Goodbye, August! Goodbye, Friends! (feat. the blogiversary Q&A, where i am going, and a few random tidbits of excitment)

Photo Credit: Jess Watters

I should really have credited the photo takers before now?? I’M SO SORRY YOU CREATIVE PEOPLE.

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good morning, cyberspace!

Guys. Friends. I think there are some things we need to talk about.

Say, for instance, this blog. And also how terrible I’ve been at running it lately.

I know, I know, you’ve probably seen this coming for a while now. What with my posts becoming fewer and farther between, and the content being somewhat. . .undesirable, I think it’s safe to assume that we all knew this had to happen eventually.

We all knew it had to come to an end.

So after much debate — and after countless tears, I can assure you — I have been forced to make one of the hardest decisions of my life.

. . .oh goodness, this is gonna be hard to say. . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

I’MA DO BETTER AT BLOGGING, FOLKS.

SURPRISE!!!! DID I GET YOU??? DID I??? DID I??? DID YOU THINK I WAS LEAVING????

Did you seriously believe you could get rid of this psychopath that easily?

Well, HA. I am far too clever for that, peasants. There’s no way I’m leaving the blogosphere. Not ever. Never never never.

unless someday I actually decide to grow up and do something productive besides yelling at random people on the internet but LOLOLOLOLOL we all know this is not happening, folks.

However. Like I said, I believe that now — having passed the two-year mark on this whole blogging adventure — it’s high-time that I actually start trying to become a better blogger, rather than just saying that I should probably start trying to become a better blogger like I have been for the past 800 years.

Because I love blogging, guys! I really and truly do! But lately I’ve just been a literal mess when it comes to all of the bloggy things. Like reading all of the amazing posts you guys have been writing.

And actually posting every Tuesday like I say I will.

*cough*

So. I think it’s about time I begin trying to fix that. I want this blog to be fun for me to write, fun for you to read, and also fun for everyone to look at. (because GIF’s and colors are #life)

And it all starts today, my friends!!!!

Well. . .some of it starts today. I’m currently working on some concept designs for a new watercolor background, so until that’s done, we’re stuck with the Windows Paint Cookies (which, don’t worry, will still remain! I’m only revamping them with some hand-drawn sketches and watercolors now!) with the slightly terrifying eyes.

I tried to do something really kawaii and cute with those cookies. Turns out I forgot the second white dot at the bottom of the eye, and now I can’t help looking at them without feeling like they’re trying to devour my soul. So. THEY NEED A BIT OF A MAKEOVER.

But besides that, there are quite a few things that are happening very very soon that I have mysteriously alluded to in the past. (although I think we can all safely assume that my GIF game has been ON POINT lately. XD) 

Let’s just say that I’ve got some pretty fun and exciting smudges cooking up in the ol’ noodle. *thunks head*

But as for today, we are going to be focusing on the very lovely blogiversary Q&A that you’ve all been literally begging me for for the past week*! Because what better way to herald in a new blogging age than by sharing way too much personal information on the internet?

There’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with this!

*you’ve totally been begging me for this ahahahahahahahahahahahaha #noyouhaven’t

Also, for those of you who might have missed my last smudge — in which I publicly humiliated myself for all to see — here’s a linkydoo so that you can go get properly caught up on this ginormous blogiversary bash!

And also see me publicly humiliate myself. Because let’s be honest — that’s literally the only thing that truly matters, amiright?

But anyway, without further ado — LET’S GET TO THE QUESTIONS!!!!!

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Happy Blogiversary, Peasants! — Part Two: The Q&A

QUESTION ONE. . . “If you had to choose between never wielding another pitchfork or never eating cookies ever again, which would it be?” — Phoebe Ava

And here it is, my friends. The question that I have been dreading ever since my last smudge, in which I ended in this glorious cliff hanger.

Word of warning, folks: Never beg Phoebe to give you questions to answer. She will always deliver, and the questions will literally tear your brain in two.

For the longest time, I honestly had not a clue as to how I was going to answer this. On the one hand. . .cookies are my life. And on the other, my sole purpose in this world is to stab people with my rusty pitchfork named Rupert.

So how on earth am I supposed to choose between one or the other? IT JUST IS NOT POSSIBLE.

. . .however. Because I am no man cheater, I have done the impossible deed and have decided my fate.

If I were given the choice between never eating another cookie, and never wielding a pitchfork. . .I would have to choose never wielding the pitchfork.

. . .oh my goodness, that is painful to say. It’s just. . .there is no physical way I could survive without being able to eat another chocolate chip cookie. I just. . .I would die. I would literally lay down and die.

