Fictional Crush of the Week-Han Solo from Star Wars

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Happy Saturday everyone! Enjoy this week’s Fictional Crush of the Week! This one is a VERY personal favorite of mine :)

Character Name:

Han Solo

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Book or Series They Appear In:

The Original Star Wars Trilogy

A New Hope, sildenafil Empire Strikes Back, order Return of the Jedi 

Author/Creator:

George Lucas

Played By: 

Harrison Ford <3 <3

Who They Are:

Han Solo is one of the main three characters of the Original Star Wars trilogy. While Luke Skywalker is the hero, this web and Princess Leia is the not-so-damsel-in-distress, Han Solo is the humor and the sort of bad boy of the good guys. He is a former smuggler, caught up in the rebellion against the Evil Galactic empire almost against his will. He’s a reluctant hero, quick with sarcastic remarks and always full of plans that don’t always work so well. He has the coolest and most loyal of sidekicks, Chewbacca. He always has a remark that causes a lovable eye-roll from his companions. He acts super uncaring but he can have a sweet side too.

Why I Am Crushing On Them: 

I’m pretty sure that this is the first fictional crush that I’ve ever had and he remains one of my favorites to this day. I never was on board with Luke Skywalker, although Mark Hamill was pretty cute in the first movie. But he was sort of whiny at times, and he was very serious. I always go for the sarcastic, bad boy. Plus I had always imagined myself as Princess  Leia and Princess Leia ends up with Han Solo. So that just sort of works out that way.

But let’s just look at it. Han Solo is the scruffy, bad boy, who always has the sarcastic remarks. He’s roguishly good looking, and Harrison Ford, god, I can’t even handle it. Its a back and forth sometimes on which character he’s more good looking as: Han Solo or Indiana Jones. Han Solo will always be my man, though. He may not always seem 100% committed, but he’s a good pilot and a good fighter, and he ends up being essential to the rebellion.

Notable Quotes: 

Princess Leia: I love you
Han Solo: I know

“Laugh it up, fuzzball.”

“Who you calling scruffy looking?”

Luke: But they’re gonna kill her! 
Han Solo: Better her than me! 

“Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don’t care what you smell!”

“One thing’s for sure, we’re all gonna be a lot thinner.” 

“Never tell me the odds.”

“Great. Don’t get cocky, kid.”

Original Trilogy - Han Solo 07

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I hope you enjoyed this edition of my Fictional Crush of the Week! Come back next weekend for more!

NaNoWriMo-Making a Book Bible

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We’re a week into NaNoWriMo!

How is everyone doing so far?

I’m doing really great. I’m writing this late Thursday night, this and I just finished writing for the night. I actually had to tell myself to stop so I could pick it up again tomorrow. I’ve heard its helpful to leave off in the middle of a scene because you’re eager to get back to it, page and its easier to jump back in. I started off NaNoWriMo at 14K words and I just surpassed 30K tonight so I’m feeling good.

I hope you’re all doing good no matter how many words you’ve written! Remember, NaNoWriMo What a Nerd Girl Says style is all about the focus of your novel and writing. Which is sort of the focus of today’s post.

Last week, right before the lovely ladies of the Fierce Reads tour embarked on their actual tour, they did a Twitter Q and A. Well the first question I asked was how they managed to handle all the world building of their novels.

My current novel, Oreo Surprise (okay, its not the real title, and its a long story), is my first dive into something that’s a little more complicated than contemporary YA. There’s more to the story and the world and its hard to keep track of.

And Jessica Brody suggested that I put together a book bible. Of course, my question was: what on earth is a book bible?

And basically, it comes from TV. They create a sort of bible on a television to keep track of characters and story lines, and all sorts of things like that, especially in the event that new writers are brought to the show. However, this can also work REALLY well with a novel writer, of any genre, really.

I spent most of my first day of NaNoWriMo working on my book bible, and I continue to work on it as I write my novel, and learn more about the characters and the story.

So I’m sharing the sort of things that I include in MY Book Bible, and other things you can include as well :)

Title

This part of my book bible is blank. I have no title for my novel. Sigh. I’m just SO terrible at naming things.

Genre:

I find this to be important to define in your book bible. It might change! And that’s okay. But having an idea of what you’re going for will help to keep you in that direction.

Character Profiles

I break it down between main characters, secondary main characters, and then strictly secondary characters. For the first two categories, I really get in depth with those. I dive into their histories, their likes and dislikes, their physical appearances, physical strengths and weaknesses and their mental strengths and weaknesses.

