10 Things I Do In My Spare Time

Otherwise known as; Tansie does really weird stuff. 

Since you all clearly need to know more about moi, I decided to make a post all about the stuff I do when left idle. 

1. Writing

(admittedly, this one is not that weird)

This one is kind of obvious. I try to spend a little time each day writing, so when I'm free it's most likely what I'm doing. Typically I write on my bed, surrounded by an enormous pile of blankets and pillows and blasting music through my headphones. If I'm not plotting deaths in my giant pillow forts, then I'm curled up on the couch in the living room, plotting deaths in smaller sized pillow forts. *cackles evilly*

2. Listening to Music

I love listening to music. In fact, I do it all the time. It involves  dancing spazzmatically to a beat no one can hear but me-- since I also love wearing headphones. I like to think I can pop-and-lock. 

I cannot.

3. Reading

While I love reading, I don't have a lot of time for it. I need to soak in the plot, characters, and setting, and I can't do that in a ten minute break. After school, I like to unwind, and working my brain with the intense, twisty plots that I love reading is not the ideal way to go. 

4. Eating

I'm not gonna lie. Food is just... *dying noises* And I'm not just referring to desserts (like chocolate, ice cream, *more dying noises*). BUT JUST ALL THE FOOD. Also, I would love to travel the world and try a new food in each of them. 

5. Making Videos

I COULDN'T FIND A GIF OF SOMEONE MAKING VIDEOS.
YOU'LL HAVE TO DO WITH THIS.

Inspiration comes in spurts for me, so it's not often that I'm editing videos and playing it over, and over, and over, and over again until it plays as perfection. Seriously. I love music, but there is such a thing as getting sick of hearing the first five seconds play a thousand times over. Eugngnhghghhg. But it is nice to see my dream book trailer come to life. If only it didn't take so much time.

6. Watching Movies/TV Shows

Ahhh, yes. Movies. My safe haven. My absolute favorite thing to do after a super stressful school day is watch a movie. Preferably one that is not also stress inducing. Every good action movie ties my stomach in knots, so I usually end up watching an animation movie. (Some of my current favorites are Big Hero 6 and Lilo & Stitch). TV shows are watched with my dad, so a schedule is needed, since my sister goes to college and my dad has a job that takes up most of his time. Any TV shows that I discover on my own are either watched halfway through the first season and then abandoned, or currently on a break. (TEEN WOLF I'M LOOKING AT YOU)

7. Gaming

It's true. I love it. My current favorite game is Defiance-- mainly because it goes along with an awesome TV show and WEAPONS. ALL THE WEAPONS. I have learned so much from playing the game that my dad said, when observing my sister and I yelling instructions at each other from across the table, that we sounding like actual soldier-people. It made me proud, but actually we were probably screaming things like:

"I AM DYING, HELP ME." 

*actual screaming*

"YOU LET ME DIE YOU TRAITOR. I'M GOING TO SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE." 

8. Spending Actual Time with the Fam

My family is awesome. We often joke over meals and debate over political things. If you've ever wondered where my level of maturity comes from *sarcasm* you now know. I get all my sass from my parents. 

9. Creating Scenarios in my Mind

Yeah. I actually talk to myself A LOT. It's more a constant muttering, actually. My sister calls me out on it frequently. It happens when I don't even think about it-- meaning that I'll be wandering around the house muttering, or brushing my hair muttering, or feeding the dogs muttering, or just laying in bed. Muttering. 

If I'm not muttering, I'm staring into space with my headphones on, creating really insane story ideas. (Seriously. They can get weird.) My family frequently whacks me to get my attention. 

10. Sleeping

Sleeping is beautiful. It keeps me sane. But I haven't really had enough recently so... That explains a lot.

Reviewing: For the Love of a Vampire by M. Leighton

I'm going to be completely honest: I expected to be cringing and mentally punching (because I'm violent like that) everyone in the book several times over. And while I did get extremely frustrated at a few of the characters, I didn't hate them.

