Beautiful Books 2017 - Introduce Your Novel

   So that hiatus was ... unexpected.

   Though, it was very much needed, because I finally was able to finish the first draft of Asher Grey and send it to alphas. But I am back! And I don't plan to disappear anytime in the near future xD. 

   The Beautiful Books linkup has started again. Which means NaNoWriMo is creeping towards our doorsteps. Let's do this.

What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

   I'm actually multi-tasking for NaNoWriMo 2017. This is the first time I have tried this. ACTUALLY this is only my second NaNoWriMo, so ... hopefully I'll survive? I did it last year?

   Anyways. I'll be editing Asher Grey and writing Killing Snow for #nano2017. Let's hope I don't die *shrugs*. 

   I've been working on Killing Snow for over a year, and was inspired for it when I decided I want to try writing a Snow White retelling - I wrote out about six ideas for different Snow White stories, and picked Killing Snow. I expected it to be a smol story, but it has MAJORLY snowballed. Asher Grey is still relatively new - I started writing it in June, maybe? And, again, it's a Snow White thing. Funny, because Snow White isn't even my favorite fairytale, but there you have it xD.

Describe what your novel is about!

   #spoilers, darling.  

What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like!

   WELL since I'm pretty sure you guys are sick of seeing collages of Killing Snow - and I've only made one collage of Asher Grey, and you've already seen it - I'll just link to posts about Killing Snow and Asher Grey instead. xD Scamper over and check 'em out if you wish.

Introduce us to each of your characters!

   EACH? We'd be here all day. I'll grab three charries from Killing Snow and describe them with a gif ...

   ~ Raven Gale ~

(Raven's living in a tough world with a heavy load on her shoulders, so she has to 'ride hard, and not look back')

~ Elyse Grace ~

   (Elyse lives in the same tough world, and is Raven's best friend - but she's better at still seeing the good in things)

~ Cerulean Kane ~

   (two words - knives and sarcasm)

How do you prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)

   Research? What is this thing called research?

   ... whatever it is, I obviously don't do much of it. xD 

What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

   THE CHARACTERS. It's always the characters, you guys <3 <3. I also love the plot and prose, but CHARACTERS. They're always what I spend the most time fleshing-out, and even if I don't put it in the book, I almost always know what all of their backstories are.

List 3 things about your novel’s setting.

   Killing Snow = a world inside a sci-fi airship // a crumbling city // grey light 

   Asher Grey = birch trees // forest // an Arena shaped like a Crown 

What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way?

   In Killing Snow, Raven's goal is to get back to earth before her brother dies - but the fact that she's technically trapped on an airship stands in her way. And in Asher Grey, Asher's goal is to [spoiler spoiler] but [spoiler spoiler]. See? xD

How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

   Uh ... well, Killing Snow is unfinished, and Asher Grey would just be spoiler-filled, so ... nope xD.

What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

   Asher Grey has some themes of love and loyalty (... themes are slippery things to hold onto in a novella, so we'll see how well I do with that ...), and Killing Snow's themes are .... nonexistent complicated.
 
   Actually, Killing Snow probably HAS themes, but I'm never able to pin them down. Someone would probably read it and go 'oh, it had a nice [such and such] theme!' - and it probably would have that theme - and yet I'd still answer with '... it did?', because I never can pinpoint themes, ever xD.     

   But I want people to finish reading ... well, any of my books and feel the same way I felt when I finished Harry Potter, Out Of Time, The Wingfeather Saga, or any of the other books that have touched me.

   ... vague answers for the win, guys xD.

   So, I hope y'all enjoyed getting a peek at what I'm writing for NaNoWriMo! And I kid you not, I first started out writing that sentence out as 'a peek at how close NaNoWriMo is'. Time to stress out, writers. Have fun xD.  


~ Savannah Grace

are you doing nanowrimo 2017? 

what are you writing?

IMPORTANT: I've been trying to get a hold of the writing contest winner and haven't yet been able to, so unless I'm contacted by you (the winner), Vera, in the next three days, I won't be able to send you your prize :)

Highlights Of September 2017

   September has been a huge month of ups and downs - it was basically a long cycle of hectic and epic all at once. But I loved it xD.

 

   Okay, how about we address that smol piece of news I have in my post title image?

   I'M GOING TO REALM MAKERS 2018! 

   I'd talked to my dad about it, and he said he'd think about it - and then he surprised me on my birthday by telling me that we are going to St. Louis in July (because he's epic like that)! I'm wildly excited, and I'm really hoping I'll be able to meet some of y'all there ;).

   Not much other life-y stuff happened this much (but JUST WATCH I'll hit publish on this post and then remember something super important and cool that happened during September), other than school starting up. *runs and hides* But we won't talk about that.

   I also finally redid all of my blog pages, which I've been wanting to do for MONTHS. So glad that I finally got around to that xD. 

   I wrote 45, 947 words this month.

   What even. 

