Co-Writing a Novel and Other Wild Happenings

Remember my cousin Amelia? The one I went on vacation with this summer? The one I have a matching tattoo with? Well, her new pen name is Winter Rose, and she's making her literary debut in a book we're co-writing together, Mirror, I Am.

There's a new page for Mirror, I Am at the top of the blog. I'd say it's paranormal, but it's more contemporary with paranormal aspects. I mean, it's got full-on magic, a race of psychics called Talents, our main characters are a girl who can astral project and a girl who can track people using their personal possessions. But the main plots are about human things, and relationships between people. It's all about the characters, their families, their grief.

Definitely check out the book page here on the blog, as well as the Goodreads page! For now, here's a glimpse at our main characters:

Mine:

And Winter's:

God, it feels good to be a full-time artist again!

The Indigo Horde Soundtrack

I'm going to write The Indigo Horde back to back with its sequel, and submit the duology to some small publishers, so I won't be posting any more chapters on Wattpad. I will, however, be posting a few snippets. And talking about the process a lot.

Today, I chose the soundtrack. I also wrote a chapter, and the query, and refined my outline. I can't share those, but I can share the soundtrack, so I'm doing that here. I'll probably be able to share a Pinterest board with you guys soon, soo!

The Indigo Horde

-playlist-

1) Sippy Cup by Melanie Martinez

2) Ties by Years and years

3) If You Go Away by Emiliana Torrini

4) Preach by Daniel Johns

5) Becomes the Color by Emily Wells

6) Perfect Life by Red

7) In The Dark by Cathedrals

8) My House by PVRIS

9) Freedom by Anthony Hamilton

10) Bad Habit by the Kooks

11) First by The Cold War Kids

12) Bite by Troye Sivan

13) Revolving Doors by Gorillaz

14) Dangerous by Big Data

15) Without You by Junip

16) Technicolour Beat by Oh Wonder

17) Let You Go by the Chainsmokers

18) Black Sheep by Gin Wigmore

Yup. Those are the songs that sum this book up best. And they're all really fucking good, so, there's that. I'll be making an actual 8tracks playlist of these in a day or two, but until then, you can find them all on youtube.

Bath & Body Works, Acoustic Guitar, and Misadventures in Exercise

So, my seasonal finally ended, and I'm back to being a full-time slug. At least, until the next semester of school starts. Of course, I'll still be working all day every day; I'll just be doing it at home, in my pajamas. I'm still editing SOSAS, and drafting The Indigo Horde (fun!) but I also have school work, and a new diet, and a new instrument and language to learn. So, yeah. I'm learning French at the moment, and I got an acoustic guitar for Christmas - which I asked for, and am over the moon to get - that I now have to learn.

As far as the new diet? I'm cutting out all junk food, all red meat, and adding thirty minutes of exercise a day. In the past I've only been exercising a couple times a week, and then I got my job and stopped altogether, because I figured that was exercise enough - and I was mostly right, since I lost like 8 pounds while working at that store. I started eating a lot as Christmas got closer, especially Chinese takeout and pizza, along with Christmas dinner and all the chocolate I got in my stocking. So, yeah. Not good. I also binged on soda while drinking (because as much as I love shots, I wasn't drinking an entire pint of vodka straight) along with vodka coolers and lemonades that I'm sure are calorie killers.

So, yeah, cutting alcohol out of the new diet, too. I'll probably drink again in the future, but most likely not until we're well into summer. I like to keep drinking a once-in-a-while kind of thing anyway, because I've had problems with self-medicating with it in the past. It's not a problem now, but I still try to stay mindful when it comes to casual drinking, as well.

So, yeah, that's what I have to look forward to over the next few weeks: a lot of work. I mean, it's fun work, but still.

Since my seasonal is over, I guess I can talk more openly about it now? I was working the Christmas rush at Bath and Body Works, and I honestly have no desire to ever step into a mall again. Shoppers are annoying. I'm sure I'm annoying to employees at stores too, though.

I basically went around un-boxing and shelving stuff, though I ended up working the floor and helping customers a lot, too, since I was out there so much. I don't really know what to say about it. It was fun. And exhausting. Really exhausting.

