Fast Five Friday!

All week, I was waiting to get to today's post and forgot to schedule it. I can't with myself sometimes.



It's finally time for Fast Five Friday again! Each Friday, the Cover Girls, Dani and Jax, ask us fun questions that anyone who wants to participate can answer in list form. Visit their page which will also take you to their individual pages to see what their fast fives have been. I have a month's worth of questions to look through, so let's see what we have.

Jan 6: 5 things you didn’t get done in 2016 but plan on doing in 2017?

Lose weight
Find a job I'm happy with
Snag an agent
Buy a guitar
Go out more


Jan 13: If you could only have 5 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Thin crust pizza
Tacos
Sweet potatoes
Sushi
Eggs


I find it hilarious that one of our Jan. 6th answers was lose weight/get in shape, and then the Jan. 13th question is about food. hahaha


I hope everyone has a good weekend! I've got a lot to do, but I also plan on getting my Final Fantasy XV Chocobo Carnival on. lol





Tuesday Tales: Character Tats!



It feels like it's been ages since an actual Tuesday Tales. I've been using Gotham's Character Questionnaire for several of these, and a question about scars made me think of Cyan. So, we're catching Brodie to tell us about their tattoos!



Brodie: You know, I often forget I have one, honestly. It's a tattoo of my eagle, the messenger falcon my sisters gifted me when he was still in his egg. It goes across my shoulder blades. I suppose it's because none of my siblings have any tattoos, but I was unaware that placement matters, pain-wise. A tattoo carved into the skin above your bones is highly unpleasant.

Cyan's tattoo is Trollic tradition, a commemoration of his first battle wound. A wild elk charged Ghuli* when she was little, and he fought it off. The location of the tattoo shows where he was injured--the elk bit into his neck and gored his arm with its antlers. It is also designed in the shape of antlers because of the elk. He was the youngest hulktroll to receive a battle tattoo.
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I might actually draw Brodie's tattoo. It never crossed my mind to. I think I can draw an eagle...? lol Are any of you inked up? I have my zodiac constellation on my ribs (which was torture).






*This post occurred before I changed Ghuli's name to Jonnie*

Wednesday Words: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin




Happy Hump Day!


I'm trying to start the year off right with my reading, so I've cracked open N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season, which I bought at least six months ago now. I'm really excited to read this and have a lot of her work I still need to read. Y'all know how I feel about The Inheritance Trilogy (and just in case you don't, here you go lol 1, 2, 3 posts about the series).



The Fifth Season is the first of the Broken Earth series (I should probably change my series name now lol), and in the first 90-some pages that I've read, I'm so ready to read more. Others thought so, too--it won a Hugo! The first words you see when you open the book, an excerpt from the book itself, leaves quite an impression:

But this is way the world ends.
This is way the world ends.
This is way the world ends.
For the last time.

So, let's peek in on this book somewhere to see what else is going on. There are 498 pages, but Random.org is giving me the last pages, and I refuse to ruin this for myself, so let's go between what I've read. 1-90. Random.org gave me 7. Much better.

Lastly, he reaches up. For power.
He takes all that, the strata and the magma and the people and the power, in his imaginary hands. Everything. He holds it. He is not alone. The earth is with him.
Then he breaks it.

Reading this again, and having gotten even slightly as far as I have, I now understand what this scene entails, and I'm SO ready to pick this book back up!

What are you reading this week?

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Brought to us by Alex. J Cavanaugh and the Insecure Writer's Support Group


Happy New Year!

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves however they do over the holidays. I walked/jogged my first 5k this past Sunday. I hope to add a little more jogging the next time, or figure out how power walkers do it without their shin muscles cramping up!

Writing/reading/etc.-wise, I'm starting off the new year co-hosting the querypalooza Become An Agent with SC Author. I've never co-hosted anything, but I think I can do it. I'm currently pretending like I'm a query expert and am posting tips for the event. I'm also hoping to actually make my Goodreads goal this year, so wish me luck!

Now for the first IWSG Question of the Month of the year! ha

What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?

Ironically, it was all over the December newsletter, so no offense to those who said it, but I hate this "rule" more than anything: Write daily.

This can make writers feel like they're not writers or not going to make it just because they DON'T write daily. Things happen, life happens, and it's not an excuse when they do. If you can write thousands of words a day, then good for you. If you open your laptop and happen to just stare at the screen for hours and nothing comes to mind, that's okay, too. Try again the next day. Instead of telling people to write daily, just tell them to keep writing. It's way less pressure and a lot more encouraging, in my opinion.

One goal I have in 2017: Get back to reading other people's blogs! So see you tonight!