Hey everyone! So I wanted to do a wrap-up and I hope it'll become a monthly thing. July has been busy and surprising and sort of stressful, but there have also been some really great parts. Also, I think the cover for Of Magic and Mayhem will be finished by tonight or tomorrow night so get ready for an awesome cover reveal some time this week!
July Writing: First of all, July felt like the longest month ever! It just went on and on. At the beginning of July, I did sign up for Camp Nanowrimo and I think I stayed on track for about a week or two before another project caught my eye and I just sort of... stopped updating my Camp Nano page. I have no idea why but this always happens to me! During November I can always stick to Nanowrimo. I always stay updated and keep my progress going but Camp Nano? Maybe I'm just way busier in July most years then I am in November. But, even though I didn't participate in Camp Nano, I did get a lot of writing down. Mostly sporadic and amongst several different projects. Of Magic and Mayhem was my big thing at the beginning of July. I got lots of revisions and edits done and I still have to read through it one more time or so just to make sure everything is polished and just right. I revised Golden. Not so much edits, but revisions. That was... suspiciously easily and quick, yet I enjoyed every second of it. I am dying! To write the sequel. Why am I not writing the sequel at this very moment then? you may ask. Because I sort of got side tracked with this other idea. It has to be one of the most far out, weirdest ideas I have ever had.
I've always been fascinated by the Greek gods (thank you Rick Riordan for introducing me to the myths) and for some reason, I've especially always been interested in the myth of Icarus. There's just something kind of whimsical and magical and interesting about a boy who flies on wings of wax and feathers to escape Crete. Plus, I think I have a thing for tragedies because (spoiler alert!) he becomes too cocky and flies too close to the sun. It melts the wax and feathers and he plummets to his death. So... yeah. But in my idea, Icarus doesn't die. He's saved! And in my idea, the Greek gods are called Immortals and are fallen stars with immense power that live in a higher realm called Estrella. My main character is Skylar who is besties with Hades and his love, Persephone. I drew in different ideas and elements from a previous WIP that fell flat. Skylar has a ring with her soul in it (I was heavily inspired by Angor Rot in Trollhunters because dude, that guy is epic and I loved the soul being trapped in his ring idea and how vicious and awesome he looks and how he does magic and all that) and she is an Oracle. In my Immortal world an Oracle is like a sorceress or witch or magician. They do magic and they are very powerful and very rare and either coveted or feared. Anyways! There's love and curses and Hekate as the villainous. There are Gorgons and Daemons and Medusa in the Mortal Realm and loss and friendship and adventure and danger and soul rings and grimoires and all that awesome stuff. And, just for you guys, once I finish this and edit it and revise it and all that good stuff I'm going to post it on this very blog. I've wanted to try that sort of thing since Mariella Hunt posted her Autumn Prince book on her blog and I've seen other bloggers and authors and writers do the same sort of thing. So yeah... July was overflowing with creativity and a busy mind full of characters and plots and writerly things.
July Reading: Sooo... I love reading and I love books, but I've found that I have grown kind of picky with what I read. Kind of like I am pretty picky on the TV shows and movies I watch. I refuse to consume anything that is less than inspired and creative and a masterpiece in my opinion. So, books and reading has been sort of slow this year just cuz my brain has been busy with classes and writerly things and life things and because I will only read books that I find worthy or books that are from authors that I already know and trust. But, this July I did read exactly one book. The Torment of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell. I adore her Renegade X series. They're just so fun and funny and great! But I did read two books in June so that counts for something. In June I read Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab. Both of them were wonderful but Our Dark Duet, so far, has taken the prize for Best Book I've Read in 2017 So Far. Also I did reread Vicious so that's something and I pre-ordered the limited edition Nightfall by Shannon Messenger which I can not wait to get in November!!
July Music: I don't know how I did life without Spotify. That is like my most used app on my phone (maybe even surpassing Pinterest). The most noteworthy songs and music that I discovered in July and have listened to a lot is the new Imagine Dragons album, To be Human from the end credits of Wonder Woman, Imagine Dragons in general, Zayde Wolf. I discovered Zayde Wolf earlier this year and I really love his voice and his music. It's upbeat with great lyrics. Also I fell in love with his name, Zayde and that's where I got the name for one of my favorite characters in Golden. My Zayde. I also listen to a lot of Ruelle and exclusively in July I sort of "rediscovered" Kutless and has been listening to that a lot. Also, Colton Dixon and Skillet. Taylor Swift and Starset and OneRepublic are also good. But mostly, I always have on my book playlists. On Spotify I make a playlist for either the entirety of the project I'm working on at the moment or a playlist for the main character that I listen to as I write and throughout the day. So right now I'm listening a lot to my Skylar playlist and my R&Z playlist for the sequel to Golden.