Whenever I make a comment about a character, or create a character trait or memory, I jot it down under that character in order to keep track. Everything that I need to know about that character is in this section, so that I don’t make the mistake of giving them conflicting memories.

I also like to keep track of the secondary characters to, even the smallest ones. It helps to make sure I don’t use the same names twice, and that I keep the story lines in order. This part of my book bible is SO important and critical for me. I have a HUGE tendency to contradict myself.

Character Playlists

This just helps me because I like to listen to music while I write. If there is a particular song that reminds me of a character, I will put it under that character, and I try to create playlists for that character. Music has a way of representing so many different emotions, which is why it resonates so much with us, so I love using it as inspiration and motivation.

Settings 

This is where I do everything from jotting down all the information I can about the actual location of where the story takes place, but also the details of my main character’s house and room, and the details of some of the journeys she has to take.

I like this section because I’m starting to put together a sort of map that is becoming important in the part that I’m working on now. There’s a big quest sort of part in the novel, and it requires Katy to pass through quite a few states, and I’m doing a lot of research on that, and I put that all in this section :)

Virus Breakdown 

This is exactly what it sounds like. In this section of my book bible, I break down the Z virus that causes the “zombies” of my novel. I broke it even further down into Symptoms, How Long it Manifests, Reawakening Processes, How it Spreads, etc.

This is an important part if you’re writing a world building novel. You need to break down your world building. This can be in settings and characters, but you can break down your class system, or your magic system. Once you have a hold of that, writing about it falls easier into place. Its not easy, but its easier and that is always good for a writer.

Beats

Jessica Brody is the most amazing author in the entire world for introducing me to the 15 beat system. She pulled it from the book, Save the Cat, which is actually a book on screenwriting. You can adapt it into novels fairly easy though. You break down your story into 15 beats, the opening image, the set-up, the midpoint, the bad guys win, hope is lost, etc. Having the fifteen beats sets the stage for the rest of the novel, and is not as daunting as a full plot outline.

You can check out the book, Save the Cat, for full details, or check out this article on it, which I found incredibly helpful!

Plot Outline 

Once I settled on the fifteen beats of my novel, I dove into a full plot outline. I am VERY vague with this. I usually only do short little sentences to explain what I want to happen, in order to be able to switch it around or change it as necessary.

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This is the way I have my own Book Bible.

Here are some other things I’ve found that people include in their book bibles:

Gadgets and Gizmos

What can NOT Happen in the Book

Character Interviews

Research

Back Stories

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Whatever you put it into your book bible, and however you organize it, it is definitely a tool that is available to aid you in your novel writing adventures.

I have found to be an incredibly helpful tool, and I am so glad that I decided to make it. It has been instrumental in this novel, and how I’ve been able to move forward with it as well as I have. I definitely recommend doing this for anyone who is jumping into a novel that requires even the smallest bit of world building.

Happy Writing Everyone!

Reborn Book Review

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Reborn by S.L. Stacy

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This review is special to me. This book is the debut novel for my friend Shaina, search who I met through her amazing blog, cheap The Urge to Write. She self-published it on Amazon Kindle, clinic and you can get it today, November 7th, for free, until it goes to normal price, 2.99. 

This is an honest review. In no way, shape or form did my previous friendship with Shaina effect my review. 

You Can Find the Book At: 

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble (Some day!)

Author Website

 

GoodReads Summary:

Back in high school, Siobhan Elliot’s life was simple: Cheerleading, friends, and parties. But that all changed the night she and her friends investigated a mysterious light in the woods. There they found an injured man–an irresistible man with hypnotic blue eyes and magnificent black wings. A man Siobhan recognized. He was the handsome dark angel from her dreams. And with one touch of his hand, he left her with a special gift: a set of mythical wings that would change her life forever. Then he disappeared without a trace. Siobhan thought she would never see him again.

Now, six years later, her dark angel reappears –this time as a teaching assistant at her college. He calls himself Jasper. He challenges everything Siobhan thought she knew about herself and her world. And he’s come back for only one thing: her.

Or so he says. Siobhan is about to find out that nothing is what it seems in this strange, new world.

My Review:

This is such an incredible debut novel, and I have so much hope for Shaina and her first novel. She left me in a cliffhanger in this novel, so I’m hoping that she will gain the recognition she deserves and we’ll see this second novel in 2014.

Weaving Greek mythology into contemporary lives is nothing new to the young adult genre. In fact, this is something that I’ve been exposing myself more and more to lately, and each series I read impresses me that much more. The beauty of Greek mythology is that there is so much of it. What Stacy does in this novel is bring forth characters that we don’t often see in these YA novels, except maybe as secondary characters. I think she does a great job with it, and in bringing forth characters that we aren’t as familiar with, she creates a story that is full of surprises, twists, and turns. I didn’t know what to expect at all, and that is such a big part of the reason I kept reading.

