"Bite me" - Chapter 3: Change - by Nanna Andersen

Josh sat at his desk in his class at Palamont City's High School. Sat with a stack of papers that he had no idea what to do with. He wanted to help these kids expand there knowledge, but if they had no interest in what he had to offer, what was the point then?

The door to his class opened and Josh turned his head to see Amber step in; head bended towards the floor, arms tucked around the books they used in his class. She didn't even look at him, instead she rushed to her seat at the back of the classroom. 

Josh kept on following her movement with his eyes. It had been the same on the bus earlier this morning. Usually she would look up at him, smile and say a quick "Hallo professor Fields." but not today. Josh tried telling himself it was just the Friday morning flue: when the kids were all exhausted form a whole week of school and really just wanted to welcome the weekend with open arms. But that hadn't been it. Something else was different about his straight A student. He just couldn't put his finger on what. 

Amber opened her text book, the one about the 21th century's literature. Josh had picked out that book himself. He still remembered the argument he had had with the other teachers about his choice. 

Miss Jenkins was, what Josh would call, conservative. When he told her that he wanted to get new books for his classes, she had met him with a hoarse laugther. Saying, they had always taught english literature from the 19th century. Her argument had, in Josh's eyes, been invalid. In her opinion they needed to give the future rulers of their country an understanding of where their roots lay. Josh had looked at her with a lifted eyebrow, but only halfway. He had never been able to do a perfect eyebrow-lift. Then he had looked at her, deep into her old, wise eyes and whispered "Why linger in the past, when it is the future they will rule?"

Josh smiled just by the thought of it. That had made her shut up. And he had gotten his text books. Of course literature from the good old times were important, but to him it was just as important to live in the now as knowing of the past.

Amber brushed her bangs behind her ear exposing the small silver ring in her earflip. She looked so concentrated, so at peace with herself. Josh got out of his seat and walked to her desk. He knocked on the desk and Amber jumped in her chair. She hurried up closing the book and smiled up at him. 

He pointed at the book. "How do you like it?"

She shrugged and stroke the cover wrapped in old newspapers. "It's... different." she said avoiding his eyes at any cost.

Josh braided his fingers together on his lap. "Well," he said, nodding towards the book. "Some times different is better."

Amber snorted. "Or some times different is a freak."

Josh stood up and walked back to his desk in front of the blackboard. At the halfway point, he turned back to face Amber. "I think different," he said. Amber's eyes rose to meet his. "is exactly what this city needs." out the corner of his eye, he caught half of a smile from his student.

As the bell rang to lunch all his students rushed to the door. "Mr. Davids," Josh yelled to overpower the screaming of over a hundred students running to the cafeteria. Matthew Davids stopped in the door, other students pushed him back into the classroom. 

"What's up mr. F?" he said as he leaned his ass on the edge of one of the front desks. 

Josh crossed his arms over his chest. "To you, it is professor Fields." the brat rolled his eyes and chewed his gum a little harder opening his mouth to share the leftovers of his breakfast. His teeth had with certainty not seen the shadow of toothpaste, therefore the gum.

For a moment the two of them just stood. Awaiting each other's next move. Then Matthew rubbed his hands together. "If that's all, can I go?"

Josh stood up and walked to the door, closing it. "No," he said. "No, you cannot."

"Am I in trouble?" he asked without a care in the world. Josh watched him. He kept looking at the door as though he had to be somewhere else. His hands were shaking. When Matthew saw Josh staring at his hands, he shoved them into the pockets of his sweatshirt.

"You tell me." Matthew didn't seem to understand, so Josh sat back onto his desk. He pulled a clean paper out of his bag and handed it to the student in front of him. "Here." 

Matthew took it without a word, so Josh continued. "You go home right after school, and then you write me that essay."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you give me no choice but to give you a F."

Matthew didn't answer. For a second Josh thought he saw a hint of fear in the eyes of the fried brain in front of him. He did not like that little brat, but everyone deserved a second chance. Josh could give him that. Matthew stuffed the paper in his bag and headed for the door, leaving Josh alone with his thoughts.

