things in my mailbox
I love to get mail. I mean, I love it an unreasonable amount. My mom would order catalogs for me just so I’d be happy. (And also because I have an unhealthy attachment to flipping through catalogs and marking things I want but will never have.) The sad part to that is that I very rarely actually get mail. My bills are primarily taken care of online and I don’t have all that many people who send me things. Okay, fine, no one sends me mail, ya happy? Jeez.
So when stars align and I get a week of LOTS of mail, I get scarily excited. Because I’m terrible at saving money, I’d ordered several things last month. To be fair, 90% was necessity to not freeze to death in the coming winter. My two fun purchases were placing an order for tasty awesomeness via Jenna and Mark of Whimsy & Spice and buying a few books (the last batch until I read all these, I swear). And so, I waited for my winter stuff and my cookies.
But lo! I was also rewarded with books! And a shirt! I won a contest that Britney hosted on her book blog Taking Friday. And on top of that, my amazing friend Canadian Sara (whose name is just Sara, but a decade ago, I had to make the distinction between School Sara and Canadian Sara to my mother, and now I have no idea how to just say Sara) sent me a package o’ books as well! Additionally, my beloved Mari sent me a sample shirt from her kpop shop, along with a hand mirror. THE BACK OF MY SHIRT SAYS KEY, YOU GUYS. I LOVE KEY. /fangirl
Anyway. For a brief stretch in October, I felt really special to have so much mail. So thanks for sending me things, guys!
P.S. Buy things from Whimsy & Spice. DO IT NOW. Hocrap, tasty. I am now cookie-free. 
i’m still here
No, I haven’t died. Or gone on sabbatical. Or gone into the witness protection program. If you follow me on Twitter, you’re already aware that I’m still alive, but in case you don’t (and really, you should; I’m kind of awesome) then now you know. I am alive. However! I’ve got a semi-full plate, and when I have a lot to do, I forget about other things to do. And thus I’ve forgotten to make a post queue for November. Oops.
This is especially negligent, given that, as mentioned before, November is NaNoWriMo, meaning that in my spare time (usually), instead of making blog posts or doing absolutely nothing, I’ll be writing. Near the close of the first week of NaNo, I’m making good progress. I’ve gotten just over 11,000 words at the time of this post, and I’ve got all day today to further my lead.
I’ve also found myself playing Mabinogi more often again. In fact, I spent most of yesterday playing rather than writing. Also oops. It seems my brain is incapable of participating in hobbies only casually. My Mabi revival means that my (third or fourth) Sims 3 revival has gone by the wayside, which had replaced my enthusiasm to learn Korean, which had replaced some other interest that I’ve forgotten, so on and so forth. When I get into something, I go hard. And I guess that doesn’t leave room for anything else. Stupid wonky brain.
I don’t have any reviews lined up because I’m a horrible person and haven’t been reading as much lately. Maybe I’m just finding it really hard to get through Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. Perhaps I should switch books? In any case, I’ve no shortage of books to read, so eventually I’ll get back on the reviewing ball. Just don’t expect that to be within this month. I’ve got my own heaping pile of terrible hot mess awesome story to write!
P.S. Did y’all watch Once Upon a Time? Love! Maybe I’ll write a post about it.
review: ruby red
Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to time travel? Yeah no, actually, it wouldn’t. You have to put so much thought into time traveling to do it safely – What if you wind up catching an old disease and bringing it back to present day and killing everyone? What if your clothes deem you a witch and you’re burned at the stake? What if you step on a bug and ruin everything ever? I’ve always had thoughts like that whenever people mention time travel, and behold! A book exists that takes those thoughts into account! And a rather good book, at that.
