30 Day Novel Meme... in One Post!

I "borrowed" this meme from this link right here. It looked like a good way to flesh out my novel, and after all, I did warn you about that ramblings thing. My blog might be mostly writing stuff until November is over, in which it will return to its bookish madness.

Speaking of writing ramblings, I was wondering something: what do you think about me starting a whole separate blog about writing? It would be about my journey in my novels, useful tips, and general rambling, as well as editing, prepping, etc. a novel. I'm conflicted at the moment as this would mean running 3 blogs (one a November-only blog, one bookish blog [that would be this one!] and a writing blog [the new one.]) I would like some opinions! :D

Anyway, today I'm going to be answering the questions best I can for you. Here goes nothing.

1- Name of current Project and back story of the name.
The title is Of Roses and Royalty. Since all the sisters are named after flowers, I knew I was going to include some sort of flower in the title. After talking to my writing buddy, she helped me come up with the current title.
2- Genre of the story explained in detail
High Fantasy for sure. It features two royal kingdoms with princesses and curses, but alas, no magic users. I'd say it also has a bit of questing in it, but not much. More just royal conflict, as well as Fairytale retelling.
3- Explain your PoV and Style of writing usedAh, well see here. This is my November project and POV hasn't exactly been settled yet. I'm thinking 3rd person as always, but 1st person might work too.
4- Describe your inspiration and what message you wish to bring acrossI want to portray the message of peacefulness and unity, since it's an important message to me. My inspiration for this came from out of the blue really. I don't remember.
5- Main Character Bio
6- Main Villain Bio
7- A third important characters Bio
8- Descriptions of all other important charactersAll these are in my prep notebook.
9- Explain the main basis of the plot A retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. No dancing involved in this version though. And no king trying to get people to search for the princesses. Pretty much the only things it keeps from the actual tale are the second kingdom and the twelve princesses.
10- Describe the world that the story happens in (use photos or graphics if you want)Hmm, there was a really cool castle I found earlier that would be perfect. Pretty much it takes place in a Fantasy world, but with no magic save for the curses, which can be explained by the twisted science of my novel, and no magical creatures. The first kingdom is very poor, in poverty, with threats from all kingdoms attacking Daesi (the kingdom MC's live in.) Lore, the kingdom they sneak off to at night, still needs developing.
11- All the Ships in your novel/ Story
-Theodore/Caspia (Thaspia? Caspidore?)
-Bella/Hugo (Uh... uh oh... oh no...how about Bugo, aye?)
Not much romance in this book.
12- Your favourite character to write about and why
CASPIA because I love her character so much. She's so noble, and just wants the best for everyone, but often doesn't get the best for herself. She's the eldest.
13- Your least favourite character to write about and why
Probably Bella, because I feel like I'm really forcing her character more than I ought to.
14- Which character you are most like
Hm, Dahlia probably. We are both very timid and quiet. She likes to garden more than I do, though. And she isn't fond of books.
15- Your favourite part of the story
I can't wait to see what it will be.
16- Describe any other books related to this one (eg. Prequel, sequel, follow up) or If it’s a stand alone, a sequel or prequel that you could writeI'm not sure if it will be a series or not. It depends how many more ideas pop into my head. A possible sequel could be called Of Lupines and Loyalty or Of Lilies and Loyalty. It rhymes! Get it?
17- Which published book it is most likeIt depends if the Twelve Dancing Princesses itself counts. If so, that one.
18- What stage of editing/ writing are you at?Still in prep mode!
19- Writing Playlist
The Medallion Calls (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Anything Two Steps From Hell
20- If it were made into a movie, which Director would direct it and which band would make the soundtrackI don't know.
21- Dream Cast (with pictures)
Emilie de Ravin as Caspia
Anna Popplewell as Freesia (second eldest sister, and villainess)
Anna Saffer as Belladonna "Bella"
Jessica Sula as the twins: Heather and Hydrangea "Heidi"
Jessica Brown Findlay as Dahlia
And I don't know about the other sisters
22- The Ten best things about your story
23- The ten things you could improve
None yet for either.
24- Why are you going to do with it when it’s done?Edit it! And then keep it for myself to look back on and laugh at in 10 years.
25- What is the main twist/ plot point?When they find the door to Lore is the inciting action.
26- What is the most exciting scene/ chapter/ partTheodore entering Lore, because that's what set off the curse.
27- How often do you write it and in what environment?Hopefully all November and December will be writing the novel, and I tend to write at the Write Ins in my region, and my school, and then in my room at 2 in the morning.
28- Who else has read it? Or heard about it? Does anyone know you’re writing?My writing buddies have heard about, as has my brother, and my dad knows I'll be writing it, but I've been very vague with him. (Him: "Have you been doing NaNoWriMo stuff?" Me: "Mm hmm" Him: "What are you writing" Me: "Uhhh a book, probably" that's about as far as it has gotten.)
29- Pretend you’re a critic and give a fair but concise criticism of your project so farWhen it is in the makings, the critics would probably kill it with fire. I'm a terrible writer, which is why I hope I'm never, ever published. haha.
30- Post a chapter or so for everyone to read and review
You know the drill.