And he did think. All the way down to the teacher's office. And those thoughts pointed towards one single target. A young beauty called Jasmine. Josh did not even know of her last name. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know much about her. Her name was Jasmine, Jazz for short... she was new in town... her eyes were green... what else? He couldn't think of anything. And yet he had felt the urge to ask her out. Two things had played in to that. First of all, Arrow had bit her, and he feared for his K-9. The other reason was Jasmine herself. She was different, and as he had told Amber, maybe different was exactly what this town needed. Maybe it was what he needed.

Josh opened the door to the teacher's office and was met by the smiles of the rest of the staff.

"Ah! Professor Fields!" Principal Roberts rushed to him. With him he had...

"Jasmine?" Josh burst, sqeezing his eyes together to make sure what he saw was real. It really was her. In all her beauty. 

"I see you already known miss Smith." Roberts said clapping his hands together in excitement. "That's good. Miss Smith is our new intern. She is currently studying english at Palamont City's University, but you probably already know that," Josh did not know that. "Anyway, she is going to be here part time until she has taken her final exam. While here, she will be helping you out with your classes."

"Is that so?" Josh couldn't hide a smile. He offered Jasmine his hand and she took it. Her hand was just as warm as the other day. He studied it. Small scars showed where Arrow had buried her teeth. All of a sudden his stomach tied a knot. His eyes moved to her's. "I'm looking forward to our future teamwork, miss Smith."

Jasmine tightened her grib around his hand. And for the first time since their goodbye at his house, she spoke. "I can only say the same thing, professor Fields."

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So this is the part where I would usually write "To be continued" but due to being able to copy the text from this site, there will be no more parts of the story on here. I made this decision from the start "a prologue + 3 sample chapters" and that is what I have given you. 

I hope you have found some enjoyment in this story, and if you wish to continue reading it, I will post a link at the end of each of my Saturday-posts to the story. 

I still haven't decided wether or not I will give this a try in the "real world" but I might.

For now...

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

"Bite me" - Chapter 2: The first time - by Nanna Andersen

"I'm sorry about just barging in," Jasmine said while exposing her ear from the chestnut brown hair. "but I'm new to this city and don't really know anyone." she sqeezed her eyes together.

Josh wasn't really sure why he said what he said, but he ended up saying it anyway. "Well, you do now. My name is Josh Fields." Arrow howled behind him and rubbed her snout against his thigh. He tripped forward and look over his shoulder. "And this is Arrow." he added, stepping aside to introduce the white and dark grey siberian husky of eight years of age. 

Jasmine squatted down and streched her arm out towards Arrow, but stopped at the midway point. "May I?" she asked and looked up at Josh. He did an approving hand gesture and told Arrow to come out from behind him. She was reluctant at first, but as Jasmine's hand came closer, Arrow took in the smell and suddenly Josh witnessed something he never before had seen:

Jasmine screamed as Arrow's teeth ingraved themselves into her skin. Time moved in slowmotion. It was as though Josh watched himself from the outside and he saw everything like it was. Saw himself try hard to get Arrow away from Jasmine. He saw the fear in the newcomer's eyes as Arrow tightened her grib and shook its head form side to side. Jasmine's armedmoved accordingly to Arrow's movement like a slave. Josh's other self resorted to the last thing he thought he would ever find himself doing. He hit his dog. 

Arrow, who in all her eight years had never experienced the fury of her master, whimpered under the force of his hand and with that she let go of Jasmine's hand. Josh pushed Arrow outside in the yard and hurried Jasmine inside to see to her wound. As the door closed behind him, time moved normally and he was within himself once again. 

"I'm so sorry!" he said desperately as he moved with Jasmine to the sink. "She doesn't act like that normally! I don't know what's with her..."

Jasmine's eyes were closed and her head bended backwards. "How bad is it?" she said. Josh sent a look to her hand and examined the damaged caused by Arrow's teeth. He bid his lip and didn't answer his guest, which worried her. Instead he opened for the waterflow.

"Here," he said and drenched a cloth in the warm water. He twined it around her hand. "Hold it there." she did as he said and he bowed down under the sink to find the first-aid kit. 

Outside the endless howling from Arrow speared through his heart. She had always been able to behave herself. Never had he had any trouble with raising her to be the best dog possible. When he bought her the saleslady had warned him that the siberian husky was one of the more aggressive breeds. However, he had never seen that in arrow. Now he feared what he would have to do with her. 

