The Raven Boys book trailer

Once again I'm incredibly impressed by Maggie Stiefvater's talent and skill when it comes to making her own book trailers. I mean, holy crap, just watch this thing, just listen to it:


Gorgeous, yes? Did I get anyone's curiosity piqued? If so, you'll be happy to know that sharing this trailer with your peeps may lead to an ARC of The Raven Boys. Either way, tell me all your thoughts. Is this an effective book trailer? And what about book trailers in general? Legitimate sales technique or waste of time? Let me know in the comments!

WIP Wednesday: Week 22

Days Worked On: I've . . . stopped keeping track of this.
Morale: *shrug* Decent?
Total Word Count: 99,058 (-409 from last week)

What I Worked On: Chapter 8. And everything else.

Thoughts: Well, last's week revelation was a false alarm. So I spent most of this week re-reading all the other parts of my book and figuring out ways to fix their problems.

It's actually kind of nice to still be working on my WIP without looking at all of the stuff that's been frustrating me. It was also pretty helpful to refresh on later stuff and see what I need to fix in this section to keep everything cohesive, since this is the part of my story where the characters starting jumping to bizarre conclusions.

It doesn't seem like I was very productive, but I think one of the hardest things to explains to non-writers is how much non-writing we actually do while writing. There's so much thinking and gathering of ideas, and even though we don't have any progress to show for it, things in our stories have been clarified and perfected. Without all of that non-writing, our writing would never get anywhere.

Writing Song of the Week: Still Breath of Life. What can I say, I'm boring. But to be less boring, let me tell you about my writing song from a couple weeks ago: "Apotheosis" from the Journey original soundtrack, which was composed by Austin Wintory. The entire Journey soundtrack is beautiful, but "Apotheosis" is not only seven minutes long, but it's dramatic and orchestral and gives me feeeeelings.

WIP Wednesday: Week 21

Days Worked On: ALL THE DAYS.
Morale: Mostly irritated . . . which occasional bouts of optimism that were quickly crushed beneath the irritation again.
Total Word Count: 99,467 (+870 from last week)

What I Worked On: Chapter 8. I talked with CPs, I worked on the corkboard timeline thing, and I wrote about ten different openings for the chapter. The conclusion I've come to? It's time to re-work chapter 6-3 (which comes before 8 chronologically).

Thoughts: I have a public service announcement: when having problems with a certain section of your story, it may help to re-read the chapter that comes before the one you're working on. Seriously. Don't skim it. READ IT. Because then you might notice something that you'd forgotten about that may possibly fix all of the problems you've been agonizing over for the last two weeks. *head desk*

Writing Song of the Week: Because I talk about music enough that it deserves its own section. This week featuring Florence + the Machine's new single, "Breath of Life." It's the theme for Snow White and the Huntsman and not only is the song gorgeous, but it's gotten me super psyched for the movie. Just watch this music video:

Good to be a geek

Well, I went to see The Avengers this past weekend. It was wonderful beyond words . . . but instead of boring you guys with endless rambling about how marvelous it was (the pretty people and the explosions and the one-liners and the helicarrier and all the things), I'm just gonna tell you to go see it.

SO GO SEE IT.

Also, a geek-tastic music video. Because this is the start of a promising summer for superheroes. *thumbs up*

*
So have any of you seen The Avengers yet? If not, do you have plans to? It is, after all, a great combination of action and drama and humor and badassery . . . and yes. Go see it. Ahem. If not The Avengers, what's your geeky movie/hobby/whatever of choice? Tell me in the comments!

*Oh, and the Hank Green cover, for all of you Nerdfighters. :)

A particularly kreativ and versatile post

Something exciting happened to me last Friday. I got nominated for two different blog awards from two different people! Woo!

So thanks to two fabulous ladies: Krista over at I Take the Pen for the Kreativ Blogger Award and Julia at Life As it Is, Dreams As I Make Them for The Versatile Blogger Award! Take a moment to go check out both of their blogs, as Krista runs some fantastic flash fiction challenges and Julia is archiving her adventures with dreadlocks. :)

As per being nominated, I have to do a couple things:

1. Thank and link to the peep that nominated me.
2. Share ten (kreative)/seven (versatile) random facts about myself.
3. Award some other nifty bloggers.