Half of that, was commute time, but the other half was just me. I'm not generally used to being around people all day, anymore, and it drained me. At the same time, the work was hard and I often didn't bring a lunch (I don't like carrying shit around, so that's on me) so I was constantly tired and hungry and in a mild state of anxiety. It only got really bad once, I think my second to last week - I had an anxiety attack and ended up leaving. I told my boss I had to go because I just didn't feel good, but I was honestly about to burst into tears. I have no idea why I freaked out like that, so I guess I was just overwhelmed that day. I think it was a valid learning experience, and I did gain some confidence just from being around people that often, but I'm glad it's over and I get a short break for a while.

Well, a break from going out every day. Not a break from working.

I've also done a lot of shopping lately. I bought myself one of those adult coloring books, and a few actual novels, along with a sketchbook. I grabbed a new hat and some candles. I think I'm going to buy some new incense the next time I go out, because those stick are cheap and I haven't had any in a while.

I also bought some video games. I got Saints Row 3 (we used to have it for xbox, and I missed it, so I grabbed one for the ps3 and I'm just as addicted as I was before) and Enslaved, Odyssey to the West. I would probably be playing those now, honestly, but my brother and his girlfriend are watching some mafia show on the big screen, and my cousin Amelia is passed out on my bed behind me (she had the bright idea to pull an all-nighter and then ditched me before it was even eleven o'clock!) and I really want to spend the next three hours just listening to 8tracks.

But I'm going to force myself to write more of the indigo horde while I do it, because priorities.

New Chapter and A Practical Coma

Chapter 3 of The Indigo Horde is up. You can read it here. I wanted to write two tonight, but I worked a longer shift today than I anticipated and it's 3 thirty in the morning and I have to be up at 9 tomorrow morning to go back to the mall by 11, even though I don't work until two in the afternoon (ah, don't you just love rural bus schedules?) which I am not anticipating. On the plus side, my best friend is working tomorrow too - and yes, I am aware of how lucky I am to work in the same store as my best friend - which always makes shifts fly by faster.

Work isn't that bad, it's the lack of sleep I hate - bus schedules and writing schedules and anxiety are all working together to make sure I never get another wink. Also, that caffeine addiction.

Today I went into a practical coma and slept in for like 3 hours. I was twenty minutes late to work because of it, but I can't say I regret it: I'd been awake for about 30 hours before I went to sleep, so I really needed it.

And I need it again now. So I'm gonna read for a few minutes and pass out. But I hope you all enjoy chapter three (keep in mind, it's part of a draft that has received exactly zero editing whatsoever) and I would appreciate any comments!

I'll try to post about something non-work or writing related tomorrow, since it's been a while!

The Indigo Horde & You

I have a new book out that I'm serializing on Wattpad over the course of the next ten or eleven days. It's an urban fantasy called The Indigo Horde about a private detective, some monster hunters, and a very steamy romance. You can read it free here.

But enough of self-promotion. Because today what I actually want to talk about is art. And not the usual type of art I talk about. Nope: it ain't about writing today. I'm talking visual art.

Specifically? Sketching.

The year ends in like, twelve or so days and I still haven't finished filling up my sketchbook. I have so many empty pages, I'm thinking of lugging it around with me for the rest of the month and just sketching everything I see to fill it up. I hate letting empty pages go to waste, but as soon as the year ends, so does my work in this sketchbook. I'll have to put it on the shelf and grab a new one. Which I will hopefully use more.

Also not complete? My 2015 reading challenge. I wanted to read 100 books, and I've only finished 71 so far. Not bad at all, but still not my goal. That said, I'm proud of myself, because on top of reading 71 books this year, I wrote a few too.

1) Shadows
2) Souls of Salt & Seawater
3) Things We Saw At Midnight
4) Blood of Midnight

As far as 2015 goes, I'm happy. I think I grew a lot, learned a lot more about myself, and I like where I am, and who I am as a person. There are things I want to work on and accomplish, but overall, I'm proud of myself and all the growth I've gone through this year. I've changed a lot. I've also just become more myself in some ways. It has been a long year, to be clear. I've gone through a lot of heartbreak and a lot of joy. I traveled further than I've ever gone before, I got my first tattoo, I ended an eight-year friendship, I grew in confidence, got my first day job in years, and really began to make some headway with my mental illness. I am both terrified and horribly excited for next year.

