Beautiful Books 2016 ~ Novel Update: Starbloods

It's NaNoWriMo and I'm hard at work on my new novel. Well it's actually an old novel I'm completely revamping, but I'm revamping it so much it's practically new. I've risen out of my writing sanctum where I type away vicariously with my writing buddy nightly to give you an update on its progress. If you missed it, you can check out Beautiful Books #1 to know more about what this book is about! If you'd like to participate hop on over to Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In!

Note: I had a scheduling error and the Vanmoriel call for questions will be up next week!

A Book Review of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Buy from Amazon

Celaena Sardothien is the king's Champion-yet she is far from loyal to the crown, for the man she serves is bent on evil. But working against her master in secret is no easy task. As Celaena tries to untangle the mysteries buried within the glass castle, she can trust no one, not even her supposed allies Crown Prince Dorian, Captain of the Guard Chaol, and foreign princess Nehemia.

Then, an unspeakable tragedy shatters Celaena's world. She must decide once and for all where her loyalties lie . . . and whom she will fight for.

An action-packed and romantic adventure that readers “will never want to leave” (Kirkus Reviews), the next chapter in this smash hit New York Times best-selling series is sure to please Sarah Maas's enormous and ever-growing fan-base–and to set the stage for an explosive third book.

Monthly Summary: October 2016

Fall has finally arrived! But it was still hot all month. Nooooo. What is up with the Southern weather? The leaves didn't start changing until about a week or so ago, which is super weird, because usually they start in the beginning of October. This has been an odd year when it comes to weather. Hopefully November brings cool weather because I miss my boots and scarves. October was certainly a better month than September. That's for sure. It had it's downsides and its highlights. 

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Other Florida October 2016 Adventures

If you couldn't already tell from my past Monthly Summaries, this year has been a rough year for me. A lot of awesome things happened, but a lot of rough things happened and it seems to be a never-ending string of them. And you know that saying that it takes many good things to make up for a bad one? That's what I've been feeling this year. And the bad things seemed to have crushed many of the good things. 

Rejections scattered throughout the year. Grandfather passing away in March. Car accident in April and dealing with the financial repercussions in consequence as well as debilitating anxiety and depression. Monumental job stress in September. Then this month losing my job and having my twelve year old cat pass away. 

Basically, I really needed a break, some time to not have a high stress schedule and just relax with some good friends. That's what this weekend was for. Amy and Casey are two good friends of mine that I've grown in relationship with the past two years. I'm so happy to have been able to have this amazing weekend with them. 

So Your Character Has Fibromyalgia ... Featuring Sky @ Further Up and Further In

When I was younger, I'd seen commercials about fibromyalgia. It wasn't until I found out someone close to me had it that I started looking into it a bit more. Furthermore, my character Elasa also has this condition. For those of your who don't know according to Wikipedia, fibromyalgia is "is a medical condition characterised by chronic widespread pain and a heightened pain response to pressure. Other symptoms include feeling tired to a degree that normal activities are affected, sleep problems, and troubles with memory. Some people also report restless legs syndrome, bowel or bladder problems, numbness and tingling, and sensitivity to noise, lights or temperature. Fibromyalgia is frequently associated with depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Other types of chronic pain are also frequently present."

So Your Character Is ... is an on going series where I interview or talk about myself about different people groups, countries, etc. for writing more accurate characters. Sky Destrian from Further Up and Further In has fibromyalgia and is gracious enough to let me interview her for both the blog and my own personal character research.

6 Questions to Ask Yourself if a Point of View is Necessary for Your Novel

I've read many novels where the book had one or more point of views that just seemed there. They didn't add any special element to the story or enhance the plot and seemed to even bog down the story. Every element to your story should point toward the main plot. If they don't then they're sandbags on the story. Tackling more than one point of view can be very challenging. It isn't easy to get all of the point of views to flow together. 

My favorite example of an excellently handled multi point of view story has to be the Lord of the Rings. Each point of view directs toward the main plot. Each one weaves expertly together. All of the point of views are necessary, and I can't imagine one taken out. Another great example is Stranger Things. The point of views seem unrelated then they all coalesce for a stunning climax, each character has a prime role to play in the final battle.