He had heard horror tales about owners who were forced to put their dogs to sleep because of assault on another human. He didn't want to lose Arrow, even if she had acted in the wrongs. There had to be a way for him to convince Jazz to not press charges. There had to be. 

"Find anything down there?" Jasmine asked and by the suprise of her words, Josh hammered his head into one of the sink pipes. He cursed and stood up with the first-aid kit.

Jasmine had lowered her head and was now looking directly at him. She wasn't scared anymore. Didn't even look mad. Josh was happy. That had to be a good thing. He opened the kit and took the bandages. Jasmine removed the cloth and the disgust was painted on her face. The cloth had removed most of the blood, which left her with four deep holes in her hand. Josh could not even begin to think of all the bacterium hidden on Arrow's teeth. Hopefully Jasmine would not suffer an infection. 

He began wrapping her hand in the white bandages. She didn't say anything. It worried Josh. He needed her to understand. To go away from here with a smile instead of heading to the police office.

"You know," he began. "Arrow usually doesn't act that way." 

Jasmine shrugged. "I guess she doesn't like me then." Josh saw the disappointment in her eyes. She looked up at him. The mint green eyes shining like they had done outside. "I'd hoped she would. But I'm probably more of a cat person." 

That still didn't explain Arrow's behavior. She had seen cats before. Hell, she even played with them from time to time whenever one dared to enter the yard. They knew what they were getting into; A brawling match with the unbeaten champion. But doing one of these matched she had never hurt the cats. All she ever did was push them around until they got tired of her and walked away. She would follow them to the fence and stand up to watch they walk off into the sunset. When she then came back into the house she would lay her head on Josh's thigh and look at him with her eyes shining from the victory. And he would rubb her head and call her a good dog.

He decided to not tell Jasmine about Arrow's love for cats. He didn't want her thinking Arrow had something personal against her. So he just agreed with her and said that had to be the reason. He tied the bandages in a bow to seal it off and Jasmine twisted her wrist to test the mobility of her hand. It looked perfectly fine. 

"Well..." Jasmine said, but didn't continue. She rubbed her hands against each other and looked everywhere but at Josh.

A scratching could be heard on the door and Josh peeped over Jasmine's shoulder. He bit his lip. It hurted as Arrow's wining got louder. He couldn't keep it out. 

Josh shook his head and tried to say something, but Jasmine held up her hand to stop him. "It's okay." she said and stroke his shoulder. Her touch was warm. Like honey in a cup of tea on a winter afternoon. "I'll see you around, I guess." she turned away from him and her long hair hit his chest in the turn.

"Jazz?" he cried as her fingers closed around the doorknob. Her gorgeous face turned to see him. "I want to make it up to you. Would you allow me to take you out for coffee some time?" his heart was pounding, and he was sure it would burst out of his chest in a minute. He couldn't believe himself. It wasn't in his nature to act so direct. Maybe he thought that all hope had already went out of the window, so he had nothing else to lose.

Jasmine opened the door and stepped aside while Arrow rushed in and hit behind Josh's legs. He didn't pay her any attention, his eyes locked on the beauty at his door. She stepped over the doorstep. "I like my coffee with caramel cream and whipped cream on top." she closed the door behind her, leaving Josh alone with Arrow, who had never looked smaller.

To be continued...

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

"Bite me" - Chapter 1: Just another day - by Nanna Andersen

It was an ordinary day for the 32-year old Josh Fields.

At 6 am, he woke up, as he always did. He ate breakfast, brushed his teeth and went for a walk with old Arrow. They took the same route as they had taken for the past eight years, and Arrow had done her business at the usual place by the small tree stump that had always been there. It would never grow up to be the tree it once had been.

Josh remembered it clearly. How when he first moved here he walked down that very same road and saw the old birch being cut down. How it majesticly fell, landed on the ground as though it just gave up on life, it was almost as if it signed. The ever so green leaves seemed to fade to a more greyish tone.

All left was the stump. The same stump as now, covered in moss and other fungus - Josh would even go as far as saying that an entire colony of woodlouse lived in there. 