   So I almost did an accidental NaNoWriMo in September?? I don't know how that happened, but I think the Rooglewood writing contest has something to do with it xD. I've been slaving away at Asher Grey, and I'm STILL feeling a little stressed that I'm not going to get it done on time. But I'm almost ready to find some alphas for it, so I guess I'm making strides? xD (anyone interested in being an alpha?)

   All that being said, it's be kind of quiet on the writing front (except for Asher Grey). But October is #NANOPREP, so maybe this is the crazy calm before the storm? We shall see xD.  

   ... *crickets*

   So Savannah does NOT have a giant pile of 'books she read this month'! Seriously - I read all the Jennifer A. Nielson books in August, but I wasn't able to include them in August's monthly highlights, so I'm sticking them here because I want to talk about them. (let's ignore the fact that I only read four books this month, okay? xD)  

   - Mark Of The Thief Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielson. Oh my good gracious you guys, THIS TRILOGY.. Nielson has the best writing style, and I adored the Mark Of The Thief series. Which is funny, since normally I don't read books that are set in ancient Rome. But I ADORED Mark Of The Thief - and I reviewed the final book of the series if you want to get more of my thoughts on it  The Mark Of The Thief Trilogy gets a solid four and a half stars from me! 

   - Jackaby by William Ritter. Why on earth did I wait so long to read this book? I'd known about Jackaby for awhile, but ... it kind of got buried by the rest of my tbr. Oops. But I'm SO GLAD that I finally picked it up, because it was amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on the second book, I need more Jackaby! xD This books gets an awesome four stars from me.  

   - Forest Born by Shannon Hale. I've read a couple of Shannon Hale books before, but I think this one might be my favorite. It's the fourth book in its series ... and I've actually only read the first. But the fourth wasn't confusing, so I guess it almost can work as a standalone? xD The characters were wonderful, and I loved the main character, so this book gets four stars from me! 

   On another bookish note, I won The Bone House from the epic Deborah O' Carroll this month - and I'm so excited to read it! It's the second book in a series that I've been DYING to finish, so I can't wait to see what it's like. (also - it's a blue book, so I may be biased towards it <3)

 

   - Jane Maree launched her author website this month, and it's amazing, so definitely check that out.

   - Aimee and Caroline started the Friendly Neighborhood Journal, which seems like it's going to be SUPER cool.

   - Rosalie did a post on getting sticker residue off of books, and while I haven't tried her method yet, I seriously need to!

   - Go Teen Writers posted about books in the public domain, and it was incredibly interesting to read. Now I want to retell a story that's a little more abnormal to retell :D.

   - Tracey did a gorgeous post called hey, dreamer that I absolutely loved.

   - Julia also did a super epic post, so you need to check that out, too.

    - Jonathan posted about reworking major elements in your story, which was a super helpful post because I am the WORST at reworking major elements xD. 

   - Nadine Brandes and Mary Horton both posted about writer's conferences, which were especially fun to read now because I know that I'll be going to a conference, too! *is still excited* xD (also, it's official that Mary has the most GORGEOUS artistic journal <3)

   Also, Bright Eyes posted their BEST PODCASTS this month, and Bryan Davis released a new book. And the cover for Legendary (Caraval #2) was revealed and OH GRACIOUS, it's gorgeous <3 <3. So a lot of exciting stuff happened in September. I was estatic xD.

   October is going to be super school-heavy (... and I'll be prepping for NaNoWriMo. GOOD GRACIOUS, is it already that time again??), so I definitely won't be posting nearly as much as I did in September. We're going back to a sane posting schedule, y'all xD. But I'm hoping to get up a birthday book haul, a book review of Scorpio Races, AND a nano prep post, so you'll get to see those!

   Have an epic and beautiful October, my friends <3.

~ Savannah Grace

so, how was your September? let's chat!

Blogoversary Bash Wrapup + Winners Announcement

   GRACIOUS, can you believe that it's over?

   This blogoversary bash has been AH-MAZING. I loved reading through and replying to all of your epic comments, and reading your thoughts on the guest posts that went up. You all are the best! <3

   Now, just in case you were wondering, I am going to slow the posting schedule back down in October. I have another post going up on September 30th (monthly highlights), but after that I'll be going back to post every three or four days. It's a much less hectic posting schedule xD.

   Anyways. It's time to announce WINNERS! (I'll be surprised if you didn't already skip all the way down the post just to see this part)

   The winner of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland is ...

Hann Remraf!

   Congratulations, Hann! I'm thrilled that you won the book - it's such a fun read, and I hope you enjoy it! I'll be emailing you shortly about how to get it to you ;).  

   The winner of the writing contest + a hardcover copy of Inkheart is ...
 

  Vera!

   Well done, Vera! Your entry was stunning, I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt like I was there. I'll be emailing you shortly so that we can discuss the details about that ;).

   CONGRATS to both of you girls, I'm excited to get your prizes to you!

   Thank you all SO MUCH for joining in this blogoversary bash - it wouldn't have been half as fun without you <3 <3. I'm looking forward to next September!

~ Savannah Grace 

thank you all for joining in this blogoversary bash with me, you're all the best <3