GUYS.

NANOWRIMO IS IN FOUR DAYS.

I AM NOT READY.

*existensial crisis*

But, before we go diving into all the NaNo craziness, let’s take a look at the craziness of October....

Wow. October has been INSANELY busy. This has been, by far, the busiest month of the year.

I went on my first ever college visit. I AM NOT READY YET. But the college was actually really nice - and the town had a book store. So I bought more books. XD

My family had their annual reunion in the middle of a cow pasture. (That sounds really weird when I read that.) But it was fun! And extremely cold - but that’s why we built a fire.

I went to go see my cousin's school play!

Yesterday I took the ACT. *screaming*

Also, remember back in my last wrap-up post when I said I got my wisdom teeth taken out?

I genuinely thought that my tooth problems would be over.

NOPE.

So, while we were visiting the college, it turned out that the right side of my mouth got infected. *facepalm* I have no idea how, or why, but it happened. So I had to go on meds for another week.

And then I had to have ANOTHER oral surgery to take out these two little gum flaps that were covering parts of two of my teeth.

It gets worse.

When I finished the second surgery, the surgeon told me, "Oh, yeah, you can pretty much eat whatever you want." So I went home and ate - literally everything over the weekend.

Fast-forward to Tuesday morning. I woke up, and the right side of my mouth hurt and was swollen.

Guess what. It got infected. AGAIN.

And guess why?

Well, when the surgeon was trying to figure out why, he saw a LOT of food back there.

Hmmm... maybe I’ll just avoid solid foods for a while.

BUT, it’s on the way to recovery again, So, HOPEFULLY this is all done and I won’t have to worry about my teeth anymore. #famouslastwords

(I apologize for that. I needed to rant.)  

Out of Time series. If you haven’t read this series yet, YOU NEED TO. I’ve read the first and second (because my library only has those two) and they are so inspiring. <3

Lord of the Rings. My family just finished watching the three Hobbit movies. I cried, to say the least. And I’m FINALLY finishing up The Two Towers book (it's been taking me forever, for some weird reason).

Amulet. You guys - I READ SUPERNOVA!!!!! (I think I was the first in the library to check it out. That’s a great feeling.) You can read my short review on Goodreads HERE, but in case you don’t want to, here’s the condensed version: I liked it, but it needed more Trellis.

So, not much actual writing happened in October, but I DID plan my novel for NaNoWriMo! It’s confusing (I virtually did no worldbuilding - it’s going to be great), but I love my main characters and plot. *sighs happily*

I’ve also been scheduling the posts for Julian's 5-Part Shared WIP Tag! But I’ll talk about that more below.

Here are the posts I wrote this month:


And, around the blogosphere.....

Ivie did an AMAZING inspirational writing series that you NEED to read. (Check out parts ONE, TWO, THREE, and FOUR.)

Gray Marie also did a short series on writing spooky stories that’s perfect for Halloween! (Here are the links to part ONE and TWO.)

And I know this happened in September, but both Nora and Lacy started new blogs, so definitely go check them out!

So, you may have noticed that there has been some changes around here.

Again.

*facepalm*

I’m pretty sure that in an older post, I said that I was not going to change my blog design anymore. Well, that didn’t happen. XD

But for anyone planning on changing their blog design in the future, here’s a couple things I learned that might make it easier!

(also, Madison recently did a similar post about this topic, so when you’re ready, go check it out!)


Let’s face it: if you’re planning a major blog design change, and you’re getting a template off the Internet, chances are that not everything will work the way it should.

It’s irritating.

What’s even more irritating is when you’re trying to fix it, but have no idea what any of the HTML means.

There are hundreds of websites that you can read through that give a basic understanding. I’m not saying you have to become a coding master. But you do need to know the basics.

However, if for some reason you don’t have the time . . .



If you’re like me and forgot everything you learned about coding in school, Google it. That’s literally how I solved every single problem I had with the design.

Thank you, Google. *applause*

I’m not kidding. Within six hours of me deciding that I was going to change my blog design, I already had one up. I had no idea what I was doing. (Heck, I still have no idea what I’m doing.)

Do at least a little bit of research. Put serious time into finding a blog template that looks good (if you want to find one online). Don’t just pick the first one that you like and stop there - if any of you were on my blog on Wednesday night, you saw the mess that was the first blog design I chose.

Most of the time (at least in my experience) it always helps to have a fresh pair of eyes evaluate your new design. If I hadn’t asked my mom to take a look at my new blog look, that atrocious layout would still be up today.

Which leads me to my next point.



If any of you are naturally gifted with an eye for aesthetics, you all need to know that your talent is a blessing. Not everyone has an eye for design.

I know that I have absolutely no idea for what is "aesthetic" or not. That was the reason I picked out the first bad blog design in the first place. I like the one I have now much better, but I thought that the first one I had was "easy on the eyes."

It wasn’t.

So if you spend countless hours trying to make your blog nice and neat, you are not the only one. Aesthetics are not easy. Trust me.

(shoutout to Lisa, Katie Grace, Savannah, and Allison for having some of the most aesthetic blogs I’ve seen!)

For those of you who are debating between blog designs, I only have one piece of advice: If you try to cram a lot of stuff on your blog pages, it will hurt your eyes.

More often than not, the blogs I like to follow are relatively simple, clean, and easy on the eyes. You don’t need obnoxiously sparkly titles and then neon green font as your body text color.

Please, please, please don’t do that. You will scare off more people than you will attract.

In my experience, white is usually a good color for your background. It’s easy on the eyes and looks cleaner.



Blog design should be fun. It shouldn’t make you angry or ticked off or want to throw your computer at the nearest wall. (Well, okay, coding can sometimes tick you off. But that’s why you do a little research!)

While the initial phase may be tedious, when it comes time for you to pick colors and fonts, and rearrange widgets, that should be enjoyable. (Or maybe I just love redesigning blogs. XD)

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And one other thing - YES, I AM ACTUALLY DONE CHANGING MY DESIGN. FOR REAL THIS TIME.

(Let’s see how long it takes for me to start tweaking again. XD)

-Nicole

Happy Sunday!

So, I was planning an actual blog post for this week (don’t worry - it’ll go up next week!), but on Monday, I saw that Liv had posted the next segment in The Language of Worlds Linkup!! And then later that day Christine posted the questions for her NEW linkup Know the Novel!

Naturally, I had to join in. And here we are!


First up, we have the Know the Novel linkup! You can visit Christine’s post for more information, but basically, it’s a three-part series geared towards your novel in general.
I actually wrote a post about this some time ago, but basically: I was really intrigued with Draco Malfoy’s character in the Half-Blood Prince, and imagined that scenario in real life. Add to the mix an inspiration from Murder, She Wrote about a teen who was hunted down, and that’s how the Inhumans was born!


So, because I don’t really need to write a new one, I’m just going to copy-and-paste the blurb I gave in the post I mentioned: 

Three months ago, Ben Evans was hunted down by a figure he never actually saw. His life was threatened four times. Then, his attacker went away, with no explanation. 
Now, with summer just beginning, Ben’s eager-to-please cousin Shannon tells him that she saw his attacker in her home town, Monsoon. Desperate to find the person who changed his life, Ben embarks on an almost impossible mission: find someone that he’s never actually seen before. He reluctantly teams up with Shannon, the only one who’s seen him. 
But what Ben doesn’t realize is that there’s more to this attacker than meets the eye. Before he can comprehend what’s happening, he and Shannon are thrust into an underground society of people who may not be completely human.
And Ben might just be one of them. 


Okay, so the first part of the book takes place in a smaller town (totally not like the one I live in . . . definitely not). I really like this setting because small towns are underrated, and I feel like there’s a sense of close-knit community in them. This should give some interesting dynamics. 

