MANGO!

In the spirit of better blogging, I've decided that each week, I'll post blog post things about different topics.

So that means that week one is: THE MANGO!

My friend (I use friend loosely, as Jackson Pearce doesn't really know me) Jackson is here to show you how to cut a mango--I'd show you myself, but I'll be gone for all of today and most of tomorrow. But yes, I did get some mangos yesterday, so... I don't know. Fruit goes bad, so that means that we have to eat them this week. But for now, ciao!

First Spark and New Template

 Hey guys!

(Or should I say: Hello, Avi, as you're the only one who reads this blog besides my mom.)



I've been busy the past few months, stalking Tumblr, joining Twitter, moving (yep! I moved), writing a darn novel...

And look at that beautiful book cover I got! It looks [bad word] AMAZING!! So awesome I made the photo extra large!

Right now I feel as though I need to slam the Pioneer Woman... but I can't figure out how to. Ermmm.......

Maybe I'll do it next time.

So you may have noticed  that my blog looks different. Yep, I changed it. Why? Because the old one looked really terrible, and I couldn't stand it any longer. So I changed it. I can do that, as this is my blog.

Disney's Pocahontas : Colors of the Wind : 1080p HDTV

I love this song. LOVE it. And the thing is, I didn't even know that I loved it, until like two days ago, when I was searching for some writing music.

I DO NOT own ANY of these Photos, so don't fine me, please.

Here's a blog post, with pictures straight from Pinterest.

I hate Rebecca Black's Friday, too, but we don't have to express it so plainly.

 I seriously didn't know that other people did this, until I came across it. Then I was like, 'WOAH! NO WAY!'

 No comment needed.

 This photo reminded me a lot about Tangled, how the king and queen would set off hundreds of lanterns hoping that one day Rapunzel would return to them.

How many times has my Dad had to stop the car and fix the seat belt for us? A lot.

A lot a lot.

Like, so many times it's unacceptable.

I learned how to jump a car by the second time the faulty battery died, and I got pretty dang good at it, too. So I should have learned how to fix the stupid seat belt.

,

 Dr. Doofenshmirtz was raised by ocelots--just a little extra Jeopardy knowledge to know (by the way, I found out tonight that the kids in my family universally stink at jeopardy).

Tis The Season

Tis the season to be naughty
Fire-f-fire alarms-----
Tonight, tonight,

Don we now
heavy appraisals
n-not-not-not
Not really

Sorry it's been a long time since
I posted:
I-I've I've I've I've
I've been busy...
(stalking Tumblr)

The Importance of Revision

Today I'm here (on my sister Ainsley's birthday), to preach to you the importance of revision.

Now, revision is the process of cleaning up your dirty, unwanted, filthy, vile, and otherwise unreadable manuscript, into something that other people besides your pet shark, Kenny, would want to read.

Revision is important for every author or aspiring author (ahem, me) out there.

No manuscript is perfect the first time out. If you thought J.K. Rowling just knocked out the Harry Potter series flawlessly, think again-- actually, she rewrote the first chapter of the first book eleven times before she thought it was worthy of publication.

Now, depending on how you revise, your manuscript can go either two ways: it can be a glossy, polished work of art (Harry Potter), or it can go down the drain and be a worthless piece of crud (The Maximum Ride series).

Let's go with the first scenario: The Harry Potter books are all flawless (depending on what you thought of Fred's death), seamlessly put together. That's why millions upon millions of people love them. They love the setting, the characters, the plot, and the subplots.

Harry Potter couldn't have wooed so many people on its first draft. No book can.

Now let's go with the second scenario: The Maximum Ride books are all confusing. Standing alone, they're okay. Put all three together, and you have a clown show. The plot changes three times in each of the novels, the back stories differ and change, also, and the plot itself is stupid.

