What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 1:08 AM in inspiration, reading, ready. set. write!, siege and storm, teaser, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate go here.

WHAT I'M READING 

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo! FINALLY. I have been waiting to read this book for a very long time, and boy was the wait worth it. I'm not too far in but I am enjoying it. Also, Sturmhond is my new favorite character.






WHAT I'M WRITING

I reached (and surpassed) 20K!!! Last week Unfair was at 18, 560 words, this week I was able to bump that up to 21, 597 words. That's 3,037 words written for those of you who like numbers. Since I didn't share a teaser last week, I'll post one today. Keep in mind that this is the first draft.

Background: Camellia (my MC) is on a ship that appears out of thin air and carries goods collected from different parts of the kingdom. The Queen gave the merchants who sail the ship reign over the sea, but no one knows where they came from. In this scene, Camellia is talking to one of the merchants. (Spoiler: The merchants are sirens. Also, her sword is made out of pure gold. A strange woman gave it to her in an earlier scene.)


         “You have a sharp tongue,” he said, and I could hear a semblance of a smile in his voice. Only I couldn’t be sure. One look and he’ll drive me mad. The chuckle that resonates in his throat sounds empty, as if he had pulled it out of a soul that hadn’t been there for many years.

“My tongue isn’t the only thing that's sharp.” I held up my sword. “What could I buy with this?”

“Half of this ship if you wanted.”

“I need iron.”

“I tell you that you can buy half of this ship, and you want to waste this gold on iron?”

I turn to face him, staring at his chest to keep from meeting his cerulean gaze. “Don’t question what I came here to buy. It’s none of your concern.”

His hand moved up to touch my chin. Fingers grazed the skin there, ever so gently. I would’ve cut each one of them off, if a wave of calm didn’t wash over me in that moment. “Look into my eyes.” That is when I could hear it. The voices. The singing. It replaced every thought that I ever had. It was both beautiful and horrible. It shook me to my core, and it would’ve driven me to madness if there wasn’t something inside of me fighting back.When I finally met his blue-green gaze, his power had no affect on me.

The merchant withdrew his hand. “Impossible,” he whispered.

My Ready. Set. Write! goals for the week? I'm going to keep it small. I want to see if I can write around 1-2K. Will try for more but we'll see.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

I have been writing for more than a decade (started writing when I was five) and I don't necessarily worry about ever being published. One day I would love to query and share my stories with other people but for now I am content with writing for me. There are a lot of people who write because they want to be bestselling authors one day, and while it's okay to have dreams, don't let that dream be the only reason you want to write.

I think it's good to remember that you're always going to be a writer. If you don't have an agent or a book deal it doesn't make you less of a writer, and even if you do have those things, it doesn't make you more of a writer. Once you commit yourself to writing a story; once you write that first word and never stop then, from that moment on, you are a writer for life. It doesn't matter if you get paid to do it or not. As long as you're writing for yourself first, nothing else matters.

I don't want to ramble but just having the ability to think up stories, build worlds, and create different characters inspires me every day. Storytelling is what has gotten me through childhood, high school, and my approaching adulthood. Being a writer is awesome, so whenever you're feeling down, remember that. Always remember that.


WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

I'm an Executive Scholar for a non-profit organization in Pittsburgh that gives out scholarships to kids who do well in high school and attend Pittsburgh public schools from kindgergarten up.

To celebrate getting through the first year of college, the organization gave me and other Executive Scholars free tickets to the game and we got to meet the players, hang out in the VIP suite, and to make a long story short, I had a blast, and the Pirates won!!!! They beat the Cardinals 9 - 1.  It was a great game and an AMAZING day overall. I'm really glad I went.



Top Left: View from the suite, Top Right: A really cute bowl shaped like a baseball cap (I kept it), Bottom Left: View from the Roberto Clemente bridge (that boat just happened to be passing by), Bottom Right: Me walking across the Roberto Clemente bridge after the game (it's a little blurry but I like it).

 I hope everyone had a great writing week!