July TV Shows: I have to think about this one for a minute. Right now I am rewatching The Vampire Dairies and I've been doing that for most of July... I'm pretty sure I discovered 12 Monkeys at the end of June and the beginning of July and that has become one of my favorite shows of all time. Highly recommend if you love A+ time travel and sci-fi and character development and some pretty epic plot twists. I thought the first season of Shadowhunters was pretty weak in writing and especially in acting but I've gotten back into it and am pleasantly surprised that the writing has improved along with the acting. Also! Teen Wolf aired last night!! I am dying and I am so sad! I am going to miss my Scott and Stiles and Lydia and Malia and Derrick and Stilinski and Melissa and Argent and the whole pack so much!!
July Movies: I've seen quite a few movies this year but I didn't go see any in the theaters this month. However, Doctor Strange did come on Netflix so I did watch that and I really liked it. I thought Benedict Cumberbatch did a good job. Rogue One is on there too which I haven't seen yet so I'm going to get around to watching that in August.
July Life Stuff: I did the happy dance and celebrated when my Spanish class was finally over!! It ended not last week, but the last week after that. It was hard and honestly, that Spanish class was stressful and awful and I was just a mess and let a lot of things slide because of it. Also we had a big family get together weekend which was fun, but I was glad to get home an attempt to fall into a normal routine again. Actually, we had a lot of family stuff, like extended family stuff, in July and it kind of made my normal routine and schedule go kind of whack cuz I had to plan around all the stuff that was going on. I was so, beyond happy that I didn't get a cold or any sickness the whole month! (I get sick really easily so the fact that I was around so many people and out at so many public places and didn't get sick at all is sort of a miracle to me haha). There was a hospital visit last week... nothing serious and I'm already feeling some better but, so, that was fun *sarcasm*. But overall, it was a very, very busy, packed month and put that together with my Spanish class and me getting out of the house and hanging out with friends and making time for friends and stuff, it was just... sort of a big ball of one thing after another and now I want to take the entirety of August to take a deep breath and relax for a little while and fall back into a normal routine. And you know, try and study for the permit test because I let that slide too...
So yeah, in a nutshell, that is my entire July. Writing and very little reading and a lot of TV
show watching (mostly The Vampire Dairies because that is my happy place), lots of family stuff and lots of Spotify listening. Hopefully next month I will have something more interesting to write about. Also, after the Of Magic and Mayhem cover reveal I will be doing a book giveaway soon after that, so keep your eyes out for that.
Have a great week and a great August full of writing and relaxing and reading and good times! :)
July Writing: First of all, July felt like the longest month ever! It just went on and on. At the beginning of July, I did sign up for Camp Nanowrimo and I think I stayed on track for about a week or two before another project caught my eye and I just sort of... stopped updating my Camp Nano page. I have no idea why but this always happens to me! During November I can always stick to Nanowrimo. I always stay updated and keep my progress going but Camp Nano? Maybe I'm just way busier in July most years then I am in November. But, even though I didn't participate in Camp Nano, I did get a lot of writing down. Mostly sporadic and amongst several different projects. Of Magic and Mayhem was my big thing at the beginning of July. I got lots of revisions and edits done and I still have to read through it one more time or so just to make sure everything is polished and just right. I revised Golden. Not so much edits, but revisions. That was... suspiciously easily and quick, yet I enjoyed every second of it. I am dying! To write the sequel. Why am I not writing the sequel at this very moment then? you may ask. Because I sort of got side tracked with this other idea. It has to be one of the most far out, weirdest ideas I have ever had.
I've always been fascinated by the Greek gods (thank you Rick Riordan for introducing me to the myths) and for some reason, I've especially always been interested in the myth of Icarus. There's just something kind of whimsical and magical and interesting about a boy who flies on wings of wax and feathers to escape Crete. Plus, I think I have a thing for tragedies because (spoiler alert!) he becomes too cocky and flies too close to the sun. It melts the wax and feathers and he plummets to his death. So... yeah. But in my idea, Icarus doesn't die. He's saved! And in my idea, the Greek gods are called Immortals and are fallen stars with immense power that live in a higher realm called Estrella. My main character is Skylar who is besties with Hades and his love, Persephone. I drew in different ideas and elements from a previous WIP that fell flat. Skylar has a ring with her soul in it (I was heavily inspired by Angor Rot in Trollhunters because dude, that guy is epic and I loved the soul being trapped in his ring idea and how vicious and awesome he looks and how he does magic and all that) and she is an Oracle. In my Immortal world an Oracle is like a sorceress or witch or magician. They do magic and they are very powerful and very rare and either coveted or feared. Anyways! There's love and curses and Hekate as the villainous. There are Gorgons and Daemons and Medusa in the Mortal Realm and loss and friendship and adventure and danger and soul rings and grimoires and all that awesome stuff. And, just for you guys, once I finish this and edit it and revise it and all that good stuff I'm going to post it on this very blog. I've wanted to try that sort of thing since Mariella Hunt posted her Autumn Prince book on her blog and I've seen other bloggers and authors and writers do the same sort of thing. So yeah... July was overflowing with creativity and a busy mind full of characters and plots and writerly things.
