The "7 deadly sins" tag..

I recently started reading more, I why not celebrate that by doing a fun little book tag! This tag was created by BookishlyMalyza. Check out her video, and don't forget to subscribe: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm0c56gcbsE

1. Greed

What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book?

My most inexpensive book has to be "Daughter of smoke and bone" by Laini Taylor. The book is amazing, but I got if for only like 50 DKK, which... is like nothing for this kind of quality book.

My most expensive book... this is kind of hard, since most of my books I have received as gifts, so I am not sure of their exact prices. But if I had to make a guess, it would probably be "Edgar Allan Poe's completed works part 1". I think this book was 299 DKK. 

2. Wrath

What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Stephanie Meyer. The thing is; I think she is a great author, and I like her writing style, but I just really hate her books. Especially Twilight. She makes love seem like it's all about looks and that just annoys the living hell out of me.... also... Breaking Dawn sucked. No one talks it out... just give us the fight already!

3. Glottony

What book have you deliciously devoured over and over with no shame whatsoever?

"Djævelens Læring" by Kenneth Bøgh Andersen. A danish book. I love this one. It is the first book in a four-book-series, and I come back to it whenever I want to laugh, cry or just experience a really good story.

4. Sloth

What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

"Harry Potter and the deadly hollows" by J.K. Rowling. I have actually never finished the Harry Potter series, but I really want to... however... it's been a while since I read the books, and it is such a long series to dedicate myself to, and I don't really feel like doing so. Maybe I'll get to it... maybe I won't. I already know how it ends anyway...

5. Pride

What book do you most talk about to sound like a very interllectual reader?

Probably "Edgar Allan Poe's completed works part 1". I mean... he is the father of horror, so I like saying I've read his stories. Makes me sound so fiiiine.

6. Lust

What attributes do you find most attractive in male/female characters?

So for me to fall in love with a character, he needs to be very active. Not just stand by and let others do stuff for him. Also he needs to be funny. Humor is attractive, what can I say? I don't really care if he is a villain or a hero, if he is active and has a great personality, I will love him. 

7. Envy (- I changed it to my own liking)

What book do you wish you had written?

"The Bartimeaus Trilogy" by Jonathan Stroud. Do I even need to explain this one? These books are funny, exciting, sad and just... magical! I love all the characters! And it was my first time ever reading anything with multiple POVs, and I was so amused by it that it added to the experience. The ending of the third book made me cry. My first time ever crying over a book. That was how big of an impact these books had on me.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

Christmas Book Haul...

Merry christmas! I hope you all had an awesome day, and if you don't celebrate this day, then I hope it was just another ordinary, but awesome, Tuesday!

So all in all I got 8 books, but 7 of them were in a box set, so yeah...you can go figure which books they were *wink, wink*.

But I will share them with you anyway! Because That is what I like to do!

"A song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin complete box set with a freaking map included! I haven't started reading them yet, since there are 3 more books I need to read before I begin these bad boys. But I am so  looking forward to starting them. And since I have all of them I can just read them one after another without worrying about forgetting what happened while waiting till I get the next one in the series. It's going to be great reading a new series and invest myself in a new set of characters.

"Julemandens død" (or "The death of Santa Claus") by Kenneth Bøgh Andersen. This book is danish and have yet to have an english release. I don't know if it ever will, but it's out over here so I will enjoy it! It's split up into 24 chapters entitled December 1st, December 2nd and so on. I absolutly adore the cover art of this book. It is so beautiful and looks like leather. Also it has a really nice feel to it.

I love Kenneth Bøgh Andersen's writing style and this along side two other of his books are the ones I need to finish before starting Game of Thrones. I have heard only good things about this book, and it seems really unique so I can't wait to get to it!

Other than that I got my polaroid camera and I got my cups from Menu! It's been an awesome holiday season for me, and I got to spend it with the best of my family, which is more important than the presents. 

Oh yeah, and on December 23rd I finished my rough edits on my novel, so now I can relax and take a break from it until January 1st.

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 beginning of the end...

I am sitting here; alone in my room. I cannot shake this emty feeling off me. When you have dedicated so many hours to one specific project, what do you then do once it is over?

NaNoWriMo day #17 - wordgoal: 28333 -

The 17th was a very speciel day for me. I started the journey towards the end. When I started writing I only had 3 chapters left to write. it was really overwhelming, and my mind could not gasp itself around the fact that I might only have had a few days left before I was done. But that was not the only reason why it was so special. My total wordcount for the day was 90808. Not only did I pass 90k, but I passed the wordcount of last year's NaNo-novel, which was 90106 words. This makes my current novel the longest I have ever written in my entire life. I was quiet excited indeed.

NaNoWriMo day #18 - wordgoal: 30000 -

At this point you should be around the 30k mark. If you were not, past-me would have to spank you. I want to see you all win, and there are no good excuses to compensate for the fact that you have not reached it yet. Being busy is no excuse. I have been busy. Really busy. But my wordcount was at the 18th about 94k. You just need to find the time. And use every free moment you have to write. Especially if you are planning on getting published one day. Anywho! I am not going to sit here and be mad, so let's talk about my progress! I actually managed to finish the 3rd last chapter and you know what that means; The final battle has arrived! And I freaking loved writing it. Unfortunately I did not have time to finish it because I had school and with that a presentation first thing in the morning...stupid I know.