Like last time, I'm going to combine these and give you ten facts instead of seventeen, okay? So voila:

1. I'm pretty musically inept. Looking at sheet music makes my eyes cross. I played the piano for about three months, and the only reason I survived is because I memorized the songs.
2. I'm one of those people who likes cleaning if it involves organizing something. Packing boxes seriously appeased my inner Tetris queen.
3. Speaking of Tetris, I love it. A lot. Playing helps clear my mind.
4. I'm madly in love with superhero cartoons. They're a nice combination of action and ridiculousness. Some favorites would be Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, and Young Justice. But the list goes on.
5. I also enjoy superhero movies (maybe I should just say that I love superheroes in general?). A recent favorite was Thor because it was essentially a movie about sparkly space vikings. It can't get better than that.
6. I have long fingers and slender hands. When I was a little kid, my parents' friends who own sheep used to tell me that I had good hands for helping sheep with difficult births. I was, understandably, horrified.
7. After much deliberation, I've decided that peanut butter M&Ms are the best writing snack ever. Cheez-its and homemade Crispix mix are a close second.
8. I've officially gotten to that point in my crocheting career where I can completely wing a project or alter a pattern and it'll still turn out decent.
9. After using Spotify for a couple months, I would have to say it's one of my essential computer programs. I love how easy it makes finding new music.
10. I'm a big fan of card games, if only because a single deck of cards can equate to so many different things. Favorites include pinochle, euchre, oh hell, and cribbage (though you need a board for that).

Wasn't that thrilling? Anyway, time for some award nominees:

1. Brenna at Blissfully Brenna - For once, I actually get to nominate her first! She's one of my fabulous CPs and you should all annoy her until she updates more. >:D
2. Daniel at Daniel Todd Noyes - One of my IF writing buddies. He knows his stuff and has got a great sense of humor, which shows its face on his blog.
3. Jessie at Little Bonobo's Book Cafe - All of her posts are interesting and she magically says everything I feel . . . also, she writes about magical binturongs.
4. Kirstin at SqueezeBoxPharm - Because now that she's actually updating, we've been regaled with exciting accordion videos! On a semi-regular basis!
5. Thea at Thea's Writing Asylum - She's all about zombies. Writing about zombies, reviewing about zombies, crocheting zombies. Just go visit her. 
6. Kate at The Queen of Creativity - You know me. I've always gotta pimp my mother when it comes to blog awards. Plus, she does pretty art.

Alrighty, that's all from me for now. But here, because I know you were all waiting for it, my standard "I know award posts are boring" video to entertain you guys:

Safe & Sound

Okay, this is old news, but I thought I'd share for anyone who hasn't stumbled upon it yet. Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars have put together a gorgeous song for the film adaption of The Hunger Games and, well, I want you to listen to it. Because it's pretty and all but screams Katniss and Prim.


So, thoughts? Did you hear about this weeks ago, when it was first released? Or did I get to enlighten at least on person? And, most important, do you think this is an appropriate song for The Hunger Games? Tell me in the comments.

What is a bagginses?

I have a migraine, so I'm disinclined to stare at a computer screen long enough to give you guys something good to read. However, I do love JRR Tolkien, and if you've been living in a hole for the last 24 hours, this will be pretty damn exciting:

Last minute NaNo inspiration!

Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo! So if you're not quite to 50,000 words and need some NaNo music videos to spurn your creativity . . . well, watch these:







Okay, so you might have noticed that all of these videos are by the same guy. Well, uhh, I think he's made some of the best NaNoWriMo music videos . . . I mean, Mulan parody . . . so, yeah. Unless any of you have some favorite NaNo videos that I've missed? If so, tell me in the comments!

A few quick ramblings

Today's 11/11/11! Yay exciting number combinations!

Anyway, my internet service has is rotting in a corner somewhere and I've lost the ability to do anything productive past NaNo. Fantastic. On a more positive note, I've written 35,000 words in the last ten days. *thumbs up* Now, here, go watch another NaNo video while I pass out for a few hours:



I particularly enjoy the back-and-forth between the girl and the three guys. Also the montage with all of the people glaring petulantly at their computers. Moving on. How are you guys doing? Up to anything exciting? Writing a lot? Missing sleep a lot? Tell me in the comments

Fanfics and FULL LIFE CONSEQUENCES

Fanfiction Week Mark 2? Apparently. Let's just roll with it.

Anyway.

Bad fanfiction.

It can be annoying. There's a lot of it. FanFiction.net is a glorified slush pile. However, bad fanfiction can also be a little like watching a bad sci-fi movie. Horrible and hilarious at the same time. *nods*

Today is a day of Full Life Consequences.

For those who don't know, Full Life Consequences is Half-Life fanfic that became an internet meme after it was immortalized on YouTube. Now, don't be scared if you've never heard of Half-Life, because honestly, you don't really need to know anything about it in order to appreciate this.

