May Wrap-Up

Hellooooooo, SUMMER!!!!

*races into room*

*knocks over a chair*

*leaps onto the couch*

*jumps up and down a few times*

*runs into her room and springs onto her bed*

*hops onto her desk*

*dances for an irrelevant Celtic Thunder song or two*

*tries to sing opera*

*fails... miserably*

*plops back onto her bed with her trusty laptop in hand, and continues to write this post*

HEY, Y'ALL! Yup, it's summer. I is happy. I does not care anymore whether I uses correct grammar or not. (Just kidding. I totally still care, and I totally still judge you on whether or not your grammar is right. Now watch me go make more grammar mistakes!)

So yeah. I'm excited. Forgive me if I randomly pause to jump on a couch or bed or desk or something while writing this post.*

*No furniture was harmed in the making of this post.

So. I am so, so excited, dear Dragons (in case you couldn't tell).

I finished all my homework this morning (I took my last test yesterday afternoon). My mom and I went to turn it and my textbooks (and my graphing calculator *sniffs* I'm gonna miss you, little guy) in. We went to Shakespeare's Pub & Grill, which is the best British restaurant on the face of the planet (the employees ALL HAVE BRITISH ACCENTS. ❤ I melt a little every time I go there). We ate, then headed back home, where my dad had just arrived from work. I somehow managed to get ready for the school's end-of-semester awards ceremony in a mere twenty minutes (which is like, a third of the time I usually take). We went to the ceremony. I sat next to one of my besties. We lingered for a while. I talked theatre with my director (who's graduating next week *sniffles*) and got the DVD for The Magic Flute. Our families went out to our favorite pizza place to celebrate. It's been a good day. And tomorrow, my mom and I plan to go used-bookstore-hopping. *sighs contentedly*

The Magic Flute DVD! 😍

BOOK HAUL

May had a pretty decent book haul! One can never have quite enough books. 😉

From Goodwill:

• The Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marillier (I've yet to read the first book, but... it's Juliet Marillier. And the library has it, so... 😉 )
• Return to Me by Lynn Austin
• Grimms' Complete Fairytales by the Grimm Brothers

From the Goodwill Bookstore:

• Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky
• The Capture by Kathryn Lasky
• The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones

From Walmart, Camp Half-Blood Confidential by Rick Riordan! I couldn't resist. 😀

Storm Siren by Mary Weber! I won this beauty in a giveaway from Grace at She Hearts Fiction. I'm really excited to read it! I started Storm Siren a few months ago, but I was sick and miserable and grumpy, so I sent it back to the library and marked it as DNF. Not one of my best decisions. I can't wait to start anew -- this time with a brain that's not full of sludge! 😛

Another giveaway win! Healer's Rune by Lauricia Matuska was from a Facebook party my book club, Fellowship of Fantasy, held.

The final giveaway book in this massive book haul is the kindle edition of Reconciliation, the second book in Amy Brock McNew's Reluctant Warrior Chronicles. I've yet to read book one (a signed copy sits on my shelf as we speak), but I'm sure it'll be brilliant! The first few lines certainly agree. 😁

The last book in May's book haul (last one! I promise!) is The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson. I first heard about it from one of my all-time favorite authors, Ivy Rose, so I knew it had to be good. Thankfully, Kara had a kindle sale going on, so I swung by Amazon and picked up a copy!

READING CORNER

Not counting school books, here were some of May's reads:

• Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren
• A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes
• Sun & Moon by Desiree Williams

MOVIE THEATRE

• Sherlock, season four -- Ohh my word, that ending was not okay! NONE of the endings were okay! I seriously needed to sit and cry after that (particularly episode one).
• Anne with an "E", season one -- Anne definitely isn't my favorite show, but... it's clean. And almost Little-House-on-the-Prairie-esque. And on Netflix.
• Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) -- I love Pirates of the Caribbean. The trailer for this one was epic. I thought I'd love it... No. Just no. The heroine was like sandpaper. The whole movie was super edgy. And I didn't want the romance they gave me (I just wanted Jack and his crew, to be honest). The ending was sweet, though.
• Death in Paradise (???) -- This is my mom's new favorite show. Sometimes, I come in and watch it because I'm in love with Humphrey Goodman... well, do I need a reason? 😏
• Poldark, season two -- trkdfkbng kjshpmfrv deofskbnpenvvfv << a very thorough summary of my thoughts.

WRITING DESK

Okay, it's time to talk.

I've started to hate And Did the Waters Tremble. And I'm sure it's because I'd much rather be writing something else. I've tried all the classic "love your novel again" tricks, but they haven't worked. So I've decided to set that story aside for a while and turn my attention to something else, for a change.

My current goal is to spend June easing back into writing (properly) with a large-ish Tales of Goldstone Wood fan fiction I plan to post here sometime this summer. It's not certain whether there'll be another fan fiction contest this year, but if there is, I'll plan to submit my story to that. ☺

In July, I hope to finally finish out a Camp NaNoWriMo -- this time with my Five Poisoned Apples entry, Because of Midnight Poison. I've been daydreaming of this story for over a year, now, so I'm excited to see where it goes.

School starts up again (*whimpers*) at the end of August. And August begins with the tale end of a certain writer's conference and my congregation's annual Youth Meeting. So, what little of August remains I hope to spend editing Because of Midnight Poison and working on either its sequel or my beloved fantasy novel of three years, When the Sky Cries. Here's to hoping I'll figure out some way to balance writing, acting, and life during the school year. *crosses fingers*

~

Anywhozens, I suppose that concludes my May wrap-up! Keep an eye out tomorrow morning for a super fun interview I had with YA fantasy author Desiree Williams! (Recognize her name? Yeah? She wrote Sun & Moon, which is simply darling and a story you must read!)

What are your plans for the summer? Are you finished with school, yet?

❤,