Well, Ancient Greece was Fun. And Deadly.

Couple days late in announcing this, but I have now won NaNoWriMo for the third year in a row! Yay! I wrote 50,000 words for something that had zero plot going in, and it only took me 21 days! It was fun, and stressful, and now I can give a ton of support to my friend who is very far behind.

It was a ton of fun to write, seeing as I had people jumping all over the ancient Mediterranean and got to play around with the concept of ancient inventions! I'm essentially done the book now - only two or three more chapters left, which is a huge surprise. I finished writing my NaNo book from 2013, and its over 130K. Still not done my NaNo novel from last year. Yet here I am with this year's nearly done!

The down side is, I won't be able to finish it for weeks. I have several essays I have to write (I should really be doing those now . . .) and then it's exams. University can seriously be a nighmare. But after that I have nearly three weeks free, and I can most certainly finish in that amount of time. Then I can go back to my other projects.

Right. In other news, Nightvale is going pretty good - look for the second installment sometime in early spring or late winter. My other novel is doing pretty well. I still have mass amounts of editing for Epic. Oh, and once I finish tidying them up, The Lost Chronicles has to new stories coming! (www.writingworld.wix.com/lostchronicles - go check it out!)

There isn't much else in terms of news. I won NaNo. It finally snowed here. Now I have to try and return to university life. That kind of sucks. Can't really do much about it. Well, I should at least put in some effort. And I really need to do those essays!

Wormhole: Found

Well, after a day of dealing with the dead, I'd like to sleep like one of them. Not happening. I have an appointment to keep in the Trojan War.

That's right, as much as I love Halloween, I mainly think about one thing once the trick-or-treaters go home - and that thing is NaNoWriMo. So I spent the evening chatting with my writing buddy as we handed out candy and scared some preteens. That was fun. And good for ideas.

Now I get to say hi to some ancient Greeks! Tomorrow as I embark on the insanity of NaNo I begin the first book of a series I've wanted to write for a long time. After receiving much support and interest in the idea, I'm going to start Time Tumblers. A thirteen-book series involving a specially chosen duo that have to fix various problems in history and time.

This is definitely one of my favourite ideas. I love the characters, and the plot ideas are endless. A little too endless . . . I've a slight problem in that I don't know where the first book is going  to go! I've got mini points, point A, and point D. Those in between are . . . lacking. This'll be a fun year! And there are so many assignment I have to do for university too.

Well, everyone should wish me luck! And I hope every one had a great Halloween! Hopefully no one summoned any nasty spirits are dealt with some supernatural creatures without the proper protection. Wouldn't that be a nightmare? Actually, I'd probably have a blast . . . So happy Halloween! And now I get to jump in the wormhole to 1600 BC or so!

Enter Nightvale

Yesterday, the first installment of Nightvale became available for purchase. So what are all of you waiting for? Go and download your copy! Well, only if you want to read a quick and fun adventure about magic.

There's a nice trailer on YouTube for you to go and check out as well. I quite enjoy making book trailers, but this one took a few tries to get right. I won't bore you with the details, seeing as I'm happy with the final version.

If you're interested in learning more about the world I've created, you can always go to www.writingworld.wix.com/nightvale and check that website out. There's quite a bit I've put in there that might be useful . . . you never know. I like adding in hidden mysteries.

That's about all I can tell you. I've read some awesome books this summer, but it's mainly rereads. Though I HIGHLY recommend The Invasion of the Tearling. It was fantastic. I hope the rest of you enjoy the remainder of your summer and I hope you like exploring Nightvale. You'll be entering with about the best set of heroes you can find.

Bugs Are the Bane of My Existence

Now that I've got your attention, here's a little update on what's going on. I'm currently signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, and doing awesome. Why am I suddenly doing awesome? Because the project I chose is Nightvale.

This is mainly going to be about Nightvale. As you may or may not know, the first installment is to be released on August 5th! Who's looking forward to that? I am. I've got a little promo video up on youtube, so go and check that out! I've also recently finished writing the second installment.

So the first two installments are done, the first one is going out in about a month . . . you'd think my summer would be going great.

Yet I'm doing a terrible summer job that eats up my day, gets me scratched and covered in bug bites, and forces me to get up at a really early hour. Basically, I want school to start again. Badly. I miss my ancient history and anthropology . . .

But hey, I've read some great books. There's Shadow Scale and The Graveyard Book and others I can't remember at this exact moment. Just go look on goodreads. I have reviews up there.

That's all that's new. I'll be back in about a month (if the bug bites don't do me in).

Cover Art on World Book Day

Some of you may not have heard, but today, April 23rd, is World Book Day. It's also the Day of the Impossible Astronaut, but not everyone is a Whovian, so we'll move on. People all over are praising their favourite authors and books, which means I'll be throwing in some praises of my own.

Now I've personally loved books since I was a child. Finding me without a book at hand is actually a very hard task to accomplish because I never leave home without one if I can help it. I've always loved fantasy, which is probably why I started writing it. I think. My earliest memory of writing fantasy is in grade two when we had to write a story and I made mine about a witch so . . . I apologize for being uncertain about the origins.

World Book Day is when people are giving credit to their favourite books, the ones that changed or helped them in some way, the ones they couldn't live without. I have a few of my own - namely, books by Rick Riordan, Juliet Marillier, and Brandon Mull. And yes, I'm aware that two are "for children" and one is "for adults", but heck I started reading them all before I was even a teenager so these are life long favourites.

