25.

I meant to blog before today about turning 25 last Friday, about the goals I had for the next year, maybe post pictures from my birthday party on Friday night, or talk about the things that have been going on in my life recently that have made it difficult to pay this blog any sort of attention.

Long story short: life is a mess. A big, messy mess. And it’s SPRING, finally, and that means spring cleaning, and I’ve definitely passed the line of Officially Being a Grown Up, so it’s time I sit down and get things in order.

So that means things might be (or, uh, stay) quiet around here while I figure things out.  I have PLANS, guys. But before I can put those plans in order, I have lots of things to do.

So–just checking in to say hi, I love you all, and I’m ready to make 25 my best year ever. ♥

 

Friday Favorites, v.4

Wow. This week has just flown by, you guys.  It MIGHT have to do with having Monday off from work, but whatever the case, I can’t believe it’s the weekend already! I’m excited for it – tonight, I have book club and tomorrow I’m going to a book signing, so it should be a lot of fun.

My list this week is shorter, but here are some of my favorite things from this week:

That’s it for me this week! I hope you all have a nice weekend. :)

Friday Favorites, v.3

Sooo, a while ago, I did this for exactly two Fridays before falling off the bandwagon. But! I saw a bunch of cool stuff this week that I’d love to share with you…

This list of free fonts is just so pretty (I’m coming up with a new theme for Bookish, so I’m on the hunt for inspiration everywhere!):

 

Sherry from Young House Love posted step-by-step how she cut her bangs, and now I’m itching to give mine a trim! (Though considering how my dye job turned out last night, I might just wait a while before trying it…)

 

Last but not least, Eric and I are making this baked apple and bourbon ice cream this weekend. Doesn’t it look so delicious?

 

It’s nice to know that someone in the White House has a sense of humor (and maybe they’re re-thinking their petition system?).

Does anyone else use Pocket? I didn’t know it exited until about a week ago, and now I don’t know how I lived without it! (It also doesn’t hurt that it’s super cute, too!)

My friend Clem has a new, beautiful design for her blog.

Serena, my CP, has a cool new feature on her blog called Cover Lovers, giving well-deserved attention to the artists behind some really incredible book covers.

Before I end this, don’t forget to check out The Great Noveling Adventure, to see how we’re faring in 2013!

Have a happy weekend! It’s a 3-day one for me, and DC’s going to be insane with all of the events celebrating the Inauguration. (No balls for us, though – I’ll probably be curled up with a book).

It’s done!

Last night, I sat down to write. A little while later, this happened:

Yeah. I know. I KNOW.

Several things happened: I finished the scene I was writing, which also happened to be the last scene of the book. I burst into tears. I sat staring at my computer screen for a few minutes, then called upstairs to Eric. He read it (he took ENTIRELY TOO LONG to read it – at least, that’s what it felt like, while I sat on the couch and tried to breathe), then turned to me and grinned.

An entire first draft, done. It feels entirely different from the first draft of Flightless – then, I knew I was in over my head, I knew that the story was going to have to be rewritten entirely and the entire draft would have to be tossed. I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work ahead of me, and I knew I wasn’t ready to even think about starting it. Now? It’s like this:

It’s really, really rough right now – actually, it’s more like a sketch of a book than a book, but I’m okay with that. I know (mostly) where I’m going from here, (I think) I know how to fix what’s wrong, and I’m really excited to get started on making it something I can be proud of.  I can’t wait to make it even creepier and darker and more atmospheric. I can’t wait to start fleshing out some of my characters, or to make my setting feel more real.

I’m going to let it sit for a little while, while I gather together all of the notes I’ve been taking over the past few weeks and get my thoughts in order. I made the decision to not send out this draft to my CPs until I make some really substantial changes to it, because frankly? It’s not very readable right now. There are huge holes, and I changed some things mid-draft that I need to add to the beginning. Once I get it in order, and I have it making sense, you guys (who know who you are!) will get it.

Until then – I have a lot of work to do!

Our little life: Roosevelt Island Adventure

It’s Monday! The weekend was too short, as it always is, but I think we made the most of it. :) Saturday was unseasonably warm here in DC, so Eric and I packed up the pup and headed to Roosevelt Island for a hike. It’s a funny place: an island in the middle of the Potomac, one side facing Downtown DC and the other side facing Arlington. Yet when you’re on the  trails, you feel like you’re deep in the woods, away from civilization. It’s not very big, so you can hike the entire island in a few hours, but it’s peaceful.

I wish I could say Zoey was good – but she wasn’t. It’s to be expected, I guess – this was the first long walk she’d been on since she’d been spayed (our vet told us to wait 2 full weeks before she was allowed on any walks, which is nearly torture for a 9-month old German Shorthair Pointer). She pulled like crazy the entire time, and we spent the better part of an hour just practicing walking on the leash.

