I'm still alive. I've just been caught up in school and another show. (: I'll be up and writing full time soon - just a few more weeks until school's out. Life is good. It's been so wonderful and I feel really blessed. Anyways, just thought I'd make a quick post.

Love,

Ashley

So...I took a vacation...yeah. Vacation's a good way to put it.

I helped stage-manage a show for my church and between rehearsals, school and theatre I ended up not spending a lot of time on...anything book related. This is me being honest. :D So there really wasn't anything to post about. And that's me trying to justify not blogging. But I'm going to do better now, between writing research papers and restoring a trunk I bought at a yard sale. So...this may be the last you hear from me in a bit...well, I'll try and not put off the inevitable as much this time. Let's say...once a week I'll write...and post. :D

Cheers!

Ashley

Sketching

Just sketching some scenes, getting a few more ideas, but now the dirty work starts to come into play. As in, rewriting. Yay. :D


Ashley :)

New Ideas!

Well...I wasn't thinking about plot or stuff writerly related, except for my monologue and it was during Acting that a new idea popped into my head. It's worth exploring but it ties me to the storyline (the last book, mainly) in a much more personal way and I'm scared. There will be a...much deeper level, I think and it's a side of me that only three people have ever seen and I didn't even mean to let them in on how deeply affected I am by what I'm about to write about. Just thought I'd share that...because I thought it would be worth sharing. And on that note, I read a quote somewhere and I can never, for the life of me, remember who said it but it's "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader" so just know that when I write this last book, I will be majorly investing in Kleenex. It will take all the strength I have to get through it but I think it's worth telling the world. So in the coming years, just know that what I'm doing will hopefully be making a difference, not just in the lives of readers but also in the lives of people who are desperately searching for a cure. You'll find out more later.

With love,

Ashley

OH. Hi!

Well, I'm getting better at this. Yes! *little happy dance*

I'm slowly acclimating myself to school again - taking two months off probably isn't the best thing to do after working hard my first semester...not that I could help it. I blame the school. XD In acting we had to do an interview with someone and write a monologue on an experience of theirs, so that's what I've been focusing on for the past few days. It's definitely more challenging than I thought because you really have to get inside this person's head. Honestly, I'd much rather find monologues than write them...

In other news...I really haven't been doing many writerly things (aside from the monologue). Mainly just school, cross-stitching (hopefully more of that will happen), school and reading. That's where it's at. :D In completely unrelated, completely random news, creme-based caramel macchiatos are REALLY good and the perfect solution to staying up WAY later than I should have (cleaning my room) and it being FREEZING outside. Just a thought. :)

Love,

Ashley

One of Those Days

You know those days where you really don't want to go to work or school because it's a really nice day and you want to ride your bike or take a nice walk, or it's one of those dreary, rainy days where you want to curl up with a good book by the fire in your comfy chair? I love those days. Both of them, equally. :)

As a writer, it's hard to keep focused on your story for long periods of time - you need a break very now and then or else you'll just get really burned out and want to give up completely on your project. I've been in that boat for the last few months - NaNoWriMo, winter break, free time at school (LOTS of free time at school) and all I thought about was editing, plotting, character sketches, the book I'm dissecting etc. and I started getting bored with it all, like it just wasn't fun anymore.

I almost started panicking a bit because that's what I do when I get stressed or anxious but I decided that I was going to take a REAL break (not the fake one that I took where I still focused on plot devices and other "non-book" related stuff that I convinced myself was okay to think about - I do a lot of thinking...) and I picked up a couple books to read just for fun. It was actually really nice, I'm not going to lie. I also decided to start cross-stitching again because I really want to make things with my hands - I also really love art stuff. :)

My day today was fantastic - I spent the morning with my family and the afternoon reading a book in my favorite chair, the window open with a nice breeze coming in (that's Texas winter for you...) and I didn't once think about grammar, spelling, plot or the word 'was.' And I decided that I need more days like this. :)

With love,
Ashley

Finally.

So, I spent all day trying to get on here to post but stupid gmail (no offense) wouldn't let me. It only showed my other email address (yes, I do have two) and it wouldn't let me change it. But it's done. Finally. :)

So, I have some very big, awesome news - I'm going to Maine this summmer! This is very big and awesome because the town my book takes place in (the first part, at least) is five minutes away from where I'm staying. I'M SO EXCITED! I'm definitely taking loads of pictures so I can map everything out properly (or as properly as I can, at least) and it's just going to be so much fun. :) My trip isn't for six months and I'm already way too excited for my own good. :D

In other news, school is pretty much like last semester, oozing with free time which is fabulous. There's a project that is suggested for all novelists - choose a book with high literary merit (not necessarily your favorite) and mark it up, saying why you like certain things, how the author uses their words most effectively etc.

At the moment, I am dissecting Cassandra Clare's City of Bones book, marking the exposition I am fond of, the action sentences that stand out the most and the dialogue I love. And also, I'm keeping track of the adverbs used (not many) and passive verbage (few and far between) just to see how she tastefully breaks literary rules. I started that last weekend because I was so incredibly too darn bored for my own good - I'm about a third of the way done, which probably says something about me and my priorities, but to be honest, three of my classes have been canceled and I have about eight hours of down time a day. Just saying. :D

I'm off to go destroy my book, as my sister would say - she firmly believes books aren't meant to be written in...

With love,

Ashley