Road Trip Wednesday

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

The Veronica Mars Kickstarter success makes us wonder, what YA book would you raise $2 million to see a movie version of?

I'll have you know that I am BEYOND excited about the Veronica Mars movie! The support for the idea from the cast and fans is so great. And I think this Kickstarter business is super awesome.

So, if I could raise $2 million for a movie, which book would I have adapted? Well, gosh. Do you know how many books I read? TOO MANY. So I always have some form of a movie playing in my head as I read. I could imagine just about anything in movie form, so this is a really hard choice for me to make. Hmmm... Many Books Movie Mashup, anyone?

I think I would most love to see a high fantasy turned into a movie at this point in time. I've re-watched The Hobbit about seven times since picking up the DVD, so that should tell you how much I've been craving some good ole Tolkien-esque entertainment. So how about...

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

This just so happens to be one of my favorite books/series. Elisa's changes throughout the series are so well done and the magic/adventure of the books are fantastic. I think I'd be most interested see the set designs and costumes for this one! 

Ah, but of course my life wouldn't complete without an adaption of the UGLIES series by Scott Westerfeld. (Why, yes, I did pick more than one. Looks like I'll be raised $4 million!)

Reading this series was my first exposure to dystopian novels. The idea behind the books fascinated me when I first read them, and I would totally love to see it on the big screen. Plus, the make-up, costumes, and set designs would be incredible to see come to life!

Do you guys have any books you'd like to see turned into movies?

Road Trip Wednesday

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

If you could visit any country with a fictional character as your guide, who would you pick and where would you go?

I thought this question would be easy for me to answer, but I am having the hardest time ever! I have hopes of traveling all over the place when I'm not living with my parents and when I'm not so deprived of money. At first, I was thinking fictional in terms of book characters. And then it hit me: THE DOCTOR.

Seriously, as a big fan of Doctor Who, the Doctor should have been first on my list. And I don't even care which version of the Doctor I get to tag along with (although, ten or eleven would be pretty fantastic) as long as I get to go EVERYWHERE! Since the T.A.R.D.I.S. can go anywhere, anytime, I would make Victorian London a priority. We'd also travel to the roaring twenties New York and stop off for celebrations in China. Perhaps a little relaxation time in the Mediterranean would be in order. Oh, boy, we would TOTALLY be stopping in to visit ancient Greece.

Ugh. I just want to go everywhere. And yes, the Doctor and I would definitely be dressing up to match the places we were visiting. I mean, you can show up in 1700s Paris wearing jeans and t-shirt.

What about you? Any special places you'd like to visit with a special fictional friend?

P.S. If you don't watch Doctor Who, shame on you. Get to Netflix fast and watch everything available!

In Which I Apologize and Then Give an Update!

So it's definitely been a long time since I last left you all a post, hasn't it? Sorry about that, everyone! The past few months have been insane with school, family, and a change in living arrangements. No, I'm not moving out of my house, just out of my current bedroom. (Good-bye beautiful closet library and hellooo super tall bookcases.) The next few months are likely to be equally as hectic, but I'll be making more of an effort to post!

So, how about we move onto an update on the things happening in my life and in my writing world?

This semester I'm taking a short fiction creative writing class. I've realized this is totally not for me, and here are my reasons why:

1. I want to turn everything into a novel. Seriously, everything. I could get little snippets of inspiration for a short story involving a girl and a ball and suddenly I have this entire world in my head and super rad plot and interesting character developments. Throw in an evil villain and some magic and I'll be set. The problem is, this is short fiction. As in, short stories that are only a few pages long. For some reason, I don't seem to have the ability to write short stories.


2. We weren't allowed to do anything other than literary fiction. In fact, there seemed to be quite a lot of YA bashing in this particular class (I'm totally going to write a post about that so be on the lookout for it!). We were instructed to leave fantasy and sci-fi out of our writing. Now, I really love a good contemporary novel that has no elements of fantasy or sci-fi, but I don't particularly enjoy writing these types of things myself. I'm a lover of fantasy; I would party in the Shire, cast spells with Hermione, and fight off mythological creatures with Percy. I love sci-fi and futuristic stuff! I'd fight side by side with Katniss and kick some booty with June Iparis.

