Recap and future things//many words about The WIP//Camp NaNo happenings

*logs onto blog* WAIT WHAT. No, this can’t be right. I haven’t blogged since February? Where, eh, where did all of my posts from the last 4 months go? >.> They should be here somewhere?

Heh. Okay. So, life’s been crazy. You all know how it is. It doesn’t help that I’m 18 now, and graduated, so you know, #adulting. (It’s painful) I swear I haven’t been neglecting the Blog Baby, it’s just I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been graced with the time to sit down and be faithful with it. But that changes, starting now. I hope to have a blog post at least every other week, starting this month. I KNOW THE WAIT MUST HAVE BEEN AGONIZING, REALLY. BUT IT’S ALL BETTER NOW, FEAR NOT. ^_^

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Anyway. Onto actual blog things. To start off, I thought I’d give a brief recap and what’s been going on with me (if you even care a little. If not, keep scrollingggg, no hurt feelings here!).

~I GRADUATED. Yes, yes, I know! Much excitement! It was quite glorious and awfully grand. My reception was book-themed. It was so pleasing to this book-dragon’s heart. There was so much vintage-ness (vintagity? vintagial?) and many Tolkien and Lewis quotes and even some from Mary Weber*. High school is over, adulting ahead. Let the Hunger Games begin.

*If you do not know who Mary Weber is, you obviously have not spent 10 minutes with me or seen any of my tweets…(you must fix this)

~I’M GOING TO COLLEGE. I literally got my acceptance letter/schedule this week, so this is fairly recent news. But still, YAY. I will be studying psychology with a minor (for now) in photo journalism, with plans to be a clinical counselor for children. Yes, I love every little munchkin I’ve ever met and want to keep them all. (Nope. You know what, that’s too creepy. Let’s disregard that entire last sentence, yeah? Okay, good.) It’s destined that I work with them and help them out anyway I can!

~I’M GOING TO REALM MAKERS. Yes, that’s right, I’M GOING TO BE WITH MY PEOPLE. *screech of a thousand pterodactyls* I’ll be hitting the road (or taking flight, not sure yet) in 3 weeks to my very first writers’ conference. AND I WILL SEE SOME OF MY FRIENDS, TOO. INCLUDING NADINE BRANDES. REMEMBER HER??? I have no chill about any of this. (If you don’t know what Realm Makers is, you can find out here!)

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Well, I suppose that’s all the really important things to recap on. Life’s been crazy, full of writing and adventures with friends, and learning day by day how Big and Gracious and Loving my Jesus is. But now…now we must talk about writerly things.

Oh yes. Here. We. Go.

For several, several months now I’ve been working on a story called These the Restorers. It’s YA epic fantasy, all those good titles, but this story. This story means something to me. For you writers out there, you know when you write stories, and they’re all good and fun, but then you write that one. That one story that sticks with you, demands your undivided attention, opens up worlds of potential, and ultimately matures you as a writer? The story of your heart?

That’s the story I’m writing about. (And obsessively making a pinterest board for)

I won’t bug with you with all my flailing over how much I completely adore this story (yes, writers, it’s okay to be obsessed and in love with your own work…it’s your brain child, after all), but I will give you a brief summary.

*cracks knuckles* Let’s do this.

Kaelan Gavern has lived in the Graylands all her life, stripped of any real humanity. The wars dividing her world and the Tones, the entities that create color and keep them in harmony, has left her bitter, without peace. When she’s forced to leave her home, she and her brother Arec, who can’t ever seem to find a downside to anything, meet a mysterious woman who tells them that the wars can be stopped and the Tones can be restored to the way they once were–the way they should be.

And it’s entirely up to Kaelan. Now, the fate of the Tones, her people in the Graylands, and the warring kingdoms are balanced on her shoulders.

*collapses for a year* THAT WAS SO STRESSFUL. I’ve never publically shared what this story is about, so I just need you to love it, okay? I need everyone to be nice and precious humans and only tell me how amazing it sounds. I’M NOT READY FOR ANYTHING ELSE. (Don’t judge it by the blurb, seriously they’re my kryptonite and I loathe them with a passion, they suck and I suck at writing them. The story isn’t half bad, I swear.)

I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone (basically future readers, because this story hopefully will be published someday), but just know…much death abounds within these pages.

What, you were expecting more? Sure, there’s more, maybe even some good parts, but mostly just violence and blood and death. That’s how I roll. #sorrynotsorry

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So, now that you know a little bit about TTR, let’s talk Camp NaNo! I’ll be doing it this month! Eeeeeeeee. I’m in a cabin with (among others) Lena, Wendy, and Aimee, some of my very favorite writer peeps (or peeps in general), and I have no chill. So much flailing and writing and fun is going to go down. I can’t wait!

But here’s the kicker.

I’m bringing TTR to Realm Makers with me (yes, so stressful. I’m giving this to people to read…people who aren’t me), and there’s nowhere near an end in sight for this sucker. And remember I just said RM is in 3 weeks…? YEAH. SO MUCH ANXIETY OVER THIS. So, for Camp NaNo, I’ll be writing 60k words for TTR, hopefully ending the story with time to mildly revise the really awful parts before RM. I need so much prayer, guys, it’s not even funny.

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Anyway. That’s all I have. But I need to know! What’s been up with all of you lately? I’ve missed seeing your beautiful humanly faces (here on the blog, that is)! What have you been reading/writing lately? WILL I SEE YOU AT REALM MAKERS? (Don’t be surprised if you here me howling if you say yes) Are you doing Camp NaNo? What’s your goal? Tell me all the things, friends! I’ve missed you! 🙂