This book had so much potential, so much going for it, and yet... it came up short. Short by a mile. James Patterson sold the book in its second draft-- that is, cleaned up a little so that the text is legible. And James Patterson can get away with it, because he is a published author. Published, esteemed authors can do whatever the hell they want.

Well, James Patterson lost a lot of my respect for him when I read that. If he didn't care enough about his book, to make it shine, like it needed to, then he shouldn't be published.

So anyway, do you see my point? Revision is important. Even though I do hate it with all get-out.

HeHe

And The Room Is Filled With The Sounds Of A WAY Too Enthusiastic Person

I finished! I won NaNoWriMo!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

My novel still has close to 50K more words to it, but at least I get to sport this badge everywhere I go-- and make mysterious quotes from my novel when I'm talking to other people.

I seriously didn't think I could do it, what with moving back to our town house, and me losing Drucil (the stupid flash drive), AND me having lack of motivation for like, half of November.

Man, it feels great winning.

And now, I have some sleep I need to catch up on.

December and beyond!

I Hate Drucil

Drucil-- that's the name of my flash drive. I like to name all of my inanimate office supply tools-- for example, my big pink eraser is named my big pink eraser (okay, I haven't named it, and I'm not going to), my two Bic lead pencils are named Sigmin and Ike, and the ruined lead pencils that I got for my birthday all have names, too. Donna, Neil, Patrick, Harris, and Jimbo. And Trelawney destroyed them all.

But this post isn't about what the names of my office supplies are.

This blog post is about my flash drive, Drucil.

A few days ago he decided to lose himself in some place that I CANNOT figure out. He's lost, and I can't find him.

And lucky me, because he held my NaNoWriMo novel on it.

Yay. Lucky me.

I Slam The Pioneer Woman

For some reason, I just really love looking at pictures of office supplies.

Seriously. I can't get enough pictures of them.

It's better when there's a picture of pens on top of about three or four different notebooks. Bonus points if it's written in.

I really like this photo. Don't know why.

 Hope's username on the YWP site. I know that, technically, this doesn't count. But I still like it.

Yep, here I am, reusing my own photos. (Yes! Finally! Another slam on the PW!)

All Caught Up

I'm (finally) all caught up with my word count for NaNoWriMo. It took all day to do it, but...

I accomplished it!

And now I have to work on tomorrow's word count, of 1,667.

In case you haven't guessed, I'm on my school laptop, which has no photos besides the default pictures on it. So enjoy these penguins, while I go do some of my animal chores.

Still a Little Behind...

Okay, still about as behind as I was. Maybe a little more, since I posted that post yesterday, and a day has passed.

(And now, because I just HAVE to call the kettle black): Hope is a laptop hog.

Meh, pig, koala. No one knows the difference.

Behind

For the first time since NaNo started, I am about 700 words behind. For the first time in ever, I have to compete with Hope, my sister, for the little silver Mac, because it has my writing software on it (and I refuse to switch back to Word. Scriveners runs laps around it).

And I don't mean to call the kettle black or anything, because I am the exact same way, but she is a total laptop hog. I know she's gone from 7:30am to 6:00pm, but I always write best in the dark.

I'm a night owl.

But Hope likes to occupy the laptop at night, when I have inspiration (okay, don't start rolling your eyes at me) to write.

And so I'm 700 words behind. I've resorted to writing in a notebook, I'm that desperate.

So Hope, if you're reading this, if I lose it will be on your conscience.

But no pressure or anything.

Now Would be A Good Time to Mention...

... That whoever finishes NaNoWriMo this year will win not one, but five free copies of their novel, courtesy of CreateSpace. So that means that four more people will get to read your novel than before.

And I probably should have told you this earlier, when you could have caught up much faster. Not when you're like, 15,000 words behind schedule.

So, sorry.

And to those of you out there, who are participating in NaNo, and are going steady, keep up the good, and equally hard work! Because we all know that sleep is for people who... er, write in the day...

Katie, a cat who spend two thirds of her life sleeping. 

This joke didn't really go where I wanted it to...

