Two years tomorrow

Rest in Peace, Dad I miss you and I wish you were still here to see me and Lucas growing into the amazing adults that you raised us with the intention of being. It's hard with out you here some times, but we're hanging in there as best as we know how.


xoxo

Whatever happened to Miss Independent?

First off let me preface this by saying that this post is not in any way shape or form an ode or homage to the ridiculously catchy song by Kelly Clarkson, it's more of my personal pep talk to myself and possibly other young women that let themselves relinquish their God given rights as women to be blinded by the opposite sex.

Note: Any "man bashing" in this is 100% unintentional, and I'm sorry in advance if I offend anyone.


When I came back to college I came to focus solely on my education and my future, in a past post I even referred to my education as "my boyfriend". But since life never works the way we want it to for a good portion of the time, I came to school and got adjusted and before I knew it I was miraculously turned into a giddy, naive 18 year old fresh from high school again and I fell into a relationship head first before school even started. We lasted seven blissful months, and I don't regret any of them either. The only thing about the whole relationship that I do wish that I could have done over would have been to not dote so much, I ended up losing myself in his life instead of focusing on me and getting my shit in order.

My Mom is and will always be one of my heroes, and the simple reason for that is because ever since she and my step-dad divorced nearly 4 years ago she has always done things for my brothers and I without the help of any men and it has shown me that I too shouldn't rely on a man for anything that I can't do myself.

So on that note I vow here and now to let this coming year not be a repeat of last fall. While it was nice and fun and all of that, it was not what I should have been focusing my energy on it. While this manifesto of sorts seems like quite a feat because it almost sounds like I've given up men completely and possibly even switched teams, but it's nothing like that. A girl just needs a break every now and then. Though I did do something the other day that was completely out of my character; I gave my number to a random cute guy at the grocery store the other night while shopping with a friend. It was fun and I felt like I crossed something off of my Bucket List as well as challenged myself and even though he hasn't called because he probably thinks that I'm 18, that's okay. It still felt pretty damn awesome at the time and I'm happy with that.

Right now I think I'm okay with just random dating, but I'm going to be a Summer Finn and go with the flow of life and figure out my own life first.

What's your favorite thing about being single? in a relationship?


xoxo

It's Kind of a Funny Story. Indeed.

I literally just closed the book and I am bubbling over with excitement at how great it was. 

At some points I felt like I was being dragged through the mud when Craig felt like he was in the lowest points of his life and I felt like I was on the highest point of a roller-coaster when he experienced his high’s. 

I found that I could relate so well to Craig in so many different ways, especially with his social anxiety on top of the depression, I just never had wanted to take things as far as considering suicide. 

Ned Vizzini, thank you. 

Last night....

..was amazing. I'm going to keep a secret to/for myself for once because I deserve that much. The 5 other people and myself created a mini world in the space of 8 hours and it was amazing, even during the lull's.

Just to clarify, no I was not involved in an orgy or anything of that nature.


xoxo

Crossing one finish line just in time to start another race.

My first full year as a college student comes to a bitter sweet end in a week and a half. I'm at a total loss for words  as for how to describe my love and appreciation for my new friend's that I've met here. They really have become like a second family. I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work on projects online and on campus that are conducive to my major.  Last month (April) my RHD and several other people in my residence hall decided to do another production of The Vagina Monologues, and since I've never seen the show and my curiosity, got the best of me. So I signed up to help with the publicity and advertising for the event, and holy crap on a stick! not only was the show phenomenal, but the real stories and the women of my school that were performing them were beyond amazing.
This year I've also taken bold and enlightening class choices in a major effort to better my writing skills and all that effort will be paying off next year when I'll be the assistant editor for my school's yearbook!! So not only will my writing be featured and published in an award winning yearbook next year for this year's book, but I also get as many copies of the book as I want. I intend on grabbing at least a handful and marking all of my stories and sending them to several family members to show them my progress thus far in school. Another plus to being an editor next semester is that I get to go to Chicago with the rest of the editor's, which is going to be awesome because  I've never been on an airplane before and I've never traveled any farther than Iowa and Nebraska. My name is Nicole and I'm a traveling n00b!