Each author has helped me in some way. Rick Riordan's books really got me into writing seriously. Reading them was like coming home, I was hooked from the first line and while they didn't spark my earliest novel idea, the books got me digging into childhood files and coming up with new worlds. Juliet Marillier (I hope I'm spelling this last name right) is the only one who can write "romance" without me puking in my mouth. She was the first example of intricate characters and plots I really got into, and she also showed me how to make character relations less cheesy. I'm actually okay with writing characters as more than friends now, unlike before I read her books. Brandon Mull just gave me all around adventure and fun and a new take on some classic bits of magic and mythology. I love his books for the brilliant originality.

Basically I'm saying, if you want to find a new favourite book today, I'd recommend one of them. Percy Jackson, Sevenwaters, Beyonders - my favourite series to read a hundred times over. Well, not a hundred, but you get the idea.

By this point I'm sure you're all wondering why the title has "cover art" in it. Simple. I'm about to reveal the cover for the first installment of the Nightvale series. It's not to be released for a while yet - exact date is iffy, but I'm thinking late August or early September - and for that I'm sorry. But you can enjoy the cover in the meantime.

I think the cover looks wonderful and links up with the first installment beautifully. I'm quite looking forward to the day when I can release this over Kobo (and maybe Kindle, we'll see. Kindles are a bit of a rarity in Canada).

There we are, I've said my bit. You've seen the cover and I hope you enjoy the rest of World Book Day and find a new favourite! Now I have to get back to writing for Camp NaNoWriMo . . . success will only be known after the month is complete.

In the Realm of the Night

So while I should be finishing essays (I curse the day I decided to take this course) I am instead doing this, and writing things that are enjoyable. Seriously. Like, I'm struggling to hit the word  count on this one essay, yet just last week I dashed out the 2000 word beginning of an idea in roughly twenty-four hours. They didn't even have names at that point!

Anyways. Not my main point of this post. The main point is to announce that soon (or rather, as soon as school is done) I will be releasing the first book of the Nightvale series. Or should I say first installment? Novella? Whatever.

This will be a series of . . . a number that is still being decided (I'd like for it to be around nine) and each book with be released via Kobo for purchase as an ebook. None of these are to be full length novels, but they won't be ten page stories either.

Nightvale will follow the adventures of Phyenix King, who discovers the surprising truth about her favourite game and finds herself at a swords and sorcery school, and also battling some evil. Around her is a cast of characters from those you'd find on Earth, to the utterly bizarre. Taking place in the realm of Nightvale, the series will feature just about any kind of magic you can imagine. Or, within reason. I don't want to be using up all my ideas for types of magic in one go!

While some details about its release are still being hashed out as I attempt to survive school, my plan is to release it at some point in the summer. There's a page set up on Goodreads for it, so as soon as I have a fixed date, I'll place it in the information.

Until I have more news, it's time for me to go back to writing essays and doing assignments. And, of course, also preparing Nightvale.

Family Day With The Fishes

Don't get alarmed, no one was swimming with the fishes, unless you count the diver who I saw cleaning the tank. Now that I'm home for reading week (sleep! No assignments!) we decided, over family day weekend, to head into Toronto and visit the Ripley Aquarium.

As someone who loves any animal that lives in water, it was wonderful to finally go. It reminded me a bit of the aquarium in Barcelona - both of them had many similar exhibits, including the glass tunnel through the shark tank. I loved being right underneath them, surrounded by nurse sharks and tiger sand sharks and sandbar sharks and stingrays and there was that one, elusive sea turtle.

It was along there that there was another tank in which the diver was scrubbing at the walls, surrounded by some stingrays and bonnethead sharks. That was pretty cool. Some of the other exhibits included being able to pet horseshoe crabs and bamboo sharks and stingrays - I petted two out of three. I'd already met some stringrays before and they were at the end. I just wanted to sit down at that moment. There was also an exhibit showing the stages of jellyfish growth, full of live critters - wow, they're tiny! And there was one tank that had the pods baby sharks develop in. A couple were back lit so you could see the unborn babies moving about.

Over all it was a wonderful trip and I loved the tanks. They were all so interesting and beautiful. I wish I could post pictures, but nearly all of them didn't turn out do to the glare from the glass, which is a real pity. At least I have them in my memory - and I'm sure that, should I get around to writing something underwater, things will have some wonderful details to be based upon. If you ever get a chance to go as well, I definitely recommend it!

Happy New Year, Watch out for Fairy Tales

Not even twelve hours into 2015, and this year is shaping up to be a brilliant one. Why? One very simple reason. I finally finished the first draft of Epic. I wanted to finish it by midnight, but well . . . I was literally typing the last sentence of the book as the clock struck twelve and that left one scene that I skipped over when I was doing this novel in NaNo 2013 since at the time I had no idea how to get them out of the problem.

I'm not one for celebrating, but I might celebrate this. The whole thing is massive, and now its time for a lot of editing. A lot. And once that's done . . . well, we'll see. I have to reach the point first. I've been working on Epic for a year and sixth and a half months (I don't know why I remember the exact time I started it) and now its done. It feels a little sad, but also wonderful. I feel in love with the characters so quickly, and I hope one day others will feel the same.

If anyone wants to check out a sneak peak, what was done for NaNo can be found on wattpad, and the first little bit can also be found on fictionpress. Both are under the user name of Huntress of the Sea. So you're welcome to check out that totally unedited preview, if you like. I also recommend going to see Into the Woods. I watched and I loved it. It very much got me in the mood to write.

So this is the start of 2015, and this seems to be turning out to be quite the promising year. Happy New Years!