5 Free NaNo books!

I've done it. *headdesk* I payed $5 shipping to have 5 once-edited (poorly structured, plotless, etc.) copies of my NaNo book sent to my doorstep. Honestly, I'm not sure why I did it except out of curiosity, hating to turn away anything free, and the decision that I should have some kind of physical proof of my first NaNoWriMo experience ever.

I wrote on the last page "May this bring laughs well into the future." And it's a play on words since ... well, it's about a girl. Who sees the future. Aren't I clever?

So, enjoy the prettiness! Because I do think they're pretty. And even if I never read them again (aside from the occasional skim-and-cringe fest) I will enjoy looking at them, that's for sure.

And yes, I blacked out my last name because... well. We've been through that.

FYI, there is, and may never be, a "Seer Trilogy" -- I just needed to fill that space, and thought it looked cool. 

Can you imagine when this is the real deal!? *dreaming*

Er, I should probably get it off CreateSpace now... *wary look at barcode*

That's it! Just a quick little burst of mid-week excitement. Well, almost mid-week. I can dream.

Best part of today: Five free books!! Or my new, ultra-bright striped socks...
Currently craving: Ice cream. (Hear that with a mournful tone...)
Music pick: "Sunset Glow" by BigBang
I'm reading: "Incarnate" by Jodi Meadows
WIP: Preparing to revise Aqueous (all other projects ON HOLD!)


*NOTE: I've decided to schedule this to post tomorrow, since Constance just posted this afternoon. So it was written and intended to be read on a Tuesday, but you won't see it 'till Wednesday. 

To Read or...To Read More

SO. A whole semester. Whew. Let's just forget that unfortunate lack of my ever posting existed, yes? Great. I'm glad you are all so understanding.

In the time since I last posted, I have finished the summer semester, taken up sewing, and sent some of my favorite people birthday presents(like Maggie's hat and my friend André's Toothless)! I am also one of the chat hostesses for Write On! now. (Chats. Fridays. Come. You know you want to.) Oh, and I sorta went to Canada. No big deal. Just another country. That I've wanted to go to for YEARS. (Niagara Falls is BEAUTIFUL, GUYS. Majestic, even.)

I've also realized a tragedy. I used to read ALL the time. It was...basically all I ever did. It's finally come to my attention that that is no longer so. I've read a woefully low number of books in 2012 so far. I mean to fix that. My new goal is at least one book every two weeks. That still sounds slow to me, but it's a start. It's better than this not-really-reading thing. I AM A READER, DARNIT. (So this might've also been inspired because of a comment my brother made that miffed me. *cough*)

I want to blame a rule my mom made a few years ago about having to read one book for her for every book I read for me for my lack of reading lots, but...I can't. I've just had a shift in priorities. I discovered the internet had more to do beyond Facebook. (That's right. I discovered Twitter and blogs and Goodreads and Hulu and Netflix and Korean TV shows.) I started dual credit classes. *shrugs* It was sorta just a cumulation of things.

But! I will revive my readerly reputation. (Maybe I'll even tell you 'bout my readings.) Because how on earth can I claim to be a writer when I'm hardly a reader?

Do any of y'all read less than you used to? More? If so, why the change? Also, if you haven't, read Maggie's post (and the comments) on basically the same topic––except...less random. Hee. I love my Twin, guys. She's a smart'n. (She will also dislike that I used "smart'n" because it's so very Southern-accented of me. *grins*)



Twin Moment of the Day: OH DEAR I DON'T HAVE ONE. O_O
Reading: "The Iron Thorn" by Caitlin Kittredge
Listening to: "Poison & Wine" by The Civil Wars
Grateful for: AC. It's only May, y'all. 90+ weather is just WRONG––even for Texas.
Wanting: Lunch that is more than ice cream (Not that I don't approve whole-heartedly of homemade ice cream as a meal. It is a superfood, you know.)
Writing: Defiance...

Dear Discouraged Writer

Dear Discouraged Writer,

I understand you're pretty low. You're not sure if you have the time, the will, the talent. You're not sure, period. You've been writing for what feels like years-- you should be so much more accomplished than this! You don't understand why some seem to fly through the process you're absolutely laboring through. And worst of all, you're beginning to doubt why you decided to try this at all.

I feel your pain. I'm in a pretty low place, myself. Not sure if I "have what it takes." Not sure if I ever will, or if I've been wasting my time trying to "get there." I've never doubted that I was meant to tell stories, but I've doubted that I have the words, the skills, or the energy to "do it right." That is, get published.

You probably understand this. That's why I want to share something with you. But first, I want to talk about dreams.

Dreams.

We all have them, whether we're in touch with them or not. Sometimes it takes a specific incident -- a person, a situation, a place -- to cast a light on those dreams. Then suddenly you know what you want, even if it feels a million miles away. You'd do anything to be there, have that, experience that.

It's a dream.

If you're like me, then your dream is to be a published author. You're not there yet, but you're trying. Tirelessly, it seems. You dedicate more hours than most working people and still-- no fruit for your labors! But it's your dream. You want to be there. You want to achieve your personal goals, and you want it so badly you're willing to do whatever the internet tells you to to get there. (And there's a bonus. You also really love what you do, so it seems like it must be a win-win situation, right? An easy path to one of your biggest goals?)

