Highlights of December 2018

So um. 2018 is over tomorrow.

*casually passes out*

(we can all tell how this month's been xD)

Well, it's December, so obviously all the holiday things happened. I made a literal landslide of cards, some as a fundraiser for my cousin and some to send out to the gazillion people on my Christmas card list (some of them have ... still not gone out, to be honest ... but I got sick on Christmas Eve, okay? I've been down for awhile! ;D). I adore making Christmas cards though, so that was tons of fun.

And then my relatives came up for a surprise visit the week before Christmas (which was literally the best surprise and it was almost spoiled multiple times ;D) and we had an absolute blast. We also had a gingerbread house competition that skyrocketed xD. (I'M COMPETITIVE, OKAY? My sisters call me Stark (as in Tony) as a nickname for a reason ;D)

We also went to my younger sisters' piano recital while my relatives were visiting, and it was super fun, I always love watching them play (plus, one of them played a really complicated version of The Greatest Showman, which sounded AH-MAZING, so <3 <3 <3. Actually, she has a music YouTube channel, so you should definitely go check her out over at Skylar Reese. (and Jaidyn, who also played at the recital, has a cooking channel right here!)    

I've also spent a portion of December designing my bullet journal, which has been lots of fun, I can't wait to start using it in 2019! I may or may not have a YouTube video coming up about it ... you'll have to wait and see! ;)

Marvel rewatches happened, too - some more of my  siblings are finally old enough to watch them, so we went through all the Captain America movies + Spiderman: Homecoming + a few others with them. It's been a ton of fun! (also INFINITY WAR IS FINALLY ON NETFLIX, SO *scrambles away to watch it again and cry* xD. I'll be rewatching it with my sisters at midnight tonight!)

And, since it's the end of the year, I've also been planning out social media stuff for 2019 - and trust me, I have some fun stuff planned for all my social media outlets ;). I can't wait to show you guys!

Well, for starters, I was published by Splickety again! They're actually closing their doors, so I was in their final issue, which I was really happy about. You can check out the Christmas Abroad issue of Splickety right here (in which you'll find my piece, The Red-Eye Flight). 

Speaking of publishing - remember when I mentioned Havok Publishing being open for submissions? Well, I am now one of the associate editors for Havok Publishing, AND it's launching AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! Coming from someone who has secret-y insider info (shh...) Havok is going to be SERIOUSLY epic. So make sure not to miss that! (and if you're more of a writer than a reader, we're always accepting submissions right here, and we'd love to see yours!) 

I've also dived deep into the world of freelance writing for more than just fun. I've been submitting to a ton of places (seriously, you guys, if you're ever looking for links to places to submit to, I'm your  gal), and I'm really excited to see what happens from here.

I did a little editing again on Forgotten (*cough* my monster novel *cough*) but after realizing it basically had FOUR CLIMAXES (...how did I does this? *passes out*), my brain kind of shut down on me xD. So I took a break on it for a little while, but I plan to start up on it again in a couple days. Prayers would be appreciated for that, because it is seriously giving me grief xD.

Also, I've been on and off considering starting up freelance editing. Would you guys be interested in that (it would either be free or extremely low pricing), or do you never really look into using freelance editors for your writing? Let me know in the comments!

I finished my reread of The Raven Cycle this month! Oh my gracious do I love this series <3 <3 <3. It was especially fun this time because one of my good friends was reading it at the same time (for the first time!), as were my sisters (also for the first time - and they're still not done yet! xD) so it was basically a Raven Cycle bonanza and I HAD SO MUCH FUN.

Y'all have heard me rave about this series enough, so I'll simply drop the link to my review of this series that I did earlier this year, and say that I LOVE THE RAVEN CYCLE <3

On The Blog 

 

On YouTube 

 

 

Also - the winner of the Fawkes Book Swag giveaway is Allison Riera! Congrats, Allison - I'll be emailing you soon, so be watching for it! ;)

- Gray Marie did an awesome post about annoying tropes to leave in 2018, and it was super insightful, would definitely recommend it.

- I know it's well past Christmas, but Lisa Elis wrote a short holiday piece that I ABSOLUTELY ADORE and y'all need to run over and read it before winter ends because it is the best thing ever *shoos you away*

- (as is this post by Hanna Rothfuss, "At Last, The King" - short and quick, but well worth reading even if it isn't anywhere near Christmas anymore ;D)

- Also, do yourself a favor and hop on over to Deborah O' Carroll's blog and read her recent post about her writing and characters. I DIE EVERY TIME SHE POSTS SNIPPETS OR CHARACTER INTERVIEWS. BECAUSE THEY ARE GOLD <3.

- Victoria at Wanderer's Pen did a book review of Mortal Engines, which was great - I'm super excited to read the book and then see the movie (hopefully soon!).

- An awesome post went up on Story Ember's on what Thanos and Ultron can teach us about creating villains, and it was super helpful. I think I figured out what's wrong with one of my villains by reading it xD. Would definitely recommend!

- Rooglewood's Five Poison Apples anthology released! I'm so proud of the authors in this anthology (especially the sweet Skye Hoffert and Maddie Morrow!) and I absolutely can't wait to read their beautiful works. It's going to be amazing!

- Bitter Winter by Jaye L. Knight and Decree by Tricia Mingerink  both released, which of course made all of us fangirls scream with happiness. I'm so excited to read them both!

- Also, INFINITY WAR IS FINALLY ON NETFLIX. Who's ready to cry scream die watch it again? (*cough*me*cough*)

Jan 2019 is going to be INSANE, people - absolutely TONS of stuff going on over at Havok, so I really hope you'll be following along over there, because we've got so much epic stuff coming. And I'll be active on my Instagram and YouTube, as per usual (I've got some neat stuff coming!) 

As for the blog? I've got some special posts planned that I think you're going to like ... but for now, I'm keeping it under wraps ;). You'll just have to wait and see...

I hope your December (and your 2018!) was amazing, and that January is just as good! LET'S GO CONQUER 2019, MY FRIENDS. <3

~ Savannah Grace 

how was your December?

are you excited for Havok's launch?