Step 1 Complete!

Yippee yay yay!! I am ecstatic right about now. You probably want to know why. Well, guess what I finished writing a few days ago?

My first draft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I’ve posted something like this before, about my last novel attempt, but remember I ditched that idea and started a new one. (Which, by the way, is 1,000 times better!)

243 pages and about 59,000 words (11,000 more than The Hidden Amethyst)! Plus, I wrote this in a little under 3 months, which is my record. I’ve never written that fast in my life. But like I’ve said, I’ve been super excited about this book. I love it!

So now we’re onto editing! I’m doing some editing on my own, but mostly it’s me and my parents. We’re going through, changing things, and fixing any holes in the story, etc. It should take a couple months, hopefully.

And no. We still have no title. However, I have quite a few ideas. I can promise you as soon I have one I will share it here!

And that’s mostly all, I think. Hoping for it to be out early fall! :)

Next Book Update!

I have been working like crazy on my next novel these days—it’s pretty much all I’m doing: writing. That and reading.
Anyways, I posted in September I had my first draft finished. I also said that because of that, it would come out sooner. You might be wondering where I’m at now. Editing stage? Formatting? Even better, about to publish?

Sadly, and fortunately, no.

In mid-January, my parents and I started to go over my draft I’d written about in September. My parents and I realized two things, going over it:  I realized my writing had improved. I also realized my storyline was failing. Again. I’m good at writing but I’m not so good at coming up with sturdy and intriguing plots that will work as novels. (I’m not even going to mention how much editing we needed to do on The Hidden Amethyst!) My problem, or why it was so bad, was mainly I kept it a secret until I had grown attached to it and the characters. In other words: Big mistake. Don’t do it.

Eight months away from our hoping-to-be release, I throw my previous draft in the trash (not literally) and decide to start fresh. Above, I say sadly, and fortunately, no. Sadly for the readers. Fortunately for me—My parents helped me come up with a great storyline that is destined to succeed! I know it was still a great choice because I still think that now, almost three months later. Also it’s fortunately because the other story was horrible compared to this one. So I’m glad the previous one got thrown out, otherwise I never would have discovered this one. And more good news is, I shouldn’t be ditching it anytime soon. I am LOVING this one five hundred million times more than the previous one I had. Besides, the plot is working 100%—unlike these previous drafts, I, amazingly enough, know where my story is going! No more blindly writing paragraphs and hoping they will fit in. I know where to head my story, how it’ll end, and so forth. So I can guarantee you the story I am talking about is the same story you will be reading by the end of the year!

Built-In Writing Tip: Write a story you’re extremely passionate about, like I did. You want to see the results?

When I was writing my previous draft, I liked it, but I didn’t love love it like this one. It took me 5-6 months to get to 145 pages.
When I was writing this book, which I LOVE, it took me only a month and a half to get to 145 pages. 

So, even though I started a brand-new story at the last minute, the deadline should, hopefully, stay around our original plan, which was August. We’re planning the cover already and editing along the way, which has been super essential to getting the story right, not to mention getting it done faster.

And…that’s the update. Yay!! I can’t wait for you all to read it….

A Book Review: Scenarios Series by Nicole O'Dell

Nicole O’Dell’s Scenarios series were really great books. Though it is one series, in each book there are new characters in new situations. The characters were lovable and very well described to a point where I grew to love them. They were written so realistically! Even though the majority of the books are about high schoolers I would reccommend it to anyone 12 and over. 

One thing I really loved about the whole series was the Christian theme. It takes true talent to do a Christian book—if you do it wrong it can come off cheesy—and Nicole O’Dell did it really well. It was realistic and well written. I really liked the way the main character always was (somewhat) willing to put church first, while still worrying about what their friends would think. I enjoyed the way the main character was able to (in some situations) turn her friends to Christ and how praying was a regular thing for their families. I loved how the Christian message was written into the books as part of the story, but also as an outreach as well. 

And, of course, I loved the two ending options. The scenarios the characters get themselves into are scary yet real and both endings are written naturally, as if there was no other ending. It was fun to read the two ways the character could have gone and see the results of both! Nobody can not like the ending because if a reader doesn’t like one ending there’s the other one!