From the first ever walk; Arrow had stopped at the stump. It was the same every single time. She walked around it, all the way around. Just looking. Then her nose took in the same scent of eight years. Last, but not least, she stepped up on it. Gazing at Josh with her deep, blue, husky eyes. Once done with her every-day ritual, she did her business and moved on. Nothing else caught her attention like that stump, and only on the way out. She didn't even glance at it, when walking back home.

Josh had always found this behavior odd for his old gal, but, like everything else, it was now part of his daily routine.

Once at home Josh packed his bag, filled Arrow's bowls: one with dry food, and one with icing water. He gave her a quick bellyrub and left the house, locking the door behind him. But like always, when he reached the gate, he turned around to check on the door. Arrow growled, but went silent when she saw her master. Josh smiled at her and then continued on his way to work. 

He had never forgotten to lock the door, not since he moved here at least. Yet, he still felt the need to check every time. Just to make sure. Make sure that today wasn't the day either. Like it never was.

He took the sidewalk through Palamont City in which he had lived for the past eight years. Since he first got Arrow.

The same blue mercedes drove behind him, slowed down as it past him, and then speeded up. Because of the tinted windows, Josh had never gotten a good look at the driver, and now, eight years later, he had accepted that. Nevertheless, he could spit out the number plate at any given moment if needed. 

It had rained again tonight causing the roads to be flooded with water. It always rained in the night between Wednesday and Thursday. And like every other Thursday, the blue mercedes wheeled into a puddle, splashing water onto the sidewalk right by the busstop where an old elderly couple waited for the bus.

The very same bus Josh needed to get on. 

The elderly couple yelled at the mercedes, waving their arms and canes after the driver. The man walked his wife to the bench. Their walk was slow and by the time they sat down, Josh stood beside the same bench.

Hallo, Josh - The old man would say.

"Hallo, Josh." the old man said as he sat down next to his wife.

Hallo, Mr. Peterson - Josh would answer, then pausing and would then address Mr. Peterson's wife as well.

"Hallo, Mr. Peterson," Josh said, bowing politely. He turned to Mr. Peterson's wife. "Mrs. Peterson."

What a weather, am I right? - Mr. Peterson would point out. And Josh would agree.

"What a weather, am I right?" Mr. Peterson pointed out.

Josh nodded. "It sure is." he said. 

The same conversation as every other Thursday, not even with a handmotion to differ. One could not even call it déjá vu, because it wasn't. Josh did have this exact conversation with the same exact elderly couple every Thursday morning at 7.21 am. 

At 7.30 am, the bus finally arrived. Two minutes late, Josh observed as he glanced at his phone. Two minutes late as always.

He got on and sat down at his usual spot four seats from the driver's seat. Here he looked out the window, seeing how Palamont City flashed by before his eyes. The same houses, people, trees and the black cat that nearly got ran over by a black BMW. That cat never learned its lesson, and it never would.

Two stops before his destination, one of his students got on the bus. A young girl: Amber, her name was. Her brown hair, longer in the front than in the back, was all tangled up in itself due to the hefty wind. Her big midnight blue scarf lay around her neck and even covered the bottom of her face causing her breath to come right back at her warmer than when it left her lungs. When she passed Josh, she nodded and mumbled a "Hallo, professor Fields." 

Josh liked Amber. One of his best students. However, he worried about her. Always silent, always alone. He had a feeling something was bothering his straight A student. But it wasn't in his hands to attend her problems. He could ask her, but nothing more.

Therefore, he just nodded back at her, like every other morning. 

Arriving at Palamont City's High School was as dull as ever. Children with the attitude of an educated politician, or teenagers as most people referred to them as, were scattered around the outside area. The night's atrocious weather didn't seem to have an impact on the so called teenagers. 

They sat on the humid benches and brawled on the muddy grass, covering their bodies in dirt.

Josh signed as he recognized Matthew Davids on the ground. One of his own students. A little brad nothing more. Loved to interrupt the class, hated doing anything school related other than football, which he did deserve some credit for. But not a scholarship. Josh cringed. Defiently not a scholarship.

The bell rang to class as Josh opened the main entrance. Stressed out students came running from outside and a number of girls larger than the amount of stalls rushed out of the restroom.