Like most seventeen year olds, Ridley Heller thought she had her future all planned out. What she wanted most in life was to get out of small town Harker. Her only goal was to keep her mouth shut and her grades high so she could win a cheerleading scholarship to Stanford. But that was before she met Bo. 

In Ridley’s wildest dreams, she could never have planned for someone like Bo, for a love so intense it left her breathless. No human girl could.

A haunting stranger that watched her from afar, Bo stole Ridley’s heart from the moment she laid eyes on him. But he has secrets. Bo’s a vampire. Both his past and his present are a danger to Ridley, but the biggest threat is not her blood; it’s her heart. He’s feeding a thirst for revenge that will cost him his life, and it may already be too late. 

The more darkness Ridley uncovers, the more she realizes that her life will never be the same—with or without Bo. Can she sacrifice her future and her heart for someone who has a death wish?


First of all, Ridley: For a seventeen year old, she is really mature. Her one dream is to leave her small hometown and go to Stanford on a cheerleading scholarship. She's doing pretty good-- the only downsides are bratty fellow cheerleaders and a jock boyfriend that she no longer cares for. 

I didn't really connect with her. Why? She's portrayed as logical. Someone who analyzes a situation and then makes her decision based on what she sees. So why, pray tell, would her first reaction to realizing a guy is stalking her be "HE HAS GORGEOUS EYES JUST LET ME DROWN IN THEM." 

She loves him so suddenly, fiercely, and passionately that she never questions him at all until she learns (SPOILER ALERT: highlight to read) [that he was at the car accident that killed her sister and that she barely survived.]. She does wonder about a couple other things (read: extremely obvious hints pointing towards his vampirism), but she shoves the thoughts aside because, as is stated about a million times, Bo has gorgeous eyes and smells really good.

I'm going to get to what I liked fairly soon. But first (because I'm a complainer):

Why are all the cheerleaders described as:

A) cruel jerks who seek to crush and destroy.

or

B) brainless idiots following aforementioned cruel jerks around.

It was so stereotypical it hurt.

Another final thing:

Ridley's parents are incredible uninvolved in her life. I've read about parents being basically nonexistant in books and most of the time it just feels like a way to enable the kids to be as crazy and reckless as they choose. Why not involve parents? Parents can be awesome! Example: Melissa in Teen Wolf-- she is hilarious and so supportive of Scott. Parents are supposed to be there for their kids, and while I realize that they can't always be there, they should at least try.

Things I Liked:

• The setting was super overused but not to the point where it felt like every other vampire book. (At least, not to me.) Small town, lots of deaths being blamed on wild animals, lost family member in freak car accident... Vampire Diaries anyone? Anyways, despite all this, the author manages to make it interesting. 
• Vampires are not your typical vampires. They have ethereal powers, and vampires are capable of killing themselves. Sometimes, they fade to the point where they become invisible, but they still are alive. (I feel like this particular bit wasn't explained as much as it should have been, but this is just the first book in a series so maybe the explaining comes later). 
• Ridley wasn't brainless or completely helpless. She would fight to the end for Bo, and, even though most of the time I didn't really get why, I was impressed by her loyalty. 
• Bo wasn't your typical vampire. Yeah, he had his inner demons, but he fought them so hard to try and become a hero. I admired him for that.

He taught me to stand up for what I believe in, to shout it out at the top of my lungs.  He taught me to feel—the deep, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, soul-singing kind of emotion I had avoided for so long.  He taught me about the importance of life.  He taught me about the beauty of death.  He also taught me about love.

Beautiful People {3} Valentine Edition

With every new month comes a new Beautiful People link up. Let us throw some confetti and eat cake and yell: YAY FOR CAIT AND SKY FOR BEING AWESOME.

*clears throat*

I am not a romantic person at all. No one in my immediate family is. (Except my dad, but he's surrounded by emotionless females, and he learned to adjust). So the couples I write are typically not romantic. In fact, they usually just insult each other to their hearts' delight.

