A-Z Challenge: Q is for QUERIES

Duh. I'm a writer. How could I not pick queries for Q day?!

Soon I will enter the query trenches yet again. Querying is hard. Writing queries is hard. Being in the query trenches is hard. Getting rejections on queries is hard. It's the truth. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.*

But you know what? This won't be my first time, so it's actually not that bad. Maybe it's like having a baby. Like how you forget all about how painful the whole thing was so you get pregnant again because all you care about is the end result. I remember how crappy querying can be, and yet, it's the end result that matters. I believe in my writing. I believe that someday I will get it out there. And the way to do that? Queries.

So, I hesitate to put this here because right now it's a big 'ole mess. But here's my first draft of the query I'll be sending out soon, once it (hopefully) doesn't suck and the MS is ready. It's YA Urban Fantasy.

Eponine Thorpe doesn’t care about high school, her alcoholic parents and their petty crime sprees, or even her User abilities. All she cares about is her best friend Mark. He’s the only one who can keep the rot from her soul, the only reason she Uses her magic at all.
When Cassie Vandenberg moves to town, Poni thinks nothing could be worse than a girl who’s going to take Mark away from her. Then Poni’s parents ask for her help on a job. Upset over Mark and Cassie’s new relationship, she agrees to help even though she swore she would never go back to that life. When the mark turns out to be Cassie, Poni knows she’s made a big mistake.
Now her parents are hell bent on revenge for screwing with their plans and Mark will never forgive her when he finds out the truth. Determined to keep herself and Mark safe, and hoping to win him back somehow, Poni searches out the truth about her parents and their connection to the Vandenberg’s. But Poni uncovers deeper secrets than she ever thought possible. Secrets about the Vandenberg’s, about her parents, and about the User society she was born into. Poni must decide whether saving herself is worth more than Mark’s love, or whether saving Mark is worth becoming the person she always tried to hide from him.
So. On a scale of 1-10, how bad does it suck? Any advice or critique?
*Bonus points if you know what movie that's from

And my Q songs for the day (that's right, I got two!):
Quando Me'n Vo' sung by Anna Netrebko from La Boheme by Puccini
 
Quidditch World Cup by Patrick Doyle from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 


A-Z Challenge: P is for Previews

Previews. Or as they are also called: Trailers. Yep, I like 'em. I get cranky if I miss them. I also get cranky if I've seen the same one over and over. Unless it's a gooder and then I just get excited.

The best thing is when I'm so caught up in an awesome preview that when the opening credits on the actual movie start to roll, I'm like, what movie am I seeing again? If it's a movie I'm excited to see, in that moment I get excited all over again.

Here's some great previews from movies that I can't wait to see!

The Fault In Our Stars
 
X-Men: Days of Future Past
 
If I Stay
 
And my P song for the day from the Catching Fire soundtrack:
This is a really great fan made video, but it features the song Place For Us by Mikky Ekko
It also has clips from Catching Fire and they do give a spoiler warning in case you haven't seen the movie. (and if you haven't, why not???)
 
*I've provided links for all the videos in case they don't work

A-Z Challenge: O is for Organization

I'm a pretty organized person. I have to have a schedule for the day or else I'd go crazy and probably never get anything done. I blame my mom. She's super organized, way more than I will ever be, but some of it definitely rubbed off. For example, she had a daily cleaning schedule, I have a daily cleaning schedule, one that I tweaked a bit to better suit me.

Monday- groceries
Tuesday- all bathrooms, laundry
Wednesday- the upstairs, plus sheets and towels laundry
Thursday- the main floor plus kitchen
Friday- the basement

Not only that, but once I'm done my cleaning for the morning, I exercise, shower, then blog if I have time. After lunch is my writing time, usually until the kids get home from school and then I become chauffeur. I started seriously writing while my oldest was in preschool from 1-3 and the younger ones had nap time. Since then, it's been my go-to time. Every day is mostly the same, and I like it like that. In fact, I get a touch cranky when other things creep into my schedule and mess it all up. ;)

What about you? Organized, or not so much?