Aaaaand also I think Rupert is enough of a sentient being that he could just fly through the air and stab people himself whenever I told him to. Isn’t he a doll?

QUESTION TWO. . .“Does Thao ever get a happy ending?” — rosedalearts (a.k.a Jethan)

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. . . . . . . . . .no.

No, not exactly.

I mean, I could go super in-depth here and say that the ending he gets isn’t in line at all with what he wishes for at the beginning of EV, but at the end of EV, I think he would consider it. . .still pretty terrible.

But I mean he doesn’t die, so??? *thumbs up*

QUESTION THREE. . . “DO THAO, ADALINE, OR PETER DIE IN YOUR BOOK?!?!?!” — loverofbunnies2

OOOH! Bunny!!! This is such a good question!

And the answer is — lol sorta.

Unfortunately, because of spoilers, my lips have to be sealed on this one, folks.

QUESTION FOUR. . . “Would you rather be a mermaid or a fairy?” — Madeline J. Rose

UGH. THIS QUESTION IS SO HARD TO ANSWER.

I would absolutely adore being a mermaid! To be able to swim underwater without having to worry about breathing??? YES PLEASE. You could make friends with the fishies and the corals and damage the undersides of innocent, unsuspecting pirate ships. . . Not to mention the awesome glittery tail. (as long as. . .you know. . .it melts back into legs once you’re not wet anymore. otherwise that would just get awkward severely fast, but whatever. i could deal.)

But then again. . .FAIRIES. Fairies are amazing. Fairies can fly. Fairies have MAGIC and WINGS and WANDS!!!!!! and also it would be one step closer to becoming Cosmo and Wanda so that I can be part of a popular children’s cartoon, which, as we all know, has been one of my most sought-after dreams for the past three seconds.

However. Fairies are not pixies. And if you had asked me whether I’d rather be a mermaid or a pixie, I would have chosen pixies hands down. But as it is, I think I’m going to have to go with a mermaid.

Because of that awesome tail, obviously.

QUESTION FOUR. . . “If someone gave you ten million dollars to live a year without technology, would you do it? (you could do/go whatever and wherever you wanted, all expenses paid)” — loverofwriting2

YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES.

I mean, personally, I don’t really like technology. I’m just forced to use it on a daily and somewhat unhealthy basis because A) all of my friends are on the internet (*coughthere’snothingwrongwiththiscough*), B) Netflix, and C) I use my laptop (artistically named Moriarty) to write my books. So. Technology is an ingrained part of my life at this point.

i’m addicted to it. aha.

HOWEVER — if I could go anywhere and do anything I liked without having to worry about any expenses, I could go see my friends in real life (which is something that I’ve been dying to do for forever now), hack my way into the studios of all the movies I want to see and watch them record every single scene live, and — as far as my books go — I think I can succumb to being a peasant for 365 days and write in pretty notebooks. (i mean i’d obviously have to stock up on pretty notebooks to make sure i never run out, which would be SUCH a burden, but you know. it would be my burden to bear, Sam.)

And that’s not even considering the fact that at the end of this wonderfully spent year, I’ll get a big fat paycheck of ten million dollars.

I literally see nothing wrong with this scenario. 

QUESTION FIVE. . . “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?” — Phoebe Ava

This is such a good question!!! And also one that I’m not entirely sure how to answer.

Half of me is screaming MOUNTAAAAAAAAAIIIINNNNSSSSS!!!!. Because the answer must always be mountains. My true dream is to become a hermit and hide myself away in the misty mountains, ne’er to return.

But then there’s an almost louder voice in the back of my head demanding that I say London. Because then there’s at least the extremely odd chance that I might run into some. . .you know. . .famous British actors.

Or Irish. You know. Whatever.

So I guess my answer has to be the mountains in Europe. *thumbs up*

QUESTION FIVE. . . “What would you do if someone gave you a million dollars?” — loverofbunnies2

What is up with you guys just freely giving me millions of dollars all of a sudden? Gee. I need to have bloggy birthdays more often. . .

BUT. To answer your question, I would do a total of three things with it:

1) go to Realm Makers — because I really really really want to go to Realm Makers next year (or the year after that or the year after that or the ye–), but it’s kind of expensive and I can’t afford it right now, so. . .?

2) buy a Nintendo Switch — BECAUSE I AM GREEDY AND WANT TO PLAY THE NEW POKEMON GAMES WHEN THEY COME OUT, I’M SORRY.

and 3) donate the rest to charity to help dig wells for the countries that don’t have clean water and to feed the children (and adults) that are hungry — because I literally cannot STAND the fact that the government pumps out millions of dollars every year to NASA just so they can jab probes into the sun — WE GET IT. THE SUN IS HOT. WOW. — and yet we’re perfectly okay with letting people starve to death and shrivel up into raisins because they have nothing to drink. Like seriously now, folks. You want to know what is wrong with our country? We can’t see past our turned up, privileged noses. (*points up at numbers one and two* [ahahahahaha that doesn’t count, obviously. . .])

