Life Update #1 // Wherein I Whine Copiously

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I’ve mentioned before that time tends to get away from me. Whole months pass, and I barely notice. Case in point: Right now my brain still thinks it’s November 2015. So far I feel like I have done a great deal this year yet, simultaneously, I feel as though I have done relatively little. I have only ten months left to accomplish my goals for 2016, and I have so much I want to do beyond those goals. Excuse me while I panic. 

But first, let me backtrack and explain myself. I’ve always enjoyed reading weekly/monthly recaps on other blogs, and I think it’s about time I start doing my own version, at least for the time being. So, from now on, I will be posting updates/recaps every two months. Mostly these will involve writing, reading, and blogging-related stuff, and I will try to make them as interesting as possible. Truth be told, my main goal for these is to encourage my mind to keep better track of time. We’ll see how that goes. 

Writing News

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For as long as I can remember (which isn’t very far when it comes to stuff like this), winter has brought a near-constant struggle with cabin fever and depression. This means I have a significant amount of trouble getting much writing (and thinking) done. Most times, the only thing that can get my mind working again after my seasonal slump is the smell of spring air. So while January and February have been difficult for me because of the weather, the temperature is starting to rise, and I can smell the ground again. (Don’t ask why—it’s just always been important for me to catch a whiff of soil-scented air every now and then. The smell of new leaves is equally helpful.) 

I guess I've made decent progress on editing and such over the past two months, but I have also had far too many slow days, and far too few good days, and I would really like that to change. Part of this has to do with the season, but an equal part has to do with the fact that I had one beta reader who really disliked DRACONIAN and wasn’t afraid to tell me. So that was fun. I in no way intend to bash this person—they weren’t rude, just very blunt. In terms of difficult feedback, I could have had it much worse, and this person has given me a lot to think about. But while even that sort of feedback can be helpful in the long run, and while I have gotten better at accept criticism of my work (translation=even this rather harsh critique didn’t make me cry), it can still be challenging to walk it off. Over the past few months I have struggled against the temptation to see my novel as horrible, worthless, and unsalvageable. I am still learning how to determine which comments will help me make my novel better and which comments I just need to delete from my mental memory banks. But all that is easier said than done when you’re a people-pleaser like me. Let me tell you, it’s not pretty in my head right now. 

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On the plus side, Victoria @ The Endless Oceans of My Mind, Opal @ Opal Swirls, and the rest of my beta readers have given me phenomenal feedback and I wish I could send them all truckloads of coffee and books. 

Hopefully by my next bi-monthly update, I will have much better news to share with you on the writing front. And if I don’t have the last round of edits for DRACONIAN finished by that time, you all have permission to take away my coffee and banish me to the corner of shame. 

Reading News 

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Along with writing difficulties, I struggled with sporadic reading slumps over the past two months, and I ended up taking an entire week (as well as miscellaneous weekends and weekdays) off from reading. So, while I am more than on track for my goal of 175 books this year, I am behind where I know I could be and where I would like to be. 

That being said, I did manage to read 33 books—14 in January, 19 in February—and I guess it’s pretty telling that I can’t even be hugely pleased with those numbers. Hopefully March and April will be kinder to me on that count, since I will be able to read outside more often without freezing to death. 

Here’s the bookish breakdown, if you’re interested: 

Favorite book of the year (so far) 

ILLUMINAE

Just as an aside here, have you seen the cover for GEMINA? Because it is gorgeous and I would give my left pinky finger for October to come early. 

Least favorite book of the year (so far) 

SWEPT TO SEA 

Coincidentally, I had quite a bit of fun writing a discussion post for this one, and that discussion has already made it to the top ten list of most popular Out of Coffee, Out of Mind posts. So that was exciting. 

Number of rereads

5 

I know, I know. My reread goal for this year is at least 88 books. Obviously I need to step up the pace on this front. 

Number of new reads 

28

I just can’t help myself—new books are so shiny and beautiful. I must read them all. 

Bookish Ratings Breakdown

Five Stars

15

Either I’m super easy to please, or I’ve had some great luck so far. Hopefully this will last. 

Four Stars

9

This is also a good number, so no complaints here. 

