Catching up... lately, I've had the feeling I had to keep running in order to catch up. So many things I want to do, only 24 hours a day. And I love to sleep! Meaning I quit early in the evening and actually do sleep a lot. Not finished? Time for it the next day...

Anyway, I managed to find some time to continue working on my book. I've written (almost) 17 chapters so far, counting roughly 46,500 words and I think I've written about 2/3 of the book by now. A few days ago I also downloaded Scrivener. Great to see it has a 30 day trial (and it only counts the days you actually use it!). It's quite a job to import my story, especially as I edit here and there along the way. But - I'm getting there. And I'm convinced I'm going to love it, especially once I can continue my writing!

So here's a printscreen of what it looks like in Scrivener. Beware - loads to do ;-)


















I've also tried to keep myself reading - I think I did a pretty good job there!

Books I've read lately:

Dying Bites by D.D. Barant (4 stars)
A discovery of witches by Deborah Harkness
Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan (5 stars)
High Stakes by Erin McCarthy (3 stars)

I'm currently reading The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde.

After this, I'm going to read The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter. Looking forward to it!

Hi everyone!

For those who celebrate: I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I was at home with my family, presents were present ( ;-) ) on Christmas Eve. My grandma came over the next day, which was super fun!

I wish everyone the best for 2012, hopefully it's going to be a happy, healthy year!

For me, 2012 is going to be the year in which I finish writing my first book. I'm planning to finish The Secret World in January. I'm about halfway... I guess. More or less. I haven't written much since November... and I totally ignored this blog! Sorry!

November was a good month for me. I've been writing. A LOT. I joined Karen Mahoney in her version of NaNoWriMo, called KazNoWriMo, and I made it. I wrote a solid 32,000 words through November and I was really happy with that! December was mostly quiet. I hardly wrote, though I did manage to write nearly 1,600 words in an hour while Karen was writing as well. It's super fun to write together and support each other! Anyhow; I've been writing yesterday and today and I just passed the 37,000 words. So... I'm going to hit the 40k BEFORE 2012. I will. I promise.

And from my own writing we go to... books. Books I read in 2011. My favourites?
Well, that's easy. I'm a big fan of The Iron Witch (from Karen!), but I also loved The Name of the Star (by Maureen Johnson) and Between (by Jessica Warman). So, if you're looking for a good read and you haven't read these books... you know what to do. ;-)

Then: books I'm looking forward to read in 2012!

Again: pretty easy. I won an Advanced Reading Copy of The Wood Queen (by Karen Mahoney), the second book in The Iron Witch trilogy during a fundraising. I can't wait to read it and I'm dying to find out what is going to happen to Donna and her friends... The book will be available in February, so mark it on your calender!

Another one I'm looking forward to read is A Million Suns by Beth Ravis. I enjoyed the first book, Across the Universe, immensely. I don't have to wait long, because it's out on January 10th! Yay!




I'm also looking forward to read Iron Crowned and Shadow Heir by Richelle Mead. Unfortunately, I haven't read Irown Crowned yet. I SHOULD. I know! So, that's definitely on my list. Shadow Heir is available to buy since this week, I believe.

And last but not least, I'm currently reading Modelland by Tyra Banks. Something completely different, but fun. In a video, Tyra said she hoped people would be entertained reading this book in the first place. Well, I definitely am. And Tyra's got a big big big imagination, which is fun to see!

So, that's about the books.

I've also been working quite a lot lately and I did a really fun interview in December!

For everyone who is familiar with the equestrian world, and more importantly, dressage, you might know Charlotte Dujardin. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about: Charlotte Dujardin (26) is a rising star, a British dressage rider. She did really well at the international (world cup) competition at London Olympia a few weeks ago. And lucky me - I got to interview her! She's really bubbly and fun to talk to. I don't think I have to mention here that I'm proud of my article. ;-)

All right, that's it. Happy New Year!

Just a really quick blog this time.
After my last entry I started thinking a bit more about the second version of Dani's story. There's a lot of plotting to do, but I hadn't really given it much thought. My first goal is to finish the first version in November. After that, Dani's up for some changes.

Inspiration has the bad (?) habit of coming to you when you either least expect it or when it's... not the right time. Of course, that always happens to me (the last one, I mean *g*). So instead of having a good night's rest last night I ended up scribbling down notes in both Dutch and English, searching for ballpoints that would work, squinting to see what I wrote since I didn't have my glasses on and well... you probably know the drill.