NaNoWriMo, Writings, and Bookish Musings (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of my delayed update post! In this one, I'm going to be talking about my NaNoWriMo plans, general excitement, and so forth. Yay!
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, for those of you who don't know. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days-- specifically, the month of November. November is only 13 days away, which means, that NaNoWriMo is looming ever closer.

Last year, I won NaNo with 92k, and for my second year, I want to beat that count and write 100k in the month of November. 3,334 words per day. Let's hope I can make that goal!

Now, the question is: What am I writing? I've actually put some planning into it. It's a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but with less dancing, and more Sleeping Beauty. I've got all my character summaries in one notebook, and so far, 7 of the 12 sisters have bios done... I promised myself I would get them all done by the 20th. I better get working on that...

Also, I will probably not post on here during NaNo due to my daily updates on My NaNo Diary where I will be uploading my word count daily, along with writing out my tales of woe for all of you to read.

So yes. Hopefully you will learn more about my project soon-ish. I'm sure as November gets closer, my babble will increase.

NaNoWriMo, Writing, and Bookish Musings (Part 1)

Hey guys! I realized due to how busy October has been for me, that I hadn't actually updated this blog for awhile, and I wanted to get back in the swing of things! Today's post will come in two parts, because a lot has happened in the past  month in my little bookish bubble!

First, my Bookish updates. I finished reading The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, and while it didn't live up to my (admittedly sky high) expectations, it was still a good book. The final book in the Heir Chronicles is coming out on the 21st, so keep your eye out for that!

Currently, I'm reading the second book in that series, The Wizard Heir. The main character in this one is Seph, who I think I like better than I liked Jack. The plot is more interesting to me personally in this book as well and there's one mystery I can't wait until it's solved!

Other books I have finished include Hattie Big Sky and Spook. Hattie Big Sky was historical fiction, so not something I would normally read, but Kirby Larson, the author, did such a wonderful job on this book. The characters were so--so-- they were so good. Not good as in, I baked a pie and it turned out scrumptious. Not good as in 'that was a good book. maybe I'll read it again sometime.' They were good as in they had such kind hearts, such reasonable intentions, such life inside of them that it felt they were real. This is the best historical fiction novel I have ever read.

Spook by Mary Roach, was about the science behind the afterlife. It was for a school project, and if I am remembering right, I posted a review on it on my Goodreads page. I'm Waffle Writer on Goodreads, and I post a lot of reviews on that site. I gave it 5 or 4.5 stars at the time I finished reading it I think. It had lots of humor and hilarity that made me keep turning the pages, but it also had research that the author put into it, and I could tell this was not an easy novel to write. I was also impressed by how unbiased her writing was. She wasn't trying to convince us, or herself really, just was curious about why or why not.

And, last but not least, the other book on my "Currently Reading" stack is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've heard not-so-great things about the author, so I didn't want to read this book, but my English class requires me to, if I want to pass, so alas, I shall have to get over it.

Stay tuned for ramblings about NaNoWriMo, musings about my Novel Work in Progress, and more!