An Update For You!

Hullo, my friends! I hope you are all doing well during this crazy time! Today I bring you the update post I talked about in my last post. I wanted to let you guys know a little bit of what’s going on and what my plans are for blogging and writing.

• Writing: I’ll admit, writing has fallen a bit to the side in the past year or so. While finishing up my last year of college, most of my writing time was spent on my thesis. Currently, I plan on writing IDIA 3, and then switching over to work on one of my other writing projects (I haven’t decided which one yet!). I’ve set a goal of reaching 15,000 words on IDIA 3 by the end of May, which should be a pretty attainable goal, and hopefully, I’ll be able to start looking for beta readers and sharing snippets soon!
• Blogging: In case you hadn’t noticed… I’ve been very bad at keeping up with the blogging side of things! One of my goals for the rest of the month is to set up a blogging schedule and prewriting some posts. My current plan is to post something every Tuesday–and I’m telling you all that so that you can bug me about it when I forget! 😀 I’m hoping that having a set schedule will help me to post more regularly, and if I have to adjust that later, I can do so. I mostly want to have a set schedule to encourage me to post more often.
• Reading: If there’s one thing that I have kept up with, it’s been reading! My original reading goal for this year was 20 books, but I’ve already increased that to 26, because I’ve read more books than I thought I would. At this point, I’ve read 17 books, so I may end up increasing my goal again. Many of the books I’ve read have been rereads, but I’ve also been reading through a lot of Brandon Sanderson’s books. His books are amazing, and he even has a series of writing class videos on his YouTube channel, which you should definitely check out if you’re a writer.

So that’s the first post of (hopefully) many more! What are your thoughts on blogging schedules? Are you excited about IDIA 3? Comment below your thoughts, and let me know if there are any blog posts or series you’d like to see me do!

Twinepathy and the TCK Reader’s Choice Awards

Hullo, friends! How is your February going so far? A lot of us are back at school now and struggling through the craziness. Don’t worry, you can make it!

I have a quick update to share with you guys. Twinepathy is up for an award in the YA/Middle Grade category in the TCK Reader’s Choice awards! A couple of you have already voted on there, and thank you so much for your support. If you’ve got a minute, would you mind heading over there and voting? The young adult section is section 12 out of the 16, and I would really appreciate your vote!

How’s your 2019 going so far? Did you get a chance to vote? I’d love to talk to you! 

A New Year: Bookish Goals for 2019!

Wow, I can hardly believe that 2018 is over already. It seems like it just started! So for 2019, I came up with a few writing and reading related goals. I thought I’d share them with all of you, and, hopefully, you can help keep me accountable!

1. Finish Forcefield. I’m super excited to be working on IDIA #3, and this is my biggest writing goal. I’ve been working on plot ideas, and while I started the book during NaNoWriMo… I didn’t make much progress (and I definitely didn’t win NaNo). I’m hoping to work a lot more on it this year!
2. Create a regular writing habit. Right now my goal is around 250 words a day, but in general, I just want to try and write more. Even if that means 100 or 10 words, I want to work on sitting down to write something every day, even with a crazy college schedule.
3. Post at least once a month. I’ve been really bad about posting during the school semester, which is understandable due to the amount of work college entails. But it doesn’t take much to whip up a quick blog post at least once a month! This is one I really plan on working on this year.
4. Read more! Reading also slips through the cracks when it comes to college. My goal is to read 24 books this year, which is about 2 a month. Even if I can’t read during the semester, I should be able to make that up this summer. We’ll see…

And that’s it! Here’s to a year of (hopefully) more regular blog posts. What are your goals or resolutions for 2019, reading or otherwise? I’d love to hear what they are! 

Live Q&A Post And A Short Writing Update

Hullo, friends! Since July is halfway over (whaaat????) and we only have about two weeks left for the fan art contest (and we have a few new submissions, too!). I have a cover reveal scheduled for tomorrow, but for this week, I thought it would be fun to do a live Q&A with you guys! A while back, I made some post idea suggestions, and many of you liked the idea of a live Q&A post, where you guys post questions in the comments, and I answer them! You can ask me about anything from writing to reading and books, or my own books or anything (within reason, of course). I’ll be answering those questions throughout this week, so ask away!

