What I learned in 2013 (as a person and a writer)

You probably won't believe me when I say that 2013 has been the best and the hardest year of my life. I'm sure you can see me now, crying into my Starbucks coffee and furiously texting my friends about the typical teenager girl dillemas. "Why doesn't he like me?" "Why don't I have a thigh gap?" "My parents are sooooo strict!" etc. Fortunately for you (and probably everyone I know) I'm not that dramatic, and I ain't just blowin smoke when I reiterate that this has been one of the best and hardest years of my life. Honestly, I wouldn't be sad if 2014 carried on similarly, because I've enjoyed myself immensely these past 12 months. I thought I would go over some of my favorite things of the year, along with ways that I have grown as a person and a writer. Feel free to skip down to the lower section of this post if you don't care about my personal life. Go on, I won't be offended. *cue sappy montage music*

Favorite Book: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Please, don't do yourself the diservice of neglecting to read this book.

Favorite movie I saw in theatres: I think I'll stick with Catching Fire, although The Desoloation of Smaug is a close runner up. But Monster's University was really good too! Do you see my problem here?

Favorite blog: That's still gotta be thewritepractice. Seriously, if you're a writer, that website will become your new favorite reference.

Ok, now why was this year so awesome? Well, I happened to do a lot of things I never had before. SHARE TIME OMGGGG!!! (sarcasm) but here it goes: I learned how to drive, I got my first car (I know right? Go me!) I went to my first "concert". Yeah, I saw the Pentatonix but I'm not sure you could call it a legit concert since it was free and they just performed at a local pavillion. Either way, it was awesome. I performed in my first "concert". I also put this in quotes, because by concert I just mean that I joined choir and we did a lot of performances. I made lots of new friends, grew closer to ones I have known for a while, and received my first fancy rejection from a publisher! (more later)

And finally, as I writer, well--I learned a lot. As afore mentioned, I received my first rejection regarding my full mauscript, rather than just a query. Meaning, a legit new york agent read my story, and told me what she thought. There were things she liked and of course, things she didn't like. The entire exchange ended up being more encouraging than anything, and I was mostly pumped about the free, yet professional advice. For now, I have laid aside an old story, and dedicated my time to a new one which I have much more faith in. If anything, this year I learned to listen to your literary instincts. Don't do what the current patterns recommend, or what you think is the "proper" thing to to do. You're a writer! You've read tons of books! And by now you should know a thing or two about what you're doing. Stop listening to the masses and start listening to yourself! HOWEVER, I would equally urge you to seek out honest opinions. Try to get a varied audience and learn to sift through their varied opinions.

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my year. I would love to hear about your 2013 in the comments!

Book Club Suggestions

Alrighty folks, I have received just enough partcipants to make my online book club happen, HOWEVER, I have only gotten three book suggestions, and I am giving y'all one more day to submit some more choices if you desire! Between the 30th and the 31st I will choose what book we will be reading and discussing in January.  Feel free to comment below or email me at: karolinamazingATgmailDOTcom

Little Things (No, not the One Direction song)

Little things that make me happy.

When you ask a stranger to take a photo of you and your friends, and they get to share in the moment.

Mixing two different colors together and watching them swirl until a new color is formed!

When boys are polite and chivalrous

Finishing a good book with a smile on your face

Compliements

Communicating with your friend via facial expressions because you know each other that well

Quoting "The Princess Bride"

When the blows in your face from the right direction, and you feel glamorous

Being the only ones in a movie theatre, so you and your friends laugh hysterically at nothing and everything

Getting random presents

When your dog wakes you up by jumping on your bed and licking your face

Feeling inspired

Singing Disney songs in a ridiculous voice

When a guyfriend randomly tells you "you're beautiful" 

Coincidences

When somebody says "your hands are cold" and they press their warm hands around yours

Talking about the future with your friends

And finally, Christmas morning

I hope you enjoyed this post that's a little bit different for me! Oh, and you haven't seen my post about joining my online book club from last week, be sure to check it out! Happy Holidays :)

Do YOU Want to Join my Online Book Club?

Hello bloggy friends! So, I have a little idea that I'm super excited about, however it will be all for nought if I can't find some worthy participants. SO, if you would like to participate, PLEASE share this on your blog, tweet or do whatever you have to do! On January 1st 2014 I will be starting on online book club! Throughout December I will be responding to whomever wants to participate via email, and I will probably be emailing my followers anyway. This is the list of rules and expected process!

Throughout December I will (probably through email) ask ya'll to each to submit a candidate for the book we will be reading in January. Then, I will choose the "winner", possibly based off of popular vote. I will try to do this before the new year so that ya'll have enough time to go get the book before we start reading.

#1: ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IS WELCOME TO DO SO! However, each month I will pick TWO different people to blog with me here, at asateenwriter to share their thoughts and opinions. I will probably pick at random but this way we will have three different viewpoints. I will pick different people every month. For those of you who are not partcipating in the blogging part, I STILL WANT YOU TO READ WITH US! This way, we can have a compelling discussion both on the blog and in the comments.

#2: You will have approximately one month to read whatever book we pick. I will post the review or whatever you want to call it on the last Thursday of said month. This means I will need you to email me your own little review sometime before then. If you will be blogging with me I shall email some more of the finer details and guidelines :)

WELL, I hope you're as excited as I am! I apologize to my followers who may recieve a repetitive email invitation from me soon. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! I hope to hear from you soon :) Happy Holdiays and happy reading!