And for Christmas. Because I finally finished my shopping. A lot of people got candles and books, a few got other things, but for the most part it was easy this year. And now that it's done I can relax without stressing.

Like tonight I watched Crimson Peak, finally, with my parents, and I didn't spend the entire time wondering what to buy my extended family for the holidays. And, y'know, I got to stare at Tom Hiddleston's but, which is always a plus.

So, yeah, things are good, and always looking up. I hope it's been a great year for you guys too, and I hope the last few days of it continue to be positive. I'll have more posts up before new years (I never shut up, do I?) along with more chapters of the Indigo Horde, but until then, I'll leave you with this gem:

What the fuck do I do?

I'm sitting here listening to K-pop and playing Candy Crush and trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do with my day. Because I have to do something, and I haven't done much of anything yet.

I want to write, but I also have homework to do, and I can't decide which project to work on. I don't want to write anything for Souls of Salt & Seawater because I already worked a bit on that today, but with other projects, I don't want to get tied into anything. I guess I'll do some free writing later. Or clean up my bedroom, move furniture around. Or draw something.

Or just jump off a roof and fly into the sunset, never to be seen again. You know, regular day off stuff.

But really, I have too much energy and nothing to do with it. This is what I get for coffee overload, but I regret nothing.

Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Maybe Some Other Things?

I've been awake for a lot of hours. And I just drank like 6 or 7 coffees in the span of two of them. So, as you can imagine, I am fucking bouncing off the walls! It's fun.

I am going to be blogging a lot today, because I need to blog more, and I have the day off, and I'm in the mood to write, but I don't have the attention span to write anything longer than blog posts with all this caffeine in me. That said, I feel fine. Better than fine.

I spent some time editing SOSAS last night, which is coming along nicely, and I expanded on the worldbuilding. I've been sitting here for hours listening to Kpop now, though. Mostly f(x) but also a bit of Sunmi. I finished reading the Copper Gauntlet (a pure gem) and made a graphic for it, because I was loving Jasper in this book:

We do not froth.

I'm going to practice french for a few hours sometime today, as well. I really feel like I need to do a million things all at once, because I have so much energy, and I know I'm going to be all over the place like this all day now, but I really don't mind.

Filler. It's All Filler.

This post is total filler, because I want to blog more, and I never have time to talk about the stuff I love anymore, so I'm doing that here. I keep telling myself to update this site more, because it's good marketing, and it's a nice connection to my readers, and it's nice to read posts from the past and remember things.

But I'm also a lazy, lazy nerd with not a lot of time on my hands. And in that limited time, I would rather do nerdy stuff than talk about doing nerdy stuff. But here's to talking:

I'm reading Six of Crows, and it's amazing, and I am blown away by Leigh Bardugo's worldbuilding. I'm binge-watching a bunch of stuff on Netflix; Devil is a Part-Timer, How To Get Away With Murder -- and I just finished Jessica Jones, which was amazing, spoilers or not. I can't wait for Luke Cage. (Is his show going to be self-titled too? I don't know. Who cares? More Luke!) And I'm also trying to fill out my sketchbook before the year ends. I really, really need to get some damn sketch work done. Pronto.

Aside from all this? Playing a bit of Tomb Raider here and there. Maintaining my caffeine addiction. Trying to deal with my crippling mental illness. The usual.

But no, really. I think I may need to go back on Prozac, which I really don't want to do, because side effects, and expensive medication, and gah. But my health is more important, and I'm better on my meds than off them, increased risk of type 2 diabetes or no. Because if something doesn't change I will implode, and it can't be my life that changes. I need this job, I need this school work, and I need to be writing - it's not the things I have to do, it's me, being too weak to handle the stress. And I know I have an illness and it's not my fault it undermines my quality of life, 'cause that's what illness does. It still sucks.