And while you’re coming up with questions for me, I have one for you! What writing-related topics would you like to see me post about? Comment below with your questions for me and what writing posts you’d like to see me do!

And a short writing update: I may have mentioned once or twice that I’m working on a superhero retelling of Snow White for the Rooglewood Press Contest, and I’m super excited about it! I just hit 10,000 words, which means I’m at least halfway done. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m excited to see where it goes (and let you guys read it, too!).

Now, enough about my writing! Unless you want to ask questions about it, that is. 🙂 Post your questions below, and I’ll be sure to answer them as soon as I can! And don’t forget to suggest some writing-related posts, too! Thanks, friends!

9 Ways To Make Your Favorite Author Happy (And Motivate Them To Write More)

Hullo, friends! I’m still getting responses on the poll I posted, but I thought I would go ahead and share this post with you that I’ve had sitting in my drafts for a while. This is inspired by Rachelle Rea Cobb’s post called 20 Ways To Support Your Favorite Books. Go check it out, and take a look at her books, too, while you’re over there!

I’m pretty sure there is a direct correlation between fans fangirling over books and their authors writing more of said books. It makes sense, right??? So here are 9 ways to make your favorite author happy. This can also help that author write more by reminding them how much you love their books. (Note: these can be used for pretty much any author, although I know a few authors don’t agree about fanfiction.)

1. Fangirl over their books. On their blog, on Goodreads, to your friends, to that random stranger who asked you what you’re reading on the bus. Sharing your love for the book(s) with others will pique their interest. And who doesn’t want friends to fangirl over a book with them?
2. Share on social media. If you have a Twitter account, tweet a cool picture and a quote from the book! Post your thoughts on Goodreads while you read. Find the author on Pinterest and follow them. Like their Facebook page. Sharing your love for the book and the author goes a long way.
3. Write fanfiction. Some authors don’t like fanfiction, but many do. Have a random idea about what may be happening behind the scenes? Like a side character and want to write about how they saved the world? Found a spot where the author hints at something that happened and want to guess what it is? Write a fanfic! It doesn’t have to be long. Even a short fanfic can remind an author that people love their book.
4. Create fanart. You don’t have to be an awesome artist to create fanart. You could draw an important symbol from the book, make a collage online, or even film a scene from the book and share it on Youtube. Homemade book trailers are cool, too! (You can see one Alea Harper did for Twinepathy here.)
5. Write a review. Reviews help authors a lot. On Amazon, reviews determine how easy it is to find a book when searching, and readers are more likely to pick up a book if it has a lot of great reviews. Along with that, you can post reviews on Goodreads and your own blog. Authors also love it when you use gifs and fangirl in your reviews!
6. Participate in events. Whether your favorite author is hosting a giveaway, a blog tour, or doing a Q&A, they want to interact with you! Ask them questions, offer to help spread the word on social media, and provide suggestions for future events. Authors love having help when they host big events.
7. Share quotes. A good, memorable quote can grab someone’s attention, especially if it’s a relatable one. And while it’s easier to make quote pictures for movies because you can use pictures from the movie, books are fun to do, too! If you don’t want to do pictures, you can always just tweet a quote or add it on Goodreads.
8. Give the book as a gift. While Christmas may be half a year away, there are still many opportunities to give gifts, like birthdays and graduations. If you have a book you love, think about sharing it with your favorite bookworm. After all, what bookworm doesn’t love getting free books?

I hope you enjoyed this post, and hopefully you’ll be able to use a few of these ideas to help motivate your favorite authors. Comment below on which of these you’ve done, and don’t forget to share this post with your fellow bookworms!

