Highlights of November 2018

November. One of the most wonderful months in the year - and November 2018 (while being more low-key and chill, by my standards) was particularly good! Want to hear about it?

I kicked November off by going to an AMAZING concert with some of my closest friends - it was so incredibly fun and I miiiight have been a little (or a lot) hoarse afterwards from all the screaming/singing I did ;D. Also, pro tip: PLEASE do not wear shoes with a two-inch heel to a concert where you will jump and dance a lot. You will regret it the next day. A lot xD. But Rend Collective knows how to put on a good show, and I had an absolute blast!

... and then of course I came down sick for two weeks after that ;D.

But after I'd recovered (and watched way too much Marvel while I should have been sleeping), I came back to life to find that my mom and all of my sisters had gotten hooked on a new hobby - bullet journaling.

"oh boy," said my brain.

And guess who is now ALSO hooked on bullet journaling? ;D

the mess that was our table on Thankgiving Eve ;D

I've spent the last chunk of November planning out my 2019 bullet journal and I'm having WAY too much fun. I'll probably do a post or YouTube video about it at some point. Speaking of which, I also spent a good portion of Thanksgiving break planning ahead on social media things. And I've got some epic stuff coming for y'all ;D. If you don't want to miss it, you'll want to be following me on YouTube and Instagram, too!

Thanksgiving was a little more low-key this year, but I had TONS of fun hanging out with my family and playing games, and watching the Macy's parade like we do every year. And eating way more food than is good for anyone ;D. It was an epic day, and it was also the day that we always break out AAALLL the Christmas music, which was super fun (and I've had Christmas music playing in my head on repeat ever since then and am I complaining? NOPE)

*whispers* also, I may or may not have already started on all of the Christmas cards I have to make this year. Am I slowly becoming obsessed, yes or no? (there's only one right answer here ;D)

My sisters (Skylar and Jaidyn) also put on their orchestra/band concert at the end of the month, and it was so, so fun to go watch them play! They did so good <3. (and one of the songs that was played was actually composed by my insanely musical sister, Skylar Reese, and that was incredibly cool to hear!!)  

Spoiler alert: I did NOT even attempt to win NaNoWriMo this month *cue gasps of shock* ;D

If you read last month's recap post, I said that in the middle of October I decided to take a break from doing any writing that I felt pressured to do. And turns out, this was the right decision. November was an amazing month writing-wise. I wrote whatever I wanted whenever I wanted without any pressure at all, and I ended up with a full short story that I'm pretty proud of (I actually ended up entering it in a contest last-minute, so we'll see how that goes!).

So, yes - while November was my "chill" writing month, I still got a lot done. I even did some spur-of-the-moment editing! Seriously, you guys - if y'all ever feel that you really need a break from writing, never feel bad about taking one. Sometimes it's an awfully good choice ;D.

I also had time to put a couple entries together for Kathy Ide's Promising Beginnings contest! I'm really excited to see how that turns out *crosses fingers*.

Okay and because I like to be a tease and save the best for last A SMOL PIECE OF MINE MIGHT HAVE BEEN POSTED ON THE WRITER'S DIGEST SITE??? LIKE WHUT?? You can read it here!!! (it's story B, the one about Crow-Man's son!) 

+ part of Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

I reread Raven Boys this month. And it was lovely. That is all you need to know.

But you probably want to hear slightly more than that, huh? ;D

- Dear Jamie, Love Rory by Micaiah Saldana. I was so excited to read this sweet story written by my dear friend, and it didn't disappoint! Dear Jamie, Love Rory was so cute and I absolutely loved it! And it's a short story, so I didn't need to feel guilty for not doing writing or some such thing ;D. A solid 4 stars to this story!

- Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand. No. Just no. I got a few minutes in and just...no. DNFed. 0 stars. Will not be picking it back up. Which was a disappointment, because I've liked the other books I've read by this author! But it is what it is. (and what it is is no)

- Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. Okay, it took me WAY too long to read this book after everyone on the Internets was screaming about ;D. But I finally got to it, and I ADORED IT. SO MUCH. Eelyn was just the best and the storyworld was <3. And the plot! The plot was amazing! Basically, 4.5 stars to this book and I love it and maybe I'll get up a review for it soon? We'll see!  

I also read Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi this month, and did a post about it here if you want to see some of my thoughts on it!

On The Blog

On YouTube

 

- PROJECT CANVAS RELEASED! I'm so proud of this book <3 <3 <3. A post went up on the Project Canvas blog about the cover designer's process for creating the epic cover, and it was really cool to read.

- There's been cool pre-order stuff going on this month! Tricia Mingerink is having a really neat pre-order giveaway for her upcoming novel, Decree, and Mary Weber announced the INCREDIBLE pre-order goodies that come with To Best the Boys! And trust me, you don't want to miss it.  

- K.M. Weiland did a SUPER helpful post on how to successfully start a novel with a dream that I highly recommend (because it is HARD to hook me on a book that starts with a dream ;D)

- Rosalie Valentine did a great post with 7 questions to ask yourself during NaNo, but I think the questions go for any time, honestly, so definitely check it out.

- Jane did an epic post on being different online than we are in real life, and it was really great and super thought-provoking. Would definitely recommend it.(and she posted one of the most amazing pieces of flash fiction ever and I LOVE IT <3)

- STARS AND SOUL RELEASED AND I AM STILL SCREAMING. Check out the author's post about it here, or go straight to Amazon and buy thyself a copy like I did xD. 

- also, The Crimes of Grindewald released. Am I excited or am I excited? (*screams happily into the void*)

IT'S CHRISTMAS SEASON, I HAVE CHRISTMAS-THINGS COMING, AND I'M EXCITED.

*deep breaths* ;D

I have a couple fun winter-y posts and YouTube videos planned, and I'm super excited to share them with you! And I may or may not have a teensy smol giveway coming up ... but I don't know which social media platform I'll be having it on yet. SO if you don't want to miss that, make sure you're following me here and on YouTube and Instagram!

SO - I hope your November was amazing, and that your December is even better! HAVE AN INCREDIBLE HOLIDAY SEASON, MY FRIENDS <3 <3 <3.

~ Savannah Grace 

how was your November?

what holiday-things have you done already?