Love Lists & Labor Day Laughs

Before we begin this post, I have one question: WHERE DID AUGUST GO???

That said, I saw people posting about their WIP Love Lists last week, thanks to YA Highway's Post on the topic. It looked like a lot of fun, so we're doing it now for our WIPs, even though we're like incredibly late to the party (like not even fashionably).

So here it is: Inspired by Stephanie Perkins’ post on Natalie Whipple’s blog, what is your novel’s “Love List”?

On top of that, my sometimes-old-timey-email penpal Tracey Neithercott expanded upon the love list by also including some visual & audio aids to illustrate her love list items. So, we're going to take a page from her book too.

*click images to go to source

Krispy's Love List (for something I'm kicking around in my head still)

a girl out of time
a desperate angel
family
unspoken things
benevolent demons
illegal magic
dreary dark days, black nights
decaying decadence
power out, empty streets
a tabby cat
a prince and his girl knight
trust and secrets
a dream of stars, moon, sun
a Queen and her Courts
glitter and gold
words, words, binding words
they speak to serpents, the silver-tongued
longing and loss and maybe love

Roughly: “There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.”

Source: Fashion Gone Rogue

Source: Irene by zemotion

Source: whitneycpbg.com

Source: Magali K.

Alz's Love List (partial inspirational soundtrack included!)

tall, dark, mysterious gentlemen
magic
silk embroidery
water, waves, salt and tears
good manners and bad manners
shapechangers
burn scars
sunken islands
beadwork
arranged marriages
nightmares come to life
silver shears
steel knitting needles
tea
duels
monsters of fire and shadow


NOW, since it is a LONG WEEKEND here in the U.S. because of Labor Day, I thought it'd be nice to leave you with some laughs.

First up, the K-Pop video sensation that's gone viral over the interwebs and become a meme. You might've heard people talking about doing things "Gangnam Style" and been confused (I was for a while because I was too lazy to look it up), or maybe you've even heard this Korean song playing on your Top 40s radio (I did this week!). Or maybe you've seen gifs.


See more on Know Your Meme

Well, this video is what they're talking about. It's silly, extravagant, catchy, AND it socially commentates! Have fun, and you're welcome.



Crash course on this sensation: Gangnam Style wiki entry
Also: the Atlantic's analytic look at the vid.

And your second laugh, the quirky HILARIOUS New Zealand duo known as Flight of the Concords reunite to write a song for charity! They interview school kids to help them write their song. Here's the result.



Incidentally, Jemaine Clement voiced the dastardly Nigel in the movie RIO, and wrote & performed Nigel's song "Pretty Bird." Best song in the movie!

And Bret McKenzie was the Music Supervisor THE MUPPETS movie, for which he won the Oscar for the song "Man or Muppet." He was also Figwit in the LOTR Trilogy, and he will be playing yet another elf (Lindir) in THE HOBBIT.

Source: G4TV

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Q4U: What's on your WIP Love List?

Wordless Wednesday: Boba in a different form!

Saw this on pinterest a while ago and wanted to try them. The sister found these.

BOBA POPSICLES.

And yes, they are delicious. BRB nomming.

Q4U: What do you wish came in delicious frozen form?

Randomosity on Fridays: Viva Las Vegas!

As I mentioned in the last post, it's been a busy time in the land of Krispy. There have been a few birthdays since the end of July to last week, mine included. (Thank you, by the way, for the birthday wishes!)

So there's been a lot of celebrating & I'm letting you peek behind the curtain. You can then make an informed decision about whether or not you still want to be friends with me. (It's okay. No hard feelings if you want to back away slowly. We know we're weird.)

I'm by no means much of a partier, but this summer found me roadtripping to Sin City twice in less than a month. Once was for my cousin's birthday, which was much fun and good prep for the second trip.

Photobombing our own photos after partying.

The second, most recent Vegas trip, was for my birthday and my bestie's sorta last hurrah girls' night out before she ties the knot next year.

Much ridiculousness ensued - most of it without the help (or hindrance?) of drinks.

We didn't even plan this pose. Just happened.
This is the result of years of friendship.

As usual, we imitated a lot of stuff.


And we danced. A lot. In The Library no less.


Like Ridiculousness incarnate. There's thankfully no video, but it probably looked a lot like this:

Thank you, Tom, for demonstrating our enviable dancing skills.

Upon seeing these gifs, the Sister exclaimed: Oh my god, I do that!

We also waved at cars.

And while we didn't get nekkid (like some certain Royals) or party with the Olympian whose catchphrase we borrowed (JEAH!) for the theme of our weekend (though he was in Vegas as well), we did in fact party with an Olympian.

This is Tim. He played Table Tennis for Team USA!

