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Meri's Corner

~ A Writer's Thoughts and Reviews

Category Archives: Personal Thoughts

Starting Right – January TBR

08 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, reading, Writing

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amreading, balancing, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, January, january tbr, life, musings, online presence, ramblings, real life, review, reviews, TBR, thoughts, time, To Be Read, update

So I wasn’t kidding when I said that I wanted to read more, and make sure to keep the reviews coming on my blog. I said in my resolutions that I wanted to read a minimum of two books a month, for a grand total of 24 for the year. That’s my minimum.

Last year I started the year late with the Good Reads Reading Challenge, so I set myself up for 15 books. Jumping it to 24 isn’t a large increase, in the grand scheme of things. But, I think it’s a good building block. And in 2019, we’ll see how well I did this year and adjust from there again. But I have started a good momentum for reading again and I want to grow it slowly, so I don’t lose sight of the other tasks on my list, or get overwhelmed with one thing on its own.

That being said, my January TBR (To Be Read) list is pretty hefty.

What am I hoping to read this month?

I’m looking to finish a couple books I started in 2017, to start with:

  • Message of the Crow by Ellen Dugan
  • Shattered Circle by Cassandra Larsen

I’m fairly early on in Message of the Crow, but I’m almost 80% done with Shattered Circle, so I think that finishing both will be doable.

I’m also looking to read the following:

  • Twisted Fate by Jessi Elliott (ARC – Watch for the Review in early Feb! And Cover Release tomorrow!)
  • Resurrection by Tucker Malarkey
  • Paper Princess by Erin Watt
  • The Selection by Kiera Cass

Now, if you’re keeping up, that’s 5 books to finish in January. That’s a ton considering I was only originally thinking of doing 2 a month. I had been hoping to finish Shattered Circle before the new year, but life, ya know. But I will finish it soon. Very soon.

Over all, I’m pretty excited for my January TBR.

Do you have a TBR for January? Is it one book or multiple? Let me know down below!

New Year, New Adventures

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amreading, amwriting, balancing, books, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, new year, online presence, original fiction, original work, plans, possible wip, ramblings, real life, resolutions, review, reviews, thoughts, time, time management, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

So the above phone is from my phone. That’s the weather right now when I get up. It wasn’t terrible to get up at that coldness when I could roll over, burrow into my blankets and do planning from bed or catch up on some of my shows. But now that it’s back to work in the am, it’s really hard to want to leave my bed.

I had hoped to get this post up on Monday, but, well. Family came first. My family always gets together New Years Day to be together, and kind of ring in the new year together. So that’s where I was most of yesterday. It was a good day over all too. I enjoy spending the time together. Unfortunately, it meant that I didn’t get much of anything else done yesterday.

I’ve been keeping a fairly decent momentum here on this blog, which I’m looking to keep going with for 2018. I want to keep posting once a week, on Mondays. (Holidays may cause posting day to be set back a day like this post) But I’m also hoping to potentially draft and schedule my posts for Monday in the future so even Holidays will have the post. =) Goals, ya’ll.

A lot of people make New Year Resolutions at the beginning of the year. I did too. Posting every Monday is one of them. What are the rest? Well.

  • Finish Editing Into the Faerietale
  • Finish Summer Starlight Festival
  • Write/plot 3 times a week
  • Read more
  • Post a Book Review on blog twice a month

Over all, I think it’s a doable list. It’s just planning out time, and making sure I sit down at work. Something that too is doable.

Do you have any resolutions? What is the one you’re planning to work really hard at? Leave it below in the comments!

Happy Holidays!

26 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amreading, amwriting, as a buyer, balancing, books, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, online presence, original fiction, original work, possible wip, ramblings, real life, thoughts, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

I hope that you’re having a happy and wonderful Holiday! No matter what you celebrate, this season is a time for family. Make sure to stop for a while and spend the time to enjoy some time with those you love, be they family by blood or family by marriage or chosen family.

This week’s blog is a little light, due to the Holidays. I’ve been celebrating with friends and family since Saturday. Yule, my annual Holiday lunch with my Aunt and Cousin, and Christmas with the family in town.