Speaking of things authors love, I’d love for you to find me on social media! If you haven’t already, be my friend on Goodreads and follow me on Pinterest! There’s also a group board for the IDIA series on Pinterest, which you can join by commenting on this picture. Check it out!

ANNOUNCEMENT (And Fanmade Book Trailer!)

Hullo, friends! Guess what happened today?

No, guess.

Okay, the paperback copy of Twinepathy was just released! You can find it on Amazon here and in the CreateSpace eStore here (I actually get more royalties from CreateSpace, so…). And if you have NO CLUE what I’m talking about, you can read more here on my blog, and you can check out the Kindle version here and add it on Goodreads here. Plus, you can see a bunch of reviews, author interviews, and character interviews in the book tour that is going on RIGHT NOW. So click all the links, friend!

And as most of you know, I promised that the characters would take over the blog and answer your questions when the print copy was released… which it now is. So tomorrow, I the characters will be posting the answers to those questions! Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I have an amazing book trailer for you to watch that the wonderful Alea Harper and her sister created after reading Twinepathy. Eeep!!! It is awesome, so check it out, give them a few likes, and share it! If you haven’t read it, this will make you want to read it. It made me want to read it… and I wrote it. 😉

Are you excited about the print book? What do you think of the book trailer? Comment below with your thoughts!

Writing About Writing: I Love Cake

So.

My writing life has been kind of crazy ever since I finished the first book in the WISHE Quintet. I’ve started plotting three different stories, but none of them are ready to write. And I’ve really kind of been procrastinating on editing the book. I’m moving on to editing a short story first, that I hope to release soon. You’ll be hearing more about that soon, for sure.

But I’ve been longing to write something. To just write. Which is why, on Thursday, when I got a story idea, I just started writing it.

Now, *cough* funny thing about this story idea. First of all, it’s a romance. That is definitely not my genre. I very rarely read plain romance, much less write it so I made be tweaking the story so that it’s not just romance. Second, after reading through what I wrote yesterday, I realized it’s not quite as awesome as I originally thought. Basically, this post by The Scribbling Sprite pretty much sums it up. 😉

But I’ve already written a little over a hundred words, which isn’t much, but is more than I’ve written in an entire month. I’m really, really excited about it.

At this point, you are probably very confused about the title of the post. Let me explain it to you now. The working title for this story is I Love Cake. Here’s my quick summary:

When Adelyn meets her new neighbor’s son, he insists they keep their meetings a secret. They talk to each other through the warped fence in between their houses. Since he insists on remaining anonymous, she calls him Cake. When his mother finds out about their secret meetings, Cake mysteriously disappears. It’s up to Adelyn to find out what’s going on.

And… That’s what I have so far. I’m working on it, people. Let me assure you that there will be cake in the book. And other foods. Because you can’t have a book called I Love Cake without having cake.

But as I started writing, I fell in love with my first line. It’s obviously a first draft, but still.

The first thing I remember of the day I met Cake was that my mom let me have the last strawberry Popsicle.

-I Love Cake, by C.B. Cook

I thought it might be interesting to assemble a list of first lines from my various ideas/works in progress. And then have a poll! Why not? So, vote for your favorite first line!

Here are short summaries for the books.

I Love Cake: Adelyn finds a new mysterious friend she nicknames Cake.

Ten Days: The story about how a girl spends her last ten days.

Glossophobia: Amanda’s stuck in Mr. Bullis’ speech class… and she just realized she has the fear of public speaking.

WISHE Quintet #2: Shhh… I’m not telling. 😛

The first line of a story is important because it determines whether a reader will keep reading or not. Awesome first sentences can pull you in, and poor ones can push you away. First impressions make all the difference.

Please note that all of these first lines are Copyright (c) C.B. Cook 2015. All Rights Reserved. Please do not steal. 😀

What’s your favorite first line in a book? If you’re a writer, what’s your favorite first line in the books you’ve written? Which of these stories and first lines most intrigues you?

An Update On Writing And Life (Complete With Memes)

Hello, everyone! I realized that I hadn’t really done a post about writing in a while… so why not.