Thanks for reading. :)



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What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 3:51 AM in doctor who, eyre house, goals, inspiration, jane eyre, north & south, reading, ready. set. write!, siege and storm, teaser, things left unsaid, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

 

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate go here.

WHAT I'M READING

I finished The 5th Wave a couple of days ago and it blew my mind in so many ways. I've read a lot of good books, but this one it's more than good. It's just...I can't put it into words right now. I tried when I reviewed on Goodreads (don't think I did the book justice), but just know that The 5th Wave is what everyone says it is and more.



I'm supposed to be reading Siege & Storm right now. I've been waiting for that book for awhile now, seeing as though I couldn't buy it until I reached 10K (which I did) but then another book caught my eye.

Eyre House is a New Adult retelling of Jane Eyre and if you don't know this already Jane Eyre is my favorite novel. I read it for the first time when I was eleven, and have read it at least a hundred times (this is not an exaggeration) since. It's the book that inspired me to write. It's the book that got me through stormy nights, and made me fall in love with the idea of storytelling/becoming more serious about writing. Jane Eyre could never be redone in my eyes. I'm even picky when it comes to movie adaptations (the one with William Hurt is terrible and I have a strong dislike for it). But when I heard about this book, I couldn't help myself. NA? Male POV? Modern retelling of Jane Eyre?!

I bought it last night and I have not regretted my choice so far.  Eyre House is set in a 'haunted' Bed & Breakfast in an island in South Carolina and the writing is perfect. It's modern and it has charm and a darkness that pulls you in. I'm nowhere near finished with this book, but if the first few chapters is how the rest of the book is going to be, then I think I'm going to love this one in the end. I might even read Jane Eyre again when I'm finished (sorry Siege & Storm).


WHAT I'M WRITING

So, as I mentioned, I reached 10K! This was my goal because every wip since I've started since I finished writing my first novel has never surpassed 10K. It's like, as soon as I hit 9.5K I run into a wall, and then the story just never goes anywhere from there. My current word count is 12, 406 which means I wrote about 3, 263 words last week. It probably would've been more if I didn't cave and finish that last couple of sections of The 5th Wave in one setting. But progress is progress and the fact that I passed 10K means a lot to me. It means that I can finish this. One word in front of the other.

I wrote a Next Big Thing post yesterday talking a little more about Unfair, if you guys want to check out.

I couldn't decide on what to share from my wip, so here are two short paragraphs:

I do know that people still talk about that night, about the things they had seen. In the darkness, in the shadow of the fire that swallowed the city. There is talk that there was something there. Something dark, something that once was. There aren’t that many documents from the Dark Ages but the ones that have been preserved talk about creatures made from the absence of light, they move in the darkness, and some would even argue that they are darkness.

And

Malodyra used to be the capital of this kingdom, now it was just a skeleton, what was left of the kingdom once the fire ate through the skin, and burned away the flesh. The king once said that the Sun would never set on us, but it had, and now that it has, it doesn’t seem like it will ever rise again. Not completely. Though it may hang in the sky from time to time, we will always be submerged in a perpetual darkness.


My Ready. Set. Write! goal for this week is to finish this chapter because it's dragging on longer than I thought it would. I also want to try to add another 5,000 words this week. I'm also doing a good job ignoring SNIs which is something that I have hard time doing. Like a good writer, I've been writing them down, and leaving them alone. No shiny idea is going to take me away from Unfair. I am really determined to finish this.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

A lot of quotes. Sometimes I find quotes that explain my book better than I can, and so I make sure to put them on my Pinterest board, to remind myself that this isn't just some random idea. I do know what I want the book to look like (even though I am pantsing at the moment hehe). But, yeah. Loads of quotes, especially this one:

"I believe I have seen hell and it's white, it's snow-white.” 
― Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

This is the line that sticks out every time I watch the North & South miniseries (I have the book now *squee*) but it took on a different meaning this time because of my wip and it just has so much meaning. It's one sentence but it means so much to my story, to the characters, and it's just perfect.

