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Sorry I didn't post anything last month; nothing exciting happened.

So the 2012 conspiracy theorists were wrong and most of us survived 12/21/12. Even more surprisingly, I accomplished an astounding 5 of my eight resolutions! Go me!

I am not going to set up writing resolutions yet beyond finishing my giant beast of a fanfiction (it's going on 150,000 words as we speak, my longest story ever) and its shorter sequel. Seriously, it's scary how popular it's become in the "Once Upon a Time" fandom, particularly the Rumbelle shippers. It's currently being translated into Russian, and people have even made fanart for it! 60,000 hits and almost four hundred followers in three months...crazy fangirls are crazy.

Oh, and I'm living on my own now. Let the starving college student writer life commence.

I feel like I've taken a step backwards, going from published author to writing fanfiction... I didn't even mean for it to happen, but somehow I posted one little chapter...and now I've got over two hundred followers, Tumblr publicity, threats, made people cry, made people lose sleep or not do their work or even forego their morning coffee. It's...kind of terrifying, to think I have that much power over a larger group of readers than I have ever had.

So I've been dedicating what little time I have to write to that. Because I am a sucker for praise and ego stroking, and I put it up in installments instead of having to write and rewrite an entire novel before letting my editors read it. It's sad obsession and self-esteem issues, is what it is.

Also, I'm moving. And questioning my path in life. And other lovely things. So... forgive my priorities being mixed up.

Whose idea was it to go back to school to get another degree? Sigh. I can see why people don't want to go back to school...

This probably means even less time writing, but I'll overcome as usual. I've hit a rough patch with "The Armageddon of Brittney Bamford", and my short story writing isn't off to a great start. I keep getting distracted by the awesomeness that is "Once Upon a Time", which brings up my old fanfiction urges. Seriously, if I devoted as much time to my original writing as I do to Rumbelle, I'd be done by now.

And next month is NaNoWriMo. I'm considering attempting it again, but I'm not sure what story I should do. Most of the ones I have fleshed out enough are already started, and that's cheating.

Oh well, I still have the rest of this month to figure it out.

It's been awhile since I've posted on the first day of a new month, so I decided to do that. Because I'm eager or something.

Sadly I've been very wrapped up in downsizing, meaning I'm preparing for an eventual move from the room I've been living in for almost three fourths of my life. It's quite tedious, but at least I'll leave the Pepto Bismol pink walls behind. This leaves little room for at-home writing; it's a bit ironic that the place I get most of my writing done now is at work, since we're beginning the slow season. Progress on "The Armageddon of Brittney Bamford" is steady and continuous, and I've even started to kind of sort of edit "Lynn-ness".

I'm also considering a shift from novel-length work and fanfiction to short stories, due to desire for more publishing credits under my belt and my time constraints. I have a few ideas floating around, though I haven't put pen to paper yet. Thoughts, occasional commenters?

Holy crap, it's August already. Summer's so quick when you have an actual job... And in 27 days I'll be in my twenties. I feel ancient, and yet my life has barely begun. Life is crazy right now and yet, because I have an awesome job, I still get some writing done.

I continue to chug away at "The Armageddon of Brittney Bamford", which easily has 20% more adult content than the original draft (and will probably have to be edited down, even if I DO make "Aaron's World" more mature). I forgot how tedious and chore-like typing up handwritten chapters is.

And yet, ignoring my other novels and with all of my focus on the Aaron's World series, new ideas pop up and demand attention. One of them was inevitable, with my love of rewritten fairy tales and "The Little Mermaid", but I feel like a traitor to Disney and Hans Christen Anderson and hate myself for it. But I've been in a mermaid mood and really haven't found too many adaptations of the merfolk that I like (save for the fourth "Pirates"). The second one was a bit of a surprise and yet not, because I've been wanting to see a modern dragon twist, like the ones that have been done for vampires, fae, demons, angels, mermaids and other urban mythological beings. Both of these ideas are still being planned out...but the dragon one wants me to start it RIGHT THIS INSTANT. Sorry, Reg, I don't feel comfortable just starting you when I'm not sure where you're going.

Now, back to typing up "Armageddon of Brittney Bamford". Maybe I really should invest in one of those speaking headsets...

For starters, "The Armageddon of Brittney Bamford" is going swimmingly (of course it is, because it's not something I need to work on). I've been working on it during breaks and slow times at work, which always gives me a sense of confusion when I have to return to my duties. "Wait, what world am I in? Who are you guys? Where are the unicorns?!" So that's an interesting transition from Ydnew/Arabrab to Earth.

Secondly, I have finished my present for my editors and am just giving it a rough edit before I give it to them. Although it's technically canon (is everything an author writes about their world canon?), I urge that they not take it too seriously. I didn't fact-check it against "Wolves Among Sheep" so if it contradicts, go with the published novel instead of the short story.

