Quarantine Reading: Book Reviews

Like so many others, I've been stuck inside with no homework, no job, and a whole lot of time on my hands. Recently, I've taken a break from social media to clear my head and have spent my days querying for my novel, playing far too many online geography quizzes, learning new songs on the piano, and, of course, reading. Books have always been—and will always be—the greatest escape from reality, and, unless you pick up a copy of The End of October, I recommend devoting yourself to a good book right now more than ever. Without further ado, here is what I have read (so far) since my online classes have ended.

1. Don't Burn This Book (Dave Rubin, 2020)

Rating: 7/10

While Dave Rubin himself may be a somewhat controversial figure—as any political podcaster is wont to be—his book is rather tame. It is a mix of biographical anecdotes and opining on contemporary political issues, the former serving as the strong foundation upon which the latter sits somewhat lazily. I listened to Rubin's podcast much more regularly two ago than I do now; his talking points started to feel a bit repetitive and monotonous. The biographical portions of his book are the strongest because they are so much more unique.

However, he still has some important ideas to share, and the last chapter in particular stood out to me. He details his annual news and social media hiatus—the entire month of August—and argues that while politics is important to understand and debate, our entire lives should not revolve around it. After all, he says, the reason why were become so invested in politics in the first place is to better our everyday lives. The toxicity of our current political environment is incredibly taxing on our mental health, and I think this argument was a poignant way to close a book that is about politics.

I'd recommend this book to anyone, but particularly to those who consider themselves firmly on the right or on the left, as you will find something disagreeable among Rubin's moderate libertarian opinions, and whether or not you find your mind changed, you will find it more open.

2. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown, 2003)

Rating: 7/10

I remember my mom reading this book nearly twenty years ago (when I was a preschooler), and I'm glad I finally dusted it off and cracked it open myself. After spending two semesters studying ancient and medieval history, literature, philosophy, and theology—thanks, Providence College—this story proved quite enjoyable. It's a fun, light read with an exciting plot.

However, the writing fell shy of my expectations. The chapters written from the main character's perspective are strong, but there are too many in-between chapters depicting the "bad guys" at work that are unnecessary and lend to the story's predictability. The word count probably could've been halved if these, along with other repetitive explanations of concepts that tend to dumb the writing down, had been scrapped.

Still, I enjoyed this novel and devoured it within a few sittings. Sometimes you're not looking for prize-winning literature, just a fictional world to invest yourself in for a day or two, and it is certainly immersive.

3. One of Us is Next (Karen M. McManus, 2020)

Rating: 9/10

This works well as a sequel to One of Us is Lying and as a standalone. Though I don't read much YA anymore, I have enjoyed McManus' previous work—she's a standout YA author, doing something remarkably different from all the others—and her third novel is just as strong as the first two. While the sheer amount of characters causes a bit of confusion toward the beginning, each develops a unique voice, and they all grow on you in their own ways. Overall, while it feels a little young for my taste, it is an addictive, well-paced mystery with a chilling conclusion.

4. Prisoners of Geography (Tim Marshall, 2015)

Rating: 9/10

Marshall presents an intriguing argument about geography—that the physical world shapes the political to a much greater degree than we might assume—and supports his claims with compelling evidence. This book also serves as a great basic overview of the entire geopolitical world that can be understood by anyone while at the same time providing unique insights that can be appreciated by serious geography and international relations nerds (trust me, I am one). I’d recommend Marshall’s writing to anyone who’s interested in gaining a better understanding of why our geopolitical world functions the way it does, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of his books.

5. The Secret History (Donna Tartt, 1992)

Rating: 10/10

This book has definitely made it into my top five all-time favorites. While the pacing was a little slow in the second half, I was invested enough the story from the first half that I still devoured it quickly. Tartt perfectly combined unreliable narration, descent into evil, and classical literature/philosophy, three of my favorite things in literature. This is certainly a book I’ll be