New Year's Resolutions

1. Read 50 books this year. This means planning ahead of time an average of 4 books a month and setting aside the time to get through them. If left to my own devices, depending on the book, sometimes I'll get through one in two days, sometimes I'll linger on one book for a whole month. Not this year! 50 books, let's go.
   
   First on my list: Behind the Beautiful Forevers; The Glass Castle; Middlesex; The Diviners; A Casual Vacancy.
   
2. Get a job. I need one for sure before I graduate in June, but I would love to get one by March so I can go on a spring break trip with my friends.
   
3. Finish Book 3. I need to hammer out more specific goals for this later, but I definitely need to finish my current WIP this year.
   
4. Cook more, clean more. Okay, this is not specific at all, but what I would really love to accomplish is some kind of schedule for cleaning my apartment and preparing homemade meals. You might be able to tell that I sort of think of schedules as the path to success and happiness. Probably because I'm so unorganized in my natural state.

Well... here's to success in 2013! I have some work to do to make these resolutions more doable. (Set short-, medium-, and long-term goals.) What do you hope to accomplish this year?

Happy New Year!

Books Read in 2012

Behold, the books I have read in 2012.

  * signifies a highly recommended read

  - means I do not recommend this book

  YA means it's a young adult book

  If there is neither a * nor a - you can assume I would say go ahead and read it, you'll probably enjoy it.

1. The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly *
2. Punkzilla by Adam Rapp (YA)
3. On Writing by Stephen King *
4. The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly *
5. Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block (YA)
   ~
6. Blackbird by Jennifer Lauck
7. Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald (YA) *
8. Going Bovine by Libba Bray (YA) *
9. Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes (YA) *
10. The Disenchantments by Nina Lacour (YA) *
    ~
11. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (YA) *
12. Happyslapped by a Jellyfish by Karl Pilkington
13. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley (YA) *
14. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi *
15. Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald (YA) *
    ~
16. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (YA) -
17. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery *
18. Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
19. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
20. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern -
    ~
21. Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James
22. The Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher (YA)
23. A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley (YA)
24. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (YA)
25. An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer -
    ~
26. Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, & Lauren Myracle (YA) *
27. The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly *
28. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (YA) *
29. The Liberation of Alice Love by Abby McDonald
30. Diary of a Blues Goddess by Erica Orloff *

Fake it till you make it

This advice applies to just about everything in life. I constantly have to remind myself of this rule. Because it's not easy, but I'm pretty sure it's magical.

Do you ever notice how some people seem to have the best luck? Everything seems to fall into place for them. Of course there are many, many factors that make one person lucky while another person struggles. But I'm pretty sure one of those factors boils down to attitude.

When you really want something -- a new job, a text from a boy, a parking spot at the mall -- it's easy to get bogged down by negative thoughts and worries. The thing is... why waste those thoughts on worry when you could choose confidence? Either way, the time will pass before you get -- or don't get -- what you want. Might as well act confident that you will succeed. There's something to be said for energy. Sending out anxious or doubtful vibes to the world seems a poor choice when you could instead radiate self-assuredness.

So if I visualize Johnny Depp showing up at my door with roses...? Okay, maybe not.

 
One trick is to visualize the feelings you will get when you achieve your goal and then snuggle into those exact feelings now like a comfy sweater. Example: when the movie theater calls you back and offers you a job, you're going to feel worthwhile and accomplished. Step into those feelings. Try them on now -- you don't have to wait for someone else to hand them to you. It's not easy to do, but it's a good exercise in sending the universe the best possible vibes.

If you convince yourself that you deserve the thing that you want (and work hard for it), chances are the rest of the world will agree with you.

It's finals week

Which means I don't have time to write a post for you lovely people. Because I'm doing the grown up thing and studying my bum off. My exams are on Tuesday. One of them is about programming data structures and involves words like algorithm and Dijkstra and minimum spanning tree.

Wish me luck?

