2017: RECAP

   Guess who's late  to posting their 2017 recap post?

   ... who, me? Of course not, why thinketh you such things xD.

THE STATS:

136 books read --- 80 new-to-me --- 14 five-star reads
 

All the GORGEOUS five-star reads of 2017!

(my aesthetic heart is not pleased by the garish Anne Of Green Gables cover in the top corner, but we'll all have to roll with it, because that was a good book xD) Not a bad amount at all, if I do say so myself! I got roughly one five-star read a month, and I found TONS of new stories that I love. I'd ramble about them all here, BUT I have a 'best books of 2017' type post coming, so y'all will just have to wait until then xD.

But I do have to mention that only five of those five-star books are rereads, and I'm really glad about that - I'm so happy about the new authors/series/books I discovered this year! I can't wait to ramble all about it in my soon-to-come bookish post (trust me, it's gonna be a big one xD).   

I worked some on Killing Snow, but my biggest accomplishment was completely finishing my Snow White retelling, Forgotten! It's honestly been one of the most fun stories I've ever written, but also one of the hardest. If it doesn't win the Rooglewood writing contest that I entered it in, I'll definitely start thinking about getting it traditionally/self-published. But I won't know that until April 2nd, so you guys will have to wait until then to hear what my future plans are.

And this next year looks like it's going to be another epic one! I'm REALLY hoping to get Killing Snow finished in time for Realm Makers, but as it's still in first draft mode, that's probably not going to happen xD. But I'm going to shoot for it anyways! Between the two Camp NaNo's that are coming up (which I'm super excited for), I might just make it ;).

thank you to Katie Grace for the Christmas gift, and to FaithSong and Athelas for the Mitchtam pin! You guys are the best <3

   And these are only four OF my favorite posts from 2017 xD.

     ...wherein I tell you how I did with my 2017 goals, and what I'm going to be shooting for in 2018...

Goals from 2017:

- Read 100 books + read/review one new release each month

   HAHA the new releases thing didn't happen, but I read 136 books! I read very few books that were actually published in 2017 (maybe ten or fifteen?), so I'm going to try and do better with that in 2018 xD.

- Create a tag and/or linkup + be diligent in my blog series

   NOPE, and ... sort of. It took me awhile to get through the series, but I did end up doing it :D.

- Be more diligent in journaling

   Yes and no. I did really well at the beginning of the year, but it kinda trailed off. But I'm letting it count, because I did a lot more art in my journal after the writing trailed off ;D.

- Start (and keep up with!) a 2017 memory jar

   Wow, I was just shooting to be an overachiever, wasn't I? This didn't happen, either xD.

- Write a _________ draft of a novel or novella 

   I'm literally fine with letting all my other goals slide because I CONQUERED THIS ONE. I wrote so, so many drafts of my Asher Grey novella, and I did a good deal of work on my Killing Snow novel. So I'm happy <3.

GOALS FOR 2018:

   So this year is gearing up to be an insane one, but I'm still going to give myself a few goals to shoot for...

- Comment on blogs more often + post more consistently

   Yeah, you guys have probably noticed that I don't do very well with this xD. But I'm working on it! I'll try to do better in 2018 ;).  

- Read 150 books 

   If I read 136 in 2017, I can (hopefully) read more this year! But we shall see whether this happens or not, because 2018 is gearing up to be an INSANELY busy year. If I die, you'll know why. (*cough* I got buried under my tbr pile *cough*)

- Publish something

   Whether it be an actual novel/novella, or just a piece of flash fiction in a magazine, I'd love to actual put something out there for you guys in 2018. Hopefully this will happen!

- Pitch a project at Realm Makers

   Somebody kill me now. This is probably the most terrifying goal I have xD. And I'm not entirely sure it's going to happen, because there's only a 50/50 chance I'll have a manuscript done when I go to Realm Makers in July. But we'll see! ;)

   ... yeah, I'm not setting too many goals for 2018, just because 1) I don't do goals very well, I normally just go with the flow and, 2) 2018 is gearing up to be pretty crazy. But I'm excited to see how much gets done in 2018!

   ALRIGHTY, there's the end of my 2017 recap! One more thing before I go scuttling off to work on that bookish post - I'd be much obliged if you guys could take a few minutes to fill out this survey. I'm working on planning out what's coming for Scattered Scribblings in 2018, and I'd love your input on it! You guys are the best ;). 