Its a fast paced novel, which is always a good sign. Things are interesting from the beginning. Siobhan meets Jasper within the first few pages, and the reaction she has when she meets him is so visceral and so memorable that you need to know what is going to happen next. The relationships, the mystery and the tension that builds throughout the stories keeps you turning the pages, eager to reach the end, to figure out what is the story behind Jasper, and his need for Siobhan.

I also love the relationships in this novel. Its sexy as hell, and even though I have mixed feelings toward Jasper, there are some seriously steamy scenes that left me feeling a little flushed and breathless. That doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, I’m pretty excited. I’m not big on overly steamy novels, and this definitely is NOT it. They are hot and perfectly smutty, and I found myself disappointed when there weren’t more of them, another thing that never happens with me. There is so many sexy, dark, bad boys in this novel, with Jimmy and Jasper and I loved all the scenes that got hot and heavy.

Plus, Siobhan is such a great main character, because she’s so real and fleshed out. She has a backstory, she has a daily life, she has hobbies and concerns and worries and goals, and humor and all of that. I love that, even while her world is upside down, with Jasper and what he brings into her life, she is still going to class, and doing homework and working hard and having fun with her sorority. It makes her VERY real. Her entire world is not wrapped around this mysterious boy. Instead he disrupts this world that she has built for herself. She’s clever, and strong, and I can’t wait to see how she grows as the series goes along.

I do have an issue with the main characters’ name but I am kind of snobby when it comes to names. A huge reason why I couldn’t get through Fifty Shades was because the names. I’m a snob and I recognize that. It is a problem but I kind of just deal with it haha. I wasn’t a fan of the name of Jasper but I could get past that. The name Siobhan was difficult. Its not one that I was used to, and I had no idea how to even pronounce it until she does it for someone later in the novel. Its hard to relate to a character when their name is something you can’t pronounce. I understand it in a fantasy novel or a full blown science fiction, but it did bother me. This is SO trivial, but it is something that I thought of while reading. So much about the book makes up for this tiny little thing that will probably only bug name snobs like me.

All in all, this is fun and quite impressive debut for S.L. Stacy. I won’t sit here and say that I thought it was going to be awful, because I know Shaina and I know that she is most definitely NOT a bad writer. God, no way. But you always feel a little hesitant when reading indie writers, that self-published. I know, because I am one. My worries were for naught though. Its an incredibly beautiful novel, and I am very impressed, and I think that she has immense talent and creates a stunning and compelling story.

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

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Book of the Week – Champion by Marie Lu

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It’s here, its here, its finally here!

And okay, Prodigy totally released back in January and I haven’t even had to wait a year, like you do for most books, but I was just so excited that Champion had finally released. I downloaded it to my Kindle as soon as I was able to, and spent the next three hours, devouring the novel.

This was a finale worth waiting for, and I can’t wait to dive into it, so let’s do it!

Continue reading →

WWW Wednesday!

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WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature from Should Be Reading. I saw it on my friend Erin’s blog, sales That One Geek Girl, check and decided to join in.

To play along:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll be reading next?

So here are my answers:

What are you currently reading? 

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My good friend Shaina, treat over at The Urge to Write, just debuted her first, self-published novel. Its FREE all day today, and then goes up to 2.99. I can’t wait to dive in and read her book!

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I couldn’t wait for this book to come out, and asked Susan Ee if she’d be interested in doing an interview for the blog. Not only is she interested BUT she sent me an ARC of World After :)

What did you recently finish reading?

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The last and final book of the Legend trilogy was released Tuesday and I finished this in less than three hours, and it’ll have a spoiler-free review tomorrow for the Book of the Week.

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The finale book for the Covenant series, you can read the spoiler free review here.

What do you you think you’ll be reading next? 

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I started this, I just need to go back and finish it. Its really great, and really informative but there’s no story so its hard to get through. But I want to dive back into it and find out more about Shadowhunters and their history.

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I was gifted this by a friend, and I’ve heard many many many good things about this, so I hope to get into that soon too!

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What about you guys? Share what you’re reading, what you plan to read, and all of that fun book jazz in the comments below!

NaNoWriMo-Best Writing Advice I’ve Received

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Hey Writers! How are you doing! I hope great. Its Day #6 of NaNoWriMo, this and writers all over the world are pounding out thousands of words to get those novels done. I’m doing pretty well right now, but we all know there are days when we feel lost, when we need a little words of encouragement to help us out.