NaNoWriMo day #19 - wordgoal: 31667 -

I started the final chapter! YES! My story is really coming to an end soon, isn't it? You bet. It was actually really emotional for me to write the final battle-chapter. A lot of stuff happened that really just tied everything together. But who cares about the story, right?! The more exciting news; I crossed the 100k mark...well, actually 100,001 mark! I know... that should not be happening. Especially not for me. I managed to write 100k in 19 days. I did not even know I was capable of that. It kind of makes me wonder what else I am able to, if I really put my head in the game. Could I do 50k in one day? Probably not right now... but maybe one day.

NaNoWriMo day #20 - wordgoal: 33333 -

When I started writing today I was only half a chapter away from the end. But though it was so close I would taste it, it was probably the hardest thing I have ever written. Multiple times I just sat there and stared at the screen thinking "how do I word this?!". But in the end I did it. I wrote that last sentence. I finished the first draft of my novel. The final wordcount is 103,398 words. I wrote a 100k+ words long novel over the course of 20 days. And the most surprising thing is that I am really satisfied with the way it ended. My last sentence was very carefully thought out, and througout the 2nd last and the last chapter there are small hints to this final sentence. But now that it is done I am left feeling empty. What do I do now? My novel is done, but NaNoWriMo is still going. I know I am going to start the reading of my novel probably tomorrow. But while doing that I might start the outline of a new novel that I have been playing around with. The thing is though...I do not want my graf to die...I mean...look at it!

But there is nothing left to write on it. This story has come to an end. And if I want to get it ready for publication, then I need to begin the edits ASAP. 

For those of you who are still reaching for the 50k...stretch your arm a little longer. You are not that far away.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

Point of no return...

When you have been working on a project for a while, you start to wonder; is this really what I am meant to write? If the answer is 'yes' then you know that you have found it. If the answer is 'no' then you got to keep looking. For the novel I am currently writing my answer is a safe and sound 'yes'.

NaNoWriMo day #10 - wordgoal: 16667 - 

Day ten. Only twenty short days left to go until we reach that dreaded 30th day mark. It seemed as though it was just yesterday NaNo started. You would think I would celebrate that we were one third of the way through, but no! Of course my grandpa was celebrating his 70th birthday that day. So I did not get to write all that much! But I did write a little over 2k words before we left for the birthday "party". Even though I did not get to write a whole lot, I still passed 64k total. Last year over the entire month I only wrote 63k-something on my NaNo-novel. So by the 10th of this year, I have already written more than I had ever done before in one month. My current novel is still not at the final length of last year's novel, which was 90k, but it is getting up there!

NaNoWriMo day #11 - wordgoal: 18333 -

How I managed to write this much on a monday, I have no idea. Maybe it was because I had an hour and a half at school where I did not have a module, so I wrote about 2k there, and then another 3k when I got home. Those 5k words were enough to finish chapter 17 and 18. And speaking of chapter 18, it is probably one of my favorite chapters. Things really start to go down in that one, and I love the end line of the chapter. But other than that the 5k words were enough to get me over 69k...the magic number, if you know what I mean...sorry about that...

NaNoWriMo day #12 - wordgoal: 20000 -

So like every other Tuesday I had to go to my writing class. It was actually kind of fun. Last week we made an outline for a christmas carol, and this week we had to write it. Now we are four girls in the class, so that was six days for each. We wrote it so people would get a bit of the story ever single day. I had to do day 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24, which meant I had to finish it. If was suprisingly fun. But most suprising of all was that, when we were done the story actually made sense, even though we were four people writing it without knowing where the last person stopped. But I was really busy with my school work. I had an assignment for the 13th and I had a presentation on the 13th so, I was really stressed out. I still managed to write about 3k though, so now my total was at 72.736 words. Yes I crossed that 70k mark!

NaNoWriMo day #13 - wordgoal: 21667 -

Today was an okay day for writing. Defiently not my best, but not the worst either. I am at chapter 20 and have just crossed the 75k mark!! Still very proud of myself. The chapter I am currently writing is, and if it isn't it is going to be build up to the point of no return. You know, where shit goes down real fast. My novel is coming to an end soon, which is really overwhelming. My outline is only 29 chapters long, which means after chapter 20 is done, I only have nine to go. And once it is done, I think editing it is going to be rather hard. So far there is not one chapter my story can do without. Everything is relevant, but I do not want it to be over 100k words. I kind of want to stop at 90-95k, just so it is not too long or too short. But I will figure that out, when I have to deal with it, which is not until December where the re-reading starts...damn...

As always I will show you my progress in my beautiful graf:

I know week two can be really harsh on some people, but you can still win! You just have to get down to business and write. Even if you think what you are writing trash, all you need to do is believe more in the scissors than in the paper.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.