Month of May Goals

Hello, dear followers. Man-o-Man, it was a crazy April. I'm sort of exhausted with all I've done, especially writing-wise.

I'm going to start off this post with some questions up front:

So what are your Month of May Goals? How does goal setting help you when it comes to writing? What are your methods of setting goals? Do you write them down, have them in your head, or tell someone? Or maybe all of the above?

Having started to blog about my goals has been beneficial. Because I put them out there for the world to see, it gives me that extra push to ACCOMPLISH them.

Well, here's how I did with my Month of April Goals:

• Have a super awesome 30th Birthday! Check Check Check! What a fabulous day!
• Try not to get depressed for not being married by my 30th Birthday. Check. I actually feel supercool being 30! Woot!
• Finish Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Super Check. What a super great book. Can't wait to have the cliffhanger resolved.
• Finish a revision of my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND Check-o-my-Check. Finished it just a couple days ago. I took my time to make this revision COUNT! *BAM*
• Complete an edit of my WIP, BOUND No Check but I don't care. It was more important to work on my first book.
• Will not buy any clothing ---> I'm going to say I half accomplished this. All I bought was a supercool Doctor Who tshirt. And it is beautiful.
• Read Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon Check. An enjoyable book with a great premise. And it takes place in Ireland so it has to be good, right? Bring on the hot Irish accents.

Not half that bad, if I do say so myself.

Now on to my Month of May Goals:

• Go on a much needed vacation to Washington State with my brother's family (Time to have some quality time with my nephews and niece)
• Give myself some R&R (Say 2 weeks) before I dive back into anything related to writing
• Beta a beta's book
• Read The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
• Catch up on checking out blogs in the blogoshere (I've pretty much sucked at this in April because of revisions--Sorry guys) 

Loves to you all!

Writing. Jewels.

Month of April Goals



First of all, I need to give you the update of how my Month of March Goals panned out!

March Goals:

• Finish another round of edits/revisions of my WIP and hand it off to CP's CHECK (Went well. I'm on my way with my WIP--BOUND)
• Participate in the second I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner Challenge CHECK (This turned out to be sooooo fun. The flash fiction I wrote has actually inspired a future writing project--bring on some sci-fi. Check it out here!)
• Finish reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale CHECK (Great book!)
• Read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Still working on it--Pretty far in though)
• Go see The Hunger Games on March 23 at 8:30PM (yes, I've already got tickets) CHECK (Loved it)
• Have a supercool St. Patrick's Day party. It's my favorite holiday. :D I'll call this one a check even though I cancelled the party due to feeling sick. Phooey!
• Not go crazy while waiting to hear back from editors as my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND, is on submission No check... what kind of person wouldn't go crazy waiting for a pub deal? Anyone? haha

Now for my Month of April Goals:

• Have a super awesome 30th Birthday!
• Try not to get depressed for not being married by my 30th Birthday
• Finish Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Finish a revision of my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND
• Complete an edit of my WIP, BOUND
• Will not buy any clothing *crossing fingers*
• Read The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

How are your goals going? What are your Month of April goals?

Writing. Jewels.

Month of March Goals

I usually don't post on Thursdays. But, hey there on this fine day. Anyway, I've seen a few people posting their monthly goals on their blogs. I think sharing them with the blogshere will help me accomplish them. Well, it's my turn to make goals now. And achieve them.

*woot woot*

I will report back at the beginning of April with my success stories and share my April goals.

March Goals:

• Finish another round of edits/revisions of my WIP and hand it off to CP's
• Participate in the second I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner Challenge
• Finish reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale
• Read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Go see The Hunger Games on March 23 at 8:30PM (yes, I've already got tickets)
• Have a supercool St. Patrick's Day party. It's my favorite holiday. :D
• Not go crazy while waiting to hear back from editors as my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND, is on submission

Now, what are your month of March goals? And do you already have you tickets for The Hunger Games movie in hand? Are you counting down the days to see it, too?

Writing. Jewels.

Unforgettable Heart-Stopping Cliffhangers

A couple weeks ago, I was watching an episode of Unforgettable. In one of the scenes the cops were calling a phone number to connect them with the killer they were chasing. During the mere seconds as the phone rang, my heart felt like it stopped and I couldn't breath. I felt heavy as I sat waiting to hear the murderer's voice. If the phone had rung just a few more times, I'd have probably passed out for lack of oxygen.

The end of the episode left me feeling the same way--with one of those all dreaded cliffhangers. It hooked me in and definitely got me wondering how they were going to tie up the loose ends created with the episode.

I've read some books that have done that to me. It's insane knowing I have to wait so long until the next book is released. I'd name the books but don't want to lessen the heartache felt at reading the last few words.

Anyway, how do you take cliffhangers? Do you end up growling at the book for a full 30 minutes (I did that with one book--ok, I'll tell you which one: Delirium by Lauren Oliver--loved the book, tho)? Do these types of ends grab you by the wrists, bringing you deeper into the thick of the story? Do they make you die to read more? Or can you shake the feeling off relatively fast?

PS: Don't forget to enter my Flash Fiction Contest here! Plus, read my own Flash Fiction. :D

Writing. Jewels. 

I’m Excited to Read Books: 2012 Edition

With 2012 here and kicking, I’m getting super excited for this year’s book releases.

Here's my list o' books I can't wait to read:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Arise by Tara Hudson

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Third book in the Matched series by Ally Condie

And Bad Hair Day by Carrie Harris (no cover yet)

I'm salivating here. Can't wait to devour these books!

Which books being released this year are you dying to read?

Writing. Jewels.