May 4, 2018

Monthly Recap: April 2018

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Holy shit, guys, it’s not just gonna be May, it is May. These cries of disbelief at the passage of time are only going to get more and more frequent/urgent as the months pass. You’ve been warned. April was quite the month. I set ambitious goals and hardly met any of them. I read more books than ever. And I saw the greatest movie of all time. So read on for all my thoughts on the month of April!

On the goals front: As I said, I was ambitious this month. My goals were to finish my MCU challenge, read four books, write ten blog posts, post four selfies, submit six queries, and make my Avengers infinity scarf. Scarf-check, books-check, MCU-check. I was so close on the others. I posted three selfies and nine blog posts, so I was definitely within reach of my goals. I only submitted three queries though, so that one was not so great.

On the writing front: Ugh, not so good. I wrote about 3000 words on my newer manuscript, which is nothing. I did manage to do some major editing on my current manuscript, which is actually the reason why I only sent three queries. I decided to make a major structural change, and that has caused a wave of other changes that need to be made, and frankly, it’s a lot. I did get my first ever partial request from an agent, which even though it didn’t go anywhere, made me feel like I don’t totally suck at least. So yay for not totally sucking!

On the reading front: I nailed my reading this month, which is good, because despite my pledge not to buy new books, I seem to be acquiring a lot of new books. But I knocked out ELEVEN books this month. So many that I didn’t even have room to write them all down in my book journal. Because I totally have one of those. It’s a thing. I read: Asking for It, Bad Feminist, Ready Player One, Burn, Bookishly Ever After, Dragonfly in Amber, Under the Lights, To Kill a Kingdom, Love by the Book, Autumn in the City of Angels, and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. My highest rated choices were Asking for It, Bad Feminist, Dragonfly in Amber, To Kill a Kingdom, and Simon. Overall, a great month of reading!

On the movie front: This month I saw Love Simon, Ready Player One, Blockers, Black Panther (again), and Avengers: Infinity War (twice, so far). Clearly Infinity War is the greatest movie of all time and therefore takes any and all movie-related cake to be had. However, I also really loved Love Simon. Ready Player One was good, it’s just totally different from the book. Blockers was funny, but not something I would have seen if it weren’t for Movie Pass, and Black Panther remains amazing.

On the MCU front: Although we’ve come to the end of the road, still I can’t let go. It’s unnatural. You belong to me. I belong to you. So while the challenge is not completely done, in that there are still a few episodes of Agents of SHIELD this season, and we technically still have three movies left in this “section” of the MCU, the bulk of it is done. I have penned (typed) my final MCU challenge blog post. All that is left for me now is current releases. I’m legitimately sad thinking about it.

On the yearly goals front: I’m doing well in terms of my per month goals, but I have made zero progress when it comes to some of my other trying new things goals. Part of that is because I’m broke. Part of that is because Matt and I are both crazy busy right now. Such is life. Luckily, it’s almost summer, and therefore new adventures will abound. That’s how that goes right?

Happy May y’all!

May 2, 2018

No Straws, No Sleeves

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Did you know that, according to accepted research, we use an average of 500 million plastic drinking straws PER DAY. Let that number sink in. PER DAY. I would tell you how many that amounts to per year, but frankly, my calculator doesn’t go that high and there’s no way I could figure out all those zeros. Because it would be like a million zeros. So I have decided that for the month of May, and hopefully for the rest of time, I am going to use zero plastic straws. And to make everything even cooler, I’m also going to use zero cardboard coffee cup sleeves.

Now, I’ve done a few practice runs, and I can tell you right now, the hardest part of this challenge is going to be remembering to specifically ask for no straws/sleeves. Most of the time when you are ordering a drink that would need a straw, the restaurant just gives it to you. When I pull up at the Starbucks drive thru, there is already a straw in my venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew. And for my friendly neighborhood baristas, it’s a force of habit to put a straw in a drink, and I imagine there is going to be more than one time when they give me one even though I asked them not to. And that’s okay, because they are just doing their jobs. But I am going to have to make sure I take responsibility and do the asking, every time.

To prep for this challenge, I bought some reusable plastic straws. I love the colors on these guys, and they are easy to clean with the included brush. My main problem is going to be remembering to stash some in my purse and my Disneyland backpack before I leave the house, and then also remember to bring them home and clean them at the end of each day.