But anyway, you guys earn a huzzah and stuff!

NaNoWriMo and Delirium (in other words, why I haven't posted)

I have been (almost) busy writing, and doing schoolwork, and watching other people talk about their novels on YouTube. 

Oh, and the word sprints. 

And also, this book:

I LOVED this book (SPOILER: It had a really crummy ending. I'm not kidding). It was so well written, and I fell in love with the characters-- especially Hana (pronounced, like, Hannah. So I like her).

I stayed up for three nights straight reading it. And when it was over, I wanted to stay up more nights, reading more of it.

That's what makes a good book. It's something that makes you want more. Makes you want to read, and stay up late every night for it.

4.5 stars. Well done, Lauren Oliver.

Finally! What The Heck My Goats Look Like!

If you bothered to read the title, then you know that this post is probably about my two dairy goats, Batha and Macha... I mean Padma and Amelia.

The brown one is Padma, and the black-and-white one is Amelia. Please don't ask what gender they are (but I'll give you a hint: they're both dairy goats).

Padma is an Oberhasli. She's sort of pushy and eats a lot.

Amelia is an Alpine. Or French Alpine, if you want to get technical. She is really, really sweet and follows you around. But she doesn't like little kids.

The last time Amelia came into contact with Trelawney, my baby sister, she butted her to the ground.

I have no idea why Amelia hates Trelawney so much.

In other news, tonight was Halloween. I dressed as Scarlett March (fictional character in one of Jackson Pearce's books). I've officially eaten too much sugar for the night. Anything (Kit Kat, Butterfinger, Twix, Snicker) sounds pretty unappetizing to me-- except for Pixie Stix. I can't seem to get enough of them!

In a Somber Mood

I should be happy, because my 14th birthday is on Wednesday, because Halloween is on the 31st, because NaNoWriMo starts shortly afterwords.

But I'm not. In fact, I'm sort of somber. And tired.

Mostly because I watched 30 Rock last night, the one where Kenneth confesses that he ate his role model (which is a pig, by the way) in a pork eating competition.

I'm also feeling sad for my fellow writer Avi, whose dog Kenaii was pretty much stolen from them a few days ago. The person who stole him has chained Kenaii in her backyard.

And also, because I made cheese the other day, and it didn't stretch like it was supposed to. I'm a failure!

Why I like Coloring Books

This evening I was going through the living room, taking out the kittens for the night, and Ainsley was on the Wii, playing the Wonder Pets on Netflix.

Lizzie was carrying a kitten in front of me.

"Lizzie, I'm playing Save the Bengal Tiger." Said Ainsley.

"Wait for me, okay?" Lizzie replied.

"Ugh, you guys, I already know what happens in that episode. I read the coloring book." I said in a bored tone.

Basically, here's an overview of what happened in Save the Bengal Tiger: The Wonder Pets travel to India, where there is a white bengal tiger (surprise!) who has a thorn stuck in its paw. I don't know why it couldn't get the thorn out itself, but for some reason, a lot of the animals in this show are helpless.

This is where the details get sketchy (haha, get it?) for me.

There is a dancing, talking mouse with a funny accent, a baby elephant who can also talk, and a camel who can't talk, or doesn't talk. What is a camel doing in India? I don't know.

They all do a musical number at the end, and the mouse and the tiger become friends or something.

Anyway, Lizzie and Ainsley both sort of gave me a weird look.

"They leave a lot of stuff out in the coloring book." Lizzie said.

"Okay, sorry then."

What the Posts About Drawings Mean

Recently I've been posting some... posts about drawings. That pretty much all there is to them. Drawings, and a whole bunch of mishmash words you probably don't understand.


 Well, recently I've started stalking (I mean visiting) this website called ywp.nanowrimo.org. Which basically translates into: The Young Writer's Program.

Truth be told: It's a pretty cool website. I only ran into it because of the adult version of The Young Writer's Program, NaNoWriMo.