The second part of the book is in a secret underground base of a society that . . . I can’t really tell you about. But there are superpower-endowed people in this base. That’s why I like it. I also really like the “secret society” trope and love to think about what their hideouts would be like. 


You could just probably check out the questions I answered below, since I answer them for him. But some other random information about Ben:
- He’s very proud of his intelligence.  
- He always has to have an agenda for the day, or at least know what’s happening. If he doesn’t have some sort of schedule, he goes nuts.
- He’s not very good at talking to people. He wants to know what people are actually thinking, but is too scared to ask them.  


Well *rubs hands evilly* my villain is the leader of a terrorist society that WANTS TO DO GOOD - through KILLING EVERYONE. *evil laughter*

Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. But seriously, the guy is insane - literally insane because SPOILERS. 


Askari. If you read that post, you know that he’s the assassin. But seriously, he’s not your normal assassin. Fun fact: he hates the thought of violence, but ends up having to fight a lot.

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely adore this character? 

(I love to torture my favorite characters. *more evil laughter*)


This is going to be a trilogy. In addition, after I read Stars Above (which is a Lunar Chronicles Short Story collection), I came up with some short story ideas (one of which takes place after the series and makes me flail just thinking about it - because it will MESS WITH YOU. Maybe. ;) ) 



Plantsing. I know the major points of the story, but the stuff in between is still a mystery. I’ll figure it out - eventually.  



Askari. Cousin friendships. The superpowers involved. The theme of forgiveness, which I feel is really lacking in today’s YA books. 



Hmmm......anything at all? 

Well.......I do have a playlist in the works. If you visit my Spotify account (my username is "swlalos" - I don’t know how to link to it) and scroll through my playlists, you’ll see a “Inhumans 1” playlist. I also have an Askari playlist, but some of the titles contain spoilers, so look at your own risk! (Actually, most of the titles in these playlists do have spoilers, so listen at your own risk!) 



So, for those of you who don’t know what this is, The Language of Worlds Linkup is a bimonthly linkup intended for Christian speculative fiction (but you can use it for other genres as well). You can visit Liv’s most recent post for more info.

For this linkup, the questions will be answered for my main character in the Inhumans trilogy, Ben Evans because I have to develop him more.
Ben fears that everyone important in his life will leave him. (“Important people” means anyone who has made a significant impact on his life. So yes, this does apply to the person who tried to kill him, aka Askari. *shrugs*) 



Ha ha ha. Ha. Ha. 

Not very well.  

Ben usually will become negative and self-deprecating, blaming himself for not “doing something.” In extreme cases definitely not in The Inhumans he’ll become obsessive and try to find the person who made an impact.



Ben hasn’t really thought a lot about marriage. He always pictured himself married, but doesn’t really ever see himself dating. He doesn’t put a lot of stock in the marriage system, because his dad left his family when Ben was ten. 



Ben really likes to be validated (although it’s not necessary), so I would say words of affirmation. But physical touch is also a big one, I would say. 



Probably a 4. Ben cannot concentrate whenever there is a big mess. However, if he gets into a project, he will leave stuff strewn around his bedroom and not feel a need to pick it up.  



If Ben is going to participate in a debate, he has to win. He’s a very competitive person, especially when it comes to a battle of the wits. He’s also a very sore loser, so he usually won’t compete unless he’s sure he’ll win. 



Ben brings his intelligence and strategic skills. In the actual fighting department, he’s pretty lacking (except in one thing, but SPOILERS for book 3).  



Ben really likes pancakes and sausage. He usually only has it on Christmas, since his mom is usually pretty busy and forgets to pick up sausage any other day of the year. 


After a long day, Ben will want to either play video games or learn about his passion, forensics and genetics. (Don’t ask me how that’s relaxing.....I don’t understand either.) 


The main thing I want readers to get out of this story is that forgiveness is important. If you can’t forgive, you will have so much anger throughout your life. Forgiveness is the only good way to let go of past hurts.

