Category Archives: Monthly Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up Post (2018)

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So April may have happened somewhere between this wrap up post and the last one, but I was really busy and kind of missed it, so… yeah. It’s time for my May/April wrap up post! Things this past month/last month have been kind of crazy, so here’s the rundown.

May Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • I traveled to England with my mom! As a super special birthday treat (and because my mom has wanted to go there for years and wanted someone to come with her) I got to go to England for a week! It was absolutely amazing, and if you haven’t had the chance to check out Part 1 or Part 2 of my write up of our adventures, make sure you do! My Instagram page is also chock full of photos from the trip, if you’re interested.
  • I accidentally started working on another secret project… Apparently I cannot stick to any of the projects I’m actually supposed to be working on, and I started developing ideas for another project I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while. It’s still in very early stages of development, and I’m going to try to work more on other, more pressing projects instead of following this thing off on a tangent, but… you know. We’ll see what happens.

Posts from April/May 2018:

Looking Forward:

I’m going to try and wrap up the One Week in London series during June/July, and get back to more regular blogging and writing habits. I’ve been kind of ignoring my WIPs and creative work in favor of… procrastinating, so I really need to work on that. It’s just a little frustrating, because with basically all my projects I’m right in the middle, which is where the self-doubt and boredom start to kick in. I know if I just keep working on it, doing a bit each day, I’ll get through. But the motivation is kind of lacking, so it may take a lot of willpower to actually get some work done.

Thanks for reading my May/April wrap up post! Can you believe it’s summer already? Cause I can’t… The year is almost half over, but it kind of feels like it’s just started. Have you done anything exciting during the past two months? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

March Wrap Up Post (2018)

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Wow this post is late…

Hello, everyone! Sorry I haven’t been able to get last month’s wrap up post out until now. March just sort of bled right into April and I didn’t even realize it! But here’s a quick rundown on what I’ve been up to in the last month, and what’s coming up.

March Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • My next writing project is moving forward. It’s very tempting for me to say that I got nothing done in March, but now that I really think about it, I have done some work on what will hopefully be my next book. I’m really trying to get back into the habit of writing something everyday, even if I don’t feel like it (which it seems like I never do). I’ve been really out of the loop recently, which may be why this post is so late, and I’m still struggling with motivation and finding the will power to just sit down and write something. But I’ve made some progress, which is fantastic, so there was at least one thing I accomplished this March.
  • I watched The Greatest Showman! All of Twitter has been raving about this musical for the past few months, and I finally got around to watching it. The soundtrack is amazing, and I wrote a review of the film, which you can find in the ‘Posts from February’ section below.
  • I’m getting more comfortable behind the wheel. While I may never be entirely comfortable with piloting a large, heavy object through narrow streets and around sharp corners, I am definitely improving. I was actually able to drive all the way home from the parking lot where we practice a few days ago, and I didn’t almost drive into a ditch like I did the first time, so I’ll take that as a good sign…

Posts from March 2018:

Looking Forward:

There are a lot of things happening this month. First of all, you should be seeing my review of the new season of A Series of Unfortunate Events on Friday. It technically should have been posted last Friday, but procrastination and health problems happened, so… yeah. There’s my excuse.

I’m going to be away for the rest of this week, starting tomorrow, because I’m going to the Great Homeschool Convention with some friends. I may be posting some photos/updates to my Twitter and Instagram, so if you’re interested, please go check those out.

I’m helping my lovely friend Daley Downing with the bookiversary of her debut novel! I’m going to be hosting a super special giveaway, starting on the 16th, so make sure you subscribe to my blog if you want to hear about that and get a chance to win some cool stuff.

There’s also one other exciting thing happening this April/May, but unfortunately I’m going to have to keep that a secret for now… 😉

Thanks for reading my March wrap up post! How was your March? Did you get to see any cool movies or shows? Is there anything exciting coming up in April for you? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

February Wrap Up Post (2018)

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Heyo, friends! Wow. I can hardly believe February is already over! January felt at least a year long, but February 2018 went by in seconds, and suddenly we’re five days into March and I hadn’t yet posted my monthly wrap up post because I didn’t even realize the month had ended. Well, no more waiting! Let’s jump right in to what’s been happening this month…

February Monthly Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • I published a new story! It’s set in the same world as Behind Her Mask was Death, and takes place about ten years prior. The story is a novelette called Empty Little Heart: Esmeralda’s Story and has some backstory on everyone’s favorite Princess Esmeralda. You can pick up an ebook copy over on Amazon (it’s currently available exclusively on Kindle), and take a glance at the gorgeous cover art created by Jenna Paddey:

Empty Little Heart (Cover)

  • I became the co-creator of the dankest meme on the internet. Well, maybe not really, but it is a pretty great meme! The meme is called “John Green Red” and was created in honor of my YouTuber/author/awesome-creative-person friend Hannah Marie. I’ve mentioned Hannah a few times here on the blog, and if you’re interested in learning more about her, make sure to check out her Twitter, her YouTube channel, and visit her Fandom Wiki page! To learn more about the meme I helped create, and what it means, you can visit this page.
jOHN GREEN RED MEME

The original “John Green Red” meme created by yours truly. *dabs unironically*

  • I completely quit YouTube and have decided to focus more on blogging and writing. In the January Wrap Up Post, I said that I was going to try and make some more YouTube videos for my channel. But I realized, after several fruitless attempts at filming, that this was just a total drain on my mental health and creativity, and I’ve decided to drop that idea and focus on doing what I really enjoy. I’m going to try to do a lot more original, interesting blog posts on here, including recommendations, essay-type-things, more poetry (maybe?), and more reviews.
  • I’ve started learning to drive! I actually got my permit back in January I believe, but what with sickness and crazy schedules and work and what not, I wasn’t actually able to start learning to drive until Saturday of last week. Let’s just say that I still need a lot of practice before I’ll be driving anywhere except empty parking lots…

Posts from February 2018:

Looking Forward:

I have a couple of fun posts planned for March, and I’m going to try to finally finish up Season 1 of Marvel’s The Gifted and write a review of that as well. I’m playing through the 2017 rage game Getting Over It, and if I ever do, in fact, get over it, I’ll be reviewing the game on here. I’m making some progress on a couple of writing projects, which is good, as I haven’t written anything at all in the past few weeks (Yes, I know, I’m the worst…) and I’ll be sure to keep you updated if I have any breakthroughs with that.

I’m toying with the idea of doing some Instagram livestreams sometime in the future, just super casual, chat-about-your-day kind of stuff. If anyone would be interested, please let me know! (You can follow me on Instagram here, if you like.)

Thanks for reading my February wrap up post! How was your February? Are you as baffled as I am at how short it seemed??? Did any cool things happen to you this month? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

January Monthly Wrap Up Post (2018)

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“Aria???? Where in the world have you been????” you cry furiously at your computer screen, as you smack your desk repeatedly with the palm of your hand, “You promised that this year you were going to actually write more blog posts, and then you just… disappear into thin air! What’s up with that??? Are you lying to us to our faces???????“

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m sorry. One month into the year and I’ve already failed one of my goals, which was to post at least one blog post a week. I got off to a pretty good start and then… stuff happened. School. Work. Dare I say… procrastination? But that should have only been for last week! I was all geared up to try and get some posts out this week, and then disaster struck, in the form of a very nasty strain of the flu.

For multiple days I have been laid up in bed, basically unable to move, much less to write a riveting blog post. But, at last, I have returned. I’m still a bit sick, but I think I’m well enough to recount all the stuff that happened this month. Hopefully…

January Monthly Wrap Up

(Yes, I am making new banners without the year on them. I figure it’s way more efficient than making a whole new set of banners every single year!)

Highlights:

  • I went to see Secret Midnight Press on tour with indie musicians Tessa Violet and GiveMeMotion, and it was amazing! There were more people there than I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed both parts of the show (they had the musicians do their sets first, and then Jesse and Ashley from Secret Midnight Press came and read their poetry). It was at a smaller venue, which was nice, and the atmosphere and ambiance they created was very cool. I even got to talk to Ashley a bit after the show, and she signed my copy of Smoke Signals! 10 out of 10 would see a Secret Midnight Press show again. I had an awesome time.
  • I discovered some amazing small YouTubers during this month/the end of last year, and I wanted to give them a little shout out because they’re all super cool, and you should go check out some of their videos. I don’t normally watch smaller YouTubers, because it’s difficult to find ones with good quality content, but a while back a couple of my internet friends started YouTube channels, and they are through-the-roof-amazing. So make sure you check out That Girl with a Blog (My friend Hannah Marie’s channel. She does vlogs, storytimes, and is just generally hilarious and relateable) and also Jeneca Zody, Bethany Stevenson (they’re both amazing artists) and MasterEth (he makes hilarious clean comedy videos and is a friend of Hannah’s)
  • I started listening to Welcome to Night Vale! You may have heard of it at some point or another on your journey through the internets. It’s a fiction podcast about a tiny desert town somewhere in America where really weird and random paranormal stuff happens. The podcast is super bizarre and a little creepy, but I actually find it quite funny, mostly because of just how random it is. I’m almost finished season 1, and I’m loving it so far! The creators of Night Vale have also made another podcast called Within the Wires, which has a totally different vibe and is super suspenseful and exciting. I listened to the first season, and highly enjoyed it. Until recently I didn’t really know fiction podcasts were a thing, but Aimee Meester’s Bright Eyes Project sort of introduced me to the format, and I love finding new podcasts to enjoy. ^_^

