A Spoonful of Reality Makes Rejection Go Down

What I'm Listening To: I'm Not Dead-Pink

You may be thinking morbid song, but I love this song by Pink. I love Pink in general, so this is rather a good mood song, inspirational song. I have more news, updating really and carrying over from my post the other day about rejection. Today I found out that the publishing house decided not to go with my poetry book and that my run with the ABNA awards has ended today. I have four queries sent out to agents at this time and will add another one to the round until I decide to wait for them all.

I was actually talking to my dad today (if there was ever an ideal guy, he would be it) and we talked about my book. He actually asked me what it was about, and I found that I was pleased that he was interested. He knows that I write, but I guess he never knew how much until I'd been struggling with trying to get my book published until today. I felt good telling him about it and uplifted because I know that I just need to keep going. If you have a dream, you are going to chase it until it turns into dust or until all of the possible avenues  to make it a reality are exhausted. I don't feel too bummed, I'm just going to keep entering and writing and trying until something happens or I'm dead. I know that I was meant to write. I feel it in my bones. Remember, once you've taken a ton of rejection, you will get used to it and it will be easier for you to keep plunging in.

Spring Break is next week, and I plus the entire UW-Madison campus cannot wait. It will give me time to hopefully finish up to the seventh or eighth chapter of my new book and then finish that over the summer. I think I'm going to take a year off of writing to focus on being fluent in Spanish next year, then write for another year, and then live in France for a bit to master French. At least that's the plan. For now, I just have to make sure that I graduate and that I have these books under wraps. Keep on trucking world!

Official Eclipse trailer is out TODAY

What I'm Listening To: PYT (Pretty Young Thing)-Michael Jackson

So the Eclipse trailer is out for all of the diehard Twilight series fans (I'm not diehard but enjoy the books, movies are another story....). There's also a really cool fanmade trailer that I almost thought was real except for the slightly bad quality and the fact that the person mashed together pieces from other movies and the Victoria in the Eclipse movie is different than the Victoria in the first two movies. I have to say, I will be seeing the movie just because I started watching them so I will therefore finish watching them. Although the switch from Rachelle Lefevre to Bryce Dallas Howard was a little weird, but that was known months ago. Have to say, from the little bit I saw, they do look a like in the trailer and it will be interesting to see if Summit can pull this off. I just hope that Bryce brings her A-game to the table when she acts and then I'll have no complaints.

Basically, the Eclipse trailer is out as preview for Robert Pattinson's (NOTE: that was the cutest picture of him I could find and it was playing Edward) new film Remember Me. All I'm saying, is that I'm going to see it for Pierce Brosnan (he's still got it!) and then I'll see if Pattinson's acting wins me over. I have to see if I haven't been giving him enough credit, although in the roles that I've seen him in (Harry Potter does not really count) he has the tendency to play a brooder. Really the only other film I've seen him in is Little Ashes where he plays Salvador Dali. I thought the movie was okay, but I didn't think he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He's attractive (only in Twilight as Edward) and I feel that if he did his hair once in a while and put on clean clothes once in a while, he could be to me. But before this sounds like me bashing him, which really isn't my goal, I'll move on.   

Had my midterm today for Communicative Disorders. Think it went well, but usually when I think that, they don't....so I won't jinx it. Plus, this is what I want to study, so I want to maintain a positive outlook, especially if things don't go as planned. Still waiting to hear back from BOA Editions about the poetry book, and ABNA results come in again next week to see who is still in the running for the prize. I just finished a ton of Study Abroad stuff and I'm following up with that and trying to plan to go somewhere every month in Europe. Some ideas tossed around were Octoberfest in Germany, Amsterdam, Paris for NYE, Ireland for St. Patrick's Day, Morocco, Egypt, London, and New Zealand. I honestly can't wait. Any ideas on where I should go?

Midterms & Nicholas Sparks

What I'm Listening To: Proud Mary-Tina Turner and Ike

I feel at peace, except for the throbbing in my calves. I did a stair workout the other day, combined with a strengthening workout for my calves and a 5 min ab workout thrown in. Boy, did I feel refreshed. I have missed being as physically active as I was in the past.

Midterms are still raging. This week into the next is my hell week. I have a midterm for my ComDis 240 class on Thursday, two on Monday; one for Spanish 223 and the other for AOS 100, and then my next exam is Wednesday for Philosophy 210. I will need on the strength I can muster to get into next week. Everything is looking up now that I got accepted to Spain, and everything is falling into place. Even the most trivial, such as my hair. If you, woman or man, are ever worried about hair growth or loss, get Beauty4Ashes and I guarantee you that you will see a difference. It is working wonders for my hair and is making me wonder whether I am going to get kinky twists or not when I go to Spain.

So when I'm taking a break from midterms, I am writing. I am now at a little over 10,000 words, basically the first two chapters, but I am trying to concentrate on midterms these next two weeks so not a whole bunch of writing will get done. And then spring break! I'm so excited to go on spring break that I can barely contain myself, mainly because I have never really gone anywhere for spring break and this year I am going to Daytona beach with a couple of people. The poetry contest is supposed to be announced this month and the next phase of the ABNA awards is next week as well. Keep wishing me luck! I had to do some more research for the worlds, especially Vanheimr because I had to know what I wanted in order to draw it. I am no Tolkien, but I do believe that my little worlds look fabulous. Norse mythology is amazing, I wish they had more books based on it, but at least my new one can be a modern interpretation of it.