Here are some reasons as to how this class helps me:

1. I have to get over my fear of letting people read my work. I have this problem with allowing people to read my work without completely freaking out. This morning was my first short story workshop and I thought I was going to be sick. I've noticed that I put off writing sometimes until the very last minute, as if by ignoring it it will just go away or get done on its own. I know, this isn't very writer-ly. I LOVE to write. I LOVE creating these worlds and characters that unique to me. I HATE to let people read what I write. But if I ever want to be a published author and see my books on a Barnes & Noble shelf, I have to get over my fears. Not everyone is going to like what I write. Some people might even hate it. But I have to have confidence in myself and what I write and this class is definitely helping me get over my fears.
2. Workshops are awesome for letting me know what I've done right, and what I might have done wrong. One of the reasons I seem to be so afraid of showing off my writing is that I'm super ridiculously afraid of the feedback I'm going to get. Are people going to like it? Hate it? Does it suck? Is the dialogue realistic? Should I just completely give up on writing entirely? Well it turns out, I was worrying for nothing. I turned in my first draft of the story, fully aware of what changes I already needed to make to be sure I  would be happy with my story. At the workshop, I was complimented by more than one person on my prose, the setting, and a couple of characters. And when the time came to tell me what wasn't working, everyone told me about what I already planned to change! The workshop was great because it totally boosted my self-confidence and reinforced what I already knew. Workshopping my writing isn't something I exactly love, but it was great for helping me deal with personal fears and for my confidence.

I think that's it for now! I have a couple of special posts in the works, such as my favorite book covers, why YA is undeserving of bashing, and what my bookshelves are totally OVERFLOWING from. 

One last bit of news:

My bestest friend is a writer, too, and she had some UBER exciting news to share a few weeks ago. SHE FINISHED HER BOOK! This is sooo exciting not only for her, but for me as well! (Yep, I'm totally claiming the book as my adopted child.) Kateri has been working on this beast of a novel for years. Since she was thirteen years young, in fact. And she's finally finished! I've had the pleasure of seeing this novel transform from a hopeful dream to a fully completed reality and now I have the pleasure of being its first reader! How awesome, right? Make sure you stop by her blog and congratulate her on the big accomplishment!

How have you all been for the past few months? Any super awesome achievements like Kateri? Have any of you taken a creative writing class or had a story workshopped? What did you think of it and what did you learn from it?

Maggie Stiefvater and The Raven Boys

Last Friday I had the amazing opportunity to go to Maggie Stiefvater's book signing in San Francisco with my sister and best friend (go follow her blog, she's fun!). Traveling almost two hours for this was made possible by my wonderful mother who drives better than any taxi driver we could have gotten.

We were lucky enough to get an extra hour to spend before heading back to the bookstore, so we hit Union Square! Unfortunately, our GPS thought we meant Union Square in New York, so it tried to take us across the country. Luckily, we figured out what went wrong before we actually left the city. My mom and sister had never been to this part of San Francisco before, and they both loved it! My mom basically sprinted to DSW when she saw it, and nearly got us all killed by traffic in the process. And then, because we had to spend some time in DSW, we were nearly late to the signing.

But we made it and found a bench to sit on at the very back of the crowd. This meant we weren't able to see any of the authors (It was a shared signing with Maggie Stiefvater, David Levithan, and Ellen Hopkins). They seemed to understand this, however, because just a few minutes into the signing, Maggie ended up standing on a chair so everyone could see her.

Maggie Stiefvater is standing on a chair!

Me with Maggie! She's super nice and really funny!

Overall, the signing was an awesome experience! I was most excited about the fact that my little sister went with us. She doesn't read nearly as much as I do, but she enjoyed the Shiver series a lot! I can't wait until I get the chance to meet Maggie again and go to more signings for other authors, as well!

Have any of you been to a signing before? Tell me about it!

Next week I'll post part two, which will include my thoughts on THE RAVEN BOYS

 for YA Book Club. 

