Looking back at my work, I know I’ve grown as a writer. The first book of the Aequalitas series is now a rough-draft, and I am rewriting the story.

For those of you that actually liked the plot, have no fear. I’m merely enhancing the story line with better dialogue and more action. I’ll gradually introduce the characters to make it easier to distinguish them by only seeing their names.

If you didn’t like the story line, what are you even doing on my blog?

The rewrite is taking much longer than it should due to the fact that I have been crazily consumed with the task of another story. This one is more on the end of adult, rather than YA, but still possesses the fantasy elements of supernatural creatures and magic existing in the real world.

Also there’s much gore and swearing… Sorry, kids.

I find myself drawn to the idea of revolution. Though, that doesn’t occur until book two of this new series. Book one is an action-packed comedy with dark mystery woven in.

I find myself drifting off into these new worlds in inappropriate times, like in class or while driving. But, of course, as soon as I sit down at the computer, all is lost. I reread everything I’ve written until I hate it. This is my creative process, eating away at any sanity I still possess.

Oh! Has anyone seen the trailer for American Assassin?? I heard Dylan O’Brien was cast as a lead role, and decided to see it in theaters this fall. Because I’m a dedicated bookworm, I checked out Vince Flynn’s book of the same name to finish before seeing the movie. All I can say is that September can’t come soon enough!

What are some other good books? I’m always looking for new material. Even unpublished/ fan-written bits. Leave comments below!

Congratulations to those of you who are graduating this year! The joyous celebration of completing your education (whether it’s from High School, College, or even Middle School) has excited people for decades. The last graduation I attended was my eighth grade graduation. I did independent study my junior and senior years of high school, and didn’t walk in the ceremony last June. My next graduation to look forward to is in two more years, hopefully, with an AA degree from a local community college.

The last obstacle we face before the glory of walking across a stage in an oversized hospital-gown-looking-garment is the dreaded Finals Week. I was lucky this semester. I had accidentally taken two short courses that ended in March, so I only had two Finals this week: Math and English.

My math final wasn’t overly stressful. The only frustrating part was the “none of these” option among the multiple choice options. Who decided that should be a thing? “We as a school want our students to doubt themselves in the smallest ways possible. How do we achieve this?” “Add a ‘none of these’ option.” “BRILLIANT.” No. Go sit in a corner and think about what you’ve done.

My English final was a cluster of anger and directionless writing. I had turned in my last essay a day early. My teacher emailed me the day it was due, saying that it didn’t meet the requirements she was looking for, and to resubmit it before midnight. We emailed back and forth that afternoon as I went through the revision process, adding, I hoped, more of what she wanted to see. I had to email her back a few times, saying that the website we use to turn in assignments wasn’t allowing me to resubmit my paper. By the time I was about to go to sleep, I sent her my essay and asked her to either grade it or give me feedback on it so I would have a clearer idea of what to do for the final (which was a similar style essay). She failed to respond until the next day, saying that to give me feedback on this new essay would be unfair to the other students. Already frustrated with the situation, but still trying to be polite, I asked which essay she would put in the grade book. She replied, “What would you like me to do?”  I responded that I wanted the essay that would give me the better grade. She told me she was going to stick with the one that was already graded. By this point, I’m red-faced and starting to grind my teeth. Had this been an in-person meeting, I might have asked her if she was joking. Instead, I asked if she would then give me feedback on the new essay before I attempted the final. She told me once she had completed grading this semester’s work that she would give me feedback on the essay. I didn’t email her back after that.

As I have just completed the final exam, I am still banging my head against the wall trying to figure out why the hell she even emailed me in the first pace. I was informed that she wanted to help me get a better grade on the paper. Did she end up too busy to grade another essay? Did she even read the damn thing after I sent it to her? Hopefully I did alright on the final. If I didn’t, I could lose my honor society benefits for my GPA being too low. I don’t know how I will handle things if that happens. I might turn into a Hulk or something.

Have you ever had a frustrating time with a teacher? What happened? Leave comments. I love hearing from you!