I checked it out, and I had to admit that the forums were WAY better than the ones on the other website. So I posted here, posted there, and I got hooked.

But anyway, on the forums is a section labeled 'art class'. It's a place for people to advertise, and ask for, character drawings, signatures, and book covers.

Immediately I started an art shop. I thought I was doing pretty well. Still am. It's just that I've seen a dramatic decline in customers, and I'm starting to get bored.

That's  the meaning of the drawing posts. I just had to post the pictures somewhere.

Drawings 2

Here are your photos, YWP people! Sorry it took so long!

Rosie311:

Daisychains:

Dezzay:

I love this one. 

Creative.nerd19:

Rue:

Zanna:

Anyway, hope you like 'em!

Why I Don't Read Books on Buses Anymore

Back last year, around winter, I took Middle School basketball.

Just warning you: I was terrible at it. Awful. I stunk. Bad.

I still did basketball, though. And that meant that I rode on the school bus.

Oftentimes, I sat alone on the bus, because I wasn't all that popular. And I have no idea why. I sat at the bus alone. But that didn't mean someone didn't sit in the seat across from me.

On this occasion, we were traveling about forty minutes out. I didn't have an Ipod. I had a book (which, in my opinion, is way better). I was bored of people ignoring me, so I took my copy of  the Kane Chronicles out of my backpack and started reading.


About two minutes later, the girl who was sitting in the seat across from me said, "Is that a book? Whydo you have a book?"

She said it like I was committing a crime.

My insides curled up, and I gently closed the book (I was re-reading the book, by the way). "Yeah, I do have a book." I said gently, if not slightly embarrassed.

The girl scrolled down her Ipod Touch and selected a different song.

"No one reads outside of school." she said matter-of-factly.

I do. I thought. I remember being really upset. Upset because, hey, I just distanced myself even farther from the popularity line. And because no one reads outside of school.

I put the Kane Chronicles back inside my backpack and tried to forget about what the girl said. But I can't forget it, no matter how much I try to.

It's not because I was told off for reading a book, it's because I pity the people who think that reading is just for homework. Just something teachers make you do in school. Not something you want to do for pleasure.

Maybe it's because these days, kids have come to think of books as something related to school. And they are, but so many books aren't. They don't have any idea.

And after that, I never took a book on a bus again. Or, if I did, I'd make sure no one was sitting in the seat across from me.

I had a few friends who were pretty understanding of my hobby, though. I think I got Daisie hooked, at least.

Well, good. Huzzah! One saved!

Harry Potter

Can you see what that says? I think it's Harry Potter.

Harry Potter, one of the awesomest series. Ever.

There's so many subplots and subplots and subplots and subplots. The series is like an onion. You peel back one layer at a time.

That truly is an awful picture up there, isn't it?

By far, my favorite book in the series was the Half Blood Prince, even though (SPOILER ALERT) Dumbledore dies. And Bill gets malled by Fenrir Greyback.

But I still loved it. A lot.

Does anyone else love Harry Potter?

Probably.

But some people think that Harry Potter clashes with religion. They believe that just because the characters in the book twirl their wands and have birds spurting out of the end, that it's wrong to read the series.

I won't disagree with you people. I don't want to cause conflict. Because, truthfully, my schedule is flogged enough right now.

But I'm a Catholic, I love God, I read the books, and I still love God (shocker!). That's it. I mean, it was just a set of books. I'm not going to think that because I read them, my religious views were jeopardized.

Characters

This is for Ellenar Ride:

Swirl-Girl:

Angela.Harkness (you get two, just because I messed up the first one):

I hope you guys like them!

C- Section Kittens (WARNING: This post contains Images that may or may not cause you to gag)

Today I see the need to finally tell you about how Percy, Fred and George were born. I've put it off for too long. But I must Warn you: This post contains some VERY bloody images. So if you're one of those gag-easy people, skip over this one, please.

