Dear NaNoWriMo,

I haven't been speaking to you since Wednesday, and that's because we're through. We had a good run--30,005 words, a whole thousand more than last year. Alas, there was just too much crazy in my November to write 50,000 words with you this year.

And rather than auditioning ideas with you all weekend when I wasn't buried in my homework, I decided to walk away from my laptop, enjoy Thanksgiving with my family, and act like I'm on a holiday break. I enjoyed it.

We had some good times too, NaNo. You forced me to sit down and find the time and discipline to write down those ideas floating around my imagination, and then you brought me even more ideas. Those were beautiful times, and I'll always love you for that.

I don't know if we'll see each other next year, but I look forward to at least another thousand words if we do.

With love and best wishes,

PS: Good luck to all you Wrimos who are still writing! You can do it, and there's one heck of a standing ovation waiting beyond the finish line. Go you.

Musical Monday (18)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

This week's song is "The Outsiders" from the album The Outsiders by NEEDTOBREATHE , a band that's been a favorite of mine for a few years now.

Enjoy!



Wishing you a Monumental Monday (I'm running out of positive "M" words),

Musical Monday (17)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

This week's song is "Out of Control" by Capital Lights from their album This Is An Outrage! Why? Because I decided that today's song needs to be something super peppy and catchy, and Capital Lights is about as energetic and catchy as it gets.

Enjoy!



Wishing you a Merry Monday (Because it already looks like Christmas at the mall even though Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet),

Happy release date, Lauren!

From author Lauren Mechling's blog (Lauren Mechling - the blog):

"Today is a special day. Yes, it's MacKenzie Phillips's birthday. But I'm talking about the fact that it's the release day of the Dream Girl paperback! If you have a yen for a funny story starring a half-French girl detective, or know of late-middle/early-high school girls who might, you're in luck . . . ."

Two Exciting Things About Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I've been waiting very impatiently for this book. I also know that a lot of other readers are way excited to read it.

So here are two pieces of fantastic news:

1. Beautiful Creatures is already listed as in stock on Amazon.com and is also available for online purchase at Barnes & Noble's website. The book's release date is December 1, 2009. It's early November right now.

2. There is a super awesome Beautiful Creatures ARC and swag contest going on at beautifulcreaturesthebook.com. The rules? One point for every comment left at the Beautiful Creatures website and one point for every link you post to the contest by November 15th. Unlimited entries, four winners.

Release Date: December 1, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 576

Summary:

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
(From beautifulcreaturesthebook.com)

Find out more at somelovesarecursed.com
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Musical Monday (16)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

It's the Monday of the second week of NaNoWriMo, and there are bits and pieces of my story that I am absolutely in love with. (Yay!) There are parts of it, however, that I am not so in love with. (Boo.) I started out with a story that I liked, but as I wrote I realized that it needed to change . . . a lot. So I changed it. And now I'm wondering what happens next--especially what happens at the end. Because I've been thinking about the end my NaNo novel a lot lately, and also because it just played on the radio and got stuck in my head, this week's song is "Beautiful Ending" by BarlowGirl from their new album Love and War. Enjoy!

Video link


And I don't know about you, but NaNo aside life has been super busy over the past few weeks. I've been reading, but not doing much reviewing. I'll try to change that this week.

Wishing you a Magnificent Monday,

Musical Monday (15)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

Today is the second day of NaNoWriMo, and I don't know about my fellow wrimos, but I ran into some problems yesterday and I've already had to send in a llama to make things happen, so today's song is happy and cheesy with an even cheesier music video: "We've Only Just Begun" by Run Kid Run from their album This is Who We Are. Listening to it always gives me a smile--enjoy!



Wishing you a Marvelous Monday,