What Annie’s Doing: A Reading and Writing Update #1

Hello lovelies 🙂

So I’ve been seeing a lot of mid-month writing and reading updates both on WordPress and on my YouTube feed and I thought, “heck, why not do it myself?”  I’ve been in kind of a rut about what to post on my blog as of late and I think that this might be the answer to my prayers.

Without further ado, here is a quick little glimpse into what I’ve been doing with words the past few weeks!

I’ll start with books because I’ve been reading some pretty good stuff lately.  I’m a little over halfway finished with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and am loving everything about it.  The characters, the setting, the eeriness in protagonist Offred’s voice that is portrayed so clearly that it sends chills up your spine: I’m just loving it (and I’m loving the idea of getting to watch the television adaptation on Hulu when I finish!).

I also made a new discovery around last week and, in truth, I’m surprised that I didn’t find out about it sooner.  A fellow blogger recommended through one of her posts that I check out a website called NetGalley, which sends reviewers copies of yet-to-be-released books so the publishers can get feedback before the book is for sale.  I was obsessed and subsequently spent way too much time perusing the seemingly endless selection of titles that reviewers could request.

This was how I came across a copy of Rosemarked, a book by Livia Blackburne that is expected to be released on November 7, 2017 by Disney-Hyperion.  I was first struck by the gorgeous cover, but after reading the description, I was hooked.  Nothing makes me happier than a young-adult fiction novel with an interesting plot and intriguing characters, and that’s what this book appeared to be.  I sent in a request immediately and, a few days later, my wish was granted: an advance copy of Rosemarked was on my digital shelf.

My preconceptions about the quality of Rosemarked‘s plot and characters were true in almost every sense.  It checks off most of the boxes: interesting, distinguishable characters, seamless world-building that is woven throughout the story, and a plot that has me asking, “I know something is bound to go wrong, but when and what?”  Hopefully I’ll have a review up soon so I can share all of my thoughts with y’all.

And now, we shift to writing.  In truth, I’m on an upswing at the moment for multiple reasons, the first of which being that I recently purchased a new laptop and I’ve been geeking out about it.  Everything, including writing, seems more fun on a new device, so I’ve been cranking out more pages than usual.

In addition, being out of school has skyrocketed the amount of free time I have on my hands.  My uncomfortably empty schedule gives me the freedom to write when I feel like writing because I simply have the option to do it.  I don’t have to wait until an assigned time to write like I had to during my Novel Writing independent study during the school year.  If the muse comes knocking at 2:00 in the afternoon or 2:00 in the middle of night, then I have the freedom to answer.

The ability to write more often has helped me build up some momentum with my novel in that, the more I write, the more I see what I want to write next.  I’m at a crucial point in the plot and, because I’ve put more words on paper lately, I’m ready to tackle it in a way that I probably wouldn’t have been if it were January and I were stressing about the two tests I have next Friday and the chemistry lab report due tomorrow that I hadn’t started yet (that thought flashed through my head all too often over the course of senior year).  I can write when I want, I can write what I want, and I can write how I want.  Is there anything more wonderful?

So that’s it, folks!  I’d love to hear about the state of your affairs with reading and writing, so drop me a comment and let’s chat 🙂

XO, Annie