Cover Girl: I like red. I don’t know if it’s because it’s so attention-grabbing or it’s somehow soothing to my crazy brain, but I like red a lot. So I spent a good while staring at this cover in the library and getting some odd looks from the librarian who was already concerned with my being the oldest person in the teen section. It’s a bright cover, and it’s pretty, so there’s that. The design of the cover harkens back to fancy olden days, which is precisely the feel of the book. Or at least, the parts of the book that are set to the past. The design of the cover is one of the better matches to a YA book that I’ve see in a while. Well played, April Ward.
Character Witness: Gwen is your average semi-outcast YA heroine. She’s not supposed to be the special one and yet, lo and behold, she is. Her personality feels rather natural in that she’s your typical rambling, kind of unsure of herself girl. Her cousin Charlotte is a spoiled brat that’s supposed to be the one with the magic blood but is not. The rest of Gwen’s family feels a bit like the author took a page from Cinderella and created wicked stepmothers, stepsisters and every other kind of step. They’re snobby and annoying almost to a comical fault. Gwen’s best friend Lesley seems a bit like an excuse for exposition, but I kind of like their dynamic:
And he was terribly good-looking. All the girls thought so, except Lesley. She thought Mr. Whitman looked like a cartoon squirrel.
“Whenever he looks at me with those big brown eyes, I feel like giving him a nut,” she said. She even started calling the squirrels running around in the park Mr. Whitmans. The silly thing is that somehow it was infectious, and now, whenever a squirrel scuttled past me, I always said, “Oh, look at that cute, fat little Mr. Whitman!”
And then there’s the love interest. Gideon is…Well. You could insert basically any YA love interest in this position and there wouldn’t be much of a difference. Take one awkward teen girl with no experience with boys and pair her with one teen boy who can’t stand her at first, and eventually love blossoms somehow. His characterization feels the weakest to me, and I can’t much say I care for him, or the romance subplot. Speaking of…
Plot Plot Fizz Fizz: Charlotte’s place as the special snowflake of the family is “stolen” by Gwen, who has not been prepared for time travel in the least. This first book (out of three) plays out the way many first sections of a trilogy do. Much of the novel isn’t so much plot-driven but rather a means to explain what’s going on to the reader. The seed of plot for the later installments is sowed, but it isn’t as well-developed as I’m sure it will be in the sequels. An actual plot starts to form toward the end of the book and then–WHAM! End.
Not cool.
Okay, kind of cool, but definitely aggravating that there weren’t an extra two or three pages. I’m assuming the plot moves along at a much faster pace in the sequel, but as far as expository pieces go, this book manages to do a good job of setting up the scene for me without making me feel bored or noticing too much that it’s just a lot of talking and not much action.
Aesop It To Me: If you’re going to travel back in time, make sure you take the necessary precautions.
Say Something Nice: The original story, written by Kerstin Geir, has been translated into English by Anthea Bell. Part of me wonders exactly how much was lost in translation, but I imagine not very much. The translation is such that I actually forgot that this wasn’t originally written in English until I started writing this post. Points for a natural translation!
Final Verdict: Essentially, the book reads like it already knew there would be multiple parts. On the one hand, I hate when books – and movies, looking at you, filler installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series – do that. On the other, it’s a rather effective way to get people to keep reading your work if they’re intrigued enough. And I’m definitely intrigued enough to read the two sequels. Just not likely anytime this year, considering the big backlog o’ books I’ve built up.
Badger.
Now that I’m done with alliteration, I’ve got to say, while I enjoyed the book, I’m mad at the cliffhanger ending. 7/10 – The sequels are out already (I think? Pretty sure I saw them at the library) so you could likely get through them all in an afternoon and be less annoyed than I am. Go forth, buy/check out this book!
NaNoWriMo
In a few days, NaNoWriMo begins. If you aren’t familiar, NaNoWriMo, basically it’s a month-long effort by writers in the US and worldwide to produce a novel that’s at least 50,000 words. Basically, writers are crazy and we needed a whole month to prove that. 50,000 words in 30 days averages to be about 1,667 words per day. That’s kind of a lot to force yourself to do every single day. I can’t wait!