When Josh stepped into his classroom, most seats were filled. His eyes fell on Amber, who sat at the table all the way in the back. Alone. As though the rest of the class had pulled their tables away from her. In the center, Matthew had seated himself. He always did this. By sitting in the middle no one could miss hearing his 'oh so brilliant' comments. Every time Matthew opened his mouth, Josh felt his braincells die one after another.

"Today," Josh said and went through his bag. "We'll be discussing the essays you handed in last week. You all have some common mistakes that we will touch on to improve your writing." He pulled the essays out and handed them out among the students. First Amber. "Would you mind me asking, if you would read it aloud later in this class?"

Amber took her essay, her hand shaking as it came in touch with the paper. Josh had been very impressed by her writing in particular.

It was the story of a young girl, who was brutually abused at home, but had no one to go to. She was ashamed and therefore build a wall around herself so others wouldn't worry. The story ended with the daughter committing suicide after being raped by her father.

A very sad story, indeed. 

Amber looked through the pages. "I don't think I want to." she said without taking her eyes off the paper. 

Josh shrugged and moved on. When he stood in front of Matthew he went through the leftover assignments. "So, Matthew," the boy lifted his eyebrow. "I missed reading your essay." 

"I doubt that's all you've been missing lately!" he burst into laughter. The laughter spread to the other students, except for Amber, who was as quiet as ever.

One more braincell dead and gone.

Josh went on with the lesson, but as it ended he knew his students weren't smarter than when they arrived. It was the same every day. No one seemed to care for learning. So why did he even bother? Because of people like Amber. 

At 4.52 pm, Josh went home on the same bus as every other day, with the same citizens as always. Little, shy Amber rushed down at the back of the bus before anyone else could take her seat. She didn't have to worry, though; they never took her seat.

The road home seemed shorter. It always did. At home Arrow waited for him. It always felt nice coming home to someone who actually cared for his presence. A nice feeling for sure.

Josh got off the bus on the other side of the road from where he goton it earlier that day. He walked the way home.

Once in front of his front door, Josh struggled to find his keys. Agitated his hands checked every single pocket. His heartrate dropped down to a regular pace, when they appeared in the pocket within his jacket. He opened the door and Arrow came to him. Wagging her tail backand forth, happy to see her master's safe return.

He began petting her head and she closed her eyes in comfort. Together they walked to the living room, ready to solve today's crossword. Josh sat down in his leather armchair, the one he received as a 'moving in'-present from his mother. One could say a lot about his mother, but she defiently had good taste in furniture.

An ordinary day indeed. But then...

...a knock on the door got Arrow standing. What was this? Josh thought to himself. This was new. 

Arrow began growling, but Josh lifted his hand. "Easy, girl." he said and Arrow went silent, though not happy with the situation. Josh didn't know what to expect as he approached the door. Who could it be? His mother? Probably. She loved surprising him. 

He opened the door. "Yes?" and was startled by the sight before him.

A beautiful woman, whom he had never seen before in Palamont City, turned her head to face him. Her eyes caught him right away. Green. Green like the leaves on the birch that once stood in this city. They drew him in and the feeling of nostalgia filled him from head to toe, however he did not understand why. It was not just the eyes; Her hair. Chestnut brown, a reddish glow. Soft-looking like silk. Josh desired to reach out and touch it, but managed himself. 

In his 32-years he had never seen a girl like this one. And then, she began to speak.

"Excuse me," she said with the voice of an angel. Soft and daring. She held out her hand and Josh took it. It was just as soft as her hair looked. "My name is Jasmine, Jazz for short."

To be continued...

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna. 

"Bite me" - Prologue - by Nanna Andersen

He screamed.

Screamed again.

Then again, this time a little louder and more like the sound of a creacking door. His chin touched his chest. Burried itself in the thick, sticky hair flooded in sweat.

He tried looking at her but failed. The deep, brown, bloodshot eyes were just as heavy as the chains holding him up. Having failed his attempt he instead focused on the tiles underneath him. Red. Painted red with blood. His blood. The smell stung in his nostrils, made him dizzy. It would be so easy throwing up. Letting it out, but the easy way out wasn't necessarily the best. And he knew this. Therefore, he held it in. Swallowed the lump of fluid and leftovers from last night's dinner.