He had really cool pics from London, the Opening & Closing ceremonies, his matches, and everything! (Including pics with Kobe Bryant!)

We sang late 90s to early 2000s pop songs all the way TO Las Vegas and all the way back. Ah Backstreet Boys, you're an endless source of entertainment. Good times.

We are the (un)sexiest people I know.

The key to leading people to believe you're tipsy without actually being tipsy? Don't be afraid to completely make a fool out of yourself. Just takes an ounce of courage, loud music, BFFs, and some really spectacular dance moves.

As we say for writing first drafts, don't be afraid to suck (this coming from a girl who can't dance, trust). You'll have so much more fun. :)

Happy Friday and weekend, friends! I'm going to go sleep for a million years now (so exhausted!).

Source:  http://jezzeru.tumblr.com/post/29790014380 / studio ghibli

Q4U: What's the most ridiculous thing you've done in public?

Book Signing: Throne of Glass

HELLO EVERYONE! I know, I've been a stranger at this blog lately because as usual when I plan to do things like Camp NaNoWriMo, my month turns into a CRAZYFEST of social engagements. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE summer and all the fun times it brings, and I always immensely enjoy myself at these social engagements, but being an introvert, it takes a lot of energy out of me.

And let's face it darlings, I just had a birthday last week and I'm over a quarter century old now, and while that certainly doesn't make me OLD, it does mean I no longer have the amazing rebounding powers I once had as a 21 year old. I can no longer stay up all night, sleep for a few hours, and be fine and functional the next day.

But more on that some other time.

Earlier this month, we went to another book signing! It was for a little book you might've heard of around the blogosphere.

THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas.

It was very fun because Sarah is super sweet and personable, and her unique road to publication was especially interesting to us because we're internet junkies. For those of you who maybe didn't know, Throne of Glass was originally a fic posted online at Fictionpress.com (one of our old stomping grounds). Sarah Maas eventually took it down in order to pursue publication, but because of its many years online, she already had a loyal fanbase for the story.

While Fictionpress was sort of in the internet circles I frequented back then, I'm sad to say I never stumbled upon ToG, then called Queen of Glass. BUT Alz had! So it was really funny when I was telling her about the book way back when, saying things like, "It's crazy because I guess it used to be online and it came from the idea of 'what if Cinderella was an assassin?'!"

And Alz was like, "Um, is there a glass castle or something? This sounds like this fic I once read on FP..."

Sarah signing my copy of Throne of Glass.

So it was cool to hear Sarah talk about her Fictionpress experience and to hear about how she changed the original fic into the book it is now. And like I said, she was so very nice and funny, and her publication journey is so very cool and inspiring. Oh, and she did this super fun thing where she had everyone sign her copy of Throne of Glass, so that she'd have an awesome yearbook-like keepsake!

We're reading Throne of Glass now, and Alz is trying to remember how it differs from Queen of Glass. You'll probably hear more about this at a later time, but I've already picked teams. (Dorian all the way!)

ANYWAY, pictures!

Fellow Boba-4-Lifer Sophia was there too!

So, that's that! We'll see you all Friday. Hope your NaNos and writing/revisings are going well! Barring that, I hope you're at least having a grand old time. That's what I've been doing! :)

Q4U: Any of you reading Throne of Glass or planning to read it?


P.S. For those of you following my twitter, I'm sorry if my tweets this weekend were kind of crazy. I went to Las Vegas with my besties for my birthday, and we are ridiculous sorts of people. The theme of the weekend was "Aww, JEAH" to borrow a (an absurd but hilarious) phrase from Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. I hope we were amusing and not annoying.

Name That Book Answers!

Hey there, folks, and happy Friday, and happy birthday again to Krispy!  Today we bring you answers to Wednseday's Name That Book post.  People were pretty spot-on except for #2, which was very similar to another book.

1. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (the incorrect-but-damnably-good guess was Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor)

3. Matched by Ally Condie

4. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

5. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Hope you had fun guessing!  The weekend is going to be full of funtimes for us--I'm stealing Throne of Glass from Krispy even though she's only a smidgen from the end, because she's going birthday par-taaaaying in Vegas and will be otherwise occupied.  I have medium hopes for the book based on Krispy's reactions and reassurances so far.  Basically I'm hoping it will be ten thousand hundred million times better than the novellas.

What are your weekend plans? How often do you steal books from people who haven't yet read/are in the process of reading them?

Name That Book Again!

Let's give you a behind-the-scenes peek of how Krispy and I assiduously plan our blog posts, crafting them with the utmost attention to care and detail.  It normally goes like this:

Krispy: Alz, it's 11 pm and we have to blog for tomorrow.

Alz: CRAP.  What are we blogging?