Minor detail: my phone broke so I'm using my old phone (going back to the good old Pantech Matrix) and going in between that and my HTC Touch so that I'm still able to talk to people. It could be worse, but because I'm not on Facebook and can't really use my phone, the only options left are email and twitter.

Another minor detail, so my co-worker Joanna and I were having a conversation about Nicholas Sparks and his books/movies. I loved A Walk to Remember and The Notebook as movies (I've only read A Walk to Remember), but we noticed a disturbing pattern. Basically all of his books have someone tragically in love and then someone has a terminal disease and dies or something. And I'm no expert on this, especially because I haven't been published yet, but I almost wish he would write something different, maybe a story about someone who had an amazing love story with a normal life without the audience feeling sorry for them because they had a disease--something different. I mean, he's the master at that and he'll probably keep doing it because he makes money at it and that's all he's really known for, but I'm tired of seeing his books being made into movies because 1) I feel like they aren't accurate to his books anyway and 2) It's the same old story and he really tells it the same old way (formula: terminal disease, someone falls in love and someone leaves or dies). Think about it, I'm only going to reference a few: The Notebook=Alzheimer's and old age, A Walk to Remember= Leukemia, Dear John =autism, Last Song =stomach cancer, Message in a Bottle (he died trying to save someone from drowning, but you get the picture). But people will keep buying the books and watching the movies (I probably will torture myself and see Last Song, ONLY to see if it's any different, but it just sounds painfully the same).

And another thing, the fact that he Miley Cyrus said jump and he basically said how high made me sad. The writing process for this script was basically that she wanted a film to break out of her kiddie roles and said she wanted to do something like A Walk to Remember because that helped Mandy Moore. So Disney made a few calls and he wrote up a screenplay (before the book mind you) and then SHE and her family agreed and approved it and there you have Last Song. I'm waiting to see how good this acting will be and I don't know if I agree with how that was done, that scares me, but whatever, that's basically how rich people exercising their money get what they want. That's just my opinion though...

ABNA Results

What I'm Listening To: Earth Angel- The Temptations

PHEW! It's been a while. Sorry about the huge hiatus, but when you go to college, run a magazine (and hold three positions within said magazine), are on Student Council and the Diversity committee, work a job with two separate titles (IG and recent promotion to Housing Specialist), and are writing a new book, life tends to get a little hectic. Hopefully, you've been following my tweets and haven't been too lonely. Some updates:

1) It's Lent. You may have been following me on Twitter, but I deactivated the Facebook account. It's actually kind of refreshing. Not permanent though. The other thing that I gave up was sushi. This will be interesting...

2) I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards (ABNA) and yesterday the results were posted for who made the cut from 10,000 entries to 2,000 entries. Nostalgia made the cut, and I'm really excited to see how far it goes. So wish me luck and let the race keep on going!

3) Got promoted to Housing Specialist at my new position with Campus Area Housing (CAH)! It's fab and my boss is amazing. So if you need a place to rent and are in the Madison area, call me (at my job)

4) Still have to get confirm the Madrid, Spain trip for next year. Study Abroad program, don't fail me now...

5) Applied to be a camp counselor this summer with the PEOPLE program this summer. Hopefully I get it. Should be awesome!

6) Finally going somewhere for Spring Break this year! Daytona Beach and sun and spectacularness here we come ;)

7) Doing Mike Geary's The Truth About Six Pack Abs routine. Amazing! All that you know about abs is probably WRONG

That's basically an update from two months worth of work. I'm still writing, still carrying the load, and still staying beasty. So during this Lenten season, focus your eyes on the cross and focus your eyes on what you can do to make the world around you a better place.

The Age of Sweet Potato Fries

What I'm Listening To: Mighty to Save-Hillsong

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED. I was running around with my head cut off, and still am. Hopefully next week will be a little bit better. Some highlights are that I submitted NOSTALGIA to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition. I'm excited to see the outcome of that, but we'll see how it goes. They go until people submit 5,000 copies or the deadline closes. I still have to re do my website and those logistics. I switched my major from Journalism to Communication Disorders. Prime Magazine is doing all right and hopefully it will only grow. Running a magazine is definitely difficult at times, but the goal is to keep doing what I can to make Prime a success. I'm applying to be a counselor of the Summer Collegiate Experience (SCE) this summer in Madison. Also, I've finally mapped out all of the history and finished the research for my new fantasy book about faeries and elves. I actually started writing last night, so I'm excited. I cut down from 16 credits to 13 although it still feels like I'm doing a lot. I'm still an Information Guide at the Red Gym and I've also taken on the position as Housing Specialist. I'm also training girls for the Miss Black and Gold pageant in a couple of weeks, solidifying my role in the Vagina Monologues in a few weeks, and going to Primetime with Campus Crusade for Christ more often. It's amazing. My friend and I are very happy to be a part of the organization. Mostly, I've been trying to do some reading. The Wicked Lovely series is truly awesome and I can't wait to read the other books. Most of my reading has been towards the spiritual side of my life. That's mostly it, other than the fact that I've been mostly eating out or buying random food because a lot of times it's awful and I'm sick of eating the same thing. So that's mostly everything in a nutshell. Wish me luck for ABNA!