Right?

Wrong.

The path hasn't been easy. It isn't easy. It never will be easy. (Well, unless you're one of those lucky few who get an agent on their first try.) Just like life itself, the things we want most in life, we've got to work for. And even when things seem dim (like they do for you now), and all hope is almost lost, you've still got to try.

Because you'll get there yet.

This, I firmly believe. And with that being said, I'd like to share with you a few of my "wall quotes."As I've shared before, I'm in the process of correcting my Scoliosis through a strict, 3-hour daily spine regimen. During the first 90 days of this routine, I had a slip of paper for each day with a checklist of all the exercises and things that needed to be done -- and a quote. When the day was over, I'd tape each paper to the wall.

Today (over 400 days later in the regimen, by the way) there's still a section of wall in my attic covered in 90 slips of paper bearing inspiring quotes. Sometimes I still go up there and just read them. Because it helps to hear these things. It motivates me.

I hope it motivates you.

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places."

 ~Unknown

"Believe that you can and you're halfway there."

 ~Theodore Roosevelt

"Don't be discouraged; it's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock."

 ~Unknown

"If you are going through hell, keep going." 

~Winston Churchill

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."

 ~Newt Gringritch 

"In order to get from what was to what will be, you must go through what is."

 ~Anonymous

"Success is sweet, and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats."

 ~Amos Bronson Alcott

"If there is no struggle there is no progress."

 ~Frederick Douglass

"How long should you try? Until."

 ~Jim Rohn

"Hold on, hold fast, hold out. Patience is genius."

 ~Georges-Louis Leclere

"I may not be there, but I'm closer than I was yesterday." 

~Unknown

"Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting."

 ~Napoleon Hill

"It's always too soon to quit!"

 ~Norman Vincent Peale

"Man is not made for defeat."

 Ernist Hemingway

"Stubbornly persist, and you will find that the limits of your stubbornness go well beyond the stubbornness of your limits."

 ~Robert Brault

"Press on! A better fate awaits thee."

 ~Victor Hugo

Love,

Me

License and a "big" decision

Hey everyone!

So, I've pretty much had an amazing day. I got my drivers license (at LAST!!) this morning, and as if that wasn't good enough, proceeded to drive (without someone 21+ in the car) my sister to the mall. May sound like nothing, but to me, it's a pretty big deal.

One word. FREEDOM!!

That's what it felt like, anyway.

Life update aside, I'd like to talk about a decision I've been pondering lately. And that's to go un-anonymous.

Partially.

I still want to go by Maggie Skye, simply because I like it that way for now, and it's too confusing to go through another name change in less than 12 months. But I'd like to plaster my face all over the internet. *gnaws fingernails*

Nah, I'm just kidding 'bout the gnawing. (And the "all over the internet".) But I'm ready. I'm tired of hiding my face, and ready to stop being paranoid. Again, not that big of a deal, but if you're startled to see me in a profile somewhere soon, you'll know where I'm coming from.

I haven't totally decided, but at the same time, I have. So we'll see.

Yeah. That's pretty much all I have to say!

Sorry about the lame quality of my blog posts. I've been meaning to get into some kind of swing of things, but I've been failing epically. Do you guys mind the personal updates?

Talk to me! Let me know one exciting thing that happened today. Also whether or not you show your face online, and how you feel about it in general. I'd like to know.

Have Wonderful Wednesdays, everyone!

Best part of today: Getting my license!
Currently craving: ICE.CREAM. *twitching*
Music pick: "Take My Hand" by Simple Plan
I'm reading: "Incarnate" by Jodi Meadows
WIP: Survival (2,533 words) - drafting!

Well, I'm 18 now

Ahh, man. I've done it again. It was pretty bad this time around. I don't even remember the last time I blogged, though I've thought about it often the past week, and how I really should... you know. Blog?

Two Wednesdays ago, you may or may not know, was my 18th birthday. (insert sarcastic cheer here) I have mixed feelings about crossing the threshold between childhood (or teenhood, really) and adulthood. There are the exciting things: checking account! more privileges! Google+! And the not so exciting things: bills, responsibilities, LIFE.

It's interesting how the majority of your life you spend as an adult, but I've only just begun that part. "Childhood" has felt so long. If I think back to the night I wrote the first chapter of my first novel, which was only eight years ago, it seems like a lifetime ago. Like a different me, in a way.

Anyway. All that slightly-downer stuff aside, I want to show off the wonderful gifts Constance sent me, especially how far she's come with her knitting. (Did you see this coming, Twin? You should have.) So without further ado, I present, PICTURES!

Isn't it adorable!?

According to Constance, it's hand made. (!!!)

Please excuse the bad picture.

Amazing, right?? You can probably guess what my new favorite necklace is, nerdy as it may appear to some.

Well. That about covers what's new and big in my life. I'm going to try to get back to two blog posts a week, and I already have an idea of what my next will be about.

For the comments, what's new in your life? I feel so disconnected.

Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone!

Best part of today: The cool morning breeze and exuberant birdsongs. 
Currently craving: Hmm. Ice cream.
Music pick: "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers
I'm reading: "Incarnate" by Jodi Meadows (in its finalmost, published form)
WIP: To Save Them ([so close to being done] revising)