The sleeve portion of this project is going to be easier, mostly because I am a brand rep for Pretty Little Cozies, and she makes the cutest reusable coffee sleeves on the planet. I already have three, and I have three more on the way, so I am prepared to nail this portion of the challenge. If you want to order some adorable sleeves for yourself, make sure you check out her shop, and use the code BRANDREP15 for a special discount!

I would so love it if you would join this challenge with me. Even if you use half as many straws this month as you normally do, it can make a big difference. I will be posting some of my successes (and my failures!) with this challenge on my Instagram @falonloveslife, and using the hashtag #nostrawsnosleeves. Share your photos with me, and let’s save some plastic!

April 5, 2018

Monthly Recap: March

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Guys, how the eff is it already April? Trust me, I realize how cliche the whole time flies deal is, but for reals…time is flying. March was a long month, and for the most part a productive month. And since I am already epically failing at my yearly goal to journal on a regular basis, I gotta keep doing these posts so they kind of sort of count. So here’s the lowdown on March!

On the goals front: Goals for March were to give blood, book one wedding, read four books, post four selfies, finish the editing on book #1, and create a TBR jar. I’m happy to say I can check off all of my goals except for the selfie front, and in my defense, I was sick for like two weeks out of the month and sick does not a good selfie make. So I’m giving myself a pass on that one.

On the writing front: On paper, the writing front sucked in March. I did finish my Casting Call edits, which is awesome and time-consuming and something I’m happy to have off my plate. I only posted eight blog posts in March, which was mostly due to the being sick deal, but still, not as much as I would have liked. Kind of the real bummer for March is that I basically accomplished zero new writing. I got an idea for a new direction for my YA book, but when I sat down to make it happen, I didn’t love it like I thought I would so I kind of scrapped the whole thing. That seems like a waste of time, but in the long run, I think it is going to actually help me get refocused on the manuscript and where I want to take it.

On the reading front: Major ass whooping happening here. I read EIGHT books this month. Yeah, that’s right. EIGHT. Go me. I read: Glass Spare, Forever Red, You Are a Badass, Pasta Wars, Sandcastle Empire, Singles Game, Three Sisters Three Queens, and The Hazel Wood. My two favorites were Forever Red and Pasta Wars, and I also really dug You Are a Badass.

On the movie front: I saw four more movies this month: Wrinkle in Time, Thoroughbreds, Hamlet, and Red Sparrow. To be honest, I didn’t love any of them, though Thoroughbreds was very well written and Benedict Cumberbatch is by far my favorite Hamlet of all time.

On the MCU front: Guys….I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. I’m almost done with the required portion of the MCU challenge. I have a few episodes of Agents of SHIELD, and Thor and Black Panther (both of which I’ve already seen) left to watch before Infinity War. I’m going to go back and at least try Iron Fist and the Defenders, but I don’t have high hopes given how much I hated the other Netflix series. I’m seriously going to have withdrawals.

On the yearly goals front: I got to check off my first box! I gave blood early in March and I can officially mark off the first box on my list. Technically I could also mark off revising and expanding Casting Call, but even though I’ve finished another round of edits, I’m not sure it’s totally complete just yet. But progress is being made, and that’s always a good thing.

Overall: I’m hoping for a healthier April so that I can get back on track with writing and continuing to make progress on my works in progress. I plan to send out some queries this month, so I’m hopeful that will get my ass back in gear. Even though March wasn’t a stellar month, I still accomplished some goals and I’m headed in the right direction!

March 2, 2018

Monthly Recap: February

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Hey folks! It’s officially March, which means it is time for my February recap! This month was a total whirlwind of crazy high emotions. Lots of highlights, but I ended the month feeling pretty low. I’m looking forward to getting back on track in March, but for now, here’s the happs from February:

On the goals front: My goals for the month were to make my Avengers ears and scarf; read four books; post four selfies; book one wedding; write my romance query. I did not finish my Avengers scarf (which is a bummer since it’s actually cold enough for a scarf this week!) and I only posted three selfies. Boo. But I did accomplish all of my other goals so also yay.

On the writing front: So here’s where things get a little interesting. On Valentine’s Day, I decided to enter a Twitter pitch contest specifically for romance writers (love day, makes sense). It was the first pitch party just for us sappy folks and it was a big success. In my mind, I knew I was not ready (or rather, my manuscript was not ready) for this contest, but I entered anyway because I am a masochist. And lo and behold, I received requests from three agents and two publishers. Holy shit. That was great news, except I then had to send out a manuscript I knew wasn’t my strongest. And I am feeling super frustrated with my first chapter because I just can’t seem to get it right. I’ve only heard back from one agent so far (rejection, obvs) but I don’t have a great feeling about the others. The whole thing kind of threw my motivation totally out of whack and I have basically not written anything since then. No bueno. I need to refocus in March and really buckle down with the editing and get my manuscript in querying shape.

