Thursday, November 26, 2015

2016 Sci-Fi Experiance

2016scifiexp250
Art by Chris Goff
 
 
Sci-Fi Experiance
Duration: December 2015 - January 2016
Number of books: I hope to read at least five! Sci-Fi is my favourite genre of novel to read, and I have a ton waiting to be read!
 
Books I hope to read:
Edn by Greg Bear
Doctor Who: Apollo 23 by Justin Richards
The Daystar Voyages: The Frozen Space Pilot by Gilbert Morris & Dan Meeks
Star Trek: From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward
 
I'm sure I have many more books I want to read, I just can't choose the fifth book yet!
 
Movies/TV I hope to see:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
A few episodes of Star Trek (Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and maybe the one Enterprise episode I've got on iTunes)

Do Not Let the Distractions Win!

It's that time of NaNoWriMo again where we're down to the crunch and some of us are running out of things to write, and/or unsure of what to write next.

For me, this year, I had planned my novel almost to months in advance while battling through Math 30 - which I was upgrading my math with (thank goodness I'm done with that). I thought I was ready to go and that I could handle a 40/50 year old protagonist who is also a captain and has family troubles concerning his daughter.

When I began to write, I quickly realized how unprepared I was for the story that was The Infinity Machine. I've struggled through the novel all month while juggling driving my brother to school - it's his first year in the private school since he was in Grade 1, and Mom's on painkillers for her knee so she isn't supposed to be driving - and helping around the house. I also promised myself that I would spend more time with my family, which means sitting down in the living room while writing (which is nigh impossible since the TV is almost constantly on with the news blaring about terrorist attacks and terrorist sightings. Do you know how distracting that is?), playing video games with my mother and brother (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze with Mom, Disney Infinity 3.0 with my brother), helping out with meals, and watching Dancing With the Stars (yayy! Bindi Irwin won!!!)

And it doesn't help that I've gotten hooked on BBC's Sherlock! Woe is me!

But I managed to write a total of 3,517 words, which, most of it, I did in the evening. I hope I can do so again tonight.

If anyone doing NaNoWriMo is reading this, I wish you Godspeed. Because if anyone is lagging like me, we need it. Time is obviously not on our side.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge [edited]

I've signed up for another reading challenge, but this time it's Christmas themed!

It is hosted by The Christmas Spirit, and it runs from November 23rd to January 6 2016. Sign up here: http://truexmasspirit.blogspot.ca/2015/11/the-6th-annual-christmas-spirit-reading.html

The levels I'm going to compete in are:
Mistletoe and Fa La La La Films.

Books read so far:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Books I will read:
1) An Appalachian Christmas by Irene Brand
2) Once Upon A Christmas Eve by Anita Higman
3) Pending
4) Pending

Films watched so far:
Will You Merry Me?
Ice Sculpture Christmas
The Time of the Doctor



Saturday, November 21, 2015

College Contemplations

The day before yesterday, I finally entered in to that moment in life where you realize you're on the cusp of freedom and the only thing standing between you and that freedom is the fact that you need to get a job to save for the move and life you'll enter into once you leave home.

Yes, I've finally gotten excited about college.

I began to research how the college I've chosen is run, and found out that, until I'm 22, I'd be forced to live on residence and share a room with a total stranger (at least, until I got to know them, then they wouldn't be a total stranger, lol).

I was okay with it, a little excited about it, and I had found the most awesome little mini-fridge that I could have in the dorm. I'd need the fridge, since the way I eat is really different from how most people around me and my family eat, and in the residence "guide book" it said I could have a fridge in case I "didn't want to get up for breakfast in the cafeteria". It sounded so interesting, and fun, even though I knew that I wouldn't be happy in the long run because I wouldn't be able to have as much as privacy as I want.

But then, last night, I realized one thing: the only pets the dorms would allow us to have is a fish in a tiny aquarium. That means that I wouldn't be able to bring Pebbles, even if I netted a private dorm for medical reasons.

I can't do that! Pebbles is my baby! She'd probably be ruined forever if I left her for the majority of two years! Two years is 14 years in the way a cat's body ages. If I left her behind with my parents, it'd be like I came back to vist relatives for short bursts every few years. To Pebbles it would be years between visits instead of weeks.

When I left to go visit family in BC back in 2012, I was gone for only just over a week, but Pebbles sat at my door and cried for most of the time I was gone. It broke my heart.

But since I can live off-campus with my grandmother as my "legal guardian", I bring Pebbles. I'm pretty sure Grandma is going to do just fine there, she'll probably make plenty of friends and my aunt, uncle, and cousin only live a few hours north.

I'm so excited!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Victorian-Era, Here I Come!

 
Yesterday, I decided to sign up for a book reading challenge that runs from the beginning of January 2016 to the end of December 2016. It's set up like bingo, and I have to cross off five boxes in a row if I want to "win", so to speak.
 
I won't win anything but the satisfaction of reading more books in what has to be one of my favourite genres ever. I have at least two books that fit the bill - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Refining Fire by Tracie Peterson - which would allow me to stamp out "British Male Author" or "Mystery, Suspense, Sensation" and either "American Female Author" or "Book About Courtship or Marriage" on the chart.
 
Also, if you finish a book before January, you can review it and put it in the que for January 1st so it can still count (it says so in the rules). If you don't believe me, check out the sign up post for it on Becky's Book Reviews here! (http://blbooks.blogspot.ca/)
 
I'll be doing that with Ruby by Lauraine Snelling, a book I really am not enjoying all that much (it's also keeping me from reading Star Trek: From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward, lol).
 
I can't wait to start reading again! :D

Monday, November 16, 2015

Will I Ever Stop Running?

It's halfway through the month of November and I'm still desperately rushing to keep up the wordcount-you-should-have. I've just been so busy, life hasn't been easy. And my inspiration for the novel I decided to write this month has all but dried up.

What can I do? Well, I've decided to star rewriting By Diadem's Light between when I write bits for The Infinity Machine. I'm not going to let that Years Won/Done dot for this year stay blue this year. I want it to be purple! lol

Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia, a review

The Battle for Skandia . John Flanagan. 2006. Puffin Books. Pages: 294. Price: USD $8.99/$11.99 CAN. Setting: Skandia. ISBN 0142413402. [S...