Every time she pulled, we stopped and turned the other way. Luckily, there weren’t very many people there, so we were able to do this without distraction. We’d make it about 15 feet in a go – not fun. She’s so stubborn and independent – she makes the most frustrated sounds when we’re not doing what she wants to be doing.   Eventually, she either got the hang of it or was too tired to care, we’re not sure, but by the time she left, she wasn’t pulling nearly as much.

The thing is, she’s too big to be doing this now – she’s almost 50lbs! At the recommendation of one of my friends from college who’s a vet tech, we picked up a Gentle Leader – so we’ll see how that goes. Anything will be better than how she was on Saturday!

 

Hello, 2013!

Yesterday I reviewed a few of my favorite things from 2012. Today, I’m looking forward to the year ahead. 2012 was full of highs (and lows). I want 2013 to be even better.

image © detail oriented diva via pinterest.

Every year, I set goals for myself. Some of them I meet, others I don’t, but I’ve realized that if I make them public here on my blog, I’ll be much more likely to keep them than not. So here they are!

Writing:

  1. Finish Flightless. I’ve been writing this book for a year and a half. It needs to be finished SOON.
  2. Finish the first draft of A Magic Dark and Bright, then revise. I’m so close to finishing this draft. I have a lot of work ahead of me!
  3. Query. Self-explanatory, right?
  4. Outline and draft one new book. I have more than a few ideas tucked away.
  5. Write at least 20 minutes every day. If I have more time, then I’ll have a longer writing session. If 20 minutes is all I can manage? That’s okay, too, and I can’t feel guilty about it. Words on paper = progress.

Reading:

  1. Read 1 book/week. I want to spend less time reading and more time writing.
  2. Read outside of my preferred genres. Especially non-fiction. Over the past year, I’ve read mainly YA Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or Thrillers, and not much else.

Blogging:

  1. Blog here at bookish more often. Ha, ha  - isn’t that always a goal of mine?!
  2. Keep working hard to grow TGNA into something awesome. I’m really proud of our little adventure, and I want to see where the next few months take us!
  3. Comment more. I read blogs ALL THE TIME but I rarely ever comment. So I need to fix that!

And Everything Else:

  1. Think before speaking. Actually, I want to be more thoughtful in general – it’ll save me a lot of grief.
  2. Be present, 100% of the time. I tend to get caught up in my own mind and live in Jenny-land.
  3. Get organized. This is a BIG ONE.  We have an adorable little house, but too much stuff. Instead of moving (which necessitates curating our belongings), get rid of whatever doesn’t fit. Love the space we have instead of dreaming of something else. Make it our own.
  4. Be thankful for what I have. I really do have a nice life, wonderful friends, and a loving husband. I don’t need anything else.
  5. Set smaller weekly/monthly goals. Smaller goals, closer deadline = Jenny gets stuff done.

They don’t seem too bad, right? I think (hope!) I’ll be able to follow through. What about you? Are you making any resolutions or goals for 2013?

Goodbye, 2012!

I know, I know – this is like one of the gazillion 2012 recap blog posts that have appeared over the last few days. But I’m going to do it anyway. But, the question remains – do I just set goals for 2013, or do I go over my favorite things from 2012?  2012 was kind of a big thing, so I think I’ll do a 2012 recap today, and post 2013 goals tomorrow.

So here are a few of my favorite things from 2012:

Favorite day: June 15 – our wedding! I’m so thankful to all of our friends and family who made the trip and helped us have the most perfect, wonderful day.

wedding

Favorite Graduate: Eric, of course! (Though the entire MAGES ’12 class are all pretty awesome, I think I’m a little bit biased.)

 eric

Favorite Puppy: Miss Zoey

zoey

Favorite Book: This is a tough one – it’s a toss-up between Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity or Libba Bray’s The Diviners.

books

Favorite Project: The Great Noveling Adventure! What started as a crazy idea has grown into something really awesome, and I can’t wait to see what happens in 2013!

401283_423679281037147_437084389_n

Favorite Album: Mumford & Son’s Babel. I mean, you guys saw that one coming, didn’t you?

babel

2012 was a big year for me! We had our wedding (since we eloped in 2011), honeymooned in Florida (our first vacation together!), we adopted a puppy, Eric graduated from Georgetown, I took a class at Johns Hopkins, I made new friends and reconnected with old friends, and I finished the second draft of Flightless and (almost) finished the first draft of A Magic Dark and Bright - only 10k(ish) left to go! I’m really, really excited to see what 2013 will bring.