My Favorite Winter Memory

     It was Valentine's Day in 2004. I was a seven year old with short hair and bangs, sleeping cozy in my bed, unware of the white magic taking place outside my window. My dad gently shook me awake and whispered, "Did you know it snowed last night?" Too ecstatic to reply, I skipped to my window in my pajamas and gasped at the winter wonderland. I had never seen so much snow before, and the world was covered in a 6 inch thick blanket of beauty. I couldn't wait to go and out and play with my brothers.
      "Where are Parker and Luke?" I asked.
      "They're already outside." Daddy smiled. Without another word I began to bundle up in pants and a coat that probably didn't match. Stepping outside, I smiled at the big grey sky and eagerly stomped into the snow, ready to leave my mark upon this rare occasion.
     "You're here." said my brothers, when I found them rolling snow balls in our large front yard. "You can help us make a snowman."
     As always, I followed their command and began making a snowball like I had seen people do in movies. After some minutes, however, I still had nothing to show for my work but a pile of powder in my hand. "Here," Parker crouched down beside me and started mushing a ball together. "Like this." I smiled at him and together, we starting rolling a snowball, back and forth, until all the snow in that part of the yard was gone. Luke rolled another one beside us, and all the while I smiled. I didn't know what my brothers had in mind to build, but I knew it would be marvelous.
     Soon, my dad and other neighborhood kids appeared in our yard to borrow some snow and help with our project. Just when I thought we were done rolling the biggest snowballs I had ever seen, Parker declared that it wasn't done. He and Luke kept rolling, and rolling, until they had two giant wheels. Neighborhood kids gaped in admiration, throwing their snowballs which seemed pathetic in compariosn over their shoulder. My dad and my brothers began stacking up the snowballs into a faint snowman shape. But the project was getting a little out of hand. Our snowtower reached such a great height, we could no longer shape it.
     Yet father came to the rescue and brought out a ladder to finish off the head. We laughed and marvelled when he stepped down to reveal a head carved in the distinct shape of Abraham Lincoln's face; he even placed on a top hat for full effect. Our snow masterpiece reached to twelve feet tall! The creation stood as a beacon of hilarious creativity in the neighborhood. As my brothers and I started on more projects such as a "snow fortress", folks from down the street came over with their cameras.
     We felt like famous architects, posing beside our fabulous creation as strangers took pictures and pointed with open mouths. And every year after that it snowed, folks from all around knew which house would have the greatest snowman.

(My oldest brother Parker posing with the snowman. I couldn't find any pictures with the rest of us, I guess he thought the credit was owing to him ;)

I hope you enjoyed this little anecdote! Do you have a favorite memory? Share them in the comments below!

Look Out Your Window - Writing Prompt

I may have an unfair advantage when it comes to this prompt, since we are currenlty experiencing abnormal conditions. However, I know what talented followers I have, and I want you to participate! Don't go outside, just take a look out whatever window is near you and briefly describe what you see. My challenge to you is to keep it as short and sweet and possible, while creating a fully-fleshed description. Here's mine:

Frost and fog cover the windowpanes with a smooth, opaque haze. But if I rub my hand and make a wet circle on the glass, I can see the winter wonderland outside. The small tree looks even smaller than normal with ice weighing down its branches and determined leaves from a short lived autumn are still visible through the layer of ice. To my right, three cars sit in the driveway, completely covered with snow: they won't be going anywhere for a while. Across the street, past the lane of chunky slush, I can see houses lined with small icicles. My favorite part are the roofs, clothed in a pristine sheet of white, unmarred by footprints.

Leave your practices in the comments! I'm eager to see how well I can picture the view from your window, based on the descriptions :)

Catching Fire - Movie Review

I saw "Catching Fire" a few days ago. Because I missed opening night and had to spend a whole weekend of hearing my friends gush about it, I was in a flurry of excitement to finally see the film. As somebody who likes but doesn't love The Hunger Games series, I displayed an uprecedented amount of antcipation to see Catching Fire. I never saw the first movie in theatres and when I finally did watch it, I wasn't blown away. However, Catching Fire I felt, was honestly incredible.

 As afore mentioned, I am a mild fan of the series. For me the first book was just kind of take it or leave it. Catching Fire however, was a different story. The book enthralled me with its plot twists and dynamic circumstances. Katniss too, in my opinion grew as a character and became more likeable. (Also, I totally switched from Team Gale to Team Peeta. Sorry.) The makers of the movie did a pristine job of bringing the story come to life; they only left out a few minor elements. Everything felt so well-paced, it was like reading the book all over again. But you didn't get bored. It was the pefect lenght. In addition, I have officially converted into a Jennifer Lawrence fan. I used to not understand the hoopla and giant fan-base that surrounds her, yet her peformance in Catching Fire totally sold me. She really is a tremendous actress who deserves every ounce of her success. Her speech to district 11 brought tears to my eyes, and that's saying a lot for someone like me. I'll skip my gushing over Josh Hutcherson and Sam Claflin (Finnick) and assure you that they cast all the other tributes perfectly. Beatty and Joanna especially fit the roles to a t. While in the first movie, certain elements did not seem fully explained, with Catching Fire they revealed just enough so that the non readers could understand, while also allowing them to put some of the pieces together.

The arena, the woods, the corocupia, all appeared exactly as I had imagined them. That credit may be due to Suzanne Collins, yet nevertheless it was a treat to see. And just as I expected, the monkeys were absoloutely terrifying.

Even though I would give the movie a 4.7 out of 5, there are probably a few negative elements I should warn the die hard fans about. While the relationship between Finnick and Mags was wonderfully executed, they barely touched on Annie and didn't explain what she meant to Finnick. Also, Peeta and Katniss' score from the gamekeepers is never mentioned, which to me seemed to defeat the purpose of showing their skills at all. Even so, those are minor touches and I thought the film was excellent. You can bet I would pay to go see it again. It gives me hope that maybe they can actually make Mockingjay into a good story.

Have you seen Catching Fire? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!