Zach's 17th Birthday!

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday was my brother's 17th birthday, and it was good fun! He had pep band for a good portion of the night, but we had fun nonetheless. We celebrated with a Spongebob cake, and some presents. He got some clothes, a new mouse, and a media shelf. He's someone who is extremely hard to shop for, but my parents managed to get some presents for him!

Here's some photos I took!

Tonight I will be writing for the most part. I need to read and write, and have been majorly lacking in this area. 

Sorry for such a short little thing, just a general update!
See you all tomorrow!
~Amanda .xx

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we spotlight an upcoming book release we're especially looking forward to!

After Every Happy by Anna Todd (After #4)
Expected Publication: February 24th, 2015

January Favorites!

Hey all!

So I see people doing these kinds of things on YouTube, and I'm assuming the Blogosphere is included. Well, here I am including a few of my favorite things.

I have to let you all know that I am in no way, shape, or form a beauty guru. So if I get the titling of a lipstick or perfume wrong, don't hate me. I don't actively buy makeup, but as of late, I've been adventurous, and trying new things...go me!

Our Moment by One Direction Scent

I am in love with this scent completely and utterly. In my twenty odd years on this planet, I have not had the pleasure of owning my own perfume. The only perfume I have is an empty bottle of my Grandmother's perfume on the dresser that has a hint of the scent left in the nozzle (I'm tempted to buy a bottle because I loved her perfume). 

But Our Moment by One Direction is such a fruity and refreshing smell. It doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing perfume. It feels like I'm wearing Bath and Body Works! Highly recommend this one!

After Series by Anna Todd

This book series is becoming my January favorite... and quickly. I've been following the career of Anna Todd since Wattpad as I am a writer on there as well.

After is a highly addictive series with three books out presently. They are all enormous in length and take about a month to read each. The story has many twists and turns, and sometimes repetitive situations. This book is one I can't just put down because it is so good. I highly recommend reading this!

Revlon Lipstick #525 Wine With Everything

I absolutely love this lipstick! I'm just recently getting into lipsticks, and this was one I got on Thanksgiving. I wanted a darker red than the one I currently owned.

This one is just a vibrant, dark color of red. I have been obsessed with red lipsticks, and it makes me feel bold. I love how it looks in the winter kind of setting as well. If you use chap stick before applying, it makes it even creamier and last longer. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King

This month, I plan on beginning to edit the story I completed earlier on. I bought this book last year, and I know this book will help immensely.

This book has tips, tricks, and examples on how to self-edit your manuscript to perfection. I know this will help for when I change up my story to query Literary Agents with this story. I can't wait to put the tips from this book to the test. It's a helpful read.

1989 by Taylor Swift.. Taylor in General

Source: Wikipedia

This month, I have been OBSESSED with Taylor Swift. Her new album, 1989 is probably one of my favorite albums right now. During the day, this is on repeat.

I have also invested in her first album as that was the only one I was really missing. So she has been blasting through the speakers in my house for the past three or so odd weeks.

Her music, I've noticed, has become considerably better than her previous albums. Her making the conversion to strictly Pop music was one of the best decisions she could have made for herself. 1989 is definitely the best album from her, and everyone should give it a go.

Four by One Direction

 One Direction is probably my favorite band ever. So this being on this list shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone at all.

This album has a whole lot of rock influence, and you can hear the 80's vibe to it. Those are definitely my favorite tracks. Some of the tracks worth listening to for those who aren't really interested in them are Stockholm Syndrome and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. Those are two of the strongest songs on the album.

The Fosters

Source: huffington post

The Fosters is an American show (on US Netflix only according to a UK friend of mine). I've been obsessed with this show because of how special the storyline is. This show has definitely gone past the standards of television.

One of my favorite aspects of The Fosters is the fact that it follows a foster couple who happen to be lesbians. This show definitely shows that family is much more than blood relatives. Sure, some people may be related to their birth mother, but she isn't "Mom."

This is one of the most special shows on a cable network show. It portrays the real meaning of family, and what it's like to have a life that isn't easy. Go check this out because it truly is a special show.

New Mugs and Tea

Tea has been a big thing in my life for the past two years. I am OBSESSED with it, and my best friend who is Scottish told me the "right" way to make tea. I love me a cuppa Yorkshire Tea. I have a large bulk bag in my bedroom!

