal by Innocence and The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie


So I took exactly ZERO photos this month on my instagram, and I was tagged for SO MANY tags there too. Oh well. Maybe I'll do better this month? (I'm going to see Marissa Meyer again (!!!!!!!!) so at least that photo's happening.)



Everyone's telling you how to prepare for NaNoWriMo, but let Shim at Sketches and Scribbles explain how to be UNPREPARED

Bennet at My Sky of Paper and Ink writes about Slaying the First Draft and how to start writing when we're faced with that blank page.

And Maggie Stiefvater tweeted this and MONDAY CANNOT COME QUICKLY ENOUGH:



So, as I said, I only posted three times this month, but you all seemed to like my responses to the #WritersLife tag, where I proclaim my writer's secrets and woes.


Lovelies! Tell me about your October. Did you dress up for Halloween? Did you plan your NaNovel? (If you're doing NaNo, friend me!) ARE YOU AS EXCITED ABOUT THE RAVEN KING COVER REVEAL AS I AM?