I’ve participated in NaNo to varying degrees of success since 2005, minus 2007 when I was taking care of mi madre, and 2008 when I just couldn’t do it. Last year was the first year that I actually won, and I credit that rather fully to Scrivener. Prior to Scrivener, I was cobbling research together via an odd combination of web links, saved images and Microsoft Word documents. Scrivener, on the other hand, allows for easy research compilation and a more comprehensive, writer-intensive format. It’s great. And no, I’m not being paid to say this. (Although if someone wants to slip some cash my way…)
People approach NaNo in different ways. Some make meticulous plans, usually throughout October, although some far too zealous souls start planning next year’s NaNo project immediately upon completing the current year’s. These are the planners. For the normal people like myself, there’s pantsing. Pantsers don’t have a concrete plan. It’s winging it. It’s risky, but it’s fun. I did minimal planning last year to the extent that I had a basic plot and characters in mind, and this year I’ve done the same. I feel like planning too much boxes me in, and then I start to resent my plans, the story, and everything in existence. Not a good way to write.
This year’s NaNo will be a little different for me, as I’m working more hours and therefore will have less time to screw around and just write. I’m hoping that I can do it, and I’m hoping people prod me into not giving up (hint, hint!). The lack of writing projects I’ve had lately has been both annoying and discouraging. Hopefully, participating in NaNo will get my wheels turning again and I can get back to writing more frequently. Maybe I’ll even get published! If Stephenie Meyer can do it, so can I.
this is halloween: haunted places
Being scared is fun. Just look at all the adrenaline junkie activities we’ve come up with and it’s clear people enjoy that heart-racing, stomach-in-your-throat feeling. A good ghost story evokes those same feelings, but without the potential death from falling down a mountain or jumping out of a plane.
In October, the best place for ghost stories has to be Travel Channel. For as long as I can remember, whenever October rolled around, Travel Channel transformed from a station talking about old-ass restaurants in Spain to a one-stop horror shop filled with haunted tales of Scottish castles and antebellum plantations. I’ve maintained a mental list of all the haunted places I’m dying to go to (no pun intended) one day when I win the lottery and/or marry a multimillionaire.
My favorite–and apparently Travel Channel’s favorite, too, given the number of specials including this tale–has to be the story of Robert the doll. Formerly owned by a Key West painter named Robert Otto, Robert the doll currently lives in the Fort East Martello Museum. The doll’s evil, is the basic story. Allegedly, Otto received the doll from an African servant that couldn’t stand his family, so she cursed the doll. The doll supposedly talked to Otto and caused all sorts of mischief around the house.
Individuals who desire to visit Robert in the Fort East Martello Museum and wish to take a picture of him, according to legend, the person must ask the doll politely, and if he does not agree (by tipping his head to one side) and the individual takes a picture anyway, then the doll will curse the person and their family.
Fun fact: Child’s Play is loosely based on Robert!
Another of my faves has to be the story of the Myrtles Plantation. The land is, of course, an ancient Indian burial ground, so the grounds were already cursed. One of the servants named Chloe was caught eavesdropping on a conversation that her owner was having, and her ear was chopped off. To get back at the family, Chloe decided to poison the birthday cake of the children. She soft of accidentally killed them, however, and was killed herself.
The plantation’s open for visitation now, and it’s reportedly haunted by the dead family and Chloe.
And finally, there’s the Overlook Hotel Stanley Hotel. This is the famed inspiration for the Stephen King classic The Shining, and the future site of my honeymoon once I find someone I feel like marrying. The Stanley is filled with ghosts, from haunted ballrooms to phantoms that have sticky fingers. If a hotel’s enough to rattle Stephen King’s nerves, then it’s definitely a place that I’d like to be.
Travel Channel details so many haunted places that I’d love to go that it’s impossible to list all my favorites. Just tune in and you’ll see!
