March Reads 2014

March was another huge reading month. Fourteen total. And SO many great contemporary books! Audio books this month were Into The Still Blue and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I've had Smoke & Bone in book form for months but so glad I gave the audio book a try. The person who does the voice really nails down the characters. Makes the book come to life. I borrowed How To Love, The Summer I Found You and NIL from a friend. How To Be quickly became an all time favorite. Bright Before Sunrise and Meant To Be are two of the cutest books I've ever read. And so glad I finally got around to reading The DUFF. It really made me think and wish I had a book like this back in High School.

February Reads 2014

Not all months are going to be great reading months like January was (twenty books?!). This month I only managed to read seven books..we'll just blame it one being a shorter month. I'd read the first book by Nicolette Day a while ago and decided it was finally time to finish the series (or at least the books out at the time). I completely adored The Distance Between Us, What I Didn't Say and OCD Love Story. Under the Never Sky was this months audio book. It's not my favorite series but a really great read. And I finally broke down and Read Clockwork Angel. I wasn't too crazy about The Mortal Instruments Series (though I loved the movie) but heard even better things about The Infernal Devices so gave it a try. It wasn't amazing but I hear it's a set up for the next tow books which are incredible. I'll definitely read them one day.

January Reads 2014

I'm not sure what happened in January but I managed to read TWENTY books this month. That's a quarter of the goal I set for  myself this year. Some were short but then others were longer. Arcana is actually a book by my wonderful critique partner, Jessica Leake. It's incredible and out in November of this year. Beauty Queens, Mind Games, 3:59, Where Things Come Back and Perfect Ruin were audio books. 3:59 was exceptionally creepy. I loved Where Things Come Back. I actually own a signed copy but for some reason was never in the mood to read it. I'm glad I finally did. I'd heard so much about Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and couldn't wait to read it but wanted to read her earlier books first. All are creepy in their own way but Gone Girl totally took me by surprise. Winger was such a great read but completely shattered my heart. The last four books I read--This Song Will Save Your Life, The Art of Falling, The Sound of Us and Unbreak My Heart were great contemporary reads.

What's Up Wednesday: Ready? Set. WRITE! #7

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk. A great way for readers and writers to keep up with each other. Thanks to tweets from Elodie Nowodazkij and Katy Upperman, I've joined in the fun of both What's Up Wednesday and Ready! Set. Write! (created by Alison Miller).

What I'm Reading

I'm 1/4 of the way through The 5th Wave. Not sure how I feel about it yet. And just over 100 pages into City of Bones which I am loving! Also, I've FINALLY got pages from not one CP, but two! I went all summer with nothing from any of my CPs and two of them send me pages on the same day. Oh well, more fun reading for me!

What I'm Writing

So...this was a freaking CRAZY writing week. It all started last Thursday. I stalled out around 6K words. I jokingly asked my CP Jessica to plot my story for me. I'm very fortunate that we've become best of friends and she gets not only my writing but me, too. She was talking about how she was stuck in one of her WIPs as well. I suggested swapping summaries and planning a few plot suggestions  And she was game! Her's helped me get back on track with my story but it required cutting 2700 words. That was almost half of what I'd written. That hurt. But...my story is now just over 8K! So...I wrote almost 5K in a week. I didn't even use any of the material I cut. Now why can't every week be like this? I'm hoping to crank out another 2K by end of today so that I meet my (revised) Camp Nano word goal of 10K. It's not the 25K I was going for but after this month 10K sounds like 100K! 

What Inspires Me Right Now

My friend (and CP) Jessica. After a little planning she set a daily word goal for herself and she keeps meeting it every day. While raising two kids. I don't know how she does it. I have trouble keeping up and I only have one child.

What Else I've Been Up To

Got a call from kiddos new soccer coach. Practice starts Thursday. O.O I thought I had a few more weeks of nightly freedom. Other than that not much planned. I tend not to do a lot during summer because one, I'm not a fan of heat, and two, my allergies act up the more I'm outdoors. Oh, and the bug bites. But once cooler weather hits the outdoor activities begin. Trips to the park, bike rides in the neighborhood, and maybe even Geocaching! I've heard of it but have never gone. Sounds like a lot of fun.

What's Up Wednesday: Ready? Set. WRITE! #6

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk. A great way for readers and writers to keep up with each other. Thanks to tweets from Elodie Nowodazkij and Katy Upperman, I've joined in the fun of both What's Up Wednesday and Ready! Set. Write! (created by Alison Miller).