Instead of imparting some almost-23-year old wisdom on you all, I will direct you to this hilarious Tumblr post in which Maureen Johnson discusses her attempts to chronicle her writing habits.

And I leave you with this quote from Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums:

"Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain."

Have a happy week!

Books Read in November

How is it December already? This means it's almost my birthday. And the apocalypse. And 2013. Since I don't actually think the apocalypse is going to happen.

Welp, I only read two books in November. I should start reading faster...you know, in case the end of the world actually does happen.

1. LET IT SNOW by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle.

Recommended: YES!

This book is not a novel but three holiday romances. Each one filled me with warm fuzzies and laughter and JOY. Just READ IT!

2. THE WILD ROSE by Jennifer Donnelly

Recommended: UM YES.
You know how it's always difficult to answer the question "what's your favorite book?" or "who's your favorite author?" Well, for me, Jennifer Donnelly makes it easy. She is my favorite author. Why? Because she weaves such thrilling page turners, filled with such detail that they ACTUALLY transport you to another time and place. Yes, ACTUALLY. I'm quite sure I spent the last couple weeks in the Arabian desert somewhere near Damascus. (You'll understand after you read this book.)

Now, this is the third book in a series. You'll want to start with THE TEA ROSE. As is the case with most series, I think the first one was the best. THE TEA ROSE is absolutely brilliant. The second one, THE WINTER ROSE, is also wonderful. This one rates third as far as amazing-ness goes, but it's still great.

This is an adult, historical epic series. If you're looking for something YA, check out Donnelly's REVOLUTION. (When people ask what my favorite book is, REVOLUTION is usually my answer.)

~

What have you read lately? I love recommendations. Feel free to leave some in the comments!

Happy December!

Write what you want to write

This week's post is inspired by this quote I came across on Tumblr. Charlaine Harris is the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series.

“Maybe the best advice I can give is … don’t be afraid to write what you want to write. Don’t decide to write a serial killer book because they’re selling, or steer clear of a subject some readers might find objectionable. Once you’ve decided on the book you want to write, work intensely until it’s the best book it can be. Don’t be afraid to listen to criticism, but pick your critics carefully.” -Charlaine Harris

A lot of writers, new writers especially, make the mistake of writing to fads. You read something super popular, like, I don't know, Twilight, and you think, "Hey, I could write a better vampire story." And so you get to work on your novel and... after working on it for a while it's likely that one of these two things will happen:

A) You find that, after all your hard work, vampires are not in anymore. Now it's angels and -- oh wait -- now zombies. It's true that fads come in waves -- you think you've got a good shot with your vamp romance because the bookstores are full of them. The thing is, the publishing industry moves slowly. What this means for you is that by the time vampire novels hit the shelves, publishing houses are sick of them and are looking for the next big thing. 

So, should you look out for the next big thing and jump on that train? No. Not necessarily. Because:

B) Writing a novel is a commitment. You need to be invested in your project; you need to care about it more than anyone else ever can. Chances are, if you choose the topic of your novel just because it's popular, you won't feel as strongly about it as you should. Nothing is worse for the fate of your novel than you, the writer, losing interest. If you don't believe in it, who will? 

Write about something you care about. Write that story that won't let you go -- even if you're not sure why. It might be far from the latest Jack the Ripper trend. You might feel like no one would ever want to read about this topic. And you might be right... or you might be onto something exciting. My point is, if you care deeply enough about your topic to see it all the way through to the end, your novel will have a much better chance than if you choose a popular topic that you only sort of care about. 

That said, if the story that keeps waking you up at night, waiting to be written, happens to fit a current trend, go ahead and write it. If you think you have a fresh spin on a topic, go for it. The most important thing is your own level of passion for the book you are writing. Don't be afraid to write about controversial topics. My current WIP (work in progress) deals with some sensitive subjects, but I have enough faith in the story not to be bothered by potential controversy. Be true to yourself. Don't worry about the trends. Write what you want to write.

Happy Turkey Week!