I've recently discovered my love for cute mugs, and have been slowly adding to the collection. The photo beside this is the newest addition, and my amazon wishlist has tons of mugs that I've been finding on the web.

Celebrity Big Brother

Source: bigbrother247.co.uk

Celebrity Big Brother is by far my favorite reality show ever. Well, I am correcting this to just plain old Big Brother from the UK. Big Brother is just so interesting to watch, and I love how it's on three times a year.

I love how different it is from the US. The US one I felt was so dull compared to the UK edition.

Loreal Blackbuster Liquid Eyeliner

I bought this eyeliner on a whim, I admit. I had a slowly dying eyeliner, and this one is perfect for doing like top lids and cat eyes. It's a great one, and I definitely recommend it. 

Kindle Fire HD 7

I purchased this Kindle in December, and I don't think I could use any old kindle ever again. This one I already rely on for just about everything. Check my social media...op, let me grab me kindle. 

It's an amazing Kindle, I highly recommend it for everyone looking for a great device for reading books on!

Those are my January Favorites! I hope you enjoyed them, I know I did!
~Amanda .xx

The Damned Enter Key

Hey Everyone!

Sorry about the lack of updating yesterday. This is what happened........my enter key is all kinds of screwed up.

Like I don't quite know what happened to it, but I do know that it will make writing ten times more difficult than before. I will be trying to press enter and it takes me three tries before it finally takes. Needless to say I am annoyed. It is really annoying. I can guarantee that.

THE ENTER KEY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT KEY!

A Melting Pot of Things, Really

Hey All!

It's been a really odd day today! In the fact that I really haven't done anything but watch YouTube videos all day!

The Curse of YouTube Videos

I started my day earlier than I would have liked (thank you to the rooster alarm on my kindle...), but I woke up all excited to write...and then I found myself clicking the social media bookmark on Google Chrome, and clicked on YouTube.

Now, one thing you have to understand about me is that the videos I watch are often five minutes up to forty-five minutes in length. The latter of the two times is thanks to Celebrity Big Brother. If you have not seen this show, I highly recommend it! It is by far my favorite show. Well, any UK Big Brother is my favorite thing. I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER! The celebrities this January only has one that I know of, and that is Perez Hilton. People don't seem to like him, but he's my favorite besides Katie Price (Louis Tomlinson agrees with me I think...he did tweet he likes having her in the house).

Anyways, YouTube is like a blessing and a curse for me. I can spend hours upon hours on there. It is my favorite website besides Wattpad. Though I spend far too much time on both of these websites.

Speaking of YouTube, I filmed a little video with my camera, and I have yet to edit this video. I want to try the YouTubing thing again. I think the last two times I've tried it, I've gone in with the idea of "BOOKS" which is what the filmed video is about, but the video I have planned is not. My next post will be similar to what I have for the video. Who knows if I'll actually stick with YouTube... maybe I should let this blog thing become a thing first!

A Random Kind of Day

As today is a random kind of day, I thought I would mention my recent habit of not wearing matching socks. This came from my roommate at school who lives by a life motto of "I'm too cool for white and matching socks." She legitimately gets sad if her socks match. I've witnessed this, it is a very real thing. I started this last year when I wanted to kind of live life not caring.

Not caring what the "norm" is should be appreciated more, and a simple thing like socks is a little step. I don't normally care what others think, but I shouldn't care what I think of myself either. As long as I'm happy, I am more than okay! 

It is a quarter to ten at night as I write this post, and I am finishing up a chapter of Flora. This story makes me want to go to Spain really bad you know. I took a shower after working on the story, and was thinking to myself in Spanish. I never do that! I only put little phrases here and there in the story, but I am affected by it! It's funny what things affect you when writing.

I am going to finish Flora's second chapter now, and then off to bed I go! 

Night guys!
~Amanda .xx

Writing Multiple Stories at Once

Hey Everyone!

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about the stories I am writing now that I am done with the other story. I am writing three stories all at the same time.

Since January I have off, I decided it would be enjoyable to write as much as I can, and I love it! I was so excited when I finished The Prince. Three stories is a lot, but I'm planning on mass writing chapters and stockpiling them for when I go back to school so I'm not overly stressed about not posting. This way, there is chapters available for me to post whenever I can.