One thing that I always make sure to ask every author, when I meet them or interview them, is what sort of advice or tips they have for aspiring authors.

So today, I’m sharing some of the best advice that I have received for you, and sharing some of my own advice, and how helpful it can be to always be involved with other writers, for advice and support and encouragement.

I recently started a Facebook group, called the NaNoWriMo Support Group, and all of you writers are MORE than welcome to join us!

Now to the advice!

“Take risks and be brave. No one will write exactly the way you do. So take some risks and put yourself out there on the page. If you think, ‘I probably shouldn’t write about this…’ or ‘This is too weird/revealing to write about…’ that’s probably the very thing you should put into your story.”

-Libba Bray

With the novel I’m working on now, this really helped me. Sometimes I think, god is this seriously the weirdest story synopsis ever? But maybe that’s a good thing. I let myself write what feels right, even if it doesn’t always seem to be the best. We have to get out of our comfort zones when writing. 

“Write the kinds of stories you like to read. If you don’t love what you’re writing, no one else will, either.”

-Meg Cabot

SO true. I  could never write a mystery novel, or a crime novel. Those aren’t my cup of teas, so I write what I’m passionate about. I really hope to get back to my baseball idea because I love baseball so much. 

“Never let anyone make you ashamed of what you love to read and write. Always pursue your passion, and write/read relentlessly and shamelessly.”

-Rae Carson 

Passion. Passion. Passion. If you’re passionate about what you’re going to do and it’ll show. Its the same way I operate with my blog. Its all about what I’m passionate about, and somehow, you guys keep showing up! And that’s awesome. I hope it works for my novels too! 

“Don’t be afraid to write badly. All writers have awful first drafts. That’s why they’re called first drafts. Sometimes you have to just get through the story before you can make it pretty. I think a lot of new authors quit halfway through the book because they’re afraid that it’s not good. The first draft won’t be good. Just finish it and fix it later. The hardest part about writing a book is getting to that last page. and remember, it’s okay to write crap. Crap makes really good fertilizers.”

-Jessica Brody

This was HUGE for me. HUGE. I think sometimes I get so focused on writing well, that I don’t just write. Being able to worry less on whether its good and just getting it on the page has helped a lot. Marlene Perez quoted Nora Roberts when I met her, something about not being able to fix a blank page. That has really stuck with me the last few months. Sometimes you just need to write, and you can go back and clean it up and make it better later. 

“Just tell the truth and make it cool” and “Learn the rules so that you can break them.”

-Lex Thomas

This just makes me laugh every time I see it because it reminds me that while this is something that I want to make my career, it is also something that I really enjoy, and its fun and makes me incredibly happy! 

“It’s okay to write a shitty first draft.”

-Gretchen McNeil

Ditto. Keep writing, no matter how crappy it seems. We can always go back and fix it! 

“There is no such thing as an aspiring writer. If you write, you’re a writer, and I can’t wait to see what you do.”

-Stephen Chbosky

This makes me so incredibly. He wrote this on my “writing advice” poster, and I love it. For one thing, the idea of Stephen freakin’ Chbosky reading MY novel makes me start fangirling and I haven’t even published said novel yet. But its so uplifting and encouraging. I AM a writer. I write. I can do it. 

“Get rid of boring friends!”

-Eoin Colfer 

It seems funny, and silly but its true! Make your life exciting, fill your life with exciting and fun people. This will be inspiration for your books. The excitement of your own life will bleed into your novel. Be exciting, be your own inspiration! 

“Remember, its never too early to treat writing like its your career!”

-Shannon Messenger 

I love this piece of advice. By making writing a priority and a responsibility, it makes you accountable. I may not be intending to write an entire novel in the month of November BUT setting a goal, and holding myself accountable for keeping that goal. Treat like its something that HAS to be done and it’ll get done! 

“Make sure you have something worth selling before you take it to market. It’s all about the books. Focus on craft first. Too many writers take their work to market before it’s really ready, getting distracted by a focus on query letters, agents and publishers. Marketing a bad book is like trying to push a boulder up hill.”

-Cinda Williams Chima

This is awesome. Because once you’ve gotten over that crappy first draft, you gotta work very hard to clean it up and make it the best it can be. Write multiple drafts, and make it the best it can so that anyone you try to sell it to you would be insane to pass it up. 

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I hope you enjoyed the different writing advice, from some SERIOUSLY awesome authors :)

What is some of the best advice that YOU have received before? Share it below in the comments!