Krispy: I don't know!  It's late and I need to sleep soon!

Alz: I will come up with something!

And that's why you get harebrained poorly-lit and badly-photographed posts like today, where we have for you today another round of Name That Book--this time with photographs!  Brought to you courtesy of the crappy iPad camera, the Lorax, and other random props grabbed from around the house by your friendly neighborhood Alz.

1. Krispy really loved this YA fantasy, and I liked it all right.
The heroine is a special snowflake and a killer bamf.
(Ignore the fact that it says Excalibur on the sword.)

2. This supposedly sci-fi/fantasy story (that I hated) had
an interesting concept concerning reincarnation.

3. One of the first YA dystopians that Krispy and I read, and actually liked!
The final book in the trilogy is coming out next year.
(Psst, the Lorax is suppsoed to be wearing a green dress.)

4. A YA fantasy with an interesting concept about being the Chosen One.
Also the protagonist was obese.
Also I hated this book too.

5. I bet nobody will guess what cover this is.

Go ahead, have a gander and a guess!  Yes, I really do have a gray tie and I have indeed worn it--prior to the release of a certain book.  You can't really see but the great thing about it is that it's a young boy's zip-up tie, no actual tying necessary!

Answers will be posted Friday.  Also, HEY, it's Krispy's birthday on Thursday.  Wish her a happy dappy time and nag her to write more because her NaNoWriMo wordcount is profoundly sad and not even her birthday is going to make me let up on her.

100 Best YA Novels According to NPR

You may have seen this list floating around the interwebs about the 100 best YA novels according to a voter-based poll hosted by NPR. Krispy and I had a look-see over the list and are kind of skeptical since many of the books either don't seem to fit the YA category, being either MG or more adult/literary.

But we needed a Friday post and it's up the Alz to cough up something since Krispy is nanoing furiously (OR SHOULD BE WHERE'S THAT WORDCOUNT YOUR GOAL IS 3000 WORDS BY THE END OF TODAY KRISPY).

So! Here's that NPR list with the books I've read bolded and commentary here and there.

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling

2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins

3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green - Krispy has this one but hasn't read it yet. I perused a few chapters and it was funny and witty but I wasn't immediately hooked.

5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger - I've never actually read this. And I'm an English Major!  I know, I know...

7. The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien

8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury - Krispy's literary crush, oh Bradbury.

9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green

10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry - I intend to read this someday since it's always being named as the YA dystopian.

12. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams - Love this series, but really, it's not YA.

13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery

15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman - Great series although not perfect.  Definitely tried to deal with some tough and/or controversial/philosophical subjects, usually successfully but sometimes not.

16. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

17. The Princess Bride, by William Golding - I don't think this is YA either.

18. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

19. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth - Oh, Divergent. Oh, issues.

20. Paper Towns, by John Green

21. The Mortal Instruments (series), by Cassandra Clare

22. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

23. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

24. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

25. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

26. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

27. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer - I only read the series because I wanted to know what all the hype was about.  What a sordid path Twilight has led me down.

28. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfeld

29. The Infernal Devices (series), by Cassandra Clare

30. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt

31. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series), by Anne Brashares

33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London - Krispy was horrified when I told her I'd never read this.

34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green, David Levithan

35. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous

36. Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones - Great movie and great book, but it's probably better to consider them separate and give the points based on their own merits since the two are seriously different.

37. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

38. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

39. Vampire Academy (series), by Richelle Mead

40. Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom Trilogy (series), by Garth Nix - Love the Abhorsen books!

41. Dune, by Frank Herbert - All right, I love Dune, but it is not YA.

42. Discworld / Tiffany Aching (series, by Terry Pratchett - This is weirdly listed here since the Tiffany Aching series takes place on the Discworld but the main Discworld series is not YA.  I've never read any of the Tiffany Aching books but the actual Discworld books range from okay to awesome.

43. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult - One of the few contemporary adult books I've read but uh this is not YA either.

44. The Dark is Rising (series), by Susan Cooper

45. Graceling (series), Kristin Cashore - Wonderful fantasy series!  We haven't yet read Bitterblue but Krispy and I have hopes for it.

46. Forever..., by Judy Blume

47. Earthsea (series), by Ursula K. Le Guin - This is adult fantasy, not YA.

48. Inheritance Cycle (series), by Christopher Paolini

49. The Princess Diaries (series), by Meg Cabot

50. The Song of the Lioness (series), by Tamora Pierce - Ah, Tamora Pierce!  Love her though most of her books seem more MG than YA to me.

51. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

52. Delirium (series), by Lauren Oliver

53. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins

54. Hush, Hush Saga (series), by Stephanie Perkins - I find it hilarious that NPR got the author wrong here (should be Becca Fitzpatrick) because I loathe this series so much.

