It's been awhile and it's sad to say not much has happened since the last time I wrote. I have completed six chapters of Forever Yours two of which I wrote last night and today. I finally have direction for all of my characters so I'm really enjoying the story as it develops.

My cousin visited from New Hampshire/Rhode Island (He lives in both places) and we had a great time. We went mountain biking which I was terrified at first and not because of the trails since I have been on them before but because I haven't been in so long. I thought I was so out of shape but I pushed myself and I did sixteen miles. Not too shabby. Now I just need to get my rear back on that bike and back to the trails. Unfortunately its been raining almost every other day here. =( However, I'm excited to know that I can do it and I'm not as out of shape as I previously thought.

I'm on the road to a 4.0 this semester. In all the years I have been in college I have never had a 4.0 I've come close, really close but have never actually recieved a 4.0. I'm worried about my digital photography class which I'm in the high B+ range with several extra credit points so hopefully with good grades on my next two projects that will be enough to get me that A I've been striving for. Fingers crossed.

I wrote a 2,400 word paper on the First Crusade which I'm actually nervous about as well. I'm hoping I get an A but I'm not sure if I will. It was harder then I expected and with not having a considerable amount of knowledge on the time period I had to resort to textbooks and websources which made it more difficult. I prefer to have an idea about a time period or an event before writing about it so its easier for the words to flow onto the paper but this time around it didn't work that way. I relied solely on research which granted it's a research paper but I don't know I guess if I was more interested in the Crusades it would have been easier. Ok I'm babbling about that. Moving on...

I saw the Backup Plan and I'm sorry I loved it. I thought it was funny, romantic and just a fun movie all around. The relationship in the movie moved fast like a little too fast for reality but other then that I loved it. I also really enjoyed Date Night. Steve Carrell and Tina Fey are great together.

I read the Shadowland the third book in the Immortal series by Alyson Noel and while it was really good better then the others I think, it ended on a cliff hanger, of course. Now I have to wait until the summer to see what happens next. I love books in series because the stories can go on forever and you watch as the character develops and grows and you are with them through everything but I wish all the books in a series would come out together. It's so hard having to wait to see what happens next. I also forget what I read most of the time and after reading I have to go back and read the previous books to refamiliarize myself with the whole plot. Hmm if that was my only problem in life.

I'm going to spend the evening writing. Hopefully I can finish a couple more chapters.

Started on Forever Yours

I was going to take a break from writing my Forever Series but my mind didn't seem to agree. So last night I wrote the first chapter of Forever Yours. I'm excited to continue and see where the characters will take me even though I know where they will wind up in the end. Here's a peek at my first chapter:

Forever Yours
Part 1 The Aftermath
Chapter 1

What if? A simple question but one that has no definite answer. The constant thoughts of what if can drive a person crazy and make them live in the past instead of looking towards the future. It can be the demise of something that could have been great or it could force a person to revisit their past in search of closure.
After Thanksgiving Lisa was left wondering if she had made the right decision. Steve, her first true love was out of her life and it was her choosing. So why did she spend the last six months thinking about the guy she denied and debating if she made the right choice? She kept her feelings to herself. Her friends had their own lives, their own what if’s and she didn’t want to be the one who dragged everybody down with her melodrama.
She spent two months after the breakup drowning herself in alcohol and after her last encounter with Steve she didn’t need to turn to the bottle to ease the pain. She realized the pain was what made it real. The pain helped her remember how amazing their relationship once was and as hard as it was to remember it gave her the hope that maybe one day she could find that same joy.
Six months without as much as a single word from Steve and she was finally starting to move on from him. She had a million what if’s but she couldn’t live in the past and she knew that. It was time for her to start living in the now.
While the summer before she skipped the beach house to spend as much time as she possibly could with Steve before he left for college, this summer she did not. She spent her days laying on the hot surface of the sand, reading any book she could get her hands on and she even began taking pictures again. Steve had taken so much from her when he ended their relationship but she wouldn’t let him take her photography too.
It was months after the breakup before she was finally able to pick up her camera again. After all it was the camera Steve had worked hours of overtime in order to buy it for her for her sixteenth birthday. The camera captured so many of her and Steve’s memories that it was a struggle to take it out of her drawer. It documented her sixteenth birthday, their trip to the city and even their lazy summer days on the beach. It also took the black and white photograph that she had loved from the moment it came out of the printer. The photograph that was next to her bed before she had shattered the frame it was in against her bedroom wall in a fit of emotional distress.
So there on the beach six months later Lisa was in her favorite black bikini with her favorite possession in hand, her camera. She had wandered off from her towel and was taking pictures of anything that caught her eye; the seagulls swooping down into the oceans waves, the children who were building a sand castle and the shells that were sporadically spread out along the beaches shore.
Shells took the place of beach glass for her. She avoided searching for beach glass. Even though it was one of her favorite pastimes from her childhood it just had too much relevance to Steve. So instead of combing the beach for beach glass she would collect shells. On occasion she couldn’t avoid a bright green piece sitting on the sands surface but she still wouldn’t pick it up. Instead she would use her foot to cover it with a mound of sand in hopes that she would never see it again.
She could feel the heat of the sun beaming down on her face and she couldn’t help but to close her eyes and bask in the moment. There was something about summer that seemed to bring out the happy go lucky Lisa that those closest to her knew best and who had been missing for quite some time. A smile formed on her face and right when she was about to open her eyes she was swept off of her feet. She could feel the hands and their tight hold on her waist and she knew exactly who it was.
“Hey gorgeous.” The voice filled her ears and she let out a playful giggle. She was doing that much more lately, giggling. She felt the air glide across her skin as her legs flew around in a circle. Her feet were back down on the sand when she opened her eyes and kissed the luscious and familiar lips of Cameron.
Cameron looked as if he was plucked out of an ad for California. He had blonde beach wavy hair, a tan that couldn’t be faked and he was built like a Roman warrior. However, he wasn’t from California he was from New York City. His family owned a beach house on the island unlike Lisa’s family who rented one every year.
Cameron caught her attention one day on the beach when she was writing in her journal and a piece of loose paper was taken away by a coastal breeze. He chased it down the beach and returned it without reading a single word from the page. They began talking and before she knew it she had agreed to have dinner with him at the Casino, the only restaurant on the island.
Going into the date she thought the most that would come out of it was a summer fling. However, the more days she spent with Cameron she couldn’t help but recall Sara one of her best friend’s last summer fling. It was a fling she was still dealing with. A fling that brought more complications in her life than she ever thought possible. A fling that was still very much a part of Sara’s life and no more a fling but a complicated relationship with more ups and downs then a roller coaster. Lisa was all too aware of the relationship because if she wasn’t hearing about it through Sara she was hearing about it from the guy who the fling was centered around her cousin Colton.
Even though the fear of beginning a drawn out never ending fling was lingering over her head because of her best friend and her cousin she didn’t let it stop her. Being with Cameron gave her a new start. He didn’t know about Steve and the life she left behind she had a clean slate with him and that’s all she really wanted, a clean slate. A way to start her life over and not have to think of what happened to bring her to where she currently was.
Lisa took each day with Cameron as a blessing. Her personal guide to a new her, to a new life, a life without the unwanted memories of the past. Take the good ones along and forget about the bad that was her intention all along.
However, all good things must come to an end. Her time at the beach house came and went just as Cameron did. It was exactly what she thought, a summer fling, a way for her to fill her time and forget about her past. Unfortunately when Cameron was gone her past started to creep slowly back into her life.

I've been going back and forth with this and my book The Hallways of Hell. It can be confusing at times since one is in the past tense the other the present and one is third person while the other first. I have to be careful not to mix the two up.

I didn't go to my first three classes today and I am feeling so guilty about it. I didn't get to bed till late since my mind was on overdrive and I wanted to make sure to get all of my thoughts on paper. I'm still going to one class today though. My digital photography class, I have an assignment due. So right now I am watching a recorded episode of Vampire Diaries. I love that show. I just bought the first two books so I'm curious to see how much the show differs from the book. Okay I'm going to try and write before I have to head out to class.

I have finally finished my third book. I'm not so sure about the ending though I wanted to leave it open enough to lead into the fourth book but not so much where the reader is like What? No! I'm going to have my mom and friends read and see what they think. I'm now taking a break from the Forever Series (a tiny break) and am working on my other book The Hallway's of Hell. I had wrote the first 2 chapters and pushed it off only working on it when I had writers block with my other books. However, I have finally figured out exactly where I want the book to go and what I want to happen. So I am excited to get started. Still waiting to hear back from the agent I had queried. I know it can take as long as four months to hear back. Patience is key unfortunatley I need to work on that. Patience has never really been my forte.

I finally read the Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong. I read it in a day. I couldn't put it down. Now I want to go back and reread the series especially now that I have all three books and won't need to wait almost a year to finish the story. However, I lent the other books to my mom to read so I am going to have to wait. That's ok I'm now reading Sarah Dessens Summerland but it's only 198 pages so I should be done with it in one sitting. Before reading the Reckoning I read Sarah Dessen's This Lullaby which I really enjoyed. Her books are just so easy to read and always enjoyable. She really gets you caught up in the characters. I only hope that my writing is and will be as enjoyable as hers. That's my goal.

I am finally finished with all of my midterms. I am happy to report that on my Lit midterm I got a 90%, my Medieval History a 94% and my World Theatre midterm 112% the highest grade in the class. It is such a relief to not have to worry about them anymore. I also finished that awful paper on the Name of the Rose. I will get that back graded on Tuesday. Now I have a little time to myself to read whatever I want and watch as many movies as I'd like. I am currently reading Sarah Deesen's book This Lullaby I'm 124 pages in and I'm really enjoying it. I want to finish it so I can go out and buy The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong. It's the third book in a series. The Summoning and The Awakening were the first two. I read them and was instantly sucked in but to my dismay I finished them last July and the third book just came out April 6th. So I will be at the book store tonight in search of the third installment to her series. I'm dying to know what happens next.