I didn't do an N song for yesterday because I had so much other stuff going on in that post. This is what it would have been: No Matter What by Boyzone, an oldie but goodie. (Okay, it's not THAT old.)

Today's O song has nothing to do with being organized but it is my "happy place" song in case I'm stressed out to the max.

Over the Rainbow the Glee Cast version
(I may be cheating a bit here by not calling it Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Oh well)
 
I also like the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version.

What's Up Wednesday and A-Z Challenge: N

Today I'm going to split up my two posts, but try to keep them both as brief as possible.
 A-Z Challenge: N is for North and South (and Other Period Films)
I heart historical movies as much as historical books. North and South is one of my favorites. When I first heard of it, I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't all that interested. Industrial age? Cotton-mill workers? A strike? A vicar's daughter? Meh. I'm more into Jane Austen's love stories than  strikes and dreary industrial towns.

WRONG WRONG WRONG. It is sooo good. If you're a fan of period films, definitely watch this one if you haven't. I'm not going to go on anymore about it because I've already waxed obsessive about it in the past. Watch a clip instead:
This is a pretty awesome fan-made trailer
What I'm Reading
I finished The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier which was awesome! And now I'm reading Inheritance, the final book in the Eragon series. I will be happy when I've finally finished and know how it ends and can move on.
What I'm Writing
No writing this week. I finished beta-ing one manuscript and did some work on another.
What Inspires Me Right Now
See above movie clip!
What Else I've Been Up To
It was my birthday on Sunday. Woo-hoo, she said droopily. I usually get kinda depressed on my birthday. Coming up to this one, I was perfectly fine. But then Sunday hit. Boo. It's not just the getting older part, it's the getting older and still not accomplishing my goals that sucks. Ah well. There were some great things about the weekend. I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier which was awesome. (Steve Rogers and his muscles make up for anything sucky, IMO). And I ate at East Side Mario's, one of my fave restaurants. So yay for that!
What have you been up to?

A-Z Challenge: M is for Music

M is for music because I just couldn't live without it. If I was stuck on an island and I could only have one thing with me... yep, music. Specifically, my playlist and a never ending battery. I listen to music ALL THE TIME. I listen when I cook, clean, write, shower, drive, blog... I listen to music a lot and I listen to it LOUD. And I sing loud too. And badly.

Someone was telling me the other day that they've started using a diffuser to help relieve stress. I sat there and thought, I don't need that, because I have music. I listen to Somewhere Over The Rainbow when I want to go to my "happy place." I listen to upbeat pop tunes when I want to dance around. I listen to quieter alternative type songs when I'm in a thinking mood. And I listen to classical when I write. Musicals when I feel like singing. Punk rock when I want to jam. And the radio when I feel like listening to whatever. I definitely couldn't live without music.

Some M songs for you, from different types of music I like:
 
Moments by One Direction. A Song from my current WIP

Mean  by Taylor Swift, one of my favorite singers

Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. I've loved Mozart ever since the movie Amadeus came out

What's your favorite M song?




A-Z Challenge: L is for LOVE

Love. Looooove. Lurve. Who doesn't love to write about love? I don't think I could write a manuscript without it. And my favorite books to read are ones with love in them. Surprisingly, I'm not a straight-up romance reader. I've tried three romance novels in the past- one was good, one was okay, and the third I quit after a couple of chapters. But even with the good one, I still don't pick up romance books. I love to have romance in my stories, but category romance isn't really my thing. I do read books without romance... sometimes. Code Name Verity is an amazing book with no romance at all. But in general, I love me the love storyline, even if it's just a tiny subplot.