   LET'S GO ROCK 2018, MY FELLOW SCRIBBLERS <3.

~ Savannah Grace

how many five-star books did you read in 2017? 

what's one of your goals for 2018? 

and link to one of your favorite posts that you wrote in 2017 in the comments!

Podcast Review - Bright Eyes by Aimee Meester

   *gasp* What is this? Not a book review? A podcast review? Do we even do such things??? 

   Of course we do. Accept no limitations, people - especially when it comes to my weirdness xD.

4.5 Stars

   Bright Eyes is the first podcast I've ever listened to (I think), so I had no idea what to expect - all I knew was that something new was coming out, and it was called Bright Eyes, and everyone had to listen to it (this is what happens when there is hype, you guys)! So when the first episode came out, I plugged my headphones in and pushed play - and then I was hooked and THERE WAS NO RETURN.

- BRIGHT EYES - 

cover art by Stacia

The Athena Institute trains the best and the brightest of humanity for a future among the stars, and Trish Odessa has counted herself lucky to be among that handful of students. The Bright Eyes Project is a final real-world-experience test of their abilities that she is all-too-prepared for -- until her ambitious and overcurious boyfriend Milo goes missing right before the start of the test. Thrown into the role of starship captain, a role for which she's woefully underprepared and underqualified, Trish seeks to prove herself as a capable student and find Milo along the way, even if that means questioning the mysterious and sometimes-menacing Institute that oversees her every move.

   View the Bright Eyes website ---- Visit Bright Eyes on Youtube

-  The mysterious plotline. The plot kept me on the edge of me seat the whole time! And I was super surprised (in a good way!) by how everything played out. Normally I have at least a teeny idea of what could happen when I'm reading a book with a mystery in the plotline, but in Bright Eyes? I had NO IDEA what was going to happen! It was lovely and glorious and I was all over it.

-  Sci-fi. I love sci-fi, but only when it's really good sci-fi, and sometime I have a hard time finding books like that. So I wasn't sure what I'd think of a sci-fi podcast, but OH MY <3. The sound effects were awesome, and I loved how they made the Bright Eyes podcast feel so sci-fi. It was epicness. This thing was better than a good deal of sci-fi books I've read. xD

- The soundtrack. The soundtrack fit this podcast like a GLOVE, it was so perfect. Honestly, Bright Eyes wouldn't have been half as good as it was without all the epic music. And the end credits music for episode 10? PERFECTION. It was all perfection, you guys.

-  THE CHARACTERS. Trish, Milo, Maddie - even Jude! The characters were my absolute FAVORITE part of the whole thing <3. (also just MILO. I wanted more Milo! He seemed like such an epic character and we did not see him enough, oh gracious. And whoever voiced him did epic - even if Milo didn't appear much, I think he was the best voiced character in the podcast, honestly). Trish was such an awesome main character, I loved being in her head, and I feel like her character arc was really good, too. 

-  It ended so well. If you've been here for any amount of time, you probably know that I am seriously picky about endings. Endings of anything - books, movies, podcasts, you name it. And Bright Eyes ended SO. WELL. (can I have a moment to just go AHSLGASLJHGALJSG? Thank you.) I loved it so much <3. 

   Okay I should stop before I blow up my blog with ravings over Bright Eyes.

-  Just a few smol complaints. Number one - I WANTED MORE MILO (okay that's not really a complaint but STILL), and sometimes I think Trish could have been voiced a little better (only sometimes - overall, she was very epic, Sydney did a great job voicing her). Other than that...yeah I can't even think of anything else. Overall, Bright Eyes is stunning!


   And the gorgeous final episode of Bright Eyes released at midnight on January 1st, and I woke up early the next morning to listen to it in the dark before my siblings woke up. So much fun xD. If you haven't listened to this podcast yet, where have you been? Shoo. Go listen to it. You won't regret it!

~ Savannah Grace 

have you guys listened to the Bright Eyes podcast?

who's listened to the finale already?
chat with me, y'all!

Highlights Of December 2017

  
   So according to my calendar, tomorrow starts 2018.

   *squints at my calendar suspiciously* Nah, I don't trust it.