Lately, school has been horrendous. Especially physics…

Drivers’ ed has been pretty time consuming, too.

And no, I haven’t totaled our car. Or even gotten into an accident. Although I did kind of run over a curb and scrape up the bottom of the car… But never mind that. (Those two memes were made by yours truly, the rest aren’t.) But alas, homeschooling. Contrary to popular belief…

Exactly.

And not all of us sleep in until noon and stay in our pajamas and don’t do any schoolwork.

But besides loads of schoolwork, and co-op…

…there have also been chores…

…and taking care of the dog.

Not my dog. Oh, and music lessons.

Except I play the piano. Then writing.

Sometimes I get distracted by reading, though…

Or coming up with plot twists.

But basically…

That is the hardest part. The funniest part?

So, enough with the memes. For now. My current work in progress has been going pretty slow (hence the next to last meme) but I am currently just over ninety pages, which makes it the longest story I’ve ever written. You may have noticed that I adjusted my word count goal on the sidebar. That’s mostly because it is certainly not going to be 60,000 words. It’s around 25,ooo words right now (amazing for me!) and it’ll probably be around 30,000 words/100 pages when I finish.

I know I said enough with the memes, but this one (made by me from this song) pretty much sums everything up.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this and laughed along the way! 😀

The Liebster Award (Again)

Helloooo, everyone! Sarahtps nominated me for the Liebster Award. And since I apparently have too much time on my hands (that was sarcasm…) I thought it would be fun to do this, before I forget.

The Rules:

1. Post the award on your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link to their blog.
3. Write 11 facts about yourself
4. Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and have less than 200 followers.
5. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions.

The Facts:

1. I have a thing about languages.
2. I am learning Russian on my own. (Thank you, Natasha Romanoff, for inspiring that…)
3. My physics lab partner knows Swahili, one of the guys in my class knows Latin, and one of the girls is learning German. So basically, including me, half of the class knows unusual languages.
4. I exercise mentally more than physically.
5. I actually kinda like math… *gasp* (Have I used this before? Oh well…)
6. I started reading Jane Eyre several months ago, got seven-ish chapters in, and haven’t touched it since then… Have any motivation for me to read it?
7. I actually liked Frankenstein.
8. I’m taking the SAT next weekend… *gulp*
9. I’m trying to get organized. (*laughs uncontrollably* Like that’ll work out…)
10. I have an extraordinary love for rewatching funny movie scenes and rereading funny quotes.
11. I have actually come up with eleven *hopefully* interesting facts.

Glad that’s over with! 😀 Now in answer to Sarah’s questions…

1. Is there a song you’re obsessed with right now? If so, what is it? In a way, if you count Colton Dixon’s Anchor CD as a song…

2. What would your dream house look like? It would either be a lonely cabin in the woods/mountains/mystical forest, or just a small, normal person house with a good view. As in, not NYC skyscrapers. Whatever it is, it would have a lot of bookshelves.

3. Where would it be located? Like I said, woods/mountains/mystical forest… Also Narnia/ASGARD!!!!!/picturesque countryside. Or England or Russia would work, too.

4. Have you ever read Howl’s Moving Castle? No, in fact.

5. What are you reading right now? (Or, if you’re not reading anything right now, what’s the next thing you plan on reading?) Technically, I’m reading several books, but some I’ve just kind of stopped. So… Raptor 6 by Ronie Kendig (My first of her books… it was free…), a book on plotting and writing, and then a kajillion school books.

6. What’s one book that you think EVERYONE should read? (Other than the Bible, of course.) The Chronicles of Narnia, as the seven book collection in one… 😛 But for just a single book, I think I’d have to say Antarctica: Journey to the Pole by Peter Lerangis, because, honestly, if you read this book, you just have to read the second one. 😛

7. Do you prefer headphones or earbuds? Earbuds. Because headphones make my ears sweaty, and I can’t just put one in.

8. What kind of headphones/earbuds do you have? As in, what design, or what style? Style-wise, I have the normal kind, and then the ones for exercising, which are awfully uncomfortable. But design wise… *smiles gleefully* I have ones that have crosses on them… and then red white and blue Captain America ones, of course…

9. What’s one quote you really want to find an excuse to use in conversation? Just one??? Grr… Either the Avengers’ “We’re a time bomb” quote or “So that’s what it does.” *blows up lab in physics* “So that’s what it does.”