This week I do have off work, but I’m also taking some time to reflect on how this year went, and what goals I want to have for 2018. Which, honestly, will probably be next week’s blog post, at least some of it. (There’s also massive cleaning that needs to be done when not reflecting and planning)

Keep posted for my plans for 2018! They’re bound to be exciting!

Nearly 2018. Nearly

18 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts

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amwriting, balancing, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, online presence, original fiction, original work, OwlCrate, possible wip, ramblings, real life, thoughts, time, time management, update, what do, WIP, writing

This picture above? That’s pretty much been my life the last week. Me trying to do something, and some obstacle making it harder. The obstacle in this picture is my cat, PT, trying to chew on my pen while I write a letter to my friend – because we are keeping communication old school by writing letters to each other and snail mailing them back and forth. It’s actually been really fun.

Work has been increasingly hectic for me, but it always is during the Holiday season. I’m actually excited for it to be Thursday because all the interviews, visiting interviewees, and parties will be over. Most of the students and faculty will be gone, the halls will be quiet, and my brain can actually settle back down while I get started on the PhD applications for my department – something that’s not too demanding when I have actual time to organize it. And all next week, beautiful vacation. I mean, the house needs to be cleaned, and Christmas is a week from today. A WEEK! And a week after that? WE START A NEW YEAR!

Can you believe that 2018 is almost upon us?

It was two years ago that I said I was going to kick myself in the pants and get this blog back in shape. Due to… well life, it’s taken a little bit to get there, but I think I’m finally on my way to. I’ve been doing good at updating regularly and I’m planning to continue to do so. I’m looking to get a WIP page going so it lists all my current WIP. Keeps me accountable, and hopefully moving on them. And I’ve been reading and because I’m reading I’ve been able to post reviews of the books I finish. All and all this last half of the year has been incredibly productive for this side of my life.

I’m looking to also set up a schedule to work on my Etsy shop and get that profitable this coming year. A little extra income is always a good thing, I think.

As well, I’ve signed up for OwlCrate. My first one should be arriving today, actually, and I’m pretty excited to get it. I’ve been watching my friend get them for a bit now and they’re always amazing. So I figured, why not! I’m thinking of dedicating a post to unboxing it after it arrives too, which I think will be fun.

Anything you’re trying to get finished in the last two weeks of 2017? Do you already know what your new year resolutions will be for 2018? Let me know down in the comments!

Book Review: Book of Lies by Teri Terry

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Reviews

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amreading, Book of Lies, books, creativity, discoveries, musings, Mystery, review, reviews, Teri Terry, thoughts, Thriller, update

Author: Teri Terry 
Publisher: Clarion Books
Genre: Thriller Suspense
Rating:  4 Stars

Book of Lies is a first person narrated book that switches points of view every chapter between two twin sisters, who had been separated at birth and find each other seventeen years later. Piper is a practiced liar, and a girl used to getting what she wants. Quinn has been taught to never lie, and punished if she ever did. The death of their mother brings them together and sets them on a quest to find out just why their mother separated them and never told the other they had a sister.

I have to say, the first thing that drew me to this book was the cover and title. It was sitting on a shelf at Barnes and Noble, facing out so you saw this stark firey red hair to catch your attention. And Book of Lies. Who wouldn’t be interested in what that might contain.

The chapters switching between the twins I thought might be a little jarring, I don’t normally read books with switching points of view. Not because I don’t like them, but I just don’t come across many books that use that technique over all. It wasn’t as jarring as I thought it would be. Truthfully, I liked being in the head of both girl, to see how they thought, what they weren’t actually saying. It worked and flowed extremely well between the two.

The book kept me guessing on what was going on through most of it, until the big reveal at the end, though based on personalities and how the girls worked I had some suspicions as I read. What those suspicions were, and if they were right or not, well, you’ll have to read it and form your own.

I would definitely recommend this book as a read if you like mystery and suspense. It will leave you not wanting to put it down.

Words, Books, Life

11 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by MBenson in Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amreading, amwriting, balancing, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, online presence, original fiction, original work, ramblings, real life, reviews, thoughts, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

So, I still haven’t done much writing since NaNo ended. I’d say not for lack of wanting, because I do want to write it and I want to get words on paper. But truthfully if I wanted it THAT much, I’d carve out some time for it, right?