Ah, spring. Well, in San Diego, its always springish. It’s warmer by about ten degrees, the sun gets real toasty, real fast, and everything is in bloom. It made for a rough week of congestion, itchy eyes, and so on. There were also bees everywhere due to a field down the hill from where I live with bee boxes in it.

In other words, I’d walk out to my truck in the morning doing a safety chant “don’tstingme…don’ttouchme…goawaygoawaygoaway…nopenopenopenopenope…..”

On the bright side, it is beautiful outside. Warm but not hot during the day, and nicely cool at night. But it is a little confusing to me that it will be nearly eighty degrees (Fahrenheit) and a lot of San Diegans are still in sweaters and snow boots.

First of all, I’ve never seen snow boots so popular in a city that doesn’t get below forty degrees Fahrenheit ever. Second of all, the humidity is enough to get you just a little bit sweaty, so are the layers like an absorbent thing, or…? No seriously, how?

In other news, I’m back to writing! The Inspiration Bug has bit me right in the Creativity. (it’s about time, too. I was beginning to think it was taking an early vacation)

Is there anything you would like to see in the second book? Don’t be afraid to leave a comment!

Happy sneeze— I mean Spring!

 

Happy Holidays to everyone in the world!

Ah, the holidays. It has to be my favorite time of the year. Thanksgiving was spent with my family, in sunny San Diego. It was slightly chilly (about 60*F or about 16*C), but we were warmed by the lit stove and warm dinner.

Leftovers lasted about a week.

Now. Christmas approaches. In my family, Christmas eve is spent with my mom’s side of the family. We don’t really have a formal dinner, which is fine with me. It’s easier to mingle when you aren’t confined to a chair. It is followed by a buffet-style arrangement of holiday-themed treats, some from a family recipe book, some from recipes in food magazines, but never store-bought.

My mom, sister, and I spend a whole day baking goods. Sugar cookies cut out into themed shapes, chocolate and peanut butter fudges, snowball cookies (fluffy cookies made from cake batter and rolled in powdered sugar), and so on.

For dinner, it’s snack-foods. Meat and cheese tray, artichoke dip in a sourdough bread bowl, barbecue sauced mini wienies, veggie tray, and my grandpa and grandma’s Clam dip (it sounds weird if you’ve never had it, but even my anti-seafood dad thinks its delicious).

The adults chat over different wines, or my grandpa whips up a special drink, and everyone sits in the living room as the kids pass out the gifts.

Christmas day is spent with my Dad’s side of the family (my parent’s are not divorced, we just celebrate different ways with either side of the family). We usually meet in the Rec Hall and my grandma’s mobile park. The adults mingle as the kids play billiards, badminton, or cards. Everyone gathers at the spacious tables and eats ham, breakfast foods, and cookies. Then we all gather by the tree and exchange gifts.

Even though everyone has visited/is visiting this season, I do get a feeling of homesickness knowing that I can’t just drop by anymore. That, and aside from the decorations and crazed sales, it never really feels like winter in San Diego. It really hits me how warm it is here when I watch Christmas movies and it always shows snow.

But I guess a lot of people out there would like it to be warm and sunny all year round. To each, their own, I suppose.

Remember to soak in all of the family time you can get this holiday season!

So, being that this is my first blog, I have no idea what I’m doing. Stick with me here.

I’ve been settling into life in San Diego for the last few months. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve managed. Lots of people think it’s a great place to live. Sure, it’s warm, there’s beaches, concerts, naval bases, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. It’s also expensive, traffic really sucks, and palm trees are secretly rat infested.

I’m more of a forest person. I love the cold, foggy mornings and the crisp, post-rainstorm air. I long for a quiet little town that gets equal parts rain, snow, and sunshine. Not that I don’t like San Diego. Its a nice place to be fore the time being. Job opportunities are abundant, there’s plenty of activities year-round, and mild weather. I’m even going to school again. I haven’t decided what for, though. Maybe Editing.

I will be posting on here more often from now on. So if you have been waiting, stay tuned!