Laura's blog

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly writerly meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. What I'm reading I got a copy of Nick and Tesla's High Voltage Danger Lab to review! This book looks like fun. I've been reading more Middle Grade lately, and I like it a lot. I also read and reviewed Asylum . I didn't like it, and only finished it so that I could write a fair review. Various aspects didn't really sit well with me, and the writing fell flat. Others might like it, but for me it was "meh." I am also feeling the urge to re-read some of my favorites: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lies of Locke Lamora, All The World's A Grave, and even A Game of Thrones. There's a reason I put all these books waaaay up high on the shelf. I have no business re-reading right now when I have so much material to get through... What I'm writing Contracted is pushing 60k. My progress on this WIP continues to surprise me. I can't believe I started th...

It's Wednesday again. What's up with you? What I'm Reading I just finished MILA 2.0. It's a great book! I would probably give it four stars, because five stars for me is me jumping up and down and pestering all my friends to read it. I wasn't quite that crazy over it, but it's still good. And I cried at the end. MILA 2.0 also gets major points for one of the best mom-daughter dynamics I've read in a long time. What I'm Writing Contracted , as usual. And...um...oops. Big oops. I kind of...accidentally reached 50,000 words. :P Before November. Bad me! Oh well; I was going to NaNoRebel this one anyway. Now my NaNo goal will be to finish the story, I guess. I have no idea how many words that will take. What Else I'm Up To Making ravioli. And, weirdly, crying a lot for no known reason. I did just get new contacts, so it's probably a reaction from the rest of my body to my eyes feeling watery and irritated a lot. I also just finished a stag...

Since signing up for NaNoWriMo, I've been spending a lot of time on the forums. They're a great resource.  Because Contracted is fantasy, I've been hanging out on the Fantasy forum a lot. In the process, I've found out some things about the WIP that I didn't know myself. It fits into sub-genres I didn't initially realize, including some that I didn't even know existed. Such as: High Fantasy: fantasy that takes place in a non-Earth dimension, alternate world, or universe. (Contrast with Low Fantasy, which takes place on Earth.) Lumped in with Epic Fantasy, and the terms are interchangeable (although I prefer to differentiate between the two because High refers to the setting while Epic refers to the nature of the story).   Epic Fantasy: lumped in with High Fantasy. Fantasy that features a quest, journey, multiple locales, a sense of sweeping scope and scale, or characters with epic stature, such as monarchs and heroes. More likely to have an episod...

What I'm reading  MILA 2.0 has been sitting over in the sidebar since summer, and sitting sadly on my Nook for PC since I downloaded it. I want to get back into it -- I left off right when things started to pick up -- but I feel really guilty whenever I read anything that isn't related to class. I also ordered The Weir and Other Plays and 'night Mother to read as possibles for my senior thesis. It's getting down to the wire and I can't really afford to read for fun right now. "Senior year," they said. "It will be fun," they said... What I'm writing The action is picking up in Contracted. The characters are also developing in ways I didn't originally plan, and that I'm not sure I like. It's interesting, but at the same time I'm thinking, "Why did I write this scene?? She's not supposed to have feelings!!"  Feelings are hard. I don't like them. :(    Also, I don't buy the "My characters...