Books, books, and more books.

As you can see, I like cats.

This is pretty much what I've been doing for the past two weeks while lying in bed, thinking about all the homework I have to do. It is quite a nice time waster.

I have been so swamped with end of school things that, to be honest, made me have no time for this blog. I apologize for that! However, school things are starting to wrap up so I will be on Blogger more and posting every Friday, as promised.

Although it takes up a lot of my time, my schoolwork does introduce me to quite a few good books along the way. I have recently read Donald Duk by Frank Chin and White Teeth by Zadie Smith. My teacher informed us that Zadie Smith is quite popular, especially with her newest novel NW. They actually offered NW as a goodreads giveaway not too long ago. I did not win that one though!

Both books are quite good and I would recommend them to anyone who likes to read about people coming to terms with their identities. Donald Duk is about a Chinese boy living in America and not wanting to be Chinese. It's really very good and it's a quick read. White Teeth is about many different cultures and beliefs coming together with a London setting. It's very well written and informative. If you can, pick them up and give them a read.

Any book recommendations you people out there have for me? With summer coming up I will have plenty of time to read!

The End Is Near

Hello fellow NaNo-ers. The month is winding down, as well as our word count. I am still a little bit behind (about 2 thousand words or so) but I've been pushing myself these last couple days and I have managed to plow through and write a ton. I know it's not a masterpiece, and I know I will have to write more after NaNo to finish the story I want to tell, but I will successfully complete NaNo.

It's weird to think about what I will do after November. I mean, I've been writing every single day trying to achieve this and once it's achieved... well it's done. I have plans of editing it and what not but I won't have the same community that I had during NaNo. If anyone out there reading this knows of any communities or writers, or things like NaNo that go on all year, please let me know so I can join in on the fun!

On a bright note, I ran across a fellow NaNo writer on the Artisans board and found someone to make me a cover.

Cover!!! By This amazing person =]

Sorry if I credited you wrong and you want it a different way, let me know!

Anyway, now that I have a cover to my work, it makes it all feel so much more real. When writing a story I have this idea of what I want it to look like and this cover capture it perfectly. It made me all giddy to see it and I sent it to all of my friends. I just like to think that maybe one day my book will actually be on a shelf out there.

Also, I realized I haven't once talked about what my story is actually about so I'm thinking maybe tomorrow or the next day I will create a post that will basically just talk about my story, the characters, ideas, an excerpt maybe, things like that.

I wanted to give some advice to those out there that think they can't finish, or are having a hard time finishing, but I'm afraid I'm giving advice when I have no room to. I guess all I can say is, don't give up. You can finish, no matter what you think. If you are determined to finish your story, and you want to get it out, then get it out.

Just remember this, don't let any number tell you you've won. All of you out there that have written anything at all have won. You have taken that step that many writers out there can't. You put pen to paper. (Or fingers to keyboard, typewriter if you're really old school.) You're getting your idea out. Also remember, don't be afraid to let your idea be heard. Let your story out.