NaNoWriMo: Out of the ashes comes a phoenix...

I'm still going! The fact that 10 days into this masochistic ritual I haven't been reduced to a pile of quivering angst is pretty huge, honestly. I just hit 31,000 words and am feeling really good. Srsly don't even need the strikeout keys at the moment. Not that I think I've produced a masterpiece, by any means, or even something publishable. I am pretty sure the previous 10-15k words would put anyone who suffered the misfortune of having to read them right to sleep. I know I felt sleepy as I was writing them, in any case, which is probably not a good sign.

But now I'm about at the halfway point of this "novel" (can I call it that????) and I'm feeling strangely optimistic. I'm having fun again. The first ten thousand words went by really quick and smoothly. I knew exactly how I wanted to set everything up, and had a fun time doing it. But then I started getting into the nitty gritty around 10-25k, and it was kind of a snoozefest. But now at 30k, stuff is goin down and it's one feisty scene after the next, and I'm lovin it. Created a playlist to get me amped up too.

Not sure if anyone would ever want to read this (aside from my parents, obviously. Hi!) - but at least I'm having fun writing it. At least I haven't given up. I think 50,000 words by the end of November is definitely in reach, and that was the goal. (KNOCK ON FRIGGIN WOOD.)

So, for now, I'm just going to bask in the feeling of contentment that comes from doing something productive that is for yourself and only yourself. Not your employer. Not your family. Not your friends. YOU! yay.

NaNoWriMo: Onward, ever onward!!!

So I know all my millions of followers are just beating their heads on their keyboards in frustration because there hasn't been an update to this blog since Friday (HORRORS). And to that, I just wanted to say: get friggin used to it, suckahhhzzzz. I am doing NaNoWriMo this month, which means every spare moment of free time is going to be spent cranking out this pile of steaming cow dung deeply-wrought, magisterial, life-affirming masterpiece.

So far I have written 15,500 words of festering mucus poop brilliant, inspired prose, and I'm feeling like a nervous wreck who could give up at any second and accept that I will never come even remotely close to achieving the smallest of my dreams really confident!

So that's where things stand. I will be back in December though, or sooner if I succumb to the ennui which has plagued me all the weary days of my life continue this trend of inspired genius and epic productivity and finish my 50,000 words ahead of schedule!

Happy November to all!

NaNoWriMo: Great Expectations

I have decided to take the plunge and attempt NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time ever. I figure, I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to finish a novel since I was about 10, so why not try once again, this time in a somewhat structured fashion. What's the worst that can happen--I don't finish? Well, I've been there before and it wasn't that crushing. I have a full time job, so my days are occupied, but I am planning to get up an hour earlier in the mornings and crank out the words while injecting caffeine into my eyeballs if necessary, and then haunt local coffee shops in the evenings. Nothing can possibly go wrong with this plan, can it???

Anyway I would be really curious to hear from anyone else that has participated in NaNoWriMo in the past or is doing it now. Did you have an entire plot meticulously constructed before you began, or did you figure it out as you went along? Did you actually finish the novel in a month? Tell all please; any words of advice are most welcome!

Feature & Follow Friday: What Book Are You Embarrassed to Admit You LOVED?

I work with a lot of academics, so I don't exactly make it a point to bring up my untamed passion for Vampire Academy (which people who haven't heard of it before assume is a Twilight knockoff...so frustrating) on a regular basis. But I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed about it. I do sometimes get some weird looks when it comes up, but those people can shove it.

Here is an All Hallow's Eve spoOOooooOooOOoky bonus treat:

Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

I did a quick tally on my Kindle and it appears that I have read almost a dozen dystopian YA novels in the past year (not counting sequels/subsequent books in series), including blockbusters like Divergent, Enclave, Wither, Matched, and The Selection. So clearly I deserve a cookie for making it through so much dystopian doom without offing myself, no!?

Cookie aside, the point is, The Darkest Minds is without question the best dystopian book I've read this year.*

This book is scary. Bracken creates a world that is so vivid and horrifying and gritty that you really lose yourself in it; it takes over your whole mood as you're reading and stays with you after you finish. I finished it late last night, fell asleep, and when I woke up this morning it took me a few minutes to remember why I had that pit of despair in my gut. Yep, because of a book. Well done, Alexandra Bracken, that is not an easy feat to pull off!

The premise of this book is really original. All of a sudden kids between the ages of 10-18 start dropping dead of a mysterious illness. About 2% or so survive, but they are . . . different. As their peers are keeling over, the survivors realize that they've suddenly developed a variety of special powers, powers the government categorizes by color. Reds can light things on fire with their mind; Blues can move objects with a thought; Yellows can manipulate electricity, and Oranges, the most feared of all, can control people's minds. Naturally, the adult-run government is not thrilled to have thousands of super-human children running around, so they round up all the kids into what are basically concentration camps to try to stomp out their "abnormalities." The book centers on a girl named Ruby, who is classified as a Green (one of the more innocuous colors), but is harboring a secret, which, if found out, would almost certainly mean her death sentence . . .