Here are some of my favorite literary love quotes:

I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.
~John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
~XVII from Manana by Pablo Neruda

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
~Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.
~Persuasion by Jane Austen

The course of true love never did run smooth.
~A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

You have bewitched me, body and soul.
~Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Thou art to me a delicious torment.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

You love me. Real or not real?
Real.
~Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.
~The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula L. Le Guin

It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the thing you do with it. You are beautiful.
~The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever.
~Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

And my L song for the day which I really love and it's about love and maybe a little cheesy but still so sweet.
Little Things by One Direction

A-Z Challenge: K is for Kissing!

 
I love to write kissing scenes and almost kissing scenes and awkward kissing scenes and lead up to the kissing scenes and I wish they would kiss already scenes and anything to do with kissing really. You can usually tell when I'm writing the kissing scenes because I blush and giggle and smile and all around act like a twelve-year-old and my kissing scenes aren't even all that racy. PG, PG-13 at most.                                                                                 
So I thought I'd post a short kissing scene excerpt. This comes from a sequel I wrote to a book I ended up shelving so this sequel has never passed the 1st draft stage.
 
“Jessica,” he whispered. I smiled at the sound of his voice and let out a little moan. “Jessica, open your eyes.”
     I opened my eyes. His face was before mine. I grabbed his head, curling my fingers in his hair and pulled his lips towards mine. I kissed him hungrily, as if he could somehow quench this thirst I had. A thirst for him.
     His lips had never felt so warm against mine. But they were slow, hesitant. So I pulled him closer, wanting more. My tongue slipped inside his mouth and he let out a gasp. I could feel his arms braced on either side of me. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted to feel his need for me like I had for him. I pulled back and opened my eyes.
     Alric squatted in front of me, his face a mixture of shock and distress. Not the Lord Alric of my dreams.
     “Oh, it’s you.”
 
Ah, I miss this story and characters something fierce. Anyway, I've got three K songs because I couldn't pick, all to do with kissing.
Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran. This song is super smoldery. Ed Sheeran doesn't have an "official music video" so I picked this one because I love the pictures.
 
Kiss You by One Direction. This song is super fun and so is the video! I'm not ashamed to say that I like to sing along at the TOP OF MY LUNGS.
 
Kiss You Inside Out by Hedley. This song is super sexy. Enough said.
 
 

A-Z Challenge: J is for Jar of Hearts

 

Last November, I did my first ever NaNoWriMo. Like, actually did it (won) even when I never thought I'd be able to. The manuscript I wrote is YA Magical Realism and, yep, it's called Jar of Hearts.
 
I haven't even glanced at it since typing "the end" but I've thought about it lots since. The whole thing is probably a big time mess, but one of these days I'm going to go back to it and REVISE REVISE REVISE. I have a few ideas that I want to incorporate when I do, exciting ideas.
 
And my J song for the day is obviously Jar of Hearts, the song that inspired the story idea in the first place.
 
Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri.
And if you haven't seen this video, WATCH IT. It's GORGEOUS.
(Click on the title link if the video doesn't work)

A-Z Challenge: I is for I Like To Dream Cast

Okay, my I is a bit of a stretch, I know. (I was going to do I is for Ice Cream and Other Desserts, but I'm trying to eat healthy and posting pics or even talking about yummy desserts is just going to make me hungry.)

Soooo, I is for I LIKE TO DREAM CAST. And you can't stop me! No matter what I write, I always like to find actors and actresses who I think would be best in the role. Someone who looks like the character does in my head and/or who would be able to pull of all the traits of my character. Sometimes I even base a character around an actor, or rather, an actor playing a specific character. For example...

Rupert Penry-Jones played Captain Wentworth in Persuasion (2007) so of course, who else could I imagine as my Eric in SWAY. And Josh Hutcherson as Peeta was total inspiration for my character Mark in EPONINE.

And some of the other actors/actresses I've cast in my three most recent books...
 
Yep, those are some of my characters. And now, my I songs for the day. A new(er) song I love and an old(er) song that I still love!

It's Time by Imagine Dragons
 
If You Ever Have Forever In Mind by Vince Gill
 











What's Up Wednesday and A-Z Blogging Challenge: H is for History

I'm combining my WUW and A-Z posts again today. Hopefully I can do a better job at making every WUW category relate better to my letter than I did last week!