My personal favorite of these books was Truth or Dare. In it, a girl named Lindsay and her friends start playing a game at their sleepovers called (you guessed it) Truth or Dare. For a while it’s fun, but then the dares get worse and worse. Then the absolute worst happens: Lindsay’s friend Kelly gives her a dare she knows she can never do, and Kelly says she’ll be kicked out of the group of friends if she doesn’t do it. Which will she pick? This one was my favorite because the book centers around friends, not boyfriends, and it’s something I can relate better to. It was so real and captivating; I loved it! 

The next few books were really well done, too, though I couldn’t quite relate as well as Truth or Dare. All that Glitters focuses more on boyfriends. I’m not a fan of those type of books, but I still found All that Glitters a great read. Making Waves was about a girl who swims on the swim team and her teammates tell her to use an illegal drug to get her through the final race. Like the previous book, I couldn’t quite relate to that sort of thing, but it was written so well I felt I could. Overall, the whole series is a definite 5-star rating and a series I’ll definitely reread again.

Lucy

Name: 

Lucy

Age: 

6

Personalities:

Sweet, caring, brave when she needs to be, spirited 

Best Moment: 

When she stood up to Mahalia by not singing “Happy Birthday” correctly. 

A Book Review: The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

Wow! This book was amazing amazing amazing! I’ve read other books like this before—with other worlds and over governments—but this was by far the best one yet! I read it in almost one sitting. It was so captivating and interesting! Honor and her parents live on an island under the watch of Earth Mother and her many rules, but Honor’s family doesn’t follow most of those rules. They have an illegal second child, stay out past curfew, and even Honor’s name, in which the H is silent, doesn’t seem appropriate anymore. Honor and their second child—her brother—Quintilian, worry about their parents. Because in this world, if you don’t follow Earth Mother’s rules, you disappear. And don’t come back.

I love love loved this book. Great writing, great characters, and a real realistic feel! Even though Honor starts as a ten-year-old and finishes as a fourteen-year-old I’d reccommend this to all ages. I take back my five stars—it deserves at least ten!

Mahalia

Name: 

Mahalia 

Birthday: 

Who knows? And who really cares, anyway?

Personalities:

Need I really list? She’s evil, cruel, wicked, mean, bad, naughty, awful, terrible, atrocious, abysmal, horrible, horrid, terrifying, horrifying, crummy, rotten, lousy, lazy, useless, pathetic, careless, selfish, harmful, damaging, destructive, villianous, nefarious, dishonest, dishonorable, ill-behaved, unruly, uncaring, ignorant, thoughtless, greedy, menacing, inconsiderate, vile, outrageous, bitter, sick, dumb, wrong, sinful, foul, corrupt, malicious, sinister, monstrous, atrocious, mischevious, malignant, nasty, unpleasant, filthy…you get the point. 

Greatest Wish: 

For the world to all become her slaves for eternity and for Amethyst & Friends to be destroyed for EVER!!!! 

Best Moment: 

None. 

Worst Moment: 

Now we’re talking! It could be when she captured Amethyst, tried to destroy Lucy, hired Quiana to take over and fly a jet plane (that’s illegal you know) and then throw them out the window (even more illegal) it could be sending innocent orphans on trains, or…never mind.

Appearance:

She’s really…oh, never mind, you don’t wanna know.

A Book Review: Love, Aubrey by Suzanne Lafleur

Love, Aubrey is the best, most amazing, saddest book ever written. And I mean it. You will never regret reading it! The writing is so capitivating; you feel both Aubrey’s happiness and sadness. You feel so bad for her, and you can’t stop reading until the last page, when you find out the outcome. It will keep you thinking long after the last page and I’d say the only thing wrong is you’ll go crazy wanting a sequel so you can hear more of Aubrey’s future life! 

The story is about eleven-year-old Aubrey. Her dad and little sister, Savannah, have just died in a car accident, and her mom, crazed with grief, abandoned her. Left alone in her house, Aubrey lives alone for a week—until Gram comes to take her home to Vermont. 
At home, Aubrey’s friends had abandoned her, she was living by herself with nobody to watch her, and she hated school. Here in Vermont, she goes to a nice school, lives with her caring grandmother, and has a new best friend, Bridget. But the emptiness from the loss of her family is still there. They’ve been searching for her mom for a long time with no clues. Why would her mom just….leave?

Wow—it is just a beautiful book. It takes true talent to write a book so good it makes you want to cry. Read it! You will never regret it, and you will never forget Aubrey’s story. Reading her memories, you start to miss Savannah, too, even though you never knew her. 

Love, Aubrey definitely deserves five stars. It’s the most amazing book you’ll ever read.