This year I'm making Thanksgiving last all week.

Last night was the first of three Thanksgiving celebrations. This one was with a group of close friends, including my man and my sister. My sister and I cooked all day. It was glorious.

I contributed several things, including:

• This peanut butter pie from the Pioneer Woman. Good gravy, it was amazing.

• These adorable chocolatey pretzely thingies.

Melt Hershey's kisses on mini pretzels (3 minutes at 275 degrees). Then press an M&M on top while they're still hot. Put them in the fridge until they're nice and solid. (from foodgawker.com)

• And fresh baked dinner rolls. Here's a helpful hint: you can find frozen dinner rolls at the grocery store. All you have to do is bake them right before the meal and you've got fresh rolls! Just remember to give yourself an extra hour (or three) to thaw them -- I almost forgot about that part. That would've been bad. Yum, carbs!

Next on my Turkey week agenda: dinner, games, and ruckus with my three best friends, the most hilarious ladies you'll ever meet. Then the third and final Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. SO MUCH FOOD. SO LITTLE REGRET.

What are your Thanksgiving plans? What's your favorite thing to cook/force someone else cook for you?

Schedule Success

If you want to write – or do anything else, really – take control. The idea of writing a novel can be extremely intimidating, but you have the power to do whatever you set your mind to.

More specifically, you have the power to control your schedule.

Now, now. I can hear you protesting that you can’t control school, that you have band practice, tennis, a job, you have to help your mom cook for your seven siblings. I get it. We all have things to do. We’re all busy.

But what about those hours you spend on Tumblr every night? Or the time you spend catching up on Vampire Diaries? The twenty minutes you spent just the other night, lying on your bedroom floor imagining what life would be like if you lived in Paris? Yeah. That’s what I thought.

If you want to accomplish anything, if you want to write that novel or create the perfect bacon-donut, you have to commit. Understand that you’re doing it for yourself, you’re doing it because you really want this. Make it part of your day. Schedule the time.

Because you are busy, go easy on yourself. Set aside an hour to work on your project every day. Every other day, even. Two hours if you can swing it. It’s not a race. The point here is that if you do a little work every day, it will add up. It might not feel like much on a daily basis, but you will be making steady progress toward your goal.

Find what works for you. You might find you work best early in the morning or late at night. You might prefer to set a time limit (90 minutes a day) or a page limit (one page a day). There are so many other things that come down to personal taste – location, music or silence, fuzzy socks or monkey slippers – but the universal rule on the road to success is to schedule it.

Get into a routine. Do it for you. The first step to achieving your goal is to start.

Good luck! Let me know in the comments how you schedule time to work toward your goal.

Books Read in October

I'll be doing a post like this every month where I list the books I've read and whether or not I recommend them. Click the title to find the book on Amazon; click the author's name for their website or blog.

1. THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE by Liz Gallagher

Recommended: Yes.
This is a fun, quick read for fans of contemporary YA. I met Liz at the PNWA 2012 conference. I was psyched to find out that she writes realistic YA set in Seattle, like me! She's super sweet and I loved her book. Wished it was longer though -- I finished it in three hours!

2. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor

Recommended: Yes.

I'm not a big fantasy reader, but Laini Taylor's elegant, engaging prose sucked me in right away. The main character kicks ass and has peacock-blue hair. Need I say more?

3. A LITTLE WANTING SONG by Cath Crowley

Recommended: Yes.

I adored Cath Crowley's GRAFFITI MOON so I knew I would like this one. They're both realistic YA stories set in Australia. I recommend both of those -- Graffiti Moon is pure fun and romance, while this one is more bittersweet (but it still has romance!) 

4. AN UNCOMMON EDUCATION by Elizabeth Percer

Recommended: Unsure. I'm halfway through it now. I liked the first part, but now I'm losing interest. We'll see!

Halloween is coming.

So the natural thing to do is make Jack o' Lantern cupcakes.

Which is exactly what I did.

Unfortunately, they didn't turn out quite as I'd pictured.