H IS FOR HISTORY!!!

What I'm Reading
I'm reading The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier and this book is soooo good. And totally fits with my H is for History thing because the book goes back and forth between present time and the Bronze Age with two interweaving stories about two different women. The present-day story involves a philologist (I wish someone would say that word to me out loud so I know how it's supposed to sound) searching around the world for clues about the Amazons, and the past story is a hunter's journey from Algeria to Crete, to Troy, and I'm not sure where else because I haven't gotten any further yet. Anne Fortier did this same past/present thing with her book Juliet (also SO GOOD) and she just does it so well. I really didn't describe the book very well, so go to Goodreads and check it out.

What I'm Writing
Nothing! I finished my revision for EPONINE and now it's in the hands of some very awesome readers (thank you thank you thank you!!!). I'm in the middle of two beta reads of my own with a third on the way so I think I'll stay away from my own writing for a bit and focus on these stories. History wise, one of these manuscripts takes place in Jamaica during the late 1700s (I think- the author never actually says).

What Inspires Me Right Now
History has always been an inspiration to me. I love historical novels, historical movies, historical anything. I love the clothes and the wars, the struggles, the loves, monarchy and anarchy and everything in between. Historical novels can sometimes be bland, but when they're not, they're my favorite! Although I'm not writing historical myself at the moment, I hope to be able to go back to my time-travel novel one day because I miss it!

What Else I've Been Up To
History wise? Nothing. Other wise? Also nothing. Nothing exciting, anyway.

And my H songs for the day...
History Is Made At Night from Smash
 
And nothing to do with History but always makes me want to take a road trip when I hear it:
Home by Phillip Phillips

What have you been up to? And what's your H for today?





A-Z Challenge: G is for Graphic T-Shirts

I have this problem. And I just can't stop myself. It's getting a little out of hand but I don't know what to do. Maybe I need a support group or something. Someone who understands and can help me STOP.

I LOVE GRAPHIC T-SHIRTS!!!

It started out a long time ago when I got it into my head to collect Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. I had three before my collection went defunct. I don't even know what happened to those t-shirts but I've never lost that insane desire to want ALL THE T-SHIRTS. So now...


               
This doesn't even include some of the random shirts I have like: Lucky Charms, Air Force, Nautilus, I Heart Paris, Firebird, USS Arizona, BYU, I Heart Canada... you get the idea. And not only those, but I just ordered 2 more all thanks to a blog I found during this A-Z challenge. I'm looking at you Tea and Kneesocks. ;) Just kidding, I'm so excited for my new shirts!!! Nexy up, I MUST have a Captain America t-shirt.
 
 Another problem-slash-obsession I have? Boy Bands. (I actually used to have a couple *NSYNC t-shirts but I don't know what happened to them.) I know I know, it doesn't start with G. But this song does...
God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You by *NSYNC
(I used to looooove this song ;)


A-Z Challenge: F is for FRIENDS

Let me just start off by saying that I've been sort of breaking the rules a bit, because, yanno, I'm a huge rule breaker. That's right, I like to live on the edge. And if you knew me at all you'd be ROFLing right now.

ANYWAY, my rule breaking comes in the form of randomly checking out other A-Z posts instead of going down the list from my number on like I'm supposed to. But I swear, I have been checking out lots of other blog posts.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way. F is for FRIENDS. My all-time favourite TV show. The world just wouldn't be the same place without Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey. This show is THE BEST and I still laugh out loud when I watch it. Which actually isn't as annoying as when I quote the episodes almost line for line. You don't want to watch with me, trust me.

Instead of me going on and on and onnnn about how awesome it is, how about a clip? (It's SO HARD to pick just one.)
The one where Joey speaks French

And my F song for the day which really has nothing to do with Friends but it's still a great song by one of my fave bands:
Five Minutes To Midnight by Boys Like Girls

A-Z Challenge: E is for EPONINE

It seems obvious to pick EPONINE as my E post because it's also the name of my current manuscript.