What I'm Reading

Finished Ender's Game. I was okay with it as long as I didn't think about him being so young. That got to me. Made me think of my little boy in that kind of situation. Other than that, I loved it. I also finished What Happened to Goodbye. Not my favorite Dessen book but still a good read! Then I picked up The Boys Next Door and Endless Summer. I finished the first Sunday night and the second Last Night. LOVE LOVE LOVED them. There we're a few things that annoyed me. I'd think "come on, really?". But overall it was a great read! Definitely what I was looking for in a summer read. Last night I started the audio book of The Fifth Wave. I think I'll really enjoy this. And today I'm going to start reading City of Bones. Yes, you read that right. I haven't read the series! But, I will read at least the first book before the movie! I have the first four in a paperback box set.

What I'm Writing

I've made it to 6K! 2K was below my goal but I've decided I'm trying to push myself too far. There are not enough hours in the day for a mom that works full time! Unless I neglect my kid which I won't do. He comes first. So I won't make my original camp nano goal so I'm pushing for 10K by end of July. It's doable. And my Ready Set Write goal will be 500 words a day. I'll get there! I’ve added a paragraph. Again…don’t mind the horribleness. I’m still trying not to edit as I go. It’s HARD!

I watch Grayson as he talks to the twins—and me—about the dolphins. His eyes are bright, focused. A smile plays on his lips the whole time speaks. I’d say he’s glowing, but that’s a bit odd to say about a guy. Simply, he’s different. He’s happy. And if they weren’t animals I’d say in love. It’s what I want. What I’ve been looking for ever since I spent time away and realized there’s more out there than the path that’s been set for me. There’s running. But it’s not enough. I want more. I want to ask him how he does it, how he stepped out of the mold and created one of his own. How he took his life in his own hands and ran—or swam—with it. But then fear stops me. Fear of my parents and what they’ll say, do. It all comes back to them. To my brother. And how much of what I do affects them. Or affects how people see them. Which to my parents is the most important thing of all. Even more than my happiness.

What Inspires Me Right Now

Seeing how everyone else is doing and the fact that there are other's out there that aren't fast writers. I always kick myself because I don't write fast. I don't think I'll ever do the 1 hour 1 K and walk away with 1K. I'll be lucky to have 500 words! But that's okay. I'll do it at my own speed and it still gets done. Slow and steady wins the race.

What Else I've Been Up To


Trying not to grow webbed hands and feet. Sounds funny, I know. But OMG the amount of rain we’ve had. I think it’s rained every day in July. Most of June as well. It’s nice to have rainy days every now and then but give us a break! We haven’t been to the park in over a month. And then there’s the nightly storms which doesn’t do well for writing because I’m a nut and WILL NOT plug my lap top in if it’s lightening (and my battery sucks). I am going to give Starbucks a shot on lunch breaks a few days a week. It’s a few minutes from work. Much better environment than the break room. Fingers crossed!!!

What's Up Wednesday: Ready? Set. WRITE! #5

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk. A great way for readers and writers to keep up with each other. Thanks to tweets from Elodie Nowodazkij and Katy Upperman, I've joined in the fun of both What's Up Wednesday and Ready! Set. Write! (created by Alison Miller).

What I'm Reading

Over half-way through Ender's Game and LOVING it! Can't wait for the movie. I"m about a third of the way though What Happened to Goodbye. Love Sarah Dessen.

What I'm Writing

So I'm just shy of 4K words. I to be up to 7K but I've sidelined with a migraine. I decided (still not sure why) to stop drinking caffeine since the only thing it does is keep me from getting headaches and doesn't do much to keep me awake/wake me up. And...I've had withdrawal migraines since Saturday. Today isn't as bad so I think I'm almost over it. Then NO MORE CAFFEINE!!!!! Okay…that got away from the what I’ve been writing. But, hoping to get back on track this week and up my game to 1500 so I can finish July out with 25K.

What Inspires Me Right Now

Honestly....at the moment there's nothing because I haven't been writing. Normally it's music. And I need a good kick in the pants with it soon.
What Else I've Been Up To

When I haven't been lounging around due to migraine or rain (we've had 20 inces of rain in the past week!!!!! Oy!!!) I've been teaching kiddo the basics of soccer. I signed him up last week and we've been doing afternoon practices in the backyard. He can dribble!