Here's the thing: I love the Paper God's trilogy. I love Amanda Sun's writing. I do not love doing things that aren't writing or browsing the internet. I have such a lack of motivation lately it's not even funny: and it's not that I'm not excited about my goals or I don't wanna accomplish things. It's just that my bed is super comfy and it's a lot more fun to sit under the covers and get stoned and browse the web and listen to pop music than it is to sit down and actually get some work done.
But I love this series and characters, and I need to be ready to read Heir to the Sky, so I'm going to just sit down today and read this damn book. If I don't finish it, that's fine, but I only have a third of the book left, so it doesn't feel like too much.
So those are my goals today, and if I don't accomplish them, then fine, but I really want to. The thing is, even when I do work lately, it's school work, since that has to take priority since I really, really would like to graduate this year.
I guess I'll be staying on my grind for the a while to come. . .
Shadowhunters doesn't premier until the twelfth, and that is killing me. I keep seeing these fantastic edits and screen shots and promo pics on Tumblr, and I have no idea how other fans are getting these/where they're finding them, but they're just making me more anxious to watch. And then when I do get to watch, I'll only get the one episode, and then I'll be waiting another week. This show might kill me. Hell, waiting the last few days for it might kill me. Rereading the books would certainly kill me, so I won't even go near those. (God knows if I crack open City of Bones one more time, that paperback is gonna snap in half or something.)
So I'll keep drinking my hot chocolate and minding my own damn business. Kuma is going home later today, so until then we're sitting around on the internet. Once she leaves, I'll probably stay up and get work done. I haven't done much while she's been here, aside from finishing up the new edition of Midnight City. I also have school work to do - like, 13 assignments - in the next eight or nine days. I have a schedule worked out so it will only take me four days, as long as I don't fuck around and waste my time, so I'l going to start those tonight too.
It's nice to be getting back to work, even though it has been a fun few days. Last night I had an old friend who I haven't talked to since September come out for an hour or so and we all just sat around laughing our asses off and having a good time. Kuma's been here for about five days, and both she and Winter were here for three or four days before that.
Things have been hectic. But at least my seasonal at Bath and Body Works is over - not that I didn't like it, because it was cool for the most part. But it was a lot of anxiety-inducing situations and long days that were hard to cope with, though I knew that before I even went in for my interview.
The point is, there's less on my plate not. Which is good.
I always tend to bite off more than I can chew or give myself a really challenging work load, but I can't help myself. If something is too easy, it's excruciating. If it's too much of a challenge, it's still going to be hard, but at least it's more entertaining.
It's also really, really fucking satisfying to check something off of your list. Like yesterday, pressing publish on the new edition of Things We Saw at Midnight was such a relief - I've been wanting to sit down and tackle that for a month and a half now, and it's finally done.
It's been months since Emotion came out and I'm still jamming the hell out to it non-stop . . . I love Carly Rae Jepsen because she's the only Canadian pop star who's still relevant without being a douche. I mean, Avril Lavigne is . . . is she even still making music, after the nightmare that was Hello Kitty?
And Justin Bieber has been pumping out jam after jam, sure, but he's kind of an ass. Carly is the only one who's still talented and not being an awful human being (although I guess Justin's been cleaning his act up lately . . . )
The point is, I love this album, and you should too. Kuma and I have been blasting it all morning. My parents are coming home from a trip to see my aunt today, and we're waiting for them, cleaning, and drinking (yes, at 1 in the afternoon - it's as disgusting as it sounds) and generally having a good time.
Being the wonderful human being I am, I just wanted to post some of these songs in case some of you hadn't heard 'em yet. Enjoy!
So. Remember how I said I was working on a revised edition of Things We Saw at Midnight a few days ago? And then again earlier today? And remember how I said it was killing me? Well it isn't anymore BECAUSE IT'S DONE AND I PUBLISHED IT!
It might take a while to go through on Amazon, and I'm not updating the Wattpad edition until tomorrow, it's ready to read immediately on Smashwords for free: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/584827
And it's also got a new cover:
Like it? This is going to be the cover for the paperback edition, too, which is coming soon! I'll be having a few giveaways of it eventually, too, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime you can grab a free copy for your ereader and enjoy the scares!
2016 is about editing, clearly. Because it seems like that's all I do now: wake up, coffee, edit book, coffee, edit book, coffee, edit book, sleep, coffee, edit book. Because I'm actually editing two books. Okay, okay, I know, I said one at a time the other day. And I'm still sticking to that rule, and that book is still Sosas, and everything is on track. But I'm also doing a bit of editing on Things We Saw at Midnight every day for this revised edition, which is actually moving along. I was right about it being mostly copy-editing, but one fun thing I did is get a new cover. It's not too different. In fact, it uses the same stock image and font - but it's definitely my favourite over the old design. I won't be sharing until I've already hit published on the revised book (which should be sometime within the next five days, I'll post about it when it's done!) but I can't wait to share it, because it's like candy for the eyes. I'm going to stop blogging right now and get back to writing, but since I said I would blog more this year I'm trying to, you know, do that. I'll leave you this time with a song AND some male model eye-candy!
And:
Steven Chevrin
So there you have it. As always, I'm more active on Tumblr at In The Violet Hour, as in dozens of posts a day active, so follow me there for more frequent updates! (And a lot of pictures of half-naked male models.)
I've been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey lately. I mean, I always listen to a lot of Lana Del Rey, but I've largely been ignoring the existence of Music To Watch Boys To so now I'm making up for it by watching it on repeat. To be clear, I think Lana Del Rey has really racist tendencies towards First Nations people and Mexicans, and needs a damn wake up call, but problematic tendencies aside, her music is fucking incredible. Aside from that I've been working a bunch - but not as much as I could have, because it was Christmas, and then New Years, and a lot of crazy stuff happened, and it didn't leave much time for writing. . . Mostly, I've been taking selfies. Wouldn't you, though, if you had these eyebrows?
Okay, I swear I'm not actually this vain (or am I?) but I'm trying to write more blog posts this year, and catalogue more memories, and photos count as memories. I'm actually kind of obsessed with taking photos of things, be they meals, people, objects, rooms, views, myself - whatever - that are in my life, because I have this fear that I'll get old and not remember anything about my life/youth and be sad and lonely, but that won't happen if I have photos of it all. Except, it might still, because I could forget about the photos, too. Who knows? What I do know is that alzheimer's runs in my family, and my Grandmother can't remember what she said five minutes ago or what she had for breakfast, and it worries me. So.
More blog posts. And more selfies.
In other news, I'm getting ready to revise Things We Saw at Midnight and release the second edition. It's going to have a tighter copy-editing, obviously, but I'll also probably change/tighten a few scenes and maybe even add others in? I'm not sure how much I want to change, but not many people have read it, so I don't feel too bad toying around with it. Plus, the idea of an ever-changing book that each reader has different memories of does sound very Midnight City.
On the topic of books, I have a new rule where I'm only allowed to work on one at a time, until it's published - so no drafting one while editing two or editing more than one at a time. Which means that as is, I'm only focused on editing Sosas and putting that out. After that, it's Mirror, I Am, - which I'm co-writing with Winter Rose - and then Shadows, and it's sequels.
I really want to release at least four or five books this year, so I have to get on the fast track and really dedicate myself - but I am dealing with school on top of that.
Right now, though, the stress isn't bad. Kuma (in case you don't know, Kuma is my illustrious and creative bestie, and I'll be mentioning her a lot, so, you know, remember who she is!) is staying with me right now, and we're getting groceries later today before spending hours playing video games, watching movies, and drawing. My brother and his girlfriend are coming over sometime, too, but that won't be until this evening.
The key to not feeling guilty about this day of fun? I already got my work for the day done. I'll probably get another patch of editing in later, but for now I'm happy with my work today.
In working on my newest projects I've been rereading Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K again and again. It's the best writing advice book I've ever read, but it focuses on thought-training and productivity strategy. It's really helpful, and has revolutionized the way I write and edit. This is how I've drafted manuscripts in eleven and fourteen days - drafting your entire novel in such a short time feels like fucking flying. Once you read this book, you won't go back. I'm not even getting paid to plug it - that's just how much I like it.
Which means I'll probably like her fiction books, too - right? I have another 100 book reading challenge this year, and this time I really want to finish it. I did in 2014, but in 2015 I only got 70 something. So, yeah, I'll be checking out some Rachel Aaron novels.
But the focus is mainly on writing this year. Winter came to my house on boxing day and stayed for two days, and we spent half that time brainstorming and outlining Mirror, I am, building up our mythology and characters. I have a Pinterest Board for my half of the book, and you should definitely check that out! In case you didn't know, I fucking love Pinterest, and I have boards for a lot of my projects, so you should follow me there!
But yeah, Mirror, I am is gonna be fun. Tansy and Arie each have very unique, distinct voices, yet their stories are both about loss and searching for answers and finding your power. There's a lot of magic in this book, but the focus is on the people using it and the hearts beating in their chests. It's very human. I'm excited to share it.
But I can't. Yet. So, here, have a quote instead:
So, yeah. There's a new tab for it at the top of the blog, and the page has Goodreads links so you can add it to your shelves and follow Winter!