QUESTION SIX. . . “Do you like homemade macaroni and cheese or the stuff from the box with the unknown cheesy powder?” — Madeline J. Rose

HOMEMADE. 100% homemade.

My mom makes the absolute most DELICIOUS macaroni and cheese in her pressure cooker. It’s all cheesy and gooey and yummy and warm and I just. . .!!! I love it. . . And now I want some. . .

(she also has this REALLY REALLY REALLY AMAZING recipe for Adult Mac and Cheese, and it’s got bacon and white cheddar and red bell peppers and gorgonzola in it and it just SO SO good oh my word.)

I just really really love mac and cheese, to be honest.

QUESTION SEVEN. . . “Would you rather eat cauliflower and drink tea for the rest of your life, or live isolated off from humans for the rest of your life?” — loverofwriting2 (a.k.a the evil one)

Aha. Option two, my lovely.

BECAUSE THEN I WOULDN’T HAVE TO ANSWER THIS AWFUL QUESTION ALSDLKFGASOFIAKGJSDF.

Honestly, though, I kind of have a love-hate relationship with the human race in general, so living isolated from everyone for the rest of eternity really doesn’t sound like that much of a punishment to me??

However, that being said, I am — by nature — an extrovert. Which means that whether I like it or not, I do need a few smol people in my life who make me happy.

Like my family.

So simply because of that, I suppose I would have to choose drinking tea and eating cauliflower for the rest of my life because, unbeknownst to you — I actually really like cauliflower??? And I also absolutely LOVE iced raspberry tea. (as long it’s made by Frisk) So. . .? I think I could survive, my dear peasant.

And I’d also be complaining to you daily about how sick I’m getting of cauliflower and tea, which is something that I would not be able to do if you threw me onto a deserted island and told me to have a good life. So. There’s always that to consider.

QUESTION EIGHT. . . “If you could interview one historical figure, who would it be, why, and what would you ask them?” — Phoebe Ava

OOOOH. I love this one!!! And I’m pretty sure I might have mentioned how I’d want to have a chat with this specific person before, but that’s okay. I’MA SAY IT AGAIN.

If there is one person from history who I would absolutely love to interview (assuming you don’t mean, like. . .the old dead presidents or something? because i’m not really into politics. . . XD), it would have to be Jane Austen.

I cannot even put into words how much this woman inspires me — both through her stories and her life. She was — in my completely humble and not-at-all biased opinion — one of the greatest authors to ever live. And in a society when females basically just existed to marry rich men and birth children (ew), she never got married. She wrote books and lived her life and she diDN’T NEED NO MAN.

And I’m sorry, but that is just super inspiring to me. I’d give my left leg just to talk to her for an hour. (but not really)

As for what I would ask her. . .I really don’t know. I’d probably ask her for writing advice, to be honest. I mean, can you even imagine getting writing advice straight from Jane Austen?????? THAT WOULD BE SO EPIC, OH MY GOODNESS.

QUESTION NINE. . . “Which of your characters, out of all the many stories you’v ever written, do you like best?” — loverofbunnies2

You had to ask this question, bunny. You just had to ask this question.

So, as promised —

UM. . .UM. . .UM. . .UM. . .ER. . .UM. . .UM. . .ER. . .UM. . .??????

I DON’T KNOW, OKAY????? I love so many of my smol precious children. They are all so adorable and sweet in their own ways. (and when I say “all”, I obviously mean “all the characters from EV”. because anyone before that was ew.)

Buuuuuut — for the sake of the Q&A — I think I’d probably have to go with Adaline or Thao. Because. . .it’s Adaline and Thao. Obviously.

Or possibly Nate. Because I mean he’s a precious smol cinnamon roll and I love him so very much and please please please forgive me for what I’ve done to you, Nate, ahahahahahahahaha. . .

QUESTION TEN. . . “What is your most favorite type of cookie ever?” — Madeline J. Rose

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

H A.

This question is absolutely impossible to answer. Just ask my sister; my favorite cookie changes depending on whichever cookie I happen to be eating at the moment.

As of right now, however, I believe my absolute favorite cookie is this really delicious chocolate chip and oat kind that my mom makes. They’re all gooey and fat and yummy and warm and THEY ARE SIMPLY HEAVEN IN A HAPPY LITTLE CHOCOLATE CIRCLE, MY FRIEND.