Posts from January 2018:

Looking Forward:

Yes, I am going to try to do better about actually making blog posts in the future. But, I mean, hopefully I won’t have any more surprise attacks of the flu, so we should be good. I’m also hoping to make a YouTube comeback as soon as my voice doesn’t sound like a dying rat! I made a channel a while back and posted like one video… and then I never posted anything again. I have a couple of super cool ideas, though, and I’m hoping to make at least a few more videos very soon! I let you know if/when that happens.

Thanks so much for reading my January wrap up post! How has your January been? Have you discovered any cool new YouTubers, podcasts, TV shows, books yet this year? Do you have any favorite small YouTubers? Let’s chat in the comments below!

See you again soon.

🙂

November Monthly Wrap Up

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December is upon us, bringing with it more cold, snow, holiday stress, and, most importantly, Christmas! And, it also means that it’s time for another monthly wrap up post here on my blog. Let’s jump in, shall we?

November Monthly Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • The Tangle was published earlier this month, and me and some of my author friends put together an awesome blog tour! I even got to be on my friend Hannah Heath’s YouTube channel for an awesome author interview! You can find the complete list of blog tour stops here.
  • I finally got out of my reading slump! I’ve haven’t been reading anything besides school books for a long time now, but I finally picked up a few things from the library including the Erased Manga series that was recommended by Hannah Heath, although the first book in that hasn’t actually come in at the library yet, so… Can’t actually read the series yet. 😐

Posts from November 2017:

Looking Forward:

Obviously, Christmas is coming up fast (Yay advent season!) and then it will be 2018! I’m working on a novelette set in the world of Behind Her Mask was Death, which I would like to publish on Kindle in late December. Other than that, I don’t have a lot planned. We’ll just have to see what happens!

Thanks for reading my November wrap up! Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Are you excited about Christmas? (I know I am!) Let’s chat in the comments!

🙂

October Monthly Wrap Up

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And suddenly, it’s November (which means a whole lot of pain and tears for many of my writerly friends out there in the interwebs, but oh well). The leaves are falling (finally), its getting colder outside, and it’s time for yet another monthly wrap up post!

October Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • The Goodreads Giveaway for The Tangle ended, and two lucky winners have been drawn! Over 1,200 people entered the giveaway, which is crazy awesome! Thanks so much to everyone who entered. ❤️
  • I recorded a video interview with my amazing author friend Hannah Heath! We had a ton of fun and got to talk about writing, The Tangle, and lots of other fun stuff. That video will be coming out on the 8th of November as part of The Tangle Blog Tour, so why not pop over to Hannah’s Youtube channel and subscribe so you don’t miss it?
  • I did a couple new pieces of Clique art this month for #FanArtFriday! Both are rather fancy  watercolor paintings, which I think turned out pretty well, but you can be the judge of that… I posted them both on my Instagram, and you can see them below as well. 👀
photo 2 (1)

“Dreamer” A watercolor painting of Tyler Joseph, the lead singer/pianist/ukulele player of Twenty One Pilots.

photo 1 (1)

“Believer” A watercolor painting of Josh Dun, the drummer of Twenty One Pilots.

Posts from October 2017:

Looking Forward:

November is going to be awesome. The Tangle is coming out on the 4th (you can still preorder the Kindle Edition on Amazon, if you like) and I’m having a special blog tour for the book from the 6th to the 9th! You can see the whole lineup for the tour here. I am super excited about this book, and I can’t wait for it to come out!

It’s also NaNoWriMo. I’m not directly participating this year (I had my own self-induced writing sprint back in July or August —30,000 words in 30 days— and it completely burned me out), but I’m going to try to write a poem every day during November, as I’m working on a poetry collection and I only have a few poems in it so far! We’ll see how that turns out…

Thanks for reading my October wrap up! Did you have a good Halloween? Are you excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas? Let’s chat in the comments!

🙂

 

September Monthly Wrap Up

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Hello, everyone! Apparently, it’s the last day of September (What? No. This must be a lie! Where in the world did the month go???), which means it’s about time for another monthly wrap up post! Here goes…

Highlights:

  • My brother released his first album of electronic music! It’s called Junction 232, and you can find it on iTunes, Amazon, or wherever you get your MP3s!
  • My next book, The Tangle, has an official release date! It will be published in Kindle and paperback editions on November 4th. Preorder the book on Kindle or enter the paperback giveaway on Goodreads
  • I did some new art stuff! I did a Clique art drawing for Fan Art Friday on Twitter, which you can find here (Clique art is just another name for Twenty One Pilots fan art). It actually turned out pretty cool and I got to draw a bunch of neat patterns for the background and stuff, which was really fun! I also did a small pencil sketch of the members of Twenty One Pilots as well, which actually kind of turned out sort of looking like them??? I guess? 😂
  • My proof copy of The Tangle came and it looks really nice! I wrestled so much with the formatting for this book, so it’s great to see that the physical copy actually looks good.

Posts from September 2017:

Looking Forward:

I promise I will try to be better about doing blog posts! I’ve actually been in a bit of a depressive writing slump recently, and haven’t been motivated to write anything, so… yeah. Still working my way out of that one. 😓 But I did do a bit of work on my current WIP the other day, which is a good sign, so hopefully many more posts will be forthcoming!

So,  I’m thinking of maybe starting a YouTube channel? It wouldn’t be super fancy. I might do a few covers of my favorite songs for fun, and maybe some art stuff, and probably some vlog-ish things just talking about stuff, IDK. We’ll see.

I am working behind the scenes to organize a blog tour for The Tangle! I am super excited about this and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. No definite dates yet, but I’ll let everyone know as soon as it’s all figured out.

Thanks so much for reading my September wrap up! Did anything awesome happen to you during September? Would anyone actually be interested if I started a YouTube channel??? Let me know in the comments. 😛

September Monthly Wrap Up

August Monthly Wrap Up

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Hey, guys! I know that this wrap up post is about four days late, but there are very good reasons! Well, I assume that my reasons are good… Anyway, if you were wondering where in the world I’ve been for the past two weeks, wonder no more. Just read my recap of this month’s shenanigans!

Highlights:

  • I traveled more than two thousand miles this month (by car!) and visited tons of people that I haven’t seen for more than ten years. Yep, I went to Canada, where literally all of my extended family lives. But instead of just staying around Ontario at my grandparents’ house, which is what usually happens, we took a crazy road-trip across eastern Canada!
  • I visited Ottawa (the capital of Canada), Quebec city (where I kind of failed to speak French very well at all), then we treked through the vast wilds of New Brunswick to Truro, Nova Scotia, where we met up with my Grammie and my dad’s sister and then spent a couple of days down in the valley. Then, we went back to Truro and spent a couple of days there, before heading back towards the dear old USA and driving through Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts (where we visited Boston and saw some of the Freedom Trail) and finally State College, Pennsylvania, where we hung out with some of my dad’s friends from way back when. Aaaand, now I’m home! Yay.
  • I read some books on the trip (This Savage Song and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab, mostly) and I also signed a copy of my book that one of our extended family members owns!
  • I got super stressed out.
  • I got my parents to put on some Twenty One Pilots music in the car! I’m not sure that they care for it very much, but we listened to both Blurryface (multiple times, due to the insistent requests from my youngest brother) and Vessel (once, all the way through). I think we may have a few new members of the Skeleton Clique to welcome in, namely my brothers, who were all very enthusiastic about the music.

Posts from August 2017:

Looking Forward:

There is a TON of exciting stuff that’s going to be happening this month. I’m back for good, so you can expect at least a few more blog posts from my corner of the internet to hit your inbox during September. I will also be officially announcing the release date and details of my next novel, The Tangle, so be sure to stay tuned for that as well. I will also (hopefully) have another super special announcement for your tomorrow, so make sure you subscribe by email to make sure you hear about it! If you like to listen to electronic music, you won’t want to miss this one.

Thanks so much for reading my August wrap up! Have you been on any crazy long trips recently? Have you ever been to Canada? My family and I go about three times a year, and I love visiting there! Let me know in the comments.

🙂

August Wrap Up