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I realize it’s been a super long time since I made a post that had to do with something other than music. I guess part of my lack of posting is due to the fact that for the most part only one person replies to my posts and I talk to her everyday anyway. Still, I was so active on here in 2010, even when there was no one reading and so it’s stupid to be so inactive in 2011 just because the blogosphere is quiet. I will try harder to be around more often in case there are any of you left wondering about my life.

I apologize in advance for how long this post will be.

Writing:

It’s been slow, I’ll be honest. Some days there is a lot going on in my mind, but others it’s completely silent. As much as the days where the chatter’s too much to decipher are difficult to deal with, the silence scares me even more.

My current WIP has had some improved scenes created, but the majority of the work completed on it in the last month was reviewing and revising. While this is partly because my characters have been off “playing with” my crit partners characters, it’s also because the next big series I will work on has been demanding my attention.

When I say demanding, I don’t just mean a few ideas either, I mean like whole books being fleshed out, characters with names and completely defined physical characteristics, their voices, the first two books prologues, actual narration that goes down in book 1 and more. It’s blowing me away how ‘alive’ they’ve become in my mind now, but it’s also exciting me.

It was an idea I had briefly a while ago, but really didn’t know what sort of direction it’d take and certainly didn’t think it’d be the next book I’d work on, but I’m pretty confident that after my Cleaphytes series is complete (2 books), I’ll be jumping into a 4 book series right away.

In fact, if my current characters don’t start “playing” in my mind again soon, I may just start this second series and attempt to write two stories at once (even though I swore that was something I was incapable of). I guess we’ll see what happens.

Reading:

Since my last “real” post I’ve read quite a bit. Not as much as I’d hoped by now exactly, but I’m 13 books into my to-be-read pile for the year so far. That’s not terribly bad.

I’m currently reading CITY OF BONES (Mortal Instruments, Book 1) by Cassandra Clare, which I will no doubt be finished with by the evenings end. I intend to read all 4 of the books in the series plus CLOCKWORK ANGEL (Infernal Devices, Book 1) this month in a challenge against a friend of mine to see who can finish first. At this rate, with the way I’m loving the story so far, I’m pretty positive I’ll win. I’d like to take a moment to give a shout out to alice_vd for turning me onto the series. Alice, I can absolutely see why you love it so much! It is quickly becoming one of my favorite reads!

Other books I’ve read since the last post include:

INVINCIBLE (Chronicles of Nick, Book 2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon – You all have to know by now how much of a Sherrilyn Kenyon fangirl I am, so obviously I swallowed this book whole the second it arrived in the mail. I absolutely adore how it connects to the Dark-Hunter world and the build up that’s being created in this YA series so that Nick can finally have his own Dark-Hunter book in that series when he’s grown. My only gripe is having to wait a whole year for more!

DEMONGLASS (Hex Hall, Book 2) by Rachel Hawkins – When I read HEX HALL last year it was just something with a pretty cover that *looked* interesting at the library and I honestly had no intentions of reading it quickly, but that’s exactly what I did. Rachel Hawkins writes from a teen’s voice spot on and the clash of characters oddly work so well together. In DEMONGLASS the bulk of the book takes place in London, but since the general story is boarding school based it really doesn’t matter where they are in the world – they issues they face are similar. It was a book I had a hard time putting down, but I expected that honestly. I can’t wait for Book 3!

FORGIVE MY FINS by Tera Lynn Childs – This was my first Tera Lynn book and also my first modern twist of Mermaid lore book. I blew through this book. It was a short read that moved at steady pace with all this wonderful water/fish like talk and a really cool take on mermaid life (which being a super fan of THE LITTLE MERMAID growing up, I thoroughly enjoyed). The characters were snarky to the max which was highly entertaining. I liked this book so much I even convinced my 50 year old mom to read it and she finished it fast too. It’s definitely a book I’d suggest picking up!