It's just the simple story of how original character John Freeman saves his brother, Gordon Freeman (the main character of Half-Life), from his "enemys." Enjoy:

See, wasn't that beautiful? Isn't your life complete now? And the moral of the story is this: next time you're hunting the net for some good fanfiction, remember that the not-so-good fanfiction can bring joy as well.

How do you feel about the hoards of bad fanfiction plaguing the internet? Amused or annoyed? Did Full Life Consequences change your opinion at all? And has anyone ever heard of My Immortal? Tell me in the comments!

Let's talk commercials

Whether they're on your television, prefacing your Hulu video, or interrupting your Livestream feed--there's no way to escape commercials. They're annoying. No one likes them . . . unless it's the Superbowl . . . but we Americans are crazy and you'll have to forgive us for that.

Ahem. Anyway. Like all things in life, some commercials are better than others. How about Volkswagon's "The Force" commercial for the 2012 Passat or the Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" commercial for starters? These are the kinds of commercials that are memorable. That started internet memes.

Well, today I'm sharing with you another pretty awesome commercial. It's for the PlayStation 3, but I think everyone can appreciate the idea that's being presented. Even if you don't play video games.


So, what do you think? I love how the commercial is selling gaming itself. Now, I'm curious . . . do you guys have any commercials that you're particularly fond of? Anything that stood out for its narrative or humor? Tell me about it in the comments!

A particularly versatile and lovely post

ETA (12/04/11): Woo! Krista at I Take the Pen gave me another "One Lovely Blog Award." Thank you~! *hugs her to death*

So, last Friday Brenna over at Blissfully Brenna tagged about a billion different people with some blogging awards and I was one of the bunch. Woo! Thanks so much! Anyway, check it:

As per being nominated, now I have to do stuff. Sigh.

1. Thank and link to the peep that nominated me.
2. Share seven random facts about myself.
3. Award some other nifty bloggers.

So. Seven things about me:

1. I was a Girl Scout for a long time. Yeah, I rocked that from elementary school through high school, baby.
2. I do not like tomatoes. In any form. Yeah, no ketchup, no BLTs, no spaghetti sauce. Nothing. Actually, that's only 99% true. I love salsa. But it's gotta be spicy and chunky salsa makes me shudder.
3. Speaking of this whole tomato thing, I'm a picky eater. Or rather, I do not like some very specific things that seem to show up in EVERYTHING. Like tomatoes. And mayonaise. And coffee.
4. I am obsessed with Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. It's a fantastic song. I mean, even the covers rock (go check the On the Rocks and Halestorm versions).
5. There are few things I despise more than going to the dentist.
6. I am rather particular about, well, a lot of things. Organization is rather important to me . . . be it the files on my computer, the food in my refrigerator, or the books on my shelves.
7. I don't get excited about upcoming events unless they're right about to happen. Seriously. Oh, were're going to Oregon in a year/month/week? Eh, whatever. Oh, we're going tomorrow? I'M SO PSYCHED.

Did all of these thrilling tidbits sate anyone's curiosity? If not, well, too bad. Anyway, my nominees:

1. Jessie at Little Bonobo's Book Cafe - she doesn't update all that often, but her posts are always honest and interesting
2. Kirstin over at SqueezeBoxPharm - because she's been trying to build up the motivation to blog more often, and maybe shiny awards will help.
3. Kat over at That Flighty Temptress - because she always makes sure to keep things lively and fun.
4. Jackie from Books & Tea - she reviews books and types of tea, which is a rather fantastic combination.
5. Kate, or rather, The Queen of Creativity - she's my mother, and families should shamelessly lavish attention upon each other.

Yeah, I know, the original rules asked for 15 people, but that's kind of ridiculous. And it's not like these blog awards haven't been circling the blogosphere for the last forever. *shrug* Anyway, because today's post is kind of boring, I bring you what could be one of the best movie moments EVER. Oh, and just a heads up, there's a swear near the end.

The Scorpio Races book trailer

So, if you don't know, Maggie Stiefvater makes her own book trailers. They are gorgeous. She composes the music and draws all of the art and films them and I can't even explain how amazing I find the whole thing.

Yesterday Maggie uploaded the trailer for her upcoming book, The Scorpio Races. I've decided to share with you guys because, not only is it beautiful, but there are ARCs involved. So enjoy:


Isn't it lovely? *super shallow* So what do you guys think about book trailers? Do you think they help sell more books, or not? And do you have any favorites that stand out in recent memory? Tell me in the comments.

And now for an interlude

I was deep and meaningful on Wednesday. Today you get Mario and Luigi doing the jitterbug. Because it's wonderful.


