Month in Review| March 2016

*slinks in with head hanging*

So......I'm back! I don't really have an excuse that justifies me being away for four weeks (eeesh) but I will just say that for two weeks I was getting ready to leave for/in Texas, and the last two was just my last few weeks of my senior year and being crazier than anticipated. 

I guess re-starting my blog at the end of my senior year, while working part-time and preparing for my senior recital was a little more than I should have taken on. 

Anyhow! I am back now, and hopefully back to stay for a good long while. I'm still horrible at commenting on other people's blogs, and I apologize for that. Things have calmed down somewhat, so I will try to get better at that. 

On to the Month in Review! 

Book Therapy

Jenny B. Jones, one of my favorite authors, released a new book, I'll Be Yours, on March 22. 

She’s the coach’s brilliant daughter, clueless about love. He’s the dethroned football star, ready to teach Romance 101. When dark secrets and sparks collide, there’s no playbook for what happens next. 

The day Andrew Levin arrives at Washington High, Harper O’Malley knows he’ll make the perfect starter boyfriend. The school’s newest band geek is totally in Harper’s league, yet completely out of this late-bloomer’s reach. Between fitting in with a new family, scoring the first chair in band, and rescuing dogs for the local animal shelter, Harper’s never had the opportunity to hone her dating skills. But even though Harper’s love life is far from perfect, she’s got the perfect plan. 

Harper knows she’s insane to agree to tutor Ridley Estes, a notorious heartbreaker and the star of her high school’s football team—but in exchange, he’s offered to school her in the game of love. Just when she sees promise with her crush, a football scandal rocks her family, her town, and Ridley’s entire future. Harper suddenly has everything to lose—her family, friends, and even her heart. When the dust of the scandal settles, nothing will be the same. Including the girl who asked the most popular jock to teach her about love. 

Guys, I'm so excited to read this book. Jenny's The Charmed Life Series features possibly my favorite couple EVER, and from the excerpts I've read from I'll Be Yours, it looks just as good. 

Link Therapy 

Cait from Paper Fury's writing process. Wow. Just wow. I literally have no words except that I am in awe and I wish I could do that. Even if I did have the time I think my brain would literally run out of words to say. From the snippets it doesn't look like Cait had that problem.  (okay, so, this post shouldn't technically be in here because it is from April, but heyyyy it's all good)

Katie from A Writer's Faith's writing process. It's another writing process post! I always find it interesting to read about how other writers write. And this one was actually posted in March.

Hannah from Ink Blots and Coffee Stain's inspirational pep talk. Love this girl and this post. Check it out. 

Writing Therapy

This month hasn't been terribly productive for me, honestly. I've been feeling a little sad because I only got a couple of chapters edited. Life has really gotten in the way of writing lately.

However, I did get a really great idea for a book. I mean, like, really great, possibly-the-best-idea-i've-ever-had great.

It's all about the little things.

Next month my goal is to either work on my blog or my WIP every day. Even if it's only for five minutes.

Also, I've had an issue with my Google account for a long time, because I wasn't able to follow blogs using Friend Connect. That issue is resolved, so if I haven't followed you, that's why. I will be following everyone now!

Music Therapy 

Coming Home From The Sea

James Horner

So funny story: this song is from the soundtrack of the movie Perfect Storm. It plays at the very beginning. I’m sitting on the couch watching the beginning of this movie, and it starts with a fishing town and fishing boats coming in with their catch with this really great music playing in the background. I thought to myself, This reminds me of the Titanic. 

I decided it was because both movies start with the hustle and bustle and excitement of a dock, and it has to do with ships, and (sorry for spoilers if you don’t know the history of both stories) everyone knows at the beginning that the characters are pretty much doomed. 

Then I decided that I wanted to listen to the opening song again, so I looked it up. Turns out, James Horner, who composed the score for the Titanic, also composed the score for Perfect Storm. That would be why it reminded me of Titanic. 

Anywayyyyy, I’m not going to say much more about this song except listen to it. It’s a good song. And sorry for that long story that doesn’t really have a purpose except to tell you that I know James Horner’s musical style. I guess it comes from the many hours I spent as a kid running around with the Titanic soundtrack playing on my CD player. 

Yes, I was a strange child. 

Blog Therapy 

Here are some links to my posts this month: 

How I Make Writing Playlists

5 Reasons to Give Your Novel a Break

A blast from the past post: 

What's Keeping You From Writing?

And previews of what will be coming up in the next few weeks: 

The 3 Tools I Use for Every Writing Project 

The Liebster Award + Infinity Dream Tag (thanks Abi for tagging me in these!)

How I Write a Blog Post


That's it! Thanks guys and sorry again for my long absence.

Month in Review| February 2016

Hello! 

I'm starting a new feature on the blog, called the Month In Review!

This post will go up on the last Thursday of every month, and will be a review of what happened on the blog, in my writing life, and in the book/publishing world this month! 

I will also share a writing song that I've been loving, and some of my favorite blog posts and websites of the month. 

Here goes! I hope you guys enjoy! 

Book Therapy 

There's going to be another Harry Potter book. 

*cue internet explosion* 

J.K. Rowling announced that the play she co-wrote, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will be printed in two parts and released on July 31st, 2016, one day after the play premieres in London. 

Ruta Septys, author of Between Shades of Grey and, one of my favorite books, Out of the Easy, just released another book on February 2. I'm super excited to read this one, guys! 

It's called Salt to the Sea. 

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

Glass Sword, the sequel to the immensely popular Red Queen, released on February 9.

I read Red Queen and really, really, enjoyed it, and I'm definitely going to be reading Glass Sword. If you read Red Queen, you'll know that there was a pretty big plot twist at the end (no spoilers) so the drama is real, guys. I've been wanting to get my hands on this book since I read Red Queen last February.

It's been a loooong wait.

Spolier Alert! IF you haven't read Red Queen, skip reading the book blurb below. It contains spoilers. 

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. 

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. 

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. 

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

Link Therapy

I'm a huge fan of the blog Go Teen Writers, so if you haven't heard of it, go check it out!

Two pretty big announcements went up on GTW this month.

The first, at the end of August, Go Teen Writers will have a HUGE contest that wraps up their #WeWriteBooks series.

Jill Williamson, fantasy author and contributor at GTW, will be blogging her writing process throughout the year as she writes the first draft of a novel. She's posting in the #WeWriteBooks series on the GTW blog, and she's posting chapters of the book on her personal blog.

Following along with her series will help you get ready for the contest, which is geared towards helping writers get their novels prepared for submitting to agents. The first round will be require you to submit the first chapter of your novel, and a synopsis. The second round will be the first three chapters, and a synopsis. The contest will be open to anyone under 21 (since it is Go Teen Writers).

The second, a challenge for the month of March. Write 300 words for 30 days!

Signing up for a challenge like this can be a great way to give your word count a big push. Personally, when I write my name down on a form, I actually write the words. When I challenge only myself to write a certain number number of words every day, it doesn't always get done. There's a bonus! If you complete the challenge, at the end of the month you'll be entered into a drawing for a $20 Amazon gift card!


I stumbled across a writing blog that has a really amazing series going on. It's a good blog in general, but this series is something that I've wanted for a while,  but I didn't know quite how it would be put together. Victoria Howell figured it out! 

The series is called So Your Character Is and it explores various aspects of characters that you might not know all the answers to. The latest post is So Your Character Is From Australia. Past posts include, So Your Character Is: From the South, Adopted, and Homeschooled. Victoria interviews authors and bloggers that know about the subject, and then puts it all together into a blog post.

It is so helpful! Research can tell you a lot, but the day to day mundane things that you become familiar with when you live in a certain place aren't really researchable. You really have to talk to someone that lives there to find out what you need to know. So Your Character is from Australia kicked off the new series in a series, So Your Character is from Another Country. Canada, England, and New Zealand are just a few of the posts coming up in this series. Go check out this great series! 

Another post I enjoyed this month was one on creating content for blog posts. It can be challenging to come up with new content all the time, and this post had some really great ideas for how to get inspired. Nellie and Co is a blog on blogging (say that three times fast) run by Amanda. There are some really great posts on the blog, but if you're struggling with content inspiration, check out 4 Methods for Generating New Blog Post Topics and Ideas. 

Writing Therapy

I finished the first draft of my work in progress! This was a huge accomplishment for me, as I've been working (sloooowly) on this draft for about six months now. 

I moved on to the editing about five days after I finished the first draft. Yes, it was a short break, but I'm entering a contest in August (see Link Therapy above for more details about the contest), so I'm trying to get in as many revsions of the book as possible. 

I'm working on a post about my editing process, so I'll have that up in a few weeks! 

Music Therapy

Black Heart by BruhnuhVille

This song is from the album Aurora, and I just love it. I got chills the first time I listened to it. I imagine some sort of romantic scene at night. 

The melody from a music box is the main theme, but a violin comes in about halfway in. The song builds as it goes along, and explodes into awesomeness near the end. 

It would be great for any dramatic, romantic scene. I still imagine it happening under a sky full of stars. *makes unintentional Coldplay reference* 

Blog Therapy

Here are some links back to my posts this month: 

Why Not Writing Can Be Just as Important as Writing

The Get to Know Me Tag

Let's Get Real...

A blast from the past post: 

Writing What People Love Without Sounding Like Everyone Else


And previews of what will be coming up in the next few weeks:

How I Make Writing Playlists

5 Reasons to Give Your Novel a Break

The 3 Tools I Use for Every Novel

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Share your thoughts below about any of the blogs, books, or songs I mentioned, or tell me about anything interesting or noteworthy that happened to you in February. 

Thanks for reading!