"You know," she said while sharpening the knife. After all this time it had gotten a bit dull. Even with her back towards him, he could sense the smile widening on her lips, showing the fairytale white teeth. She held the knife in front of her face and caressed it. Still with the knife pressed against her cheek in a lovely manner, she turned to face him.

He had been right. The smile was certainly there. She continued in a rusty voice while walking towards him. "It didn't have to go down this way."

Her cold fingers took a grib around his cheeks, squishing them up against his nose. She caught his eyes with her own. He could no longer run. Forced to stare into the madness he had caused. But he refused to fall victum. So he didn't.

He gathered up saliva and sent it off in her direction. She closed her eyes as it exploded on her face. "Bite me." he hissed.

She smiled. "Oh..." laughed. "Oh, you actually did that." with her free hand, she whiped the spit off and opened her eyes. Her black, velvet eyes. Black like the night sky. No, darker. Darker than the blackness from a dreamless night.

Her eyes. They were the true darkness. The darkness from which all evil climbed. Climbed into the closet, under the bed and into the human mind. Here it hid. Waiting for the right moment. Because a real hunter knows when to strike.

And so did she.

She pulled an eyelash upwards, lifting his eyelid. He saw it coming before it happened. Saw her tigthening her grib around the knife. Saw the knife rise towards his eye. Felt it carve into the thin skin.

He screamed. Kept on screaming. Even when she lowered the knife and showed him the cut off eyelid, the screaming didn't stop.

She rolled her eyes and threw the eyelid away. Then she lifted the knife to his face. He closed his eyes. But no more pain were felt. Instead he heard the screech when the knife hammered into the space between two of the bricks behind him. For a moment he felt relieved. But when he saw the smile on her face that feeling was long gone.

Her face approached his in a drastic speed and then her lips engulfted his. They tasted dark. Dark like her eyes. Like his worst nightmare. He wanted to break free but couldn't.

All he could do was watch as her finger ascended up his cheek and stopped as they reached his unprotected eye.

Still with her tongue exploring his mouth, she tuck her fingernail in behind his eye and digged it out. He screamed, but it was as though her tongue absorbed the sound.

She pulled away from him and looked at the eyeball in her palm. Then she looked at him. She smiled. "You wanted me to bite you," licked her mouth. "Right?"

She placed the eyeball between her teeth and pressed them together. One half of the eyeball went into her chewing mouth and the other fell on the bloody tiles.

To be continued...

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

Review: "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor

I am not going to go all filosophical about this review. This is mainly my own opinion of the book and why you should go buy it...NOW.

A short summary

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she's prone to disappearin on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually gros out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star- crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself? - Credit: Goodreads.com

The Good

I could go on forever about what I love about this book, but for your sake I am going to control myself.

The story

It is unlike anything I have ever read before. First of all I think I should explain: I am not a huge fan of the urban fantasy genre. But this book has changed my opinion on that! I did not know a lot about the story going into it, but once I started reading - and I mean right from the first page - I was hooked. 

The characters

I. Want. To. Be. Karou. It is that simple. I love her. She is funny, quick on her feet, funny, smart, she has friggin' blue hair. BLUE. After reading this I want to colour my hair teal and get matching tattoos.

I may not be Karou - yet atleast *wink, wink* -, but we share the same love for Akiva. He is perfect. But not in a "he could never be real" kind of way. I know that he isn't real, but in the world of the book he seems real. Laini Taylor made me believe he was possible. And I understand their relationship... maybe not at the beginning, but keep reading and you'll figure it out. And you will feel so smart while screaming "I KNEW IT!"... I totally didn't do that...

Sulfur... He's like...I mean... he's Sulfur. He is so caring and lovable... even if he is a monster - fysically -, he has the biggest heart in this book. At least in my opinion.

There are a lot of other characters in the story, but these are just some of my personal favorite. I liked all the characters, and I actually remember them all, which says a lot.