On the reading front: This is the one area I kicked some serious ass in this month. I read SEVEN books in the shortest month of the year. Booyah. I read: Since You’ve Been Gone, I Heart London, Turtles All the Way Down, Everything Leads to You, The Hating Game, Bone Music, and A Wrinkle in Time. My two highest rated reads for the month were Hating Game and Everything Leads to You, but I also loved Bone Music and Since You’ve Been Gone.

On the movie front: I saw some awesome movies this month, including the world premiere of Annihilation. I also saw Shape of Water, Black Panther (twice), and 50 Shades Freed (I know, I know, but I write romances). Black Panther was the clear top film this month (we discussed it at length in this week’s podcast), but I also mostly enjoyed Shape of Water. 50 Shades was….well, you know.

On the MCU front: I’m making progress, but as of yesterday, I have one week less to knock out my list because the Avenger Infinity War release date just got bumped up to April 27th. So basically, I need to get my ass in gear. But check in here for the latest update.

On the yearly goals front: I’m making progress on reading the books I already own and most of my monthly goals.Thanks to the Twitter pitch contest, I sent out three queries this month, so that’s also a little progress made. I’ve definitely fallen off the healthy wagon, so it will be one of my goals for March to get a handle on that.

Overall: I had some really awesome moments this month, starting with our girls trip to San Francisco, but I ended February feeling blah and unmotivated. I need to find a little creative spark in March so I can get back on track! What do you do to kick up the motivation factor? Help a sista out!

February 7, 2018

Monthly Recap: January 2018

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You know what I definitely don’t have enough of in my life right now? Blog post series! Bahahaha! Hope you heard that sarcasm. Well, this series is kicking off because one of my 18 things to accomplish in 2018 is journal, and well, more than thirty days into the year and I am already sucking hard core at that one. BUT…these monthly recap posts can totes serve as a journal of sorts. Plus, it might make me feel like I actually got some shit done this month. So here’s what happened in January!

On the goals front: My goals for January were to set up a writing schedule, make my iPhone case, read four books, update the podcast webpage, book one wedding, post four selfies, and journal. No bueno on the journaling or updating the podcast webpage, but other than that, I can check off all the goal boxes. I’ll take it.

On the wedding planning front: I booked a wedding and a half (it happened at the end of the month so it was an in-betweener), which is great because I had a serious dry spell in December that carried into January and was starting to scare the shit out of me.

On the writing front: Not only did I set up a writing schedule, I mostly stuck to it! In January, I wrote 11k words in romance #1, 3.7k words in romance #2, and published ten blog posts. Go me.

On the reading front: I knocked out six books in January. I read Outlander, Foolish Hearts, Heartless, One and Only, Cruel Prince, and Genuine Fraud. Foolish Hearts was my highest rated read of the month, at five stars. One and Only was my lowest at three stars. Overall, a great month of reading! Plus, I only bought two books, and they were purchased with a gift card I received for Christmas so that means they don’t count against my no book buying in 2018 rule.

On the movie front: Taking full advantage of Movie Pass, I saw four films this month. I saw Thor Ragnarok for the third time; I, Tonya; Greatest Showman for the third time; and Phantom Thread. I loved all of them, and clearly Thor and Greatest Showman have special places in my heart. I, Tonya was my favorite of the two new movies I watched.

On the MCU front: I knocked out a huge chunk of my list. See the latest updates here.

On the podcast front: We recorded and released three new episodes in January. We would so love for you to check out Drink Talk Fangirl and leave us some love!

On the yearly goals front: I made some good progress on a couple of my writing projects, but can’t say I did much more than that. I need to refocus efforts on the getting healthy deal, plus start looking at doing some cleaning and organizing around the house. I did set monthly goals, post my selfies, and craft once this month, so one month down and eleven to go for those year-long goals!

Overall: I’ve hit a bit of an inspiration wall in the past couple of days, so it’s actually nice to sit and look back at everything I’ve done so far in 2018. Even though it might not feel like huge strides, I got a lot of shit done. And I’m going to continue to focus and try to stay on track.