I have survived long commutes home, wading through floodwater and Other-Liquids-I-Shall-Not-Name that reached my chest.

I have lived on three pieces of salted crackers a day during the phase I have called NO, IT'S NOT MY NATURAL WEIGHT BUT I SHALL TRY.

I have come to terms with the fact that I could never wear strapless anything without needing a paper bag over my whole body head.

It's okay, really.

But don't you dare leave me again.

I've run out of nails to chew and eyebrows to burn. I fear I might have to -- have to go out of the house if you leave me again.

You and I know what happened the last time I got that desperate.

Consequences will never be the same.

"No, it's fine. I had other plans anyway. No, really. I don't mind. It's not like I'd die if I don't get to hang out with you everyday. Ha. Ha."

:|

I finally won a contest!

After entering a kajillion contests and not winning a single one, I was starting to doubt my pact with Lady Luck (or Mephistopheles, I'm not quite sure). 

Velvet from VVB32 Reads hosted this wonderful contest-slash-mystery that gave away a ton of awesome prizes -- heaven for Victorian era addicts! I wished and wished that I would win anything Holmes-related, oh, and I entered the contests, too.

I put all thoughts of the contests out of my mind because I was in a fantastic losing streak. I was pretty successful but Velvet had to ruin it for me.

I WON SOMETHING SHERLOCK HOLMES RELATED. AND IT'S A COMIC BOOK. AND IT HAS PICTURES. AND IT HAS -- LOOK!:


YAY YAY YAY YAY PRETTY.

I'm so excited, I can't wait for it to get here!

Thank you Velvet! You've convinced me that deals with the devil do come true. Haha! ;) 

I'm roughly 3.5k away from completing my  chapter book. Normally, this would be a cause for me to scream "Break out the cookies!" but I'm feeling far from hungry. (BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY!)

Every time I think of having a finished manuscript, my brain frizzes up and refuses to spit out words. When it's done, I won't have any more excuses. I have to make it good. I have to get it right. 

I might call it First Draft Separation Anxiety. (Or maybe, The Crap-o-la Obsession.) Anything fancy to cover the fact that I'm just too lazy and insecure to finish a project I've spent months on. When procrastination yells louder than your dreams, you've really got a problem.

So I'm trying. Trying, trying, trying. Getting this manuscript done is like convincing a carabao to stop swatting flies with its tail (no, Mister Spellcheck, I'm sure I got that word right). But I know that when it's all done, when I'm finally sure that I can show these pages to someone other than my crust-flaked eyes, I'll be fine.

I have to.

That my opinion piece got published in The Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday!

AAH.

It's my first piece published in a national broadsheet and I literally shrieked when I read it. I had no idea that it would come out on that day, and we had just come back from a trip to a hot spring resort, so all my mellowing out was wasted. Thank God for that.

When I calmed down enough for my mom to ask what the hell happened to me, I told her. And we immediately went out to buy 8 more copies.

It was such a thrill to see my name next to my words, which, when you think about it, seems pretty trivial. But it wasn't. So, so, so wasn't.

I'm still bubbling with the giddies even after a full day of seeing my siblings gradually sour with my constant grinning.

Which really proves this great piece of advice I heard before: 'When you're not writing your novel, work on something else. When you're not writing that, write another one.' Every piece you complete is one step closer to the dream!

The product of memes:

After pasting the first chapter of my still untitled YA Dystopian, I get:



But when I tried the first chapter of my chapter book, I got:


Which is good, I guess, because I'm pretty sure that Cory Doctorow would approve of my chapter book. *hint hint*

I wanted to rule the world.

Since I'm not Justin Bieber, then no.

I can't afford new books.

Paperback, I can save up for. Hardbound? HAH. That's a week and a half of not eating (and, well, not going to school). Don't even talk to me about paying for transportation to get to the nearest mall.

So I gorge myself on reviews, excerpts, and author interviews while I tuck every spare peso into my pocket. All while waiting for my Apocalypse books. You know, the ones I need to read if ever doomsday comes a knockin' and asks for his copy of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.

Here's a list of books I bought within the past few months.

Used:

The Giver
The Chess Machine
The Dante Club
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Silence of the Lambs
Annotated Sherlock Holmes

New:

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Books I Want to Buy:

GIVE ME MY YA DAMMIT NOMNOMNOMBARFPICKLE

I know. The statistics are devastating.

I will continue my steamy affair with used books until the day I can storm inside a bookstore just to grab three shelves over at the YA section,

Or maybe invent my own money.

Because YA Highway had to post the video after the cut.

p.s. If this doesn't reach the Philippines, I'm swimming to North Korea.

( Vampires Suck )

To be deleted once my waves of ecstasy die down.

See: Two minutes. Four, if I need a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups break.