Eponine has been my favourite Les Mis character ever since I learned to play On My Own on the piano as a teenager. There's something about pining after someone who doesn't really see you that most teenage girls can relate to. There's also something so heartbreaking in her story that I've never been able to shake and so I wanted to write my own version, told from her point of view. I decided to make it contemporary and then I went the Urban Fantasy route because, well, I've always been kind of a geek girl and into magic. This MS has been both difficult and fun. Most of the characters are different than ones I've written before. I've done Internet searches on some crazy things like the smell of crack and abandoned warehouses and RCMP uniforms and M16 machine guns. (I'm surprised the cops haven't dropped by to see what I've been up to.) I think I've found a good balance between making the story my own and yet keeping in references and characters from Les Mis. But I'm still working on making the story work. Once I'm done this read through, it will go off to a second round of CPs/beta readers. Hopefully, I've improved it some from my last draft! Fingers crossed!

I really wanted to choose an E song from my Eponine playlist but none of the songs or the artists start with E. BOO. So I'm kind of going to cheat a bit and pick two songs that have an E word somewhere in the title.
My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up) by Fall Out Boy
 
I Don't Wanna Love Somebody Else by A Great Big World
 

A-Z Challenge: D is for Daydreamin'

D is for DAYDREAMING. Obviously. Because it's what I do best! What I've always done. What I just can't stop doing.

I used to watch the movie Rudy all the time as a teenager, you know the one about Notre Dame football starring Sean Astin? Anyway, there's a quote from that movie that's always haunted stayed with me: "The problem with daydreamers? They're not doers."

And it's kinda true. I daydream all this crazy stuff, things that I'd like to do, places I'd like to go, jobs I'd like to have, people I'd like to meet. Daydreaming, not doing. It's taken me a long time to become sort of a doer. Even though I can't live it, I can write it. Maybe I'll never be on Broadway, or float down the streets of Venice in a gondola, or get my letter to Hogwarts, but I can write what I daydream. I can transfer those crazy stories from my head to paper and hopefully one day to a real live book. And even though I don't get to be the star of the show living it all, I get to be God creating it all. And that's not so bad.

Of course, my D song for the day is none other than...
Daydreamin' by Ariana Grande
(If the video doesn't work, click on the song title)

A-Z Challenge: C is for COVER REVEAL!!!


It's C day which is perfect because it's also the day of the big COVER REVEAL for a book I'm super excited about! It's by Michelle Merrill, one of my CP's made of extraordinary. Here's her bio:


Michelle Merrill loves kissing her hubby, snuggling her kids, eating candy, reading books, and writing first drafts. She names her computers after favorite fictional characters and fictional characters after favorite names. To learn more about her, visit www.authormichellemerrill.com

I've read this book twice and it is super good people, super good. Are you ready for the cover? Because it is beautiful:

 Gorgeous, amirite?

Now you want to know what the book is about, dontcha? Here's the blurb:

All Kate wants is to live. Battling cystic fibrosis is hard enough, dying from it is even harder. When her mom moves them closer to the hospital in the middle of her senior year, Kate’s determined to isolate herself—saving everyone the trouble of befriending a dying girl. It’s a difficult task when cheerful optimist Giana insists on being Kate’s friend. 

Kate’s resolve falters even more when curly-haired Kyler captivates her with his sweet melodies. As her emotional walls collapse, Kate realizes the people she’s been pushing away may be the ones giving her a reason to live. But it might be too late.

NOTE: Half of all proceeds will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

CHANGING FATE comes out on May 8, 2014. You can find Michelle on Twitter here on Facebook here or at her blog here. Can't wait to see this book as a real book! Congrats Michelle!

And for my C song of the day... one of my favorite Michael Buble songs, and one I could imagine Kyler singing. 
 
Close Your Eyes by Michael Buble

A-Z Challenge and What's Up Wednesday: B is for Boo-Yah!