I took my ACT test, which was ... hard, but not too bad xD. But otherwise, this month was a whirlwind of fun - I love the holiday season so much! We did our usual traditional of making heaps of cards and cookies for neighbors (... and got sick the same day we made them, so those poor cookies never got handed out. I guess we'll have to try again later? xD), which is always lots of fun.

Christmas was a blast - full of lots of gift-opening and video chatting with relatives. And of course my sisters knew exactly which book to get me - a massive, gorgeous copy of Renegades by Marissa Meyer (which I promptly finished in two days ... oops?)! I love it <3. And it snowed a ton! I was very happy to have a white Christmas :D.

And since a lot of the month was taken up by Christmas break, December also involved a whole lot of just chilling, hanging out (and playing video games, which always involves laughing until we cry xD) with my siblings, and WRITING. So all in all, it was an amazing month to end 2017 with!

Well, I'm done with Asher Grey (which got renamed Forgotten)! But I didn't get terribly much actual writing done this month ... I'd say about 5k words worth of editing + random scribblings. But it was still a super fun, productive month!

And I also just hit 'send' on my Rooglewood writing contest entry about two hours ago, so WE SHALL SEE how that goes! Smol Asher Grey is no longer in my hands *cries because I miss working on it already*. I'm really excited, and I'm hoping that this will go better than the last time I entered a Rooglewood contest. Let us just say that my contest entry for the Sleeping Beauty contest was more than embarrassing. I cannot think about it *goes and hides in a Hobbit hole*.

But besides all of that - this was a great month for writing! It was epic to have so much time to just sit and edit. And now that I'm almost done with Forgotten, I'm starting to think about what I'll be working on after that, and my brain is whirring with ideas - which you guys will probably hear more about next month :D.

- Nightfall by Shannon Messenger..I'd been waiting to get my hands on Nightfall since it came out (I think I've kept up with this series since the third book, which means LOT OF WAITING for the next one!), and it didn't disappoint! Nightfall is a massive tome, and I finished it in maybe two days xD. It was a great read, and I'm giving it four stars. (also THE COVER. 'TIS BLUE. Of course I love it <3) 

- The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led The Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente. I was looking for a book to read around Christmas time that was kind of whimsical and nonsensical and all sorts of fun, so of COURSE I went with a book from this series! And I adored it as much as the first time I read the book, if not more - I might have to make reading this one in December a traditional! It gets a great big 4 1/2 stars <3.

- Eyes Wide Open by Ted Dekker. So I was reading the Circle series by Dekker ... but I got a little bored in the third book of the trilogy? I never ended up finishing it (I will! I will!), so I was a little unsure about starting another book by Ted Dekker. BUT Ariel (my sister) started reading it, and RAVED over it, which meant I had to read it, because when ARIEL raves over a book, it must be good. She's not a super bookish girl, so when she raves, I listen xD. And I actually ended up LOVING Eyes Wide Open - I can't wait to get the next book! A full four stars for this one.  

   And I would give you all my jumbled opinion on Renegades right here and now ... but I'm doing a review of it in a couple days, so you'll see all my scattered thoughts about that book quite soon!

- Evangeline Yackel posted about her book's characters and I AM DYING. I need this book pronto.

- Christine Smith shared snippets from her lovely novel, The Nether Isle, and they are GORGEOUS <3. (and she also DID A VLOG, so check that out, too!)

- The Song Of Leira cover reveal happened - and is it not the most beautiful thing? I love it!

 - Deborah O' Carroll shared snippets from The Siren And The Skyship, and OH <3.

- Abbie announced that she's going to be releasing an EP album in 2018, and am I excited or WHAT.

- The cover reveal for Worlds Beneath also happened, and IT IS STUNNING <3. 

   Also the finale for Bright Eyes is tomorrow? TOMORROW?? I can't decide whether to be excited, terrified, or dissolve into a smol puddle of tears - someone tell me what to do! xD

   A review for Renegades (which should be up in the next couple days!), and a best of 2017/year in review sort of things, and perhaps an interview with a special blogger? We shall see ;). But until then ...

HAVE AN EPIC NEW YEAR'S DAY, MY FRIENDS! I hope this year was a great one. <3


~ Savannah Grace 

who's ready for the Bright Eyes finale? 

did you get any books for Christmas? 

who's pumped for 2018? (ME. I think. but maybe I should be scared)