The truth of the matter is, life this time of year gets super busy. Working picks up this time of year because of application season for next Fall, and we have people that are coming in to interview and that requires travel prep that I take care of, and I am the one that plans, orders, sets up, and cleans up all of my Department’s Holiday party stuff. Personal has finalizing Christmas presents, getting all the stuff done for family, cleaning so family can visit, etc.

It’s pretty much a whirlwind until I get my Holiday break, a.k.a. the week of Christmas/New Years.

My goal this week is to try and get words on paper, before my actual break. Because if I’m writing before my break I can hopefully write through my break. That’s the goal. *crosses fingers*

Last week was absolutely amazing, despite no words written. I read two books. TWO! (Watch for the coming book reviews to a blog near you soon ^_~ )

I treated Mom to Wicked for her Christmas present. It was her first time seeing it, and she loved it. It was my second time seeing it, and I still loved it. It’s an amazing show.

Thursday I also had my writers group. =) First time I submitted a piece for feedback. I gave them a horror short. General consensus was, super creepy, would read something like this from me again. Which, makes me feel good. I’m glad it did its job.

I was considering writing something Holiday-ish if I completed NaNo, but I never worked out what, and I still need to finish NaNo. So that is the goal for the time being! Finish my NaNo WIP. My completion goal is Dec. 31st. So I start the new year with it complete, and I can dig into editing one of the novels I have drafted. I’d love to fully get it finished.

How was your week? Do you have a hectic schedule for the Holiday season? Let me know in the comments below!

NaNo – Closed

04 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by MBenson in NaNoWriMo, Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amwriting, balancing, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 17, NaNoWriMo 2017, online presence, original fiction, original work, ramblings, real life, thoughts, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

 

NaNo has closed. Did you win? Did you win by succesfully writing 50,000 words, the traditional sense? Did you win because even though you didn’t get to 50,000, you broke through and were able to write down your novel? Did you win because you were able to get the best word count you could?

Did you write this last November? Then you won! You got out those words! You didn’t let fear or work or life stop you, at least not completely. You showed that novel who was boss and at the very least started the process of getting it out of your brain.

I wasn’t able to reach 50,000 words this year. I tried. But I paused due to health and family, and that small pause was all it took to crash my motivation and kill my word count.

Total NaNo Count, like last Monday, is 24,227. Just a hair under half way.

I do plan to continue this novel and get it drafted. It’s just going to take a little longer than I originally was hoping. But that’s okay. I’ll get there. I did better than last year, at least.

December is going to be a whirlwind though. I have Wicked this week with mom, but I also had a close family friend pass away Saturday. So this week is already starting emotionally heavy. Three weeks of work before my work closes for a week and I get some vacation. I also have a Writer’s Group meeting this Thursday. A lunch with my cousin and my Aunt, it’s our annual Christmas tradition. Lots of events.

I’m also working on doing paintings to give away as Christmas gifts. The picture on this post is my favorite from the ones I did this weekend.  Hopefully I can finish the painting soon, so that’s done.

I also want to try and get back into reading. I want to get to the point where I can post book reviews on the regular here.

Any Holiday/Christmas suggestions for reading? Leave them in the comments below. (I predominantly read fantasy, sci fi, cozy)

NaNo – Week 4 Recap

27 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by MBenson in NaNoWriMo, Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amreading, amwriting, balancing, books, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 17, NaNoWriMo 2017, online presence, original fiction, original work, possible wip, ramblings, real life, self publishing, thoughts, time, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

Hey Everyone! I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

And for those that don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you just had a wonderful week. =)

For those of us in the States, Thanksgiving is a time when we gather with family, enjoy people we may not see all the time, cook some delicious food, and be thankful for the time we have together.

My family also celebrates my Uncle’s birthday, and one of my cousin’s birthdays, at the same time, so it just adds to the joy of the day. Over all it’s a good day for my family. We all gather at my Aunt’s house and she cooks the turkey (wrapped and cooked in bacon). My Mom makes a mushroom pie that is just divine. And my uncle gets enough beer as birthday presents to last him until the new year – a gift that my mom and I started when I was little and everyone and their brother decided in the last few years to jump on the bandwagon and do for him.