Throughout the series, all of the major characters have to forgive someone. You can probably guess who Ben has to make terms with.....

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Are you guys going to do the linkups? You definitely should! They’re awesome! Thanks to Christine and Liv for doing these!

-Nicole

Hey guys. I know this isn’t a Sunday, but I have a quick request.

My friend's dad died this past weekend, and their family’s going through a rough time. Can you add her and her family to your prayers?

-Nicole

Happy Sunday!

I love tags. I love reading them, I love doing them. But for some reason I’ve only done one - ever! (You can find that one here.) So, since I’m really busy right now and don’t want to write a super deep post, I’m going to knock down two tags with one stone!

« Thank the blogger who tagged you and link back to their blog. (Thank you, Ivie and Kara! If you guys aren’t following them, go check them out - Ivie is right in the middle of an inspirational series, and Kara’s book reviews are killer!)
« Create seven new #CoverLove questions or just use mine.
« Answer the seven questions your nominator gave you. (I’m going to answer both Kara’s and Ivie’s questions, and you can pick which set you want to do!)
« Nominate seven other bloggers and let them know they’ve been tagged. (Oh, boy......because I’m so good at letting people know they’ve been tagged..... -_-)  

Okay, here we go! (Also, not gonna lie - I spent way too much time staring at my bookshelf for this tag. XD)

I really love this cover of Heartless (by Marissa Meyer.) I mean, look! It’s just so pretty! (Completely unlike the book, which will leave you heartless by the end.)

Okay, am I the only one who doesn’t like this cover? I mean, it looks good and all, but is that supposed to be Cinder??? Or is that Levana? And what is up with her hair? I’m honestly confused, guys.

One of the reasons I picked up The School for Good and Evil was for the cover. My friend was reading it at the same time, too. But gosh - I absolutely DESPISED that book. I was getting weird vibes throughout the entire thing. Then I hit the ending.

Worst. Ending. Ever.  

(Also, my friend hated the ending too. XD)








Alvin’s Secret Code was the first “older” book I ever read, and I ADORED it. I was obsessed with cryptography for years afterwards, I kid you not. (I still am, to a degree....) I need to reread this.












I think we can all agree that The Blood Race’s cover is everything we could hope for in a cover. I could stare at it for hours and still find something new.  

All the books in The Secret Series are great (although I do not condone some of the content) but the third book - This Book Is Not Good For You - is especially great because it is literally about chocolate. It will also make you hungry. I recommend you eat something while you read this.












Haha, yes, I had to bring up Keeper of the Lost Cities at some point, right? While Lodestar wasn’t my favorite of the series, I still love this cover. (I would have put Flashback, but......it hasn’t released yet. :(













Yes, I just made this one up. Just look past that. 

Guys, there are honestly so many covers I could do for this (just look at Gray's and Ivie's) but while I’m on the KOTLC mindset, just LOOK AT THIS COVER!!!! If I get published I want this guy to design my covers.....  







Can I cheat and say Everblaze again? 

No?

Fine. This was the closest I could find to a pink cover on my shelf. Dawn made me cry so much. So, of course, you all need to read it. XD 




Not many people know about this book, which is sad, because it really deserves more attention! I actually met the author a couple years ago - which was epic - and she signed the first three books! 




Yes, this technically isn’t a picture book, but there are pictures in it! And yes, the movies are good, but the ending of the book series is everything I needed in life. If that’s the only reason you read the book series, you will not be disappointed. 




I’d never even heard of The Orphan King before my grandparents gave it to me for Christmas. I still haven’t read the other books in the series because I want to read TOO MANY BOOKS, but the first book was pretty good!  




I am going to just go with Alvin’s Secret Code again. I spent wayyyy too much of second grade thinking of this book. I even made notes for when I had to return the book. *facepalm*   




Aaaaaaannnd, we’re back to Keeper of the Lost Cities again. :) I read Nightfall in one day. And during my reread, I read it in one day - again. So this qualifies. XD Seriously, though, guys, you need to read this series. It is SO GOOD. The books are light, but have some great characters and mind-bending plots. 