Now that it's nearly finals week and things around school are becoming even more hectic and deadlines are rearing their ugly heads I'm ready for the summer and next semester's round of classes to come along. During the summer  I am going to hopefully be working on campus and when I'm not working I plan to read, write, do yoga and make some money. I really need to get me back in order. This semester has helped and hurt it, but I'll be okay. Things usually turn out better for those with faith in something than those that don't anyways.

How has your year gone? How are you hoping your summer goes?

xoxo

Socialpunk: Author Interview

Socialpunk author Monica Leonelle answers some highly anticipated questions regarding her new book series Socialpunk and why you and all of your friends should read it. 

Enjoy! 

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book. 

Socialpunk is fun and face-paced and has a strong female lead but is also a quick read, so you can enjoy it in one or two sittings if you'd like.

What motivated you to start writing?

I started a Gen Y blog in 2007 called Twenty Set. It actually gained quite a bit of steam early on, but eventually I moved away from Gen Y topics. The reason I started that blog, though, is because I couldn't clear my mind! I literally just needed to get things out of my system. So I wrote that blog 4-5 times a week for about six months until my ideas stop churning so quickly. My love for writing as an adult grew out of that experience.

Who is your favorite character in Socialpunk?

I would say Ima, because she changes so much throughout the book. Nahum is based on a guy I had a crush on in 4th grade (right down to the name, even). Nasser is also exciting because he's got such big ideas and he's so damn reckless. He's willing to completely derail his entire hash just to pursue a dream. I'm a bit like him at times, to be honest.

Who are your favorite author's of all time?

All time? CS Lewis. I also love contemporaries like JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, and Cassandra Clare.

What is one book everyone should read?

When I was a kid I loved this book called The Girl With the Silver Eyes. Here is the exact cover of the book I had: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Silver-Eyes-Apple-Paperbacks/dp/0590442481. It's one of my absolute favorite YA novels, and, surprise! Maggie Stiefvater loves that book too. This was the first novel that made me want to write fantasy and science fiction.

Thank you for the interview!

Socialpunk

The other day I was approached through an email ( I never thought anyone would actually use my link) about doing a Blog Tour for a fellow blogger/writer named Monica Leonelle and I excitedly agreed to work with her on the opportunity.This is my first of two blog posts about her first of three books, the first of which is called Socialpunk. Enjoy!

After playing God for six years with the world he created, he couldn’t control any of his subjects, none at all. Over the years, he had watched them evolve and become the sum of their own choices rather than the sum of his; and for that, he regretted ever giving them life.

A small, blinking red light from just inside his eyelid reminded him of the news they sent him earlier that morning. The company had cancelled his funding and would shut down his project within three months. According to them, the project cost too much and took up too much space, and the inconclusive results couldn’t be published reputably, now or in the future.

Six years of his work, tens of thousands of lives at stake—and he could do nothing to save any of it. He bowed his head, letting his chin rest on the rim of his breakfast smoothie. The smoothie reeked of powder—crushed pills—but he supposed he had better get used to it. He wouldn’t be able to afford the luxury of real food after they canned him.

He closed his eyes and called up the camera view of one of his favorites, number 3281. She fascinated him; he couldn’t deny it. When he had designed her, her pre-teen rebelliousness lit fire in her eyes. A survivor, he’d thought. He’d meant for her to have it all—to grow up, to get married to the love of her life, and to have a beautiful family of her own someday.

But he had only given her sadness so far. Instead of creating a strict father, he had given her an abusive one. Instead of creating a loving boyfriend, he had given her a friend who could never love her. And instead of creating a strong, proud mother, he had given her a meek one, who watched the whole thing unfold and did nothing about it.

He looked at his last and final creation sitting in the chair across from him—his own son, not awakened yet. The law forbade him to have any children of his own, so this boy would substitute.

But he had done the unthinkable with this creation—he had bestowed on it his own thoughts, emotions, and decision-making processes. He’d given the boy his own mind, his own physical characteristics, his own wants and desires.

He had never done so with any of the others because of the dangers of investing too heavily in any one of his subjects. But who could he kid? He had not stayed objective thus far, watching some of his subjects more closely than others, wishing for the happiness of some at the expense of others. He had become an abomination, a monster of his own doing, who had created subjects only to watch them suffer.