Finally, I do believe I will have to make lists of the novel playlists on their pages. Playlist.com is awesome, but only has about half of the songs that I envision on the imaginary soundtrack of my novels. So if you want to listen to them, you'll have to go through the extra effort of finding them on Youtube. So sorry for the inconvenience.

I have been told that real authors don't write with their moods. So I guess I'm not a real author.

It's one step forward and two steps back, because I intended to easily shift from "Lynn-ness" to another pending novel. However, my inner writer's like "...let's start on a whole bunch of new projects!". So, instead, I started "The Armageddon of Brittney Bamford". This...is going to be quite mature, and I'm sure I'll have to cut some stuff out in order to match it with the other books. The weirdest thing, I think, is that Aaron's voice sounds like me, Lynn's voice sounds like Sherilyn, and Britt's voice...sounds like an Ellen Hopkins novel. Maybe I should cut back on my Hopkins reading.

I do plan to make it up to my "Wolves Among Sheep" fans, some of whom have been waiting years for me to get done with "Rogue". Short story gifty in the works.

Even though I've never done it, I think writing a novel is like giving birth. Sometimes you're in labor for twenty-two hours, with half a dozen complications, and have to stay in the hospital for two weeks. Other times, all you do is sneeze and it just slides out.

"Lynn-ness" is that sneeze novel. Except for a couple of translating hang-ups that are bound to happen, "Lynn-ness" flowed through my fingers whenever I dedicated time to it. It's still rather rough (I'm not sure everything I want to convey is during the climax), but I'm overall happy with it. Here's some changes y'all get to look forward to.

1. Lynn's point of view is much, much more distinctive than Aaron's. To the point where I had to start approaching them with different mind sets. It's a difficult transition, because they're so different, but I think it pays off. You can tell within a couple of paragraphs who it is even without reading the heading.

2. The romantic focus has shifted from the White Queen and Leo to Lynn and Martin. I've sort of fallen out of love with the White Queen since I developed her back history, so I wasn't as into what she was up to with Leo. The story already has enough melodrama, we don't need to focus on it. Besides, young love is so cute, and Martin's so friggin' awesome in a quiet way.

3. An upset with characters. Some have gotten more screen time, while others haven't. Perhaps in part to author bias, Diplomat Filch, Jacques, and Itamiz all have larger roles. On the other hand, I don't think Thorn's even in "Lynn-ness". Devestatingly, Scarletta only has a couple of scenes; I hope to remedy this.

4. Stronger plot overall. I think people will enjoy the descriptions of the festival.

That said, "Lynn-ness" is definitely the segeway from light and fluffy "Aaron's World" to the gritty, intense "Armageddon of Brittney Bamford". Speaking of which, I don't know when I'll start on that. I'm excited for it...but I also have other editing obligations. I'm sorry I've neglected you "Rogue" and "Tragedy of Macbeth High".

Well, I survived the Quarter from the Inferno of Eternal Torment, and was rewarded by the Hunger Games being awesome and having a fantabulous time with Sherilyn on our spring break trip. We were quite the college students, and Powell's book store is amazing. Seriously, Google it.

Speaking of surviving, I am continuing my pace through "Lynn-ness" despite issues. A thirteen year old can get away with gaping plot holes, a nineteen year old can't, but said nineteen year old still wants to incorporate scenes from thirteen year old draft. Perhaps now is a good time to mention I have sentimental issues with most scenes?

I have also renewed my efforts with "Rogue", so maybe I can get the rough draft done before, like, the end of the world. I dunno why, but I get so easily distracted from it...which explains why I'm updating my blog and doing homework instead of writing it. Bad, Melanie, bad.

It's just one of those quarters...oh well. At least next quarter I only have to take an online class, then I get my AAS! Score! And "The Hunger Games" is less than a month away! Double score! And me and Sherilyn are going to Portland to see "Wicked"! Combo breaker of awesomeness!

Anyhoo, significant progress made on "Lynn-ness", and I'm crossing my fingers that this pace continues *knock on wood*. Not only that, but I have finished Diplomat Filch's backstory story. It stands at twenty-two handwritten pages with scribbles and notes...and does not have a title. I thought I had one, but now I feel it doesn't fit the story. I have to say, it really helped me, and I feel I have a firm understanding of his character and reactions to events. Unfortunately, none of the three points-of-view in the "Aaron's World" series will reveal more than slivers of his past. Oh well, I love and understand you at least, Filchie.

I hope to continue writing "Lynn-ness", and work a little on "The Tragedy of Macbeth High School" and "Rogue". Poor "Rogue", been stuck in the "in-progress" lane for almost four years. Officially my longest-to-write book...and Lynn thought "The Armageddon of Brittney Bamford" took awhile.