Allison @ the little bookworm
Lilian @ Green Tea With Books
Danielle @ Snapper
Danielle @ Life Is Like A Book
Ceci @ Ceci Creates
Faith (when she returns from hiatus) @ The Writer’s Song
Nicole @ Wild Pennings

And here are the questions! And remember - you can pick either set to do.
A cover you loved the moment you saw it.
Your least favorite cover on a book you love.
A cover you love on a book you hate.
A cover that makes you think of your childhood.
Aesthetic goals book cover.
A book that hasn’t come out yet. 
A book cover with your favorite color.

A cover with your OTP on it
A pink cover
A cover of an autographed book--or one you would like to get autographed
A cover of a picture book
A cover of book you were given as a gift
A cover of a book that gives you nostalgia
A cover of a book that you read in one sitting
I was also technically tagged by Ivie to do this, so thank you again!

This could also be very rambly. Prepare yourselves.

My biggest goal for this school year is to finish a novel. Not a book: a novel. I have never written a story that is larger than 42k. Even my current WIP, in its first draft stage, is only 30k. This NaNo, I want to write a 50k-long book - or even longer! *fingers crossed*

Well, a major goal for this year was to write the first book of The Inhumans trilogy, and I completed the first draft for it this summer! *confetti* Other than that . . . I’m not a huge goal-setter, so I haven’t really completed any “big goals.”
Well, I did a post about it last month (you can find it here), but, following Abbiee’s steps to telling people what it’s about:

It’s a middle-grade modern fantasy novel about a boy who wants to find the person who tried to kill him, and it’s also about forgiveneness and letting go of guilt.

I want to write stories that bring people hope in this dark world. I want to bring people closer to God though writing. I want to help people see the good in this world, even though it’s not very obvious.

I’m not very adventurous.....but, at some point in my life, I want to go ziplining. (Yes, I’m a touch afraid of heights, but I don’t see how that’s relevant. XD)
To write for a living. Maybe write and publish a couple songs. Blog in between.

You know. The usual.

But what kind of consequences are we talking here? Physical? Mental? Spiritual? Fandom-related? (Yes, those are a thing. Don’t ask.)

Okay, if there were literally NO repercussions for what I would do, I would take a YA library book, get a permanent marker, and scribble all over the sex scenes. Because really, why would we want to read those????

I play a mean recorder.

..............

Just kidding! I’m really good at reciting entire movie scripts by heart. (You can ask anyone I’m close to - they hate it.)
Just one? Well, Sam’s little speech from The Two Towers gets me every time. (You can Google it if you want to know. I’m really tired and don’t want to put it on here.) It’s the speech about how the inspiring stories had characters that could have given up at any point, but they didn’t. <3

To be published. I still don’t know whether I should traditionally or indie publish, but I just want to have at least one of my books out there for people to read. That’s the dream, anyways.

............I’m not sure. On the one hand, I really do like school. But on the other, I don’t have as much time to write as I wish I did, and that really bugs me.

So I’ll say no, I’m not, but hopefully I’ll get there soon!
Now, as for people to tag - I tag the people above, and:
Lila @ The Red-Hooded Writer
Gray Marie @ Writing is Life
Kara @ Kara Armstrong
Savannah @ Inspiring Writes

And here are the questions!
What is your favorite quote, and why?
What is your dream career?
How do you want to change the world?
What song do you really relate to, and why?
What is one of your biggest pet peeves?
How do you want your life to change, or are you fine with where you are right now?
What was the moment that made you decide to write (or sing, or whatever you want to do in life)?
What is the biggest dream you have in life?
How do you react to stressful situations?
If you could have any superpower, what would you have and why?
Do you have any big goals for either 2018 or 2019, and what are they?

-Nicole