The good news? Dani's second version has already got a new beginning! Cheers to that! :-)

*yawns and squints eyes - is it time to go to bed yet??*

Okay ... so I haven't been around much lately. Sorry. Due to an injury I mentioned somewhere here before I haven't been writing the last couple of months. Well, that's not entirely true. I have been writing. Quite a lot actually, as I've been back to work for 6 weeks already. Plus I've already been photographing and my wrist felt fine. I'm really happy!!!

But I've taken the time to recover from my injury and therefore haven't been working on my book. The good news is: I will be. It is almost November which means it's time for... NaNoWriMo!

I was thinking about joining (I actually signed up!) but I don't really need another 50k to finish my first book. But hey, there's an alternative.

I visited Karen Mahoney's site today and she's launched her own version of NaNoWriMo: KazNoWriMo - or KazNo for short. Goal? To write 30k during November. I think this is a better match so I'm in :-)

I'm going to finish Dani's story and then I'm in for rewriting as I've decided to change her age a bit. As a result, there's going to be a lot of deleting scenes and writing new ones, replotting my story here and there and so on.

But hey - it's fun!

(Kaz: I borrowed your button, hope it's ok. See you in November! :-) )

Just a really short blog on the subject of inspiring music!

During writing I always listen to music - sometimes to block out everything from my surroundings, sometimes for inspiration, sometimes because it suits my mood. Here's the one I'm currently listening to (and repeating non stop).

My favourite hobby:
READING!!!! (Watch it: spoilers ahead!)

I went shopping with mom and I ended up buying Catching Fire and Mockingjay, book two and three in The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins. I'd already read the first book this spring and it was just my luck two find these books in a Dutch bookstore! Yay for me! I really enjoyed reading Catching Fire. I think it was even better than the first book. The horror of seeing Katniss going back to the Hunger Games... that was unexpected! Geesh. And then to find out she acually did love Peeta and they got seperated.
Naturally; I immediately started reading book three when I finished Catching Fire. And yes - Mockingjay was everything I'd hoped for. Until I reached the (almost) end. From the part where the parachute-bombs landed (I won't say anything more for those of you who still have to read it!), it got a bit dissapointing. I understood what happened, how everything wrapped up and so on, but somehow it didn't really touch me. I think it's because of the way it was written. It had just too much distance in it. Too bad: no tears for me!

All in all 5 stars for Catching Fire, 4 for Mockingjay; but only because the ending wasn't really my cup of tea. It's a good read nonetheless!

Furthermore I read book 4 of the Georgina Kincaid series (hey - what's a week at home without one of Richelle Mead's books?!) and of course, good as always, 5 stars. Currently reading book 5.

I also ended up with 5 DVD's (for 5 euros - good deal, right?). Uhm let's see - some movie with the Olsen twins in Rome that was bad but still funny to watch, 'the good night' (I think) starring Penelope Cruz and some other big big big names I can't seem to remember (and I'm too lazy to get up and check - sorry!). Doesn't matter anyway since I stopped watching after 30 minutes. Robinson Crusoe with Pierce Brosnan (my favourite pick!) a movie from India that lacked a good story and She's the Man with Amanda Byrnes - one that is always hilarious to watch (but I haven't - yet).

So - that's what I did to entertain myself. Good books and bad movies. Smoothies. Too much candy. I'll quit now.

Glad to be back to work next week!

Ok so - second time writing this review. I'm completely pissed off because I lost the first one due to a technical error but I'm going to try again - and I promise it won't do anything negative to the review itself ;-) After being caught up in Vampire Academy for well - long - I've been anxiously waiting for Bloodlines to be published. And because it's the fourth series written by Richelle Mead I was going to read I figured I'd make this one a bit more special. Here's my copy:

Nice, isn't it? :-) Let's start this review of with the bad news. Bloodlines isn't as good as VA. Wait! Stop! Don't run away! I said 'not as good', not 'not good' or 'bad'. Having this said, I can continue with the review - I promise it's going to be good. *nods* Besides the fact that I absolutely adore the cover, I have to confess I'd already read chapter one before the book arrived. So, Richelle, in case you read this (one can dream, right?)  DON'T EVER DO THIS TO ME AGAIN!!! I know, it's what you do best. In case you've read a book written by Mead, you know what I'm talking about. In case you haven't:

1) Be ashamed!