Okay, then. Don't say I didn't warn you.

So where to start...

Oh yes. I came home from Middle School one day this March, and my Mom was in her bedroom, with Katie.

"She's ready to give birth, Hannah." Is what she whispered.

"No way! Cool beans!" Is what I think I said.

Katie indeed, did appear that she was about to give birth; her belly was the size of that of a blue whale, and she had her milk in.

We eagerly waited for an hour. We waited, and waited, and waited.

"What's that bag thing sticking out of her--?" Ainsley asked me.

"Well, I think that's the baby kitten, Ainsley." I tried to respond scientifically, but failed.

By then. my Mom and I had begun to suspect things were going wrong. We Googled, Youtubed, and called people, trying to figure out what was going wrong.

Skipping over some important details, we ended up at the vet's office over and hour-and-a-half later, trying to call a vet to try and look at her. Dr. Vet answered the call, along with Dr. Vet 2's daughter, and fiance, who lived on the premises for the vet office.

Katie was looked at, and it was determined that she would have to have an emergency C-section done. Immediately. I knew that the kittens inside of her were most likely dead, so we were just doing the surgery to save Katie's life. I know. Pretty selfless of us.

My Mom took the next several pictures (I was in the waiting room, trying not to listen to what was going on where all of the other people were). I was utterly repulsed about the whole cutting-open-cat ordeal. But that doesn't mean it wasn't necessary, PETA people.

Katie, before the C-section. Her life was more painful then. Just look at her.

I don't know what's happening in this photo. Wait! Yes I do! That thing Dr. Vet has in her hand is called a kitten. A kitten covered in a placenta.

That's a kitten, not a rodent-thing. I can't really tell which one it is.

This one gets to be extra small, because it's the bloodiest. I probably shouldn't be putting this in here. I expect that that organ is the Uterus, as this was an emergency C-section.

That kitten is either Fleur or Charlie. We gave those two kittens away, when they were old enough. It's not because we didn't like them, it's because someone asked for them, and we said yes.

After the C-section. Five squirmy, undead kittens. And Katie.

So all of the kittens (surprise!) survived. There was Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Fleur. That rat looking thing on the left end is Percy, for sure.

Just to show you what he looks like now:

He is such a gorgeous cat.

And here's Fred:

Ignore Susan. She's awesome.

And here's George:

Such a wonderful belly.

And Fleur and Charlie (before we gave them away):

Charlie. Ignore the eyes. They weren't like that.

Fleur.

Apologies

First off, I'd like to apologize to the Pioneer Woman, for poking fun at her in every other (maybe more often than that) blog post. But the thing is, you make it so easy to poke fun at, what with your flowy tops, and your need to reuse pictures in every post, and the need to photoshop all of your kids so that they look like aliens...

That's not much of an apology. Sorry, Ree.


I'd also like to apologize to Steve Jobs, for not buying any of his products while he was still alive. Truth is, though, I'm not rich enough to buy one of his products yet. But I will! If I ever have enough money, I'm going to buy a Mac! One of those big computers. Not a laptop.

That's also not much of an apology, Steve. Sorry.

And lastly, I'd like to apologize to Fred, my cat. I feel bad for using him in my photo shoot (this traces, once again, back to the pioneer woman. You need to visit her website). I was being a jerk.

                                                        That's a penguin. Three penguin to be exact.

The wind is nailing us at 100 miles an hour right now. Ah, Kansas.

Yo! Test Post!

This is a test post, to see if the tab button worked or anything. So if it doesn't, ignore this!

Let's Put Clothes on Animals!

I actually did what the title implies.

Why? You may ask. Why'd you do it, Hannah?

Well, I did it for a specific purpose.

You see, I finished my manuscript a few days ago (I really need to get that in to my agent-- a.k.a, my Mom), so I saw the need to put clothes on my cat Fred.