July Reading: Sooo... I love reading and I love books, but I've found that I have grown kind of picky with what I read. Kind of like I am pretty picky on the TV shows and movies I watch. I refuse to consume anything that is less than inspired and creative and a masterpiece in my opinion. So, books and reading has been sort of slow this year just cuz my brain has been busy with classes and writerly things and life things and because I will only read books that I find worthy or books that are from authors that I already know and trust. But, this July I did read exactly one book. The Torment of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell. I adore her Renegade X series. They're just so fun and funny and great! But I did read two books in June so that counts for something. In June I read Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab. Both of them were wonderful but Our Dark Duet, so far, has taken the prize for Best Book I've Read in 2017 So Far. Also I did reread Vicious so that's something and I pre-ordered the limited edition Nightfall by Shannon Messenger which I can not wait to get in November!!
July Music: I don't know how I did life without Spotify. That is like my most used app on my phone (maybe even surpassing Pinterest). The most noteworthy songs and music that I discovered in July and have listened to a lot is the new Imagine Dragons album, To be Human from the end credits of Wonder Woman, Imagine Dragons in general, Zayde Wolf. I discovered Zayde Wolf earlier this year and I really love his voice and his music. It's upbeat with great lyrics. Also I fell in love with his name, Zayde and that's where I got the name for one of my favorite characters in Golden. My Zayde. I also listen to a lot of Ruelle and exclusively in July I sort of "rediscovered" Kutless and has been listening to that a lot. Also, Colton Dixon and Skillet. Taylor Swift and Starset and OneRepublic are also good. But mostly, I always have on my book playlists. On Spotify I make a playlist for either the entirety of the project I'm working on at the moment or a playlist for the main character that I listen to as I write and throughout the day. So right now I'm listening a lot to my Skylar playlist and my R&Z playlist for the sequel to Golden.
July TV Shows: I have to think about this one for a minute. Right now I am rewatching The Vampire Dairies and I've been doing that for most of July... I'm pretty sure I discovered 12 Monkeys at the end of June and the beginning of July and that has become one of my favorite shows of all time. Highly recommend if you love A+ time travel and sci-fi and character development and some pretty epic plot twists. I thought the first season of Shadowhunters was pretty weak in writing and especially in acting but I've gotten back into it and am pleasantly surprised that the writing has improved along with the acting. Also! Teen Wolf aired last night!! I am dying and I am so sad! I am going to miss my Scott and Stiles and Lydia and Malia and Derrick and Stilinski and Melissa and Argent and the whole pack so much!!
July Movies: I've seen quite a few movies this year but I didn't go see any in the theaters this month. However, Doctor Strange did come on Netflix so I did watch that and I really liked it. I thought Benedict Cumberbatch did a good job. Rogue One is on there too which I haven't seen yet so I'm going to get around to watching that in August.
July Life Stuff: I did the happy dance and celebrated when my Spanish class was finally over!! It ended not last week, but the last week after that. It was hard and honestly, that Spanish class was stressful and awful and I was just a mess and let a lot of things slide because of it. Also we had a big family get together weekend which was fun, but I was glad to get home an attempt to fall into a normal routine again. Actually, we had a lot of family stuff, like extended family stuff, in July and it kind of made my normal routine and schedule go kind of whack cuz I had to plan around all the stuff that was going on. I was so, beyond happy that I didn't get a cold or any sickness the whole month! (I get sick really easily so the fact that I was around so many people and out at so many public places and didn't get sick at all is sort of a miracle to me haha). There was a hospital visit last week... nothing serious and I'm already feeling some better but, so, that was fun *sarcasm*. But overall, it was a very, very busy, packed month and put that together with my Spanish class and me getting out of the house and hanging out with friends and making time for friends and stuff, it was just... sort of a big ball of one thing after another and now I want to take the entirety of August to take a deep breath and relax for a little while and fall back into a normal routine. And you know, try and study for the permit test because I let that slide too...
So yeah, in a nutshell, that is my entire July. Writing and very little reading and a lot of TV
show watching (mostly The Vampire Dairies because that is my happy place), lots of family stuff and lots of Spotify listening. Hopefully next month I will have something more interesting to write about. Also, after the Of Magic and Mayhem cover reveal I will be doing a book giveaway soon after that, so keep your eyes out for that.
Have a great week and a great August full of writing and relaxing and reading and good times! :)
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