(also all of these food-related questions are making me hungry. . .)

QUESTION ELEVEN. . . “What are the wildest and most adventurous things you want to do before turning 30?” — loverofwriting2

PUBLISH A BOOK.

I know. It’s wild.

But seriously. If there is one thing I want to do before I turn 30, it’s publish a book. That is my super-supreme-ultimate-mega dream, and I’d really like to turn it into reality before I hit the 30-year mark. However, if you came here looking for a list of wild and adventurous things I’d like to do before turning 30, thou shalt not be disappointed:

• grow my hair out to my waist — such adventure. much wow. (also I’m secretly Rapunzel, so?? i think it’s a necessity.)
• go on a book tour — for the book I’ve published before turning 30, of course.
• adopt a child — because children are smol precious creatures and I want
• learn a new language? like French! — so i can visit London and speak the native language. obviously.
• become Moriarty — and, honey, you should see me in a crown.

• read five billion books — and even then my TBR will still be higher than Mount Doom
• Go to Realm Makers!! — can you tell I want to go to Realm Makers? CAN YOU???
• steal the queen’s royal jewels — because fun!
• live in the mountains as a hermit for 3,000 years — totally possible.
• meet my internet friends in real life. . .? — BECAUSE THIS WOULD BE SO COOL ASDFGHJKL!!!!

QUESTION ELEVEN. . . “What’s your absolute favorite novel of ever?” — Steve

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Orrrrrrr Winter by Marissa Meyer.

OrrrrrrrRRRRRRrrrrr Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

#nailedit

QUESTION TWELVE. . . “If you could have one superpower, what would it be?” — Phoebe Ava

Invisibility.

I would absolutely, positively LOVE to have the power to become invisible. Not only would it enable me to become the proverbial fly on the wall, it would also be super nifty for those delightful moments of horrific embarrassment when you just kind of want to cuddle up in a ball of shame and pretend like this world does not exist.

So. I mean its uses are completely versatile.

QUESTION THIRTEEN. . . “If you had to choose: (a) Go to Europe for a week (b) Travel around America for a week, or (c) Finish editing EV and go to a famous publisher’s office to see if he will publish your book — which one would you choose?” — loverofbunnies2

Um. . .this question is actually severely difficult. Aha.

See, I would absolutely LOVE to finish editing EV. That is, like, THE DREAM right now. But to go to a famous publisher’s office to see if he’d publish it?????

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. NO.

EV still needs a lot of work even after I finish this draft, and I’d really like to get my beta’s opinions before I dive into draft four. (yeah. apparently i’m on draft three already?? woot woot.) But I’m assuming that by “finish editing EV”, you mean “finish EV completely”. And while that is a very tempting offer. . .I STILL AIN’T GOING TO A PUBLISHING HOUSE. I’m gonna let my currently nonexistent agent do that for me. Because #shame and #embarrassment and #noonecaneverreadthisbookever. Obviously.

So between going to Europe for a week and traveling around America for a week, I think I’d have to go with Europe.

Because again. You might just so happen to run into. . .you know. . .some random famous person.

You know. If you wanted to.

QUESTION FOURTEEN. . . “Would you rather be indie published or traditionally published?” — Madeline J. Rose

Madeline!!!! This is such a wonderful question!!!! And the answer is. . . . .(drumroll please). . .!

. . . .!

. . . .!

. . . .!

TRADITIONAL!

I have some very specific reasons for wanting to go traditional — one of which being the typically cliche “I want to see my book in a bookstore!!” spiel — but most majorly of all these is that, when it comes to Indie publishing, you are essentially your own boss.

. . .and I think we can all agree that I would make a very terrible boss.

“Oh. . .you want a day off to eat cookies and watch Netflix? OKAY.”

“Oh! You wrote three words??? AWWWW! YOU POOR SMOL BEAN YOU MUST BE SO EXHAUSTED HERE TAKE A BREAK.”

“Ooh. . . That sentence isn’t working there. . . Perhaps we should just give it a minute and come back to it in three hours lol yes that sounds good.”

I just. . .I need hard and fast rules and deadlines, or I’m never going to get anywhere with my writing.

And also having a marketing and design team backing me up would be great, too. I’d rather not have all my book covers look like a three-year-old (me) drew them. Aha.

(of course, I feel absolutely nothing but the deepest respect and awe towards Indie authors. those guys are amazing, and I only wish that I could be a little bit more like them.)

. . .and finally, our lastiest question of the day. . .