Step 1:
Mix up a large quantity of cupcake batter.

Pardon the camera phone quality of these pictures...

Step 2:

Bake 'em! Duh.

Step 3:

Try way too hard to make orange frosting. I used a can of vanilla frosting and added a bunch of yellow food coloring, and a little red. Then a bunch more yellow, a little more red. Repeat five hundred times. It still turned out sort of pastel-y, not really the orange I'd hoped for.

Step 4:

Frost those babies and decorate them with candy to make them look like... sort of resemble... suggest? jack o' lanterns. 

I used M&Ms, Hershey's kisses (the cookies & cream kind... have you guys tried those? They are amazing.)  and gum drops. 

I love to bake, but mostly everything I make turns out, well, sort of ugly. Still delicious! Just not attractive. 

You could probably make these look ten times better than I did. What Halloween treats do you like to make? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Halloween!

I’m an expert on embarrassing.

Some things I can’t help; take, for example, the attention whore of a zit now perched on my cheek. Right under my eye, too, so my eye is practically swollen shut. What a jerk.

Some things I have just accepted as a part of who I am, like my tendency to get lost in daydreams. This sounds harmless enough, until you count the number of times you’ve almost been mowed down by a Vespa. The little shriek-hop that inevitably follows these near death experiences totally redeems my dignity. Not really. Not at all.

The worst are the things that are completely under my control. Things I keep doing. Sending sexy texts and then spending the next two hours slapping myself in the face for thinking it was a good idea. Who says that? He hates me now. That was not sexy. At all. Nope. He’s not going to respond. Because I’m dumb. Stupid and crass. And just gross. I’m gross.

I have a reasonable, adult voice somewhere in my head. But in these moments, my inner thirteen year-old shoulders her out of the way, sounding the alarm. Screeching her head off. Berating me like a bona fide mean girl.

Even though my adult voice cowers in the corner for hours – sometimes days – she finds her strength the only way she knows how. Even when she can’t get a word in over the keening of my inner Dramapants, she finds her strength – in a laugh.

I usually try to cheer myself up doing something that wraps me up in happy. Writing, reading, baking delicious cookies. But when Dramapants gets going, it’s hard to find safety even in my favorite things.

So I laugh. And that is my advice to you, dear reader. Laugh it off. You can turn the worst of times into bittersweet times or even times of utter hilariousness. You can turn good times into pure awesome. Find the funny.

That embarrassing time a Vespa driver swore at you and a cute guy looked at you like you were mentally unstable? It becomes an amusing story of how you almost lost your life while reliving a Johnny Depp sex dream. The giant witch of a pimple? I don’t know, but you have to admit it is pretty funny that a pimple’s swelling your eye shut. Freaking out over something you said to a guy? You were trying to be playful, anyway. Anything sex-related should be served with a healthy dose of humor. And winky faces.

Even if you have to fake it, give it a try. Start laughing. It’ll probably be hard to stop.

Autumn is my favorite time of year.

Things I love about the season:

A) Holing up in a coffee shop and reading or writing for hours. An extra hot vanilla latte tastes so good when it’s gray and drizzling outside.

B) New boots.

C) Carving pumpkins.

D) Admiring other people’s Halloween decorations. I live in an apartment so I don’t have a front porch to deck out with pumpkins and cobwebs. But when I do have a front porch, my Halloween display will send children screaming into the night. Not really, it’ll probably be more cute than scary, but still. Halloween decorations!

E) Baking. Baking, baking, baking. Cookies, cakes, muffins, scones. Bringing fresh-baked goodies to friend’s houses or home to the family.

F) Halloween! Dressing up. I love the idea of mobs of costumed people causing mischief for one night. Also, the candy.

I think this year my friend and I are going as Helga and Phoebe from Hey Arnold! Grown up Helga and Phoebe, of course. This will be the first year in forever that I haven’t been Hermione/Harry Potter/some other witch or wizard. What are you going to be for Halloween??