I'm combining my A-Z and What's Up Wednesday posts today.

What I'm Reading
I read Reclaimed by Sarah Guillory which was like BAM, and WHOA, and HOLY CRAP. Now I'm reading When Audrey Met Alice by Rebecca Behrens which has been cute so far.

What I'm Writing Revising
BOO-YAH! I finished my very extensive revision of EPONINE (it took me like 3 months). Now I'm doing a read-thru to make sure it all makes sense before I send it to a new wave of readers. BTW, I'm looking for another beta reader. Anyone want to swap? (EPONINE is a YA Urban Fantasy)

What Inspires Me Right Now
My B song and what inspires me right now are one and the same:
 Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons is perfect for EPONINE.

What Else I've Been Up To
I saw Divergent on the weekend and I really liked it! Divergent was by far my favorite book out of the three, and the movie made me hopeful that I might like the next movies (if there are some) a bit better than the books.

A-Z Challenge: A is for... AAAAAHHHH!!! What Did I Get Myself Into?

I don't know if this A-Z thing is going to work when my computer REFUSES TO COOPERATE. The hubs showed me a way to reconnect the computer to our router and I'm like, okay, I can do that. But then today I clicked on Internet Explorer. Didn't work. Went to reconnect to the router and it's ALREADY CONNECTED. Now what am I supposed to do? At least Firefox is working. FOR NOW. It won't last, this I know.

I'm a little stressed about it right now, not gonna lie. Even when the internet is working, it's like my computer is possessed. I'll be in the middle of doing something and then BAM! The page I'm on suddenly turns into something else. I can't even click back to where I was, I have to close and reopen and RESTART.

Seriously. I need a new computer.

Anyway, I'm going to try my best with this A-Z challenge, despite my computer difficulties. I don't have a theme going, I'm flying by the seat of my pants with this. But I am going to post a song each day starting with that letter. So, for today...
A is for Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy (hey, they're both A's!)
Should I dedicate this song to the internet perhaps?
(*If the video doesn't work, click on the title link)


What's Up Wednesday: The Frustration Edition

What I'm Reading
I read Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys which was so good and then Brisingr by Christopher Paolini which was less so. I have so little patience left for this series but I just want to know how it ends. I've been tempted to ask the hubs who has already finished it just so I don't have to read the last book, but I won't. No idea why I'm stubbornly sticking to it. Next up, Reclaimed by Sarah Guillory.

What I'm Writing Revising
I'm hoping to be done my revision by the end of the week and then I'll have to do another read through to make sure it all makes sense before I send it off to beta readers. I'm also reading a CP's MS and I'm almost done that too.

What Inspires Me Right Now
I can tell you what DOESN'T inspire me, and that's crappy technology. First iTunes gave out on my computer, and now Internet Explorer and Google Chrome won't work either. So I'm doing this on Firefox which I've never used before and it's FRUSTRATING. My computer sucks bricks.
As for inspiration... sorry, I got nothing.

 
What Else I've Been Up To
Once I'm done typing up this post (it's actually Tuesday night right now) I'm going to watch the last episode of the first season of Being Erica which is a show I've totally enjoyed. Other than that, I haven't been up to much. I bought my tickets to see Divergent this weekend though and I'm psyched about that.

What have you been up to?

Mascara Mania

I'm going to deviate from my usually scheduled programming (ie: talking about books and writing) because I found THE MOST AMAZING mascara.

No, really. I did. And I swear I'm not selling the stuff or anything, so if this comes off sounding like some cheap ad, forgive me. It's just, I've been searching for the perfect mascara for forever and now that I found one that comes preeeeetty close, I just have to share it with the world (or, the girls out there).

I'm not much of a makeup person in general. I wear it more because I have to than because I want to. But mascara is my one must have. I constantly try new ones, each time foolishly believing that they will elongate or thicken or give me scandalous lashes. Bwaha. They never do. And then a facebook friend was having one of these online "parties" where they try to sell you stuff and I usually avoid that kind of thing but I couldn't help myself when I saw the before and after pictures. So I bought it just to try it out.