When you finish the manuscript that you've been working months on, grab the camera, the cat, and some clothing. Mix and match! BTW: the cat can't take photos of you in the clothes.

It started out as just a scarf. The fun colored, zebra striped scarf. But then I started rounding up all the cute doll clothes I could find, because hey, I finished my manuscript.

The socks stayed on for a total of 0.02 seconds. So when I dressed him up in other rad articles, they weren't on anymore.

It's Friday, Friday
gotta get down on Friday
Everbody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend--


Sorry. Rebecca Black made me do it.

I like the bag. Rock on, freaky bro!

Remember, I can do this, since I finished my manuscript.

(No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post)

Noveling, Running, and Some Oreos

I went on a run this morning. It was pretty fun. I didn't start to feel the side-affects of running for the first time in a month until after my run, when my legs started feeling like jelly. This is my karma getting back at me for eating junk food. I knew it would get back someday.

But there's more. Yes, much, much more.

After my run, I had this.

Yep.

Knock off Oreos and raw goat milk.

I'm not sure about the goat milk, but I know that Oreos, even if they are knock off, are not very healthy.

I've also decided that the manuscript I spent months over-- and just finished-- is pretty lame. I don't know how that could have happened. I mean, me? Write something lame? It doesn't really make sense to me either.

No one would want to buy it.

Well, I'm sure there's someone out there who'd want to buy it.

Someone way out there, like in Germany.

Or in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

I'm sorry, for being negative. I'm still kind of sad that Anthony Ryan went home last Thursday on Project Runway. He wasn't even my favorite person there (that spot is saved for Anya, if anyone watches Project Runway and cares).

NaNoWriMo is next month. Is anyone signing up and doing it? You should. I love NaNoWriMo. It's the coolest thing since sliced white bread.

Done!

I've done it! I've finished my first manuscript! Huzzah!

I love writing. It's so much fun.

I got, like 74K down, which just barely squirms inside the boundaries for the title Adult Novel (not like it's gonna be an adult novel. I'm thirteen). And technically, it about reaches the deadline for YA.

Just wait till I get into revision, though. I hate revision. I hate it with a passion. I always think, why can't the first thing be good enough? Why do I have to spend yet another batch of late nights going over countless lines of this part needs taken out. Add-- thirty minutes minimum or I didn't get this part because I was tired, and I wanted to go to sleep. Make it easier to understand. Add more action. Add-- an hour of hard labor.

I'm already getting geared up for all those denied query letters from publishers I'm bound to get, too. That's the pains of being an author, though.

Ciao!

Dilemma-- a crisis involving two alternatives

I'm at sort of a crisis right now. And it's all because I procrastinated.

This July I wrote a book for Camp NaNoWriMo (and I won, by the way), but I didn't finish it. I've been slowly trying to end it off over these past months, so that I can have my Mom read it, edit it, and then for November I can write the sequel. And now November is a month away, and I haven't finished my novel yet.

I realized my problem about two days ago, when I was watching Jackson Pearce on Youtube. She was talking about how she had to get her manuscript to the publisher by a deadline.

I wish I had to write on a deadline like her, I thought longingly. Not because I want to write on a deadline, but because I'd be a published writer.... oh crud-puppies. I do have to write on a deadline.

And so began my inner battle trying to finish this manuscript that has about ten thousand words left on it at the least, and getting it to my agent/editor (a.k.a, my Mother) with enough time for her to edit it through.

I can't work on deadlines.

Haikus-- More or Less

I own dairy goats
Alpine, and Oberhasli
They are truly great

 
Spotted bellies, wow
From a cat who says meow
What a lame haiku

C-section kitties
I was there when it happened
More on that later

New baby rabbits
Aren't they so adorable?
No need to say it

Veronica Mars
Mom won't let me watch the show
The same way with Glee


Those are some pretty lame haikus. Oh well. They're way better than the first ones I wrote. One was about the color purple, while another was about how much I hate Mac and Cheese. They stunk. Bad.