The setting

As I said this is an urban fantasy story, which if you don't know, means that it takes place in our world but implies fantasy elements. This book does that in a wonderful way. The main setting is in Prague. Even though I have never been to Prague, I could get an impression of the environment around Karou. It was almost like I was there myself. But we don't just get to spend a weekend in Prague. Oh no. We go To Paris, Marrakech and the fantastical world of Eretz, or "Elsewhere". Everything is described in a detailed, yet amusing, way, It doesn't get boring reading about these places because Laini Taylor has an amazing gift of voices.

The Bad

Okay so trust me, when I say; it was super hard finding something wrong with this book.

But if I had to say ONE thing I didn't like...or could have gone without... it was the cliffhanger at the end. I am really not found of cliffhangers. Like Brandon Sanderson says: "Write a standalone book with sequel potentiel, not a sequel dependent book." okay... not a direct qoute, but that was pretty much what he said! And I fully agree on this. 

That said, I am going to buy the 2nd book once it comes out in Danish. No question there. 

So yeah... I am not a master reviewer, but there you have it!

When it comes to my own writing; I am exactly 3/5 through with the editing! Only 10 chapters to go and I can start my 2nd draft! I seriously can't wait.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

The end? Of course not...

Week one of NaNoWriMo is officially over. If you have survived; Congratulaiton! You are one of the lucky few with your sanity intact...or not. 

NaNoWriMo day #7 - wordgoal: 11667 -

So this was actually one of my lowest wordcounts so far doing NaNo. I only wrote a little over 3k words, but for some reason I just did not care that much. My totalt wordcount for November 7th was 48.800 words. This meant that I knew, I would be able to finish on November 8th! I was so excited that I put the words into a Word-document to see, how many pages I had written. 107 pages. It really got me pumped to write even more on the 8th. But The main reason why I think I did not care about my wordcount for the day was; I really love my story. Everything I just love. I love to write it, and if I have to be honest, it is the kind of story I would love to read.

NaNoWriMo day #8 - wordgoal: 13333 - 

So I had 1½ hours of free time doing school, so I decided to write. And you guessed it. I hit 50k! On November 8th I won NaNoWriMo 2013! I wrote 50k in one week, which at the beginning of the month was my unrealistic goal. I ended up writing about 3k more words that day which left me with a wordcount of 53.846 words. However, even though I have won NaNoWriMo, I am not even half way done with my novel. Last year I only aimed to write 50k, but this year I want to actually finish a novel. I want the first draft to be 100 % complete by November 30th. Now I am positive it is going to happen, but I am not going to be writing another 50k this coming week. With NaNo and school, it just got so stressful. So I am from now on just going to write as much as I can manage every day. I will no longer let it interfere with my school work. And maybe I will be able to get some sleep.

NaNoWriMo day #9 - wordgoal: 15000 -

So now we have come to today; I wrote from when I woke till now, and I managed to cross the 60k mark. Now I did have 20 minutes breaks between each of my 1k words, and I could have easily written 10k today, but I am happy with my 8.275 words. This brought my total to 62.118 words, which in a Word-document is the same as 136 pages.

Here is my graf:

Please notice all the green bars. They make me feel good about myself. Never in a million years did I imagine myself writing 50k in one week. Next year; 50k weekend, and the year after that 50k on day one. Yeah...right. I would be dead.

No matter how far above or behind of the wordgoal you are, I believe that you can make it to that 50k finish line! Hell, if I can, ANYone can. Trust me. Writing takes dedication, and if you are willing to put enough of it into your work, you will have a novel by the 30th.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

It is slowly but surely getting to me...

I turned 18 today. Yes I am now of legal age over here in Denmark. But that means I just got rid of a couple of quest, and on top of that I had to do so much homework. It is pretty late right now, so if this post suffer from that I apologize. I will try to fix it tomorrow when my brain is working again.

NaNoWriMo preperation #3

I finished my outline. It is finally done, but tomorrow - which is the last day before NaNo starts - I will have to go over the last 10 chapters again, since all I did was a VERY brief summary of what is going to happen. And I am not really sure I like the direction it went at the end.
But one thing I do enjoy is that I am positive, I have more than enough material to make it 50k words. It will probably be longer, but I am aiming for 90k - 100k this year anyway.
I have also pre-november-cleaned my room. I needed to do it anyway, but having NaNoWriMo come up was just a good excuse to get it done. I cannot work when my room is a mess, so now I will not have to worry about it while writing. And my room is clean. It is a win-win situation!
All I have left to do now is fix my outline and decorate my room in inspiring quotes, and put up some of my sketches as references. 
I seriously cannot wait to get started on my novel. In less than 2 days I will be writing the novel, I want to - one day - publish as my debut novel. I love the characters, I love the setting, but most importantly; I love the story.