QUESTION FIFTEEN. . . “Which of your characters would you most want to meet in real life?” — loverofwriting2

IS ALL OF THEM AN ANSWER??? I’d like to meet all of them. Please. I cannot even put into words how much I’d like to meet all the smol little characters from everlost. . .

. . .SO THAT I CAN BEAT THEM OVER THE HEAD WITH A STICK AND DEMAND THEY TALK TO ME AGAIN. Seriously, I’ve been having SUCH a problem with those little buggers lately. They’re not talking to me, and do you realize how difficult it is to write a book when your characters refuse to talk to you? IT’S KIND OF IMPOSSIBLE.

But if I can only choose one of my characters, I think I’m going to have to go with Thao. Because he’s awesome, obviously, and I also think we’d have a lot to discuss about his. . .future endeavors. Aha.

*whips out rusty pitchfork*

*maniacal laughter*

*i swear he doesn’t die*

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And I believe that is all of the questions for today, folks! I am SO sorry if I missed any. I tried to answer them all, but I’m known for being clutzy and an ignoramoose, so if I accidentally skipped over yours, please just let me know in the comments below and I’ll fix it immediately!

Also, I would like to give a hUUUUUUUGGGGGGGe THANK YOU!!!!! to all of the lovely human beans who asked me questions!! I cannot thank you guys enough. You’re all so creative and amazing and KIND OF RIPPED MY BRAIN IN TWO WITH SOME OF THESE but lolololol I’m fine now. Totally. I’m not second-guessing any of my answers. None at all.

*stares pointedly at The Evil One*

But anyway! I would also love to thank you all SO very muchly for celebrating my blogiversary with me for the past couple weeks!! You guys made this random, slightly embarrassing series of posts so much fun to do (and you also didn’t fling rotten tomatoes at me last time, so I mean, that’s a bonus, right?), and I just cannot thank you enough for all of your brilliant, beautiful comments. You guys truly are the bestest people on the internet.

HOWEVER. The fun is not yet over, my friends!!! For I have ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!!

Or rather. . .two announcements. . .? But whatever thEY ARE EXCITING, OKAY? BELIEVE ME, PEASANTS.

So before I sign off completely, allow me to tell you two very quick (AND EXCITING!!!!) things:

. . .THING ONE. . .

I’m rebooting my Instagram????

That’s right, folks!!! A long, long, LOOOONG time ago, I thought it’d be super fun to have an Instagram account. Because PICTURES!!! And AESTHETICS!!!! And FUN!!!!

As it turned out, however, I was absolutely awful at keeping up with the darned thing, and it is now withering away into a mutilated raisin as we speak.

BUT!!! Due to my mom and sister getting into the Instagram-y things recently, I’VE DECIDED TO REVAMP MINE, AS WELL. Because PICTURES!!!!! And AESTHETICS!!!!! And FUN!!!!!

this is why I can never move on with my life. . .

So! If you’d like to keep up with the daily writing and random life of Yours Truly (yes, that’s correct, peasants. I shall be hopefully posting a picture every day?? what is this madness I spew???), come on over and stalk me*!! I’ll fling cookies at your face and stab you with pitchforks if you do. . . #incentive

*my account is currently set to private, because I don’t ACTUALLY want creepy people stalking me, but if I recognize your name you should be good to go! (also I’ll probably stalk you in return so. . .? win-win situation, no?)

. . .THING TWO. . .

Something is coming tomorrow.

And because I am such a despicable bean, I AM NOT TELLING YOU WHAT IT IS!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! However, I can tell you that it is something I’ve been promising for a while, so you should. . .you know. . .be super excited about it.

. . .if you want.

But I’m super excited about it, so I mean whether you care or not doesn’t really matter that much LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. (#lies. please be excited about it. please.)

. . .

So yeah. That’s basically everything. I guess I should just awkwardly leave now. . .?

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TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!

And now it’s your turn!

Are you a writer? A blogger? How many years have you been writing/blogging? (also make sure to tell me ALL OF THE THINGS about your current WIPs! I love hearing stories from other writers!!!) Where would YOU go if you could travel anywhere in the world? Could you live a year without technology, or would you end up ripping your brains out? (pretty sure I would end up ripping my brains out. . .aha.) Are you obsessed with Jim Moriarty? Do you have an absolute favorite type of cookie? DO YOU THINK CAULIFLOWER-FLAVORED TEA SOUNDS DELICIOUS? (*incoherent gagging*) Do YOU think Thao should get a happy ending??? And most importantly. . .

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS HAPPENING TOMORROW?????

Let’s talk about ALL OF THE THINGS!! down in the comments below, my wonderful marshmallow friends!

And as always, until next time. . .

*flings cookies in the air and disappears*