Doctor Who is also a huge inspiration right now. I'm falling in love with David Tennant's Doctor all over again (and I feel like I'm cheating because the Ninth Doctor will always be my favorite) but I think it's amazing how they can take one character, who is essentially the same man, and make him different every single time. I meant to write a post about this but what I learned from Doctor Who is that it's okay for your character to change. It's okay for them to be...different (if it fits the story). The Doctor in the first series is completely different in the second, and it's not because he's played by a different man and has a different face. He just changed internally and that's okay. Don't know if this makes sense but I have been thinking a lot about characters, everything from their beliefs to their motives, changing.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Another thing  that is inspiring me right now is the proof copies for my first novel. Those of you who participate in NaNo know that the reward for winning is a coupon for free proofs from Createspace. I finally used mine so I could have copies of my 'first' (It's more like my third but I don't count the first two...for reasons haha) novel and if I wanted to, one day, go through one of the proofs with a red pen. Though after they arrived, I haven't had the heart to write in them. They're just so pretty and shiny. I have used Createspace to order proofs before, and they do a fantastic job.

My mom (and a few other people) have asked to read it and they all get upset when I tell them no. This is a first draft, and there are a lot of holes in it. My last chapter? It's only two pages long! I was reading it yesterday, and there are a few passages/chapters that I am especially proud of but...it's not ready for anyone to read. One day.

Thanks for reading guys!

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Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Book Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Posted by Raven M on 2:00 PM in birthday, book review, reading, shadow & bone, siege and storm, the darkling, writing,

Hi guys!

Though I was extremely tired, I stayed up until four o'clock this morning reading S&B because it was really hard to put down and Alina was a girl after my own heart and...THE DARKLING!!!!

I try to be spoiler-free when I write book reviews because I know how it feels to have something ruined but...I just really want to hear other people's thoughts on the Darkling. He's one of my favorite characters in the book besides Alina and Genya. I know there are reasons I shouldn't like him, but he has to be the most intriguing character in the entire book. Not to mention that he makes black look so good but...*ahem*

Moving on.

A little about the book before I share my thoughts on it:

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

(Taken from Goodreads)

I honestly don't know where to begin.

It took me a few pages to get into the story, yes, but once the book finally sinks its claws into you, it will never let go. There are people who find fault in the author's use of Russian history/culture to shape the world Alina lives in and...for the record...I don't know much about Russian history/culture...so none of that was an issue for me while reading. I do, however, wish that we got to see more of the world Alina and the rest of the characters live in. A huge part of the book takes place in one specific location, and though I understand why, it would be nice to see more of Ravka.

Hopefully this will happen in the next two books in the trilogy.

Shadow & Bone is more character-driven than anything. Yes, there is romance and politics and magic but the book focuses more on Alina and how she is dealing with being thrown into a world she doesn't quite understand, while also trying to fit in and be the shining light that everyone needs her to be in this time of great darkness.

Leigh Bardugo has a very fresh writing style. The voice was spot-on and I even found myself laughing every once in a while because I saw a little of myself in Alina. Books are always great to read when the voice is strong but when it's coming from a character you can relate to?

Yeah, that's even better.

There are a lot of lines I wish I could have written. The descriptions are very vivid and colorful and I could picture almost every scene in my head, which is a huge plus in my book. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a lot of romance but also glad that it wasn't the driving factor of the book either.

This book is very seductive. It's dark and beautiful and extremely well-written in my opinion. I regret not reading this months ago when I bought it but I am glad I decided to delve into this book now because it truly is as good as a lot of people say it is. Again, I really wish I could've seen more of Ravka but...that minor critique isn't enough for me to not want to continue the series.


If you're looking for a fast read that's set against the backdrop of a dark fantasy world where nothing is as it seems, then this book is for you. I HIGHLY recommend that you read it. And if you already have, then we need to talk about the Darkling. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who couldn't help but like him.

Thanks for reading!

(I got an Amazon gift card for my birthday so I'll be buying Siege and Storm soon. Well, after I get some more writing done. I'm 200 words away from 2K so once I hit 3.5K I'll treat myself to S&S.)

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