10. How do you express excitement? If we’re talking about fandoms, then by possibly squealing or just overwhelming the people around me with chatter about said fandom. Other than that, I just get a big goofy grin on my face, I guess.

11. Are you glad to be done with these questions? Not really, I enjoy answering questions and being goofy. 😛

And now questions for my nominees:

1. Do you wanna build a snowman?
2. What is the craziest thing you’ve done during a game of hide-and-seek?
3. How many books do you have?
4. Writers, what’s the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve ever gotten?
5. Favorite type of fanfiction?
6. Which Avenger are you most like? (From the movie, not comic books)
7. Favorite Stan Lee cameo?
8. Favorite writing resource?
9. Do you have trouble staying organized?
10. Favorite school subject?
11. Favorite food/food combination others don’t like?

For this I nominate (less than 11, sorry)…

Victoria NightSky

Icedmocha34

Awkwardlyartistic

Deborah O’Carroll

Irisbloom5

Aspiringwriter22

Congratulations to all of you for being nominated and having awesome-r blog names than me. 😀

Book Review: Invisible by Lorena McCourtney

WARNING: This is book one of the Ivy Malone Mystery Series. So just keep in mind that it’s part of a series if you decide to buy it and read it.

Hello, fellow booklovers. Let me start off by saying that the description for this book ended up being a little misleading, but I definitely enjoyed it in spite of that. Here’s the description from Amazon.com:

She’s not your average crime fighter!

Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it’s only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.

Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can’t resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities’ attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor’s match-making schemes can’t slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?

*MINOR SPOILER WARNING: If you want to be completely surprised when you read this book, don’t read any farther. I will not reveal any big spoilers, only a few things that show what was misleading about the description (to me, at least). You have been forewarned.*

So now that we got that out of the way, let us begin. First off, my interpretation of this description was that Ivy Malone finds out that she can turn invisible.

I quickly found out that Ivy Malone was not a teenager, a twenty- or even thirty-something-year-old, but was a… well, she was somewhere between sixty and seventy, I believe. Never figured that out for sure. However, because I had already gotten connected to her as only awesome authors can do, I continued to read, and soon found out she was not literally invisible, she was LOL invisible. No, no, not laugh out loud. Little old lady.

Trust me, I didn’t come up with that myself. There’s a reason I kept reading.

So maybe the character wasn’t what I was expecting, but other than that, this book was awesome! Lorena McCourtney kept me on the edge of my seat with her awesome suspense building, whether it was with the mystery or with the slight bit of romance mixed in. And of course, all that humor… I was LOL-ing while reading about a LOL.

And then the quotable moments, of course.

“…if I had to spend the next three months hiding in a closet eating grits.”

“‘BLOL.’ ‘What?’ ‘Busybody Little Old Lady.'”

“The good Samaritan with a gun. I didn’t stop to ponder the inconsistencies inherent in that.”

There were so many more awesome funny spots and memorable quotes in this book that I’d have to reread it and highlight (on my Kindle) if I wanted to find them all. And Lorena McCourtney has an awesome way with words. There’s also a lot of good messages in this book, and Ivy Malone’s faith is so strong and such a great example. Read it.

There is some mention of blood, bullet wounds, murder, death, uh, Ivy visits a morgue, and she also does some crazy LOL things, like camping out in a cemetery, but no gory descriptions of any of that. And the ending definitely entices you to read the next book. 😉

Oh, and did I mention that it’s free on Kindle? 😉

So go read it! You’ll enjoy it, that’s for sure!