Three Stars

4

Contrary to popular belief, when I give a book three stars, it doesn’t mean I hate it or never plan to reread it. This is basically my default category for books I really liked but had some problems with and therefore wouldn’t shove into people’s faces with abandon.) 

Two Stars

4

This, on the other hand, was less fun. It makes me very sad to give books only two stars. And three of these happened in a row, which didn’t help my reading slump much. 

One Star

1

Conversely, I do experience a mild burst of evil glee when I give a book one star. Maybe because the book tortured me and now I get to return the favor? *shrugs* I may be slightly vindictive when it comes to these things. 

Book reviews written

7ish

I say “ish” because some of those reviews are more discussions than reviews. Also, I published a few teeny, tiny reviews on Goodreads, but only as teasers (so I didn't count them). Now I need to stop lollygagging and write the full reviews. I also need to figure out how many times I can say "reviews" in one paragraph before you stab me with a butter knife. 

Life News

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On Valentine’s Day, my sister and I set each other up on bookish blind dates. I had my sister read my copy of A HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (which I read last year and loved) and she set me up with THE SLAVE DANCER and NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND (they were both wonderful). 

In other news, I’ve been eyeing my bookshelves and trying to decide how I want to rearrange them so they look better. Since I don't have all my books with me, and since I intend to send for a lot of the ones I left at my parents' house, I still don’t have everything planned out yet. But when I post my next life update at the end of April, I will try to have pictures of my at-least-partially-rearranged bookshelves to share with you. 

I apologize for the low quality of the photos. I don't have a nice camera. 

As for movies and music, my favorite movies of the year (so far) would be THE MARTIAN and THE INTERN. (THE MARTIAN is also my new favorite movie of ever. *happy dance*) My favorite band of the year (and of ever) would be Twenty One Pilots. 

For my next life update, I will try to have more interesting things to say in this section. Otherwise it’s going to start looking like I don’t have a life aside from reading, writing, and blogging (which I don’t, but that’s not the point). 

Blogging News

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My blog stats have been exploding since December, and while that growth has slowed somewhat over the past week, it is still showing no signs of stopping. Honestly, I am rather shocked that so many people seem interested in what I have to say. Allow me to let you in on a little secret. But first you have to promise not to tell anyone. Promise? Okay. Now lean in so I can whisper it in your ear. My secret is that I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE WHAT I AM DOING. I AM JUST FIGURING THIS OUT AS I GO ALONG. 

In keeping with all the other depressive slumps I’ve been whining about, there is also a downside to this rapid growth. I have more blogs to follow and comment on, since I make it a point always to comment back. And I have more comments to answer and a larger pressure on my brain to provide good content that will keep people interested. That last bit is especially tricky. I refer you to my previous point about not knowing what I’m doing. 

As I’ve already said, I am a people-pleaser, unfortunately, and I worry a lot that people will become impatient with me if I take too long to comment back on their blogs or answer their comments on mine. I worry people will assume that I don’t enjoy their blogs or that I’m turning into a snob. And I think it’s going to take a while before I adjust to this new sort of pressure. 

Honestly, though, I don’t mean to whine. In comparison with so many other issues, this is an awesome struggle to have, and I really have no cause to complain. I want to thank all of you lovely coffee beans for overwhelming me with comments and page views. You’re all my favorite. And just so you know, when I do get behind on answering comments and visiting blogs (like, right now), it doesn’t mean that I don’t like you anymore. Promise. 

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In other bloggish news, I spruced up my blog design a little by adding a drop-down menu, a contact form, and a new profile picture, among other things. During this whole process, I learned that drop-down menus take a lot more coding and time than I had anticipated, especially if you try editing code when you’re tired and not thinking clearly. If you’re curious to know some of the resources I used, the links are here, here, and here.  

To wrap up this blogging update, here are my three most popular posts of January/February: 

The Get to Know Me Tag and Shenanigans

Your Blog is Your Blog

Memento Mori

And, without any further ado, I’ll let you get back to your lovely days, and I hope you have a wonderful spring (or autumn, for those in the Southern Hemisphere). 

Well, that’s it for today, little coffee beans. How has your year been so far? Have you read or done anything interesting? Have you ever had really difficult beta reader feedback? Are you looking forward to the season change?