Today is my early day from school so I came home and popped one of my Blockbuster mailers (DVD) into my player. It was The Go Getter with Zooey Deschanel. It was an independent film, I've been watching a lot of them lately, and it was okay. Not amazing. not horrible just okay. Next I went to pop in Taking Woodstock but for some reason my Blue Ray player does not play all Blue Ray discs. What is that about? It's a Blue Ray player. Needless to say I can not watch Taking Woodstock. Just as well I should really finish writing my book. I have people begging me to finish so they know what is going to happen with the characters. My mom was mad at me that I let her read it before it was finish. She was like "Why would you do that?" I had only wrote up to the part where the story was at it's climax so everyone is left waiting and wondering. I know what I want to write for the most part and where I am going with it I just haven't got it down on paper yet. Hopefully (and I say hopefully very loosely) I will have it finished by this weekend. Considering I keep giving myself short term goals and not meeting them it's unlikely but who knows maybe I will get a creative spurt. That would be wonderful. It does happen so we'll see.

Must Be a Full Moon Tonight

It has to be a full moon tonight. I am at work (Customer service rep) and every customer I speak to is border line crazy. You know it's a rough day when you are fantasizing about having a drink when you get home and it's not even noon. I just want to go home, put my pj's on pour myself a glass of wine and relax. Forget about this lousy day.

Yesterday I watched or at least tried to watch The Name of the Rose. I couldn't seem to focus on it. It was so unbelievably boring and I'm a history buff. I kept thinking it has to get better and it never did. I didn't retain any information from the movie and am going to actually try to read the book which seems like it will be better than the movie. I just have to get into the mindset and get it over with. However, in my usual fashion I will wait until the very last possible minute to get started on it. As for today I am going to try and get over my writers block. I have mentioned in other posts how I am so close to finishing my third book I just can't seem to end it. I'm writing a fourth book so it's not like the character's stories are going to end and I need to make sure everything is perfect. I just need to figure out how I am going to leave it off that it answers most questions but still leaves the reader hanging and wanting more. It'll come to me in time. I just have to paitently wait for that moment.

Sunday is Easter but it doesn't really feel like it to me. My boyfriend insists it's because I'm getting older but I don't know. I used to love the holidays. I would decorate for each one and be excited the entire month and now it's just like any other day. Maybe he is right. Do holiday's lose their luster as you get older and if that is the case why? Why can't a holiday be just as exciting when you are older? I told him I want to color eggs. His response: "Why? You never eat them and we'll just have to throw them out." He's right but it's a tradition to me. I'm big on tradition and he doesn't get it. I have traditions for each holiday and without them it just isn't the same. I might be getting older but I will never give up the traditions that I loved as a kid. Heck I'm 25 and I still go to my parents on Easter and my dad hides plastic eggs with money and chocolate in them. My boyfriend never puts up a fight about looking for them he always happily joins in on the fun. Maybe we just think we can't enjoy the holidays like we once did but I'm here to say we can.

The warm weather has finally arrived. It took long enough. Unfortunately I can not be outside enjoying it. I am stuck inside watching the movie The Name of the Rose. I had to read the book for my Medieval History class and of course I have yet to do so. It was assigned three months ago and I have a six page paper due on it Tuesday. I'm not that worried though. I am a procrastinator but I do work better under pressure. I may lose my temper and want to rip my hair out but I always get it done. I feel like the earlier I start something the more I dwell on it and then I wind up either putting way too much effort into it or I start second guessing everything I did in the first place. I'd rather finish whatever it is hand it in and be done with it. So I will be busy at work tomorrow trying to write this paper. I'm lucky I have a job where I can do so.

I finally recieved my reviews from The Amazon contest. One was pretty critical the other I found more helpful. I don't think either of them were terrible. I read a few people who posted their reviews and the reviewer pretty much ripped their story and them apart. I am so grateful that for that was not the case. Both reviewers pointed out that I made many grammatical errors. Which I can not deny in any way shape or form. I didn't exactly reread and proofread before submitting. One reviewer liked the chapter and I piqued their interest. The other felt there was no hook and I do agree with them. There was no hook at all. I added a new beginning paragraph that I think can pull the reader in and leave them curious to how the story will play out. The same reviewer also noted how I was overly descriptive and within the description I lost the voice of the story. Again I agree and if I would have listened to my mother in the first place I would have taken out most of the description. It really is true "Your mother is always right." I have to remember that plus the fact that my mom is probably one of the few people who will be 100% honest with me at all times. So I have proofread the entire first chapter, wrote a new intro paragraph and reworded a few lines. I am going to have my mom read it for me and see if she thinks it is any better. Once I get the thumbs up from her I will move on to the second and so on. I should have did all of this in the first place but what can I say other then I guess I was a bit overconfident.

I'm going to finish watching the Name of the Rose now and maybe even skim through the book. I wouldn't bet on it though. I still have roughly four days until it's due. I more likely will try and finish writing my third book. I am at the end and I can't seem to just finish it. However, I really should take advantage of the nice weather. Go outside sit in the sun, I could even bring the book with me. Hmm.........