Having just recently finished Lexicon by Max Green, which is based on the idea that certain people ("poets") skilled at the art of persuasion can take total control over another person simply by uttering a few words, I've been musing about mind control a lot lately. It is a horrifying concept, obviously, and one that presents a lot of disturbing yet fascinating ethical dilemmas. Is it ever ok to slip into someone's mind, control their thoughts, make them do something? What if it's for their own good? And are you automatically a monster if you have that ability, or is there hope of redemption? These are some of the big questions that come up in The Darkest Minds, and Bracken does a superb job of showing how the characters grapple with them and struggle to retain their humanity in a world where they are being ruthlessly hunted.

One thing I really like in dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels is when the author gives us a glimpse into what life was like before all hell broke loose. It gives us some context that we can relate to, so that when we see these characters stumbling through a strange new heinous world, there is a point of reference. For example, I loved that Poison Princess begins a few days before the apocalyptic "Flash" and we get to know Evie as a popular cheerleader just going about her life in high school. Seeing her that way added depth to her character and made her whole saga more relatable. And it is the same way in this book. The Darkest Minds picks up right as the "apocalypse" is about to happen, so that we get a peek at what life was like for Ruby (and all the other characters as well) Before. It just makes it easier to empathize; makes the characters seem more real.

The only thing that fell short for me in this book was the romance aspect. It's not that I didn't like Liam (Ruby's love interest, an absolute stand-up guy)--I just felt like his character was never as sharp/complex as many of the other characters, such as Zu, Sam, and Chubs. I didn't really understand why Liam and Ruby had the hots for each other, aside from the fact that for most of the book they are the only same-aged individual of the opposite sex that the other knows (which, actually, is probably enough when you are 16, lolz). Luckily, the romance part was not the focal point of the book, and you get the feeling that plot line will be developed more in the sequel.

All in all though, this was definitely one of the best books I've read all year. Utterly original, action-packed, with complex world-building, the whole 9 yards! 4.5 stars.

*Just to be clear I am not counting The Arcana Chronicles here, because I do not really consider those books to be dystopian, even though there is definitely a post-apocalyptic, dystopian vibe to them. Both Poison Princess and Endless Night still remain my favorite reads of 2013. Just wanted to clarify!

Top Ten Tuesday: Scariest Book Covers

I read most stuff on my Kindle these days so I don't always pay attention to jackets. Also, I don't read too many scary books because I get nightmares! But here are a few jackets that stuck out and still haunt me:

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

"They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't."

So muses Lena, the main character and narrator of Delirium, giving us a peek into the rationale behind the dystopian society she lives in where teenagers get an operation around their 17th birthday or so, removing the part of the brain that "loves." Because the reason behind all the world wars and catastrophes in the days of yore was surely...too many slighted lovers!

Maybe I've just read way too many dystopian novels lately (along with anyone else on the planet who reads a lot of YA books), but when I heard that the premise for Delirium was a world where "love" had been banned, I rolled my eyes and sighed painfully. It just sounded so lame and unbelievable (that a society would actually decide banning love was the answer to world peace).

However, I really enjoyed Lauren Oliver's previous book, Before I Fall, so I decided to give this one a try. And it actually exceeded my expectations!

Though I never really got on board with the whole "love ruined the world so we cut the love nerves out of everyone's brains!" idea, it didn't ruin the book for me. When the book begins, Lena is just a few months away from having the operation that will render her incapable of love, and she's actually looking forward to it, viewing it as a rite of passage and a much wanted escape from all the raging teenage hormones she is currently suffering. Then, as one does in these books, she meets Someone, and begins to question things.

So it's not a terribly original story line, but Oliver is a great writer and she makes it compelling. I was really surprised to find myself staying up late tearing through the book because I had to find out what Lena would decide to do: to rebel or not! Lena is a likable character and she experiences growth as the novel progresses--at a realistic pace. She doesn't just see her loverboy the first time and immediately declare "damn the surgery, I'm in LOVE and I LOVE IT!" -- it takes awhile and that is a blessing. And there are obviously lots of obstacles in the way, this being a dystopian novel with an all-knowing all-seeing iron-fisted government.

The book ends on a massive cliffhanger, unsurprisingly. Because I am an awful person with no self restraint, I immediately got online after I finished it and read some spoilers about the second book, rather than reading the second book myself. And, woof! I did not love what I saw there. Which is terrible...I should grow up and actually read it and give it a chance, yadda yadda. Maybe one of these days.

In any case, not the most original or believable story lines for a dystopian novel, but still a good read that sucked me in and kept me up way past my bed time. 3.5 stars.