2) Browse the web and order VA. Now!

3) You're back in the game. Congratulations.

I've read a few reviews in which people complained about the slow start, noting it could have been summarized in twenty lines instead of twenty pages. Noting that arriving at the school was boring. Well, I totally disagree. After reading from Rose's POV for so long (as I've read and reread VA many many times) I had a bit of trouble getting used to Sydney. She's great - but she's not Rose. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I was happy for the 'slow' start (though I wouldn't call it slow...) so I could adjust properly to Sydney and really enjoy the book.

And I did.

I love how Sydney changes in her point of view on Moroi and dhampirs during the story. I love how Sydney learns to really step up for herself. Brave, brave girl! Also, old characters like Eddie and Adrian (especially the last one!) are great to see. They're still the same - yet they're not. Events in the past has left their marks on them, which Mead does a great job of showing without overdoing it. And then there's Jill. I loved getting to know her better, seeing her develop. Besides the fact that she's a teen (with all their issues) she also just found out she's technically a princess. It's hard on her, but she manages. Mead's tough on her in this book, but she handles it well.

And then there are - as always - the unexpected twists. Though I found them less unexpected than in VA and sometimes even predictable, I didn't care. I loved the story anyway. So, when I said Bloodlines wasn't as good as VA - I meant it. I still miss Rose a bit with her all her actions, her attitude and her sarcastic comment. But Sydney's good to go with, honestly. Which brings me to the end of this review (having saved it in between typing for well - a million times).

I give 4 out of 5 to Bloodlines - but that's only because I know what Mead's going to do. She's going to nail the story in the second book, somehow seeing a possibility to make it even better in the third - and so on. And hey - I've only got one point left to upgrade. ;-)

Summary:

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

4 out of 5

It takes some getting used to, but it's amazing nonetheless.

Hi guys - or whoever is reading this (or not, that's fine with me!)

Welcome to my first entry! :-) I think that asks for some cake and drinks. So, cheers.

I want to dedicate this first entry to Karen Mahoney.  Karen's a British author (seriously - check out The Iron Witch, it's epic!). She's also a truly great person from what I've seen so far.

Karen, you awoke something deep inside me I've been missing for years. I love having me back! I don't know how you did it and you're probably not even aware of it (though you might have seen my tweets about Camp NaNo) but - THANK YOU. Without you, I wouldn't have started writing again this summer.

Ok, so that calls for an explanation, right? Here goes.  

I decided this night to start an LJ for my writing. I'm currently joining Camp NaNoWriMo. It's my first time and you can find me here. Last year, while I still lived in England, I thought about joining NaNoWriMo in November. It turned out I was way to busy (ok - I know that's no excuse, I think I'm even busier now!) but I also lacked inspiration. I had an idea, but it wasn't good enough to work on.

Somewhere in July, it was Karen who inspired me to join Camp Nano. So, I decided to sign up, not really having a clue what I was going to write about. Yeah, I know, that helps. Anyhow, I thought about the idea I had last November and decided to use that. Plus, (and I really don't know how she did it, but she did!) Karen said something that had my inspiration flowing. BIG TIME. It resulted in my creating and writing the first book of the Dani Evans series. It's called 'The Secret World', or at least, it is for now.

I'm not really sure of how many 'books' this series is going to consist off, but Il'll figure that out later :-) During the last two weeks of July I made an outline - something I hadn't done before but felt good to me. I started with a few main points and slowly created the story around those points. After that, somehow I ended up dividing my points into 10 chapters. Though I currently have 11 chapters noted in my outline *g*.

So far - half way through August, I'm pretty proud of myself. I've kept myself writing almost every day for two whole weeks. Sometimes ahead of schedule, sometimes a bit behind. Right now, I'm catching up. About 1,400 more words to go and I'm good!

I broke 27k today. Let me tell you - it feels amazing. It feels even better being back to writing (personal stuff) after so many years. I used to write quite a lot during my teen years (and actually finish it ... yes, honestly!) then somehow I got stuck. It probably had something to do with developing myself, growing up, finding out who I am exactly, all that stuff..

Anyhow, I'm 24 now (just celebrated my birthday recently - I'm a Leo :-) ) and I'm actually writing again.

Cheers to that!