TRAPPED by Michael Northrop – I loved this book, especially with as cold as it’s been this past winter. There was nothing supernatural about it, just a handful of kids trapped in school during the worst snowfall on record. The panic the book builds as the days pass and trouble arises as a result is perfect! I just kept thinking – Are these kids gonna make it out alive?! My only gripe is how suddenly it ended. According to websites offering the book it claims it has 240 pages, while mine only had 232. I couldn’t help but feel like there could have been 8 more pages of the story I was missing. Receiving a second version of this book disproved my theory though so I guess it just ended and not in a bad way, just quicker than I expected. It was definitely a worthwhile read and if you’re someone who goes for cool effects in books, one of my favorite things was watching the height of the snow rise with the beginning of each chapter until the page was completely submerged!

After my Mortal Instruments reading challenge in April, I plan to read the Daughters of the Moon series (or at least the 2 volumes currently out (aka first 6 books)) for Heather’s (edgyauthor) birthday month. She loves this series so very much and since we pretty much like ALL of the same things, I have no doubt that I’ll enjoy it just like her!

I’ve also acquired quite a few books since the last time I actually took pictures of my beauties (which was what, Christmas?). I’ll do a separate post to glorify them all after my birthday in case I get any more. 😉

Life in General:

Remember that weight loss goal I set at the beginning of the year? Yeah, well I’ve failed, miserably. So bad that I actually gained weight and now that my sisters wedding is about 5 months away there’s no time like the present to finally take this serious. In an effort to make something happen, Mom made me actually join Weight Watchers with her. I’ve done a WW like diet before, but always on my own. Mom swears when you go to classes you take it more seriously. Maybe she’s right, I don’t really know. Right now though, all it feels like is an AA meeting for fat people. I don’t mean that in an offensive way. I know those sorts of things are the saving grace for some, but for me it just feels humiliating. *Sigh*

Work has been super stressful and draining. Do you remember The Mayo Thief AKA my nemesis at work? Well at the very end of February they finally let him go which made me happy because A: I wouldn’t have to deal with him or cover for him anymore –AND- B: Getting his workload dumped on me could mean a much needed raise. All that’s really happened though is that my workload is so tremendous now I’m barely ever getting on top of it no matter how hard I push myself. And the errors in the work he left behind are terrifying. It’s a constant struggle to set things right and so frustrating that my bosses let this nonsense go on for so long that it is at the point it is. Not to mention, a month later now and still no mention of a raise. I’m starting to wonder why I work so hard. He’s evidence of getting away with half assed work for years and he made at least 20,000 more a year than me. I make chump change and haven’t had a raise in 4 years. Work makes me angry more than anything most days now. *Sigh*

The weather here is driving me mad. I’ve lived in MD all of my life so it really shouldn’t surprise me how schizophrenic it can be, but its April, Earth. Don’t you know that means its spring? Why is it still cold enough to snow here? I mean, I love cold weather (Lord knows I hate being hot), but even I’m at my end with this dreary cold air. I want spring, I want flowers, and I want warm sunshine with a slight breeze. Is this too much to ask in April? SMH…

Speaking of April, it will be a rather busy month for me. I’ve got a hair appointment this weekend, my birthday next weekend, my sister’s baby shower next weekend, an unpleasant doctor’s appointment the following week, and that whole reading challenge (which equals reading 5-500 page books in 4 weeks). But even with all that I plan to really try and be active on here more than I’ve been so far this year. I feel bad for being so behind and while I know it will take me a while to catch up on all of your blogs, I plan to make a strong effort to do it!

One last thing before I go. I’ve always wanted an awesome piggy bank and while out shopping with my mom recently we stumbled upon one that was just calling my name. It was such an awesome pig that some old lady actually tried to take it from me. No joke. She crept up on me and threatened, “You’re lucky I didn’t see that first because it would be mine!” I was like, whoa omg! LOL! Funny/scary old lady. Anyway, without further ado I introduce to you Haywood Hall, possibly the coolest pig ever. (Just saying)

Until Next Time – Sarah

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