I'm hoping to have at least five or six of each chapter done by February 2nd. There is 19 days left until then, and I want 15 chapters written by then. I think that is an easy thing to do. I think I just have to sit down and make a schedule and write a lot in one go on one story in one day. Maybe then I can have 10+ chapters for each.

Thankfully, I have an editor working with me now so the grammar will be in tip top shape. This makes me less embarrassed about things. For example, I accidentally wrote husband instead of wife, and everyone points it out on that chapter. I don't really mind it. It makes me happy that people notice my mistakes, and I make a mental note to fix it when I edit my work.

I've never done this whole multiple stories at once. I'm going to say this now: I will be relying on a notebook. I have a history of not keeping good track of the timing of events.

GOAL: Have the timing make sense now.

Until next time, guys!
~Amanda .xx

What are your writing challenges/goals this year? Write yours down below!

The "Right" Way to Make Tea

Hey Everyone!

So yesterday I was talking with my best friend and she told me that I was making my tea wrong. Now, I made it how I liked it because I live in a house of non-caffeine drinkers. My family is very much into their soda, or fizzy drinks as my best friend calls it. The way I was making it before was steeping it for 10 minutes (because I liked it strong) and three spoonfuls of sugar. That is it. But this is what was required of me.

Boil your water....

While you wait for your water boil, put tea bag (preferably Yorkshire Tea) and sugar in.

Steep your tea bag and sugar for five minutes. You can also stir it.

Next, you dribble in some milk. I asked what this was and she said "just enough."

This is the end result! It was good, just different and more milky.

Until Next Time!

~Amanda

Finishing a Manuscript

THE END

Hey Everyone!

So on January 11th, 2015 I wrote the words "The End" at the end of my manuscript I've been writing since May. I came to 399 pages and 169,728 words. That's a little more than 3 NaNoWriMo's!

This one was so bittersweet to end because I didn't want it to end! I fell in love with these characters and the story I was writing. I was about to write something else, but I can't yet! These characters, I feel, have become a part of me more than any other set of characters I've written previously. The reader response to them was sensational and I can't wait until they get to experience the conclusion as well.

I wrote two chapters on the 11th. I think this is one of those days where I was determined to finish it because I was SO CLOSE. I did it, and I shared the last two chapters with my best friend. She cried. I couldn't see her, but I know her well enough to know that she cried while reading the two chapters.

Finishing a manuscript in the long haul is a feat. The next step is polishing it to share it with a lot of people. I am debating whether or not to fix it up to query it. It has been a dream of mine to have my books on bookshelves. I always planned on editing it because I messed up the timing of events so I think I at least owe it to myself. This story gives me a glimmer of hope, though. It makes me believe that maybe I can have a story out there. We'll have to see where The Prince ends up.

Until Next Time,
~Amanda .xx

Coffee & Brownies

Hey Everyone!

So on Friday, I was asked to do a few things. The first was making brownies which is nothing too difficult for me. I've made brownies a thousand and one times. I think they were Sara Lee brownies and they were delicious! They were gone by Saturday afternoon. These brownies took longer than expected. I think they ended up baking at 350 for about 45 minutes opposed to the stated 26 minutes for a 9x13 pan. These brownies had a gooey center and I want to make them again because they are so good.

I am not normally one to take photos of the food I bake, but I had to. I also wanted to see how well the photos of food turned out with my new camera I got for Christmas. I got a Sony Alpha 3000 for Christmas this year and I am absolutely in love with it. It is the best present I could ever ask for. The photo above makes me want to eat those brownies all over again. 

Sorry about the blurriness... this was as good as it was going to get.

Me trying to be artsy... I was writing as well as taking pics... multitasking

Also on Friday, I had my first coffee in a whole year. It was a Hazelnut Cappuccino and it was good. It was salty and sweet. I personally thought it was okay, but I would drink it again. We have an assortment of flavors in our house, but I would probably try something different before settling on a definite flavor of coffee. Since I discovered how to properly brew a cup of tea, I haven't turned back since. Yorkshire Tea rules the world.

That's about it from me, see you tomorrow!
~Amanda .xx

NOT AN UPDATE

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Just a Normal Friday

From the Book Lovers Calendar of 2015

Hey Everyone!