This couple doesn't even know they're a couple yet. BUT THEY ARE. Their friends wiggle their eyebrows and giggle evilly when their backs are turned. (So do I). 

And, in fact, they've gotten the closest to being an actual couple than anyone else I've written. (this shows how far couples actually get before I send one off to the gallows)

(Again, I am kidding)

But, onwards to our spotlighted couple: Caster and Robyn. 

  

1. How long have they been a couple?

*laughs nervously*

Like I stated above. They're totally a couple while simultaneously stating firmly that they have no feelings for each other. (clueless fools)

2. How did they first meet?

Well, Robyn was a ghost and Caster was very alive, so as you can imagine there was some confusion. They met in the maze Robyn was murdered in. (not a maze like the Maze Runner. I wrote this book when I knew nothing of TMR. This maze was much smaller and much less murderous, and nothing at all like the maze in TMR, except for the part where it is a maze). This is where you might be confused. Robyn died in the maze. So the maze must be murderous. But I have mislead you. Robyn was killed by a person. 

I have also gotten off topic. 

Caster and Robyn met after he had made his way through said maze. When he turned around-- BAM. There was Robyn, who was very confused since there hadn't been anyone in the maze in, like, a century and also she was supposed to be dead, so why could this random guy see her?

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)

Well, Caster's first thought was less "you're freakishly annoying" and more "you're freakishly weird." He had full right to that. Robyn thought he was beautiful in the way you look at a different planet and go "wow, that's beautiful, but I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole." 

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

Well, Caster breathes. 

(Sorry). Caster does breathe, of course, but he's also snarky and grumpy and wanders around pouting half the time. Dreadful downer, that one. But it's actually the way Caster doesn't seem to care about anything that bothers Robyn. 

Caster is just annoyed that Robyn doesn't know anything about the modern world so he has to go out of his way to explain. *eyeroll*

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

Less and less opposite as the story progresses.

6. How would their lives be different without each other?

Well, for one thing, Robyn would still be dead, which would be unfortunate. And Caster would be stuck in his "boring" life. (I put quotations because he has a hoverboard. Life could not possibly be boring if you have a hoverboard. Of this I am convinced.)

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

ALL THE TIME. Robyn is embarrassed when Caster is really rude to people, and Caster is embarrassed when Robyn has no idea what is going on and it is really, super obvious.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

NO ONE. NO ONE AT ALL. EVERYONE SHIPS THEM.

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?

Robyn will want it to be forever. So will Caster. But MARRIAGE??? CHILDREN??? Little wriggling balls of stink??? 

Now would be a good time to tell you that Robyn is fifteen and Caster is sixteen. Neither of them are thinking marriage.

10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?

Their options are very limited, but if they weren't... Really, just anywhere. Anywhere new. Anywhere they could explore. 

Writing Recap

So, I said these things would be monthly, and this month I guess it's gonna be early on. I'm just gonna talk about the awesomeness that is Word Counter and also what music I listen to the most while working on Current Untitled Project.

So, first of all, Word Counter (copy, paste, press enter) is a website that, well, counts words. But on top of that, it tells you what words you use the most, how many sentences you've used, how many paragraphs, and how many words per sentence you typically use-- all that good stuff.

My personal favorite is what uncommon words (meaning no a, the, an, etc.) you've used the most.

Here's mine:

(I really like cars)

As for the music...

These are pretty much the only songs I've been listening to during this writing process. 

I've been working on this book for about a week (?) and I have 26,300 (rounded) words so far. I'm about halfway through and I really hope I can finish it this month, but it might go on forever. Who knows?

Coming Soon on My Blog: Please note that "Coming Soon" can mean anything from one day to one week.

• Hopefully a review of "White Cat" by Holly Black. 
• Aaand I'm gonna link up with Beautiful People || Valentine Edition