While it’s a good day, it’s also a long day. The mushroom pie has to be baked so that it comes out of the oven just prior to us leaving the house, so the morning is spent eating a quick breakfast and then baking. We’re out the door and to my Aunt’s for a serve time of 1pm, and then we’re there until 5/6pm. Leaves little time to really get much else done.

Not that I’m using that as an excuse. Not completely anyway. I mean, I didn’t have family obligations for the rest of the weekend. A dentist appointment and getting together with one of mom’s friends to talk about writing, yes, but nothing that ate up the whole of my day either.

Truthfully, I just needed a weekend off I think. I didn’t get a single word written from Thanksgiving through the weekend. I focused on what I felt was important to me this weekend: Family, Friends, and my Health. I also took this weekend to read, something I’m still sorely lacking a majority of the time. But it felt REALLY good to be able to just pick up a book (or well download it to my phone through kindle) and read. I started it Friday while sitting in my dentist’s office waiting to be called back and finished it Sunday morning. I pretty much did nothing but read Saturday night. And I took a little time to enjoy some video games Sunday afternoon when Mom decided to crash for a little bit because she wasn’t feeling well.

You guessed it though. It means that my NaNo word count did suffer greatly. So let’s get into the numbers, shall we.

Day 20 – 964

Day 21 – 0

Day 22 – 1562

Day 23 – 0

Day 24 – 0

Day 25 – 0

Day 26 – 0

Total: 24,227 (Goal: 43,333)

So. I’m roughly 20,000 words behind. I didn’t even bother to look at what day NaNo’s site suggested I would complete my 50,000 words, or look at how many words I would have to complete per day to catch up.

We only have four more days left of NaNo, counting today. I can safely say that because I took the weekend off, I’m not going to.

This isn’t to say I won’t continue to work on the story I started, I totally will. I want to see it to completion. And NaNo helped me to get a good portion of the way through the first draft. For that, I’m always grateful.

I will say, I have had the habit of bringing a novel back for a round two of sorts the following year if I don’t finish it or NaNo, but my goal for this novel is to have it finished before NaNo is even a blimp on my radar for 2018.

Ideally, and I’m not sure just how feasable it is yet, my goal will be to have my second Faerie novel planned out and ready to start for NaNo 2018. It’s a year off, which gives me a year to finish this year’s Fantasy novel and finish editing my Faerie book 1 novel, polishing it up before I start to save and potentially look for an editor to take a wack at it. Even, pending how long the first two goals take me, potentially have it back from said editor. We’ll see.

I’m still back and forth on if I want to try and quarry my novel or just ship it off into the world myself. There are a lot of pros and cons in both categories for what I should do. I’m still trying to feel my way through what I think might be the best route for me though.

I still have time before I get there, though. A couple rounds of edits at least.

Until next time, dear readers!

NaNo – Week 3 Recap

20 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by MBenson in NaNoWriMo, Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amwriting, balancing, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 17, NaNoWriMo 2017, online presence, original fiction, original work, ramblings, real life, thoughts, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

 

So we have completed Week 3 of NaNo! Do you feel good about yourself? Do you feel good about your word count? Do you feel good about your words? Even if you’re behind, if you’re writing, you should feel good! Because even if you’re not writing as fast as everyone else, or as fast as you’d hoped, at least you’re getting those words out!

Without further dilly dallying, lets get into my word count!

Day 13 – 1,692

Day 14 – 640

Day 15 – 0

Day 16 – 1,787

Day 17 – 129

Day 18 – 0

Day 19 – 1,700

Total: 21,701 words (Goal: 31,666 words)

It’s not looking good, is it. Every week, because of those low days or those 0 word days, I grow further and further behind. I’m roughly 10,000 words behind to finish on time. And part of me wants to be the eternal optimist and pump my fist in the air with a “I can do it!” attitude.

The greater part of me, the serious part of me that knows reality, knows how I work, and knows what’s going on in my life knows that it’s going to be a real struggle for me to catch up and, MAYBE, finish on time.

BUT!

Yes, there’s a BUT!