Got some thoughts on the matter? Or a nifty video worth sharing? Leave them in the comments!

The Facebook announcement

Facebook isn't really my thing. I spend somewhere between five and ten minutes a day there, and even that's pretty low key. Twitter is my choice of social media. But a while ago Nathan Bransford wrote a pretty convincing post on making a fan page on Facebook, and after putting it off for several months, I've done it. I have submitted to the Facebook.

If you're even the slightest bit inclined, feel free to check it out. And, of course, I'd totally be cool with it if you Liked me. Think of it as an early birthday present.*

And if you're curious and/or wary about this whole Facebook fan page thing, apparently Facebook is taking over the world. Check it out:


The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.

I don't deny that you guys will eventually get a writerly tools segment on Facebook, but until then, what do you think about using Facebook as a marketing tool? Have you made yourself a fan page on Facebook? Or does that niggling sense of egotism turn you off? Tell me in the comments.

*In case you were wondering, my birthday is on the 25th. :)

ETA (06/22/11): Haha, ironically Nathan Bransford posted about Facebook today too, only he was questioning its downfall.

In which I vlog

So those of you who follow me on Twitter already know this, but on Wednesday I did a vlog. Yeah. That's right. A vlog. In which you can see me moving and hear my lovely voice.

What really happened is that @steph_wooten, @Thealsis, and I decided that maybe if we did vlogs together, it would seem less menacing and terrifying. And because I've been meaning to talk about the crafty projects I detailed two months ago, I spent the entire time talking about knitting and crocheting. Enjoy:


So there we go. I crocheted stuff. And did a vlog. Pretty successful bit of work there, eh? So what about you guys? Get anything particularly exciting done in the last few days? Tell me all about it in the comments.

Squid-zilla's revenge!

Hey, long time no see guys. Did you enjoy my guest posts? Hope so! Unfortunately, I'm about to rain on our parade. This post is not the awesome-sauce picture dump that I had planned, as I far overestimated my ability to compose a post of such excellence after a 13-hour car drive.

Instead, I present to you a video of the previously featured Hawaiian bobtail squid and some other cool stuff like a mimic octopus, crustaceans, and a group of random people I don't know. If you need any incentive to actually watch this video: the bobtail squid burrows with its tiny, adorable legs. TINY, ADORABLE LEGS. Enough said.


Next time, I promise you, creepy trees and invading electrical pole armies. Look forward to the goodness.

Attack of squidzilla

I don't have a good post for you today. Usually I write them the night before, but things really didn't work out that well, so I apologize. However, I've realized that despite this blog being called Squidink, I have yet to regale you guys with anything squid-ish. Thus, friends, I bring you the glory that is deep sea squid. If nothing else, you should find them pretty darn nifty:

A particularly stylish post (UPDATED!)

According to the lovely Brenna over at Writing and Reading, I'm apparently awesome. Or well, stylish at least. Thanks so much! Anyway, check it:

Pretty nifty, yeah?

As per being nominated, now I have to do stuff. Sigh.

1. Thank and link to the peep that nominated me.
2. Share seven things about myself.
3. Award some other cool bloggerly people.
4. Contact said bloggerly people and tell them that they're awesome.

So. Seven things about me.

1. I am a cat person. They're smart, they're fluffy, and they can take care of themselves.
2. Breakfast is my favorite meal and eggs are my favorite food. I love them in all forms except scrambled.
3. I'm a video game geek. I own a Playstation 3, Nintendo DSi, Playstation 2, Nintendo 64, Gameboy Color, and a Super Nintendo. On top of that, I have semi-regular access to an XBox 360 and a Wii.
4. I am one half of a Pictionary god.
5. The thing that really got me writing was Sailor Moon. There will probably be a post on this. I'm not sure why there isn't already.
6. At one point in my life I was going to study astrophysics. Now my science of choice is marine biology.
7. I tell people to "suck it up" a lot. Understandably I do not have the best bedside manner. Good thing I'm not a doctor . . . oh you just got out of surgery? Suck it up.

Phew, now that's enough about me. Now for a pair of cool bloggerly ladies that deserve to be called stylish:

1. Kirstin over at SqueezeBoxPharm because she tells entertaining life stories, but doesn't update nearly enough. Maybe being called stylish will be encouraging.
2. Kate, or rather, The Queen of Creativity. It's an art journaling blog, but the focus is on creativity in general. Kate is also my mother, and families should shamelessly promote each other.

Normal writerly post back up on Wednesday! Look forward to a titillating post on the joys and wonders of hardbacks, paperbacks, and e-books. And because today's post was lacking in the entertainment, a video for all of you: