Another Round of 80 words has come to a close...

Earlier this week I thought of something to discuss in this blog, but, yet again, I have since completely forgotten what said thing was. Was it casting characters in your head? Was it music that you listen to when you write? Was it a blog I stumbled across?

I dunno. 

I think I may have to begin writing down blog topics as soon as they occur to me. 

Despite that it's been a very good week and a good end to this round of ROW 80. 

I was able to do some writing over the weekend. Most of the work was done on the Descendants and one of the fanfics, though I did chip away at chapter 9 of TUO some more. I also finished up a Christmas short story that takes place in one of the fanfics. I had started it last year, and the story has changed since then, so the events that happen in the short story will never come to pass in the fanfic. A friend and I were discussing this, and her response was to blink at me, and say 'So, you basically wrote a fanfic for your fanfic?'

Yes, I heard you like fanfic, so I decided to put a fanfic in your fanfic.

But I'm happy that I finished it, because it proves to me that I can write something short, sweet, and wrap it up in a few thousand words. Since all my projects tend to explode and become ginormous monsters, I was beginning to think I couldn't write a short story or novella.

Maybe I'll share it when it gets a little closer to Christmas.

In addition to that, my husband's birthday was last week so we went and saw a taping of Hollywood Babble-on at the Hollywood Improv. It's podcast that's done by Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman that's pretty freaking hilarious. Seeing it in person is even better, because then you can see what Kevin and Ralph are talking about. 

I finally saw a new doctor to get a second opinion on my PCOS and Fibroids. The appointment went really really well, but I'll share more on that in a later post.

Oh, and I finished up a couple of books: The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson and Bared To You by Sylvia Day. 

The Madness Underneath was... interesting. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, The Name of the Star, and this picks up a few months later. Rory has left Wexford Academy and is living with her parents in Bristol while she recovers from the events of the first book. Her therapist decides that it's best for her if she goes back to school, so Rory heads back to London. She soon learns that her return to Wexford was something that the Shades, people who have the ability to see ghosts like she can, have set up. And even though Stephen, the head of the Shades, is adamant that she complete schooling, she soon finds herself skipping class to help them investigate a new series of murders that aren't what they appear to be. 

This book actually came out a few months ago, and readers who are fans of the series immediately freaked out. There were people cursing Maureen Johnson and comparing her to GRR Martin on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr - so even if I wanted to avoid spoilers I couldn't. As a result I knew going in that the book ends on a cliffhanger and that one of the characters doesn't make it. However, even though I was forewarned I was so not prepared for what happened. A character does pass away. It is the result of events that happen at the climax of the book, but it's not in the way I was expecting at all. 

God damn you Maureen Johnson. God damn you.

Other than that, it's a good second book that sets up the rest of the series, and I can't wait to see what happens next. Only problem is that the book comes out next spring so I have a while to wait. 

Now as for Bared To You. I was hesitant about reading this book because it seemed like another 50 Shades of Grey knock off, and I didn't really like 50 Shades of Grey that much. It is very similar, but it's also very different. Eva has a backbone. She stands up to Gideon repeatedly, denying him multiple times before she finally gives in and accepts the fact that they're supposed to be together. However, she quickly becomes annoying. She has a troubled past, and her answer to any problem is to run away from it. So Gideon does something to upset her, she runs away, he runs after her, reassures her that he is hers - rinse and repeat every other chapter. Regardless, it's still a fun read to pass the time.

In addition to that Sleepy Hollow premiered on Fox. I'm a history nut, and a sucker for 'fish out of water' stories - especially 'fish out of temporal' water ones - so the moment I heard about this show and saw the previews, I was all about it. It wasn't what I was expecting as the TV spots for it were a bit misleading, but holy crap was it fun. And WAY spookier than I was expecting. Seriously. I jumped a few times (Something I have a feeling my husband will not let me forget anytime soon) I'm looking forward to seeing how the show plays out, and I'm hoping that Fox gives it a chance instead of canceling it way too soon like they did with Firefly and Dollhouse. 

And now on to the WIPpet!

WIPpet Wednesday is run by KL Schwengel. To join in, all you have to do is share a piece of something that you are working on that somehow relates to the date. It could be 9 lines from chapter 18, or 27 words as 9 + 18 = 27. The more creative the math, the better! Then, once you've posted what you're sharing in your own blog, you go here and share the link. See? Easy peasy.

My own WIPpet Math is pretty simple today: 9-18=9, so I'll be sharing 9 sentences from Chapter 9 (I was tempted to do 18/9=2... but nothing I had available really fit that length.). This scene takes place after Mattie has returned to her rooms after leaving the King's garden. She's afraid that he might send his men after her because she upset him, so she's pushed several pieces of furniture in front of the door to barricade it.

Mattie spent the rest of that night, and the next huddled in her room. She flinched every time she heard boots in the corridor outside her door, convinced that it was the King’s guard finally coming to drag her away.

But they never came.

On the third day her stomach growled and cramped, reminding her that she had not eaten since she imprisoned herself. While the thought of trying to stomach more of the thin grey gruel available in the great hall was unappealing, she knew that if she didn’t want to become gaunt like some of the ghouls that wandered about the castle, she would need to eat soon.

Sighing, she pulled herself away from the wall, her joints creaking and her muscles protesting after sitting for so long in one place. She groaned in pain as she started dragging the furniture and rocks away from the door, but her body quickly loosened up with the exertion.

Once she was able to open the door, she peered into the corridor outside. She glanced up and down it, looking for men wearing red uniforms and chain mail, but it was empty.

To see more WIPpet Wednesday post, please click here.
To see more ROW 80 updates, please go here.