I’m not going to stop either. Even though I’m behind, and even though there’s a seriously good chance of me not finishing at 50,000 by the end of November, I WILL keep writing. I want this novel out, and I do want to try and catch up if I can. Life and my brain may surprise me and give me the solidly good days I need to do so, and I won’t know unless I keep going.

I will admit, this week doesn’t look greatly in my favor. My sewer line is busted and the guy is coming to repair it tonight. My tooth is cracked and I’m seeing my dentist to get it crowned tomorrow. Thanksgiving is Thursday and it means a long day of being with family who, yes I love but let’s be honest I’d rather be home writing in bed with some chips and chocolate. (I’m not a terribly big fan of turkey or some of my extended family that will be at this gathering too.)

I’m hoping, crossing fingers and toes, that I can push through my toothache related migraine to get a kick ass word count today, and even tomorrow before my appointment. And I’m hoping that either Thursday morning, or Thursday night the muses will be kind enough to me to get at least my daily word count so I don’t fall any further behind than I already am.

Currently, without adding words today, NaNo is telling me I’ll hit 50,000 on December 17th. That’s not a terrible extension, but I’d definitely like to try and reign that date closer to November 30th if possible.

It’s too bad these weekly blog posts don’t count toward NaNo, huh. I’d be about 1500 words closer to my goal. That’s almost a full day of writing right there! But, I want all the words I count toward NaNo to revolve around my novel, not talking to you, my lovely readers. So these words will just be here, written in and for November, but not counting toward November in the way that words tend to this time of year.

Keep on writing, everyone! Don’t fret about the deadline. Don’t worry about the goals. The real victory is getting those words on paper however you can.

Until next time! Stay productive! =)

NaNo – Week 2 Recap

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by MBenson in NaNoWriMo, Personal Thoughts, Writing

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amwriting, creativity, discoveries, enjoy, fantasy, goals, inspiration, life, musings, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 17, NaNoWriMo 2017, online presence, original fiction, original work, ramblings, real life, thoughts, time, update, what do, WIP, word count, writing

 

Whelp, we’ve finished week two. And I totally meant to write this Monday but my Monday was a crazy day of never at my desk even when I had lunch. And because I took Friday off, and didn’t get much done Monday due to the running around Tuesday was the zomg kill me now catch up day. Yay?

Which leaves me today, Wednesday, finally, to catch up on all the other things in my life. Like updating this beautiful blog and you lovely readers on what is going on.

My story is coming along. I just, completely randomly and out of the blue, decided to give the story three perspectives that we rotate between occasionally. Because I decided this in chapter 5, I’ll be spending today trying to look over my first four and see if there’s somewhere I can reasonably slide character B and character C’s perspectives in so it’s not a surprise when in Chapter 5 we follow them as well.

And if I can fit in their perspectives, I’m looking to write it in today as well. I want to get everything written while I’m still in the beginning of the novel, instead of trying to remember where I should have been with these characters after I finish the story as a whole.  Hopefully it will do a good job bumping up my word count as well.

If you’re wondering, I’m still behind. Sadly. So let’s get into it. How did my week two do?

Day 6 – 1,674

Day 7 – 1,727

Day 8 – 1,786

Day 9 – 1,703

Day 10 – 0

Day 11 – 825

Day 12 – 2917

Total: 15,753 words (Goal: 20,000 words)

So, you’ll probably notice that there’s this really hard, serious dip in the middle there. Day 10 happened to be Friday. I took Friday off, and set everything aside. Not to write, but because Sims 4 released the Cats & Dogs expansion. As a giant Sims fan, that’s pretty much all I did on Friday.

I mean. Look at this little girl (the cat).

How could you say no to that little face. She was my world all of Friday. And Saturday, I donno if I was just so tired of looking at a computer I couldn’t think or what, but words just did not flow. I spent the whole day staring at my computer screen and only managed to squeak out those 800+.

I’m striving to get words done this new week, though yesterday ended up a little pitiful. Currently NaNo’s site is telling me I’ll finish my 50K words on Dec. 12th. We’ll see if I can’t push that date back to be closer to Nov. 30th. I’m definitely trying to keep up. And in the grand world view, I’m already doing better than I did last year, so that’s a win, right?

How is your NaNo Journey going? Is the story getting away from you? Are you keeping it under your pen just where you want it? Let me know in the comments.

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