55. 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson

56. It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini

57. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (series), by Libba Bray - Krispy and one of our friends read this series and liked it.  I intend to read it someday after I wade through a mountain of other books that I own, borrowed from the library, and stole from Krispy.

58. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

59. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros - Er I don't really consider this YA either.  I read it for school and was unimpressed.  One of our assignments was to write our own The House on [Your Street Here] books.  I've still got mine around somewhere.

60. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

61. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

62. Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen

63. A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L'Engle

64. The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen

65. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (series), by Jonathan Stroud - Read the first one. It was entertaining and also seemed more MG, but wasn't gripping enough for me to pick up the sequel.

66. Bloodlines (series), by Richelle Mead

67. Fallen (series), by Lauren Kate - Read the first one, which had practically no resolution, and never managed to force myself to read the second one.  I think Krispy did but she never got around to reading the next books.

68. House of Night (series), by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

69. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

70. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlsit, by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

71. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver

72. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

73. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle - Krispy and I both love this one. ;_;

74. The Maze Runner Trilogy (series), by James Dashner

75. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

76. The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley - I generally like Robin McKinley's books so I'm glad to see her on this list.

77. Crank (series), by Ellen Hopkins

78. Matched (series), by Allie Condie

79. Gallagher Girls (series), by Ally Carter

80. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

81. Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters (series), by Tamora Pierce

82. I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak

83. The Immortals (series), by Tamora Pierce

84. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series), by Patricia C. Wrede

85. Chaos Walking (series), by Patrick Ness

86. Circle of Magic (series), by Tamora Pierce

87. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor - Krispy and I really liked this one too!

88. Feed, by M.T. Anderson

89. Weetzie Bat (series), by Francesca Lia Block

90. Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen

91. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series), by Louise Rennison

92. Leviathan (series), by Scott Westerfeld - I own the first two books of the series and still haven't managed to read them, although Krispy read them all and is always hounding me to read them because she liked them so much.

93. The House of the Scorpion, by Scott Westerfeld

94. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (series), by Diana Wynne Jones

95. The Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen

96. Gone (series), by Michael Grant

97. The Shiver Trilogy (series), by Maggie Stiefvater

98. The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley

99. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

100. Betsy-Tacy Books (series), by Maud Hart Lovelace

Turns out I've read a decent few of the titles on the list.  The variety of books though gives rise once again to the question of what exactly determines the nebulous Young Adult category.  The books I tend to consider YA usually feature a teenage protagonist, a coming-of-age story, elements of adolescent psychological struggle and development, and were written for/are aimed at a young adult audience.  The latter reason of which is why I don't consider literary classics (even if they are "children's classics") like Treasure Island to be YA.

But as long as we're cramming not-quite-genre-fitting books onto this list, where the hell is Percy Jackson?

What do you think constitutes YA?

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeeeepy

Happy Wednesday!  We bring to you puppy naptime:

ZZzZZzzZzzzz...

Also, wink-wink:

This is from back in February when she was still a youthfully slim ratty.

In other news, Krispy and I and our fellow cabinmates have been writing away!  Krispy needs to write more though.  I've threatened to throw her into a lake of rabid pirahna if she doesn't get some more wordcount under her belt.

What threats/treats/motivations do you use to keep yourself writing when the going gets tough?

Randomosity on Fridays: GO FOR THE GOLD!

Happy Friday, everyone!  Today we bring you something special to brighten your day:



We can't stop watching it.

Also, here are some quotes from when Krispy, her sister, and Alz were watching a particular program on TV:

"I feel...weak. And fat and inflexible."

"OH MY GOD."

"Beautiful."

"HOLY--"

"She could kick my ass."

"Look at that body."

"He's a fishman!"

"Oh he's not cute at all, nuh-uh."

Can you guess what we were watching?

Camp Nanowrimo: August 2012!

Hello, hello!  Today is a short post merely to say WRITE MORE, KRISPY, COME ON, DO IT, because August 1 is the first day of Camp Nanowrimo for Krispy and me!

This time around, we are sharing a writerly cabin with a stupendous set of ladies, none other than:

The Jazzy Julie Dao
The Sophisticated Sophia the Writer
The Lovely Lady Linda
The Excellent Emy Shin

What will the future bring?  Blood, sweat, and tears, world-building and world-crushing and world-domination.  Also, Alz bullying Krispy, but this is nothing new.

Are you participating in Camp Nano?


P.S. Our unofficial Camp Counselor Sophia has a post up about all the fierce ladies of our Camp NaNo cabin! Check it out: Tiger Tea Tent debuts at Camp NaNoWriMo!