Good morning!

Are we all ready for a new week? :)

Personally, I've had a little more trouble than usual getting to sleep. Not sure what it is, but I did manage to sleep in longer than usual during the weekend. Not a bad thing, I suppose. Especially since I've been feeling exhausted lately.

Between getting on with the day, working out, yoga, walking, and everything else in between, I'm not sure how I manage to fit everything in. lol.

Anyway. It's Monday and I'm ready to get started on a new project. That's right, I'm going to get stuck into that YA/UF idea that I've mentioned a few times. I know what's going to happen during the first three chapters, so I can't wait to get all that outta my head. I'll see how I go.

I'm hoping to get between 3-4k words written every day, but I'm not going to stress if I don't. I want to ease back into the mad-writing sessions I put myself through during a first draft. Of course, once the story takes off, I know I'll end up there again. But until then, I'm going to take each section as it comes.

Well, that's it for today. Have a great week!

PS. If you're interested in reading a little more about my story, NUMB6R OF TH6 B6AST, you can here.

Weekend Reading Challenge Update:

Books Read So Far in 2011: 23/100

PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White

Evie's always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours.

But Evie's about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

Firstly, this is such a pretty cover. I also think it captures the main character's description perfectly. It's lovely.

As soon as I started reading this book, I was hooked. Seriously, Evie's voice and attitude is so laidback that it made me like her right away. She's so funny. Although she lives in a world filled with danger and monsters, she's actually quite positive, and innocent. Which was another one of her charming qualities. Like I said, I was instantly hooked.

Evie isn't normal, but she wishes she was. It's the thing she wants most. Instead, she works for IPCA and lives there too. Because she can see through paranormal glamours, none of the monsters can hide their true face from her, which makes her the perfect tool. She doesn't have parents, doesn't know where she came from and her handler is the closest thing she's got to a parent. Oh, and her best friend's a mermaid, her ex a faerie. She might bag-and-tag paranormal creatures, but life isn't much fun. And she certainly never imagined she might be more than human.

However, when she finds someone breaking into IPCA, her whole world is turned upside down.

Lend isn't like other boys. He's a shapeshifter, and his origins are very mysterious. He doesn't like to talk much about where he's from and what he's doing in IPCA. Still, Evie's drawn to him and while he's kept prisoner finds herself befriending him. Of course, her ex happens to be an obsessed faerie who won't leave her alone, and he's trying to (physically) change her. Not to mention that someone's killing paranormals...

I loved everything about this book--the story, the mystery, the monsters, the worldbuilding, the characters, the humour... all of it! And I especially liked Evie and Lend. They were so sweet together, and determined to find out what's going on and why/who is killing the paranormals. This is an awesome book, and I can't wait for the next one:

Isn't this cover just as pretty as the first one?

H&UFRC books read: 12/24

A little random...

Wow. Friday. I really wasn't ready for you. But hey, it means the weekend's around the corner, so I'm fine with it. :)

Yesterday actually turned out to be quite productive. I managed to get an interview finished, as well as an upcoming guest blog post written. I even emailed both of them in, and updated several things that I'd been ignoring (I mean, ran out of time to do) most of the week. So, for the first time in a week or so, I actually felt productive, lol.

I can't believe how much the combination of summer school holidays and working on The Hidden #6 revision threw me out mentally. It's taken me several weeks to get back on track, to even want to think about throwing myself into another project. Weird, huh? But I finally feel like I've recharged my batteries by not putting too many goals/restrictions on myself and reading up a storm.

I'm ready to get started on a new story next week. And I have a feeling it's going the be this YA/UF one. There's no point in ignoring my muse when she's ready to hand over a story...

So, the other night we popped into another local high school. This is the second open night we've been to during the last few weeks. My daughter's in year 5, so she's still got another year of primary school left after this one, before it's even time for high school. But I think it's a good idea to take a look around at our local schools. Besides, this time next year, we pretty much need to know which school we'd prefer her to go to. Visiting has helped figure it all out. Scary that she's only two years away from high school, though.

Anyway.

I think I'll spend most of today thinking/planning the new month--can you believe March starts next week?--and finishing up this awesome book. I'm having a total blast with it!

Well, have a great weekend.

Hey, Wednesday!

How's everyone today? I'm doing okay. Not very happy with the change in weather, though. It already feels like autumn. :( Luckily, I don't mind autumn--it's winter I can't stand--but I just don't think I'm ready to let go of summer yet. I'm especially not ready to give up on the longer days... which I think ends at the end of March. O_o

I didn't really plan it, but yesterday I managed to get the first 2,579 words written for my YA/UF story. I pretty much woke up with what was going to happen already inside my head and just wrote it out. I was in such a rush to get it outta my head, that I'm sure it's a disconnected mess. Might read over it today and see what I wrote, lol. It's a lot of fun. And it seems like every time I lie down to sleep, a little more of the story reveals itself to me. Fun!

Even though I wasn't planning to write this story next. I had plans for a novella, first. Oh well. Sometimes, you just gotta go with your muse's flow. I'll see what happens. But either way, I plan to get started on the first draft of a story next week. :)

That's it for today, I guess.