The Latest Catch

Once again, I have spent money that needed to be saved. Part of growing up is learning how to manage money so that you don't run out of gas or food. Apparently, I need to take a money managing class because my thinking is, 'If you get stuck on the side of the road because you ran out of gas, at least you have that book you just bought to pass the time until someone can pick you up!' Here's what I bought this week:

NEVERWHERE

I've been dying to read NEVERWHERE. I've heard so many amazing things about it that I knew I had to add it to my to-read list. Unfortunately, the adult fiction section of bookstores costs more money than the YA section. So I've been waiting and waiting until I kew I couldn't wait anymore. I found it on Amazon for cheaper than B&N, and because I'm a student I got free shipping! How brilliant is that? I'm a huge fan of STARDUST, so I'm thinking there will be magnificence galore in this book. I'll definitely let you all know what I think of this one when I'm done with it!

THE RAVEN BOYS

Lets just take this moment to admire the great and mighty Maggie Stiefvater. I haven't yet had a chance to read her SHIVER series, but based on how much I absolutely adored THE SCORPIO RACES, I know this book will probably be amazing. I'm especially excited about the recent release of this novel because in October, I'm going to Maggie's book signing! AHHHHH! I'm so looking forward to that day. 

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

I've had this book recommended to me a couple of times and I've heard many more times that it's a really good book. I've been feeling the lack of paranormal activity (teehee!) in my recent reading. Lately, I've been trying to stay away from the paranormal books because I've only seemed to read the ones that all sound exactly the same. So I'm definitely willing to give this one a chance. Plus, it's being made into a movie! Have you guys seen the trailer? It looks like some beautiful cinematography went into the making of the film. And the cover is awesome!

OUTLANDER

So after watching THIS video of Alexandra Bracken gushing over OUTLANDER, I definitely wanted to give it a try. I heard time-travel and immediately said, GIMME. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres so I'm definitely looking forward to reading this.

Have you guys bought any books recently that you are particularly excited for? Or have you read any of the above and want to spread the love? Leave a comment below!

My Closet Library

So after seeing this post over at YA Highway, I decided to share my bookshelves with all of you! I've been meaning to do this for a while, actually, because I think my setup is sweet!

I used to have a tall bookcase in my bedroom, but over time the books started piling up in odd ways and then overflowing onto my dresser. So, being a girl that has more books than clothing, my mom and I transformed one half of my closet into a mini library! It's a smallish walk-in that had two shelves already in it. We added two more shelves in order to fit my books. Unfortunately, (or is it fortunately?) there still isn't enough room! We need a few more shelves because I've now overflowed from the closet library to my dresser, desk, and a shelf above my desk. And I have about twenty books loaned out right now!

The top half of my closet.

Middle shelf! The stack of covers under the
poster are from books that people are borrowing. 

The books on the floor are mostly for school.
Some had to be removed from the shelf (below)
that's breaking from too much weight.

My bedroom shelf! I keep HP here because
it's my favorite series, and I'm always wanting to reread it.
The shelf is breaking so a lot of books were removed.

My dresser! These are recent purchases that haven't found
a home in the closet library yet. But they're chillin' with Mulan
and Nemo, so they'll be fine. :P

What do you guys think of my library? Do you have a special place that you keep your books? I'd love to see photos of your bookshelves!

The Latest Catch

Since I can't keep myself from spending money on books, I figured it would be a good idea to encourage all of you to spend money on books as well! Who needs food when you've got a good book? Here's what I bought this week:

I'm in love with this cover. Like, you guys really don't understand how awesome this cover is. Or maybe you do! First of all, I love that the image doesn't have a girl in a dress. Not that there's anything wrong with covers that include a girl wearing a dress, but come on, girls in dresses are everywhere on YA covers these days. I love that the silhouette is ambiguous, both in gender and ethnicity. It's been a big deal in YA, recently, that covers contain images of girls or boys that do not represent the main characters of the book accurately. This cover is perfection. And the story seems so promising! The idea of immortality has been fascinating to me, so I'm totally looking forward to reading this novel.

If you haven't read Rae Carson's GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS, you haven't quite lived. Elisa is just a brilliant character and I can't wait to see where she goes in this sequel! My best friend, the lovely Kateri Ransom, is in love with the first book. And you should be, too! I can't wait until it arrives in my mailbox on September 18th.

Have you bought any books this week that you're particularly excited about?