Here's my before and after:

This is me with normal mascara on. I've got regular length eyelashes, not really short but not really thick or long either.
And my after with my new fancy mascara. Just one coat, FYI.
Oh, and it's called Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes made by Younique
 
I'm gonna be honest about this stuff though. There are some downsides. First, it's expensive. It cost me $35 in Canada (it's $29 in the US) plus it's $10 for shipping. My sis-in-law ordered together so we would each only have to pay $5 shipping. They do free shipping for orders over $100 so next time we'll get another person in so we won't have to pay anything.
 
Second, this mascara takes time. You actually get two tubes when you buy it- one of gel, and one of fibers. You put on a coat of regular mascara first and let it dry. Then you put on a coat of gel, then right away a coat of fibers before the gel dries, then another coat of gel to set the fibers in place. See? Time. That's four coats of mascara per eye. Yeesh. And it's tricky to get the hang of the fibers which are basically little tiny black fuzzes or hairs that stick to your own lashes and make them look longer. I'm still trying to get the hang of it.
2 tubes and mascara case
 
Third, I find that some of the fibers get on my cheeks or on my brow bones during the day. The girl who sold it to me said this never happens to her (really?) and that I need to be putting on more 2nd coat gel. There isn't a lot of them, but it's still annoying to look in the mirror and see a tiny black bit on your face. (You do have to look really close though because they are teeny.)
 
My last thing isn't really a negative but a pet peeve. The tube says "water resistant." You can also go on YouTube and watch a ton of "how-to" videos for this stuff and they all say this mascara is waterproof. IT IS NOT. To me, waterproof means you can swim and it won't come off (or barely). As soon as you rub your eyes, this stuff starts coming off. Maybe if you cried but never touched your eyes it might be fine, but is that really possible? Or am I just an eye rubber? Ha. It doesn't bother me that it isn't waterproof, but DON'T SAY THAT IT IS.
 
Despite those negatives, I totally love this stuff. I don't wear it every day because it's too much work and my normal eyelashes aren't that bad. But once I have it on, I hate washing it off because my eyelashes look so pretty! Also, you can make them even longer with more coats which I did last Friday night. I swear, my eyelashes were almost to my eyebrows. I prefer a more natural look though so that wasn't really for me.
 
Anyway, amazing mascara. I love it. And now I'll stop talking about makeup. Okay, bye.

What's Up Wednesday: The Nervicited Edition

What I'm Reading
Last night I finished Infinite by Jodi Meadows which was a nice end to the Incarnate Trilogy (although I liked the first book best). Next up, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys.

What I'm Writing Revising
Revisions are going good. I've got less than a hundred pages to go and I'm excited/nervous (I'm *NERVICITED!) about the changes I'm making. Still have a few things to change up though and I'm worried that I might miss tying up some loose ends. Eek.

What Inspires Me Right Now
This song from the soundtrack from SMASH season one. It easily applies to writers, too. (If the video doesn't work, click on the link below.)


Crazy Dreams sung by Megan Hilty


What Else I've Been Up To
I saw Need For Speed on the weekend which I thought was going to be totally lame. I didn't want to see it at all, but it ended up being better than I thought. Predictable and the plot was loose at times, but still, I was entertained.
Also, my sister had a baby boy on St. Patrick's Day, her first. She had a stressful pregnancy, had to be induced, and now the baby has been airlifted to another hospital because the docs think he has some kind of blockage in his esophagus- he can't keep milk down. My sister will be taken there tomorrow and she also has to remain in the hospital because her blood pressure is off the charts. I'm kinda freaking out a bit, not gonna lie, but I continue to pray and hope for the best. Hopefully I'll hear more soon. She lives across Canada from me so I have to rely on phone calls from my mom to keep me updated.

Sooo, what's up with you?

*Bonus points if you know where I got the word NERVICITED.