Well, today has been an uneventful one! I did a few things here and there, but not much.

I woke up at 9:35 this morning. I have been waking up at this time on average for the past month now. It's a glorious feeling. No school for 52 days is what this is called. Though I have been informed that next week, I will be awoken before my preferred 9:30.

I made my Nana's eggs for breakfast because I was hungry for something of my childhood. I would watch my Nana make eggs since I was a little girl. Since she passed away, it is hard to get the memories of her food. She was the best at making breakfast. She had Julia Child's motto: "With enough butter, anything is good." Always had some sort of butter. I opted for Pam instead.

Today is a writing day for me. I am on the second to last chapter of the story I am writing and it makes me so incredibly nervous to finish it! I have been writing this story since May of 2014. This has been the story that really sticks with me. I love the world, I crave it actually. My readers are all amazing, they make the best edits and they leave the best comments. My best friend is definitely included in the edits section!

The writing day thing didn't really happen for me. I was kind of a procrastinator when it came down to it. I do plan on writing Chapter 51 tonight and the epilogue tomorrow. I may cry when I finish. Today has just been an off day since yesterday was such a productive one. It is weird. I didn't get any writing done today. It was just one of those days where I couldn't be arsed to do anything. Instead, I was on Wattpad and every other odd site just looking for a way to procrastinate. In the evening, though, a few personal things happened where I definitely wasn't about to sit down and write such a happy chapter because of some things that made me unhappy. It was a rough night.

I ended up watching Celebrity Big Brother instead and loving every second of it. The UK Big Brother series (Both celebrity and non-celebrity) are my favorite shows. It's something I look forward to because there is two hours worth of TV every night. It's great. It's so interesting to see strangers living in a house together.

Until Tomorrow,
~Amanda

One Book Down, 39 to Go!

Hey Everyone!

Here is a reading update for my goodreads! The photos are self explanatory!

The signs were made by me in about 5 minutes. I had ordered what I thought was brown cardboard looking paper, but instead I got essentially what was the backs of picture frames. I took two of these and folded them. They cracked when I folded them (this is seen in the "Currently Reading" portion) but they worked for these kinds of things. Since I attached post-it notes on the "Books Read This Year" sign, I decided to take some white duct tape and secure it. I drew a squiggly line to make it look better than it does. It looks okay, but it works! If you make these, I suggest maybe cutting out a small square of cardboard and getting some chalkboard paint and painting that section. It would be lighter weight and you would not have to duct tape it to the cardboard!

Books Read in 2015: 1. The first book was After We Collided by Anna Todd (After #2)

Currently Reading: After We Fell by Anna Todd (After #3)

I'll be updating this as often as I read!!! So expect one quite a bit! I'm not completely sure how I am doing the "Books Read this Year!" I am still figuring that out!

Until Next Time Everyone!
~Amanda .xx

First Post of the Year!

This is my computer named Jem. He's awesome.

Hey Everyone!

Well, it is nine days into the new year and it dawned on me that I should start a blog. I have done blogs before, but I wanted to do something completely different from previous ones.

This blog, I decided, would be about me and my love for books. These "books" would be either books I am reading or writing! I am an aspiring author and this year will be filled with plenty of editing. That is something I can guarantee.

The book I will be editing this year (since I am a mere two chapters from being done) is called The Prince. In its original form, it is a fanfiction found on wattpad. It's about, you guessed it, Harry Styles. I've always written fanfiction, it's not something I can get away from easily because it helps my characters come to life. I do change their personalities, but writing to these people helps me get a sense of who they are. Writing on Wattpad is also a great platform for this style of writing. Look at New  York Times bestselling author Anna Todd, she had over one billion reads by the time she was published. That amount of success is not common, but it is something I can only dream of.

Something I will also be doing this year is a reading goal on Goodreads. Now, I attempted this last year (I probably passed), but I did a lot of rereads. My goal for this year is to read 52 books in total. However, on my goodreads, you will probably notice that it says 40. Basically, I want to read 40 new books this year and 12 can be rereads. Complicated, I know. I love reading and to be the best writer I can be, I have to read. It is my life.

I will see you all tomorrow with a new blog post. Resolution: blog every day of 2015, you did a shit job last year.

See you all tomorrow!
~Amanda .xx