Get in the mood

NaNoWriMo is less than 2 days away. The stress is getting to me, but for every passing second I am getting more and more excited.

Some of the ways I get myself motivated and in the mood to write is:

1. Reading lots of forum threads on the NaNoWriMo website.
2. Talking to friends - who could not care less about my NaNoWriMo freakout - about my novel.
3. Watching videos from NaNoWriMo vloggers, fx; Katytastic - I am pretty sure she will be vlogging every day for NaNo this year as well - 
4. Reading inspiring qoutes.
5. Having the story come together in a way that makes sense!

I do not know about you, but I will defiently stay up till midnight tomorrow and write when the clock strikes 00.00.

Next stop: NaNoLand.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

Once upon a time...

...there was a young girl. All her life she had been the black sheep of the family. Her older sister was better at everything, and the young girl felt as though she needed to earn the love of her family.

One day, however, the young girl found something. She did not know it at the time, but all her life she had been searching for it. The young girl would pick up a pen and suddenly it would be moving on its own. Writing. Writing word upon word on a paper that used to be blank.

The words calmed the young girl. They made her forget all the bad feelings she had been dealing with. By complete accident she had found what she came to love the most.

Writing was her way of expressing herself. The young girl could finally let go of what she had been building up throughout the entirety of her childhood. Every word that was put down on the paper had some sort significance to her; maybe a bad memory from her childhood, or the first time she had her heart broken. 

Writing these words made her a stronger person. A more confident person. For the first time in her life, the young girl felt as though she was worth something. Something more than just being.

It did not take long before the young girl knew. She wanted to do nothing but write. Sharing the stories from deep within her heart; it was all she longed for.

But the road ahead was long and bumpy. No one understood the passion she had towards words. Writing was not just a hobby, or fase. Writing was a lifestyle. But more importantly; it was her lifestyle. 

Every day her head was exploding with millions of ideas, but only a selected few made it onto the paper. She would sit in class and be writing, and her classmates would come up to her and ask, what she was doing. When she explained that she was working on a novel, they just laughed and called her crazy. But she did not mind. For the first time in her life, the young girl was proud of herself.

She wrote for years, but it was not until she turned 17 that the young girl became serious about her writing. She wrote a novel. It was the first thing she had written that she thought had a shot in the real world. So she began editing her master piece, so that one fateful day, when the world was ready for it, she could get it out there.

However after having worked on her novel for months on end, she needed a breath of fresh air.

And that brings us to today

By this point you probably got it all figured out. Yes, I am the young girl, but you can just call me Nanna. I thought this was a more creative way of telling my story, because that is what this blog is all about. Creativity. Or to be more exact; Creative writing.

I have been writing for longer than I remember, and I am finally at the point where I am positive I can get published. The novel I was talking on before - yeah that one - I am still working on the editing process, but it is slowly moving forward. Fun fact: it was a NaNo-novel. Now, if you do not know what the Hell I mean by that, let me quickly explain:

A NaNo-novel is a 50k novel written doing NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - which is held every November.  I participated for the first time in 2012 and I won. I was as suprised as anyone else. How I managed to write 63k words in 30 days still blows my mind.

However that is not going to stop me from doing it again this year. And there is only 13 days until it starts.

I already know what I am going to be writing. I have been researching the entire summer and I am about to finish up my outline.

I am really excited about this project, and what this blog is mostly going to be about is my journey with this novel. Throughout the entirety of November I will update you on my wordcount and the mental state of my mind - I might go crazy... it happens -.

Do not think this blog is going to die once November is over. No. At that point I should be done with the first draft of the novel, and then there is so much editing that needs to be done. So I got plenty of stuff coming for you all.

But it is not all going to be about me. I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to writing, and I will be sharing tips and tricks, give you advice, find useful resources, and answer any questions you may have.

I do not know about you, but I think we are going to have a great time together.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.