But I would rather be tired than tired, paranoid, anxious, and depressed. So. Them's the breaks.

What I would mainly like is a good night of sleep, clear skin, and a driver's license. Until then, however, I am stuck taking public transport to work. Which means I have to go get ready for my shift right now because the walk to the bus stop is forty-five minutes! Lucky me, right?

Have a good one, guys!

And That's All I Can Really Say...

Yesterday I worked from 6 to 10:30. Today I'm working from 2 to 10:30. I keep working long shifts that end late at night, and I have a really long commute, and I actually didn't sleep last night when I got home because my anxiety was going off of the walls, so I stayed up and now I'm going back to work without any rest, but I really don't care because I can't afford to care because I'm 600 dollars in debut and I still have Christmas gifts to buy on top of coffee and bus money. It's a hard-knock life.

The thing is, this hard-knock life is very time consuming. And when I do have free time it's usually spent doing laundry/dishes/homework. I may have underestimated just how heavy my workload was when I mentioned some previous release dates. I wanted to put out the first instalment of ADSD next month, and I've barely started drafting it. I wanted to put out SOSAS on the 15th, but I am nowhere near done editing it. And it's not that the book is bad at this stage. I could have something to publish by the 15th, and it would be a good book, but it would not be the right book.

Right now I'm focused on trying not to drop dead, trying not to flunk out, and trying to save up enough money that I can, you know, stop fucking worrying about money. I've got a small ghostwriting gig on the side that helps a bit, but it's mostly chump change, so I can not afford to quit this job right now.

I want to put out the best books I can. I rushed both the Lilac shorts and Things We Saw At Midnight, not during the drafting process, but during editing - and those books suffered for it. I've cleaned up the Lilac Jones shorts, and I'll be revising and republishing TWSAM soon, but right now I'm focused on Souls of Salt and Seawater. On not rushing it. On letting it grow and nurturing the vision of Josmea that I have in my head. This is the first introduction to a world that I plan to spend years and years of my career writing different books in, and I want it to be a good first impression.

More importantly, I know that Alice, Joram, and Rayna deserve to have their stories told in the best way possible. And I know you guys deserve a finished product that is of the same quality you'd find from a traditional publisher. That doesn't happen when I rush.

But I feel guilty. I feel guilty that I don't have more to show you guys, more words for you to read. I want to put things out, and I'm constantly torn between trying to be prolific and trying to be sane, and well-written.

I would rather be the last two.

So I'm not rushing myself anymore. I'm not rushing my works.

What does that mean? Well, it means that SOSAS won't be out on the 15th, this month. It might not be out until the 15th of next month. Or the month after that. I can say it will definitely be out in the next few months. When I say I don't know when it will come out, what I really mean is, I have a good idea of how long it will take me to finish this, but I've guessed wrong before and been mad about it so now I'm keeping my mouth shut.

As soon as it's done, arcs will go out to people on my arc list (I have not forgotten about anyone on Tumblr!) and I'll be talking about it and posting about it and advertising the release date to high heavens. But I've decided that I'm going to take a page out of Amanda Hocking's book and just not talk about my works until they're finished and I'm ready to hit publish. So as soon as my currently announced titles are released, I won't be talking about anything I'm writing until I'm ready to share it with you guys, no matter how much I really, really, really, really want to.

So, I'm sorry, if you were waiting for the Dec. 15th release. The book is still coming. But I want it to be the best quality I can make it, and quality takes time, which is something I don't have much of. And that's all I can really say, for now.

Time to go get ready for work T.T

Again. So fun.

I called in sick again today. My boss was not impressed. I have no idea what's been going around, because I know it's not just me (probably why she was so annoyed) but there are a few of us out sick. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if I caught it from one of them, but I'm not loving it. I've spent most of the day curled up writing, and I'm about to get back to that, because I have so much to fucking do, but I wanted to stop in and post my first December update!

It's almost Christmas . . . which is scary. Because I still have shopping today. And not enough cash to go around. I may go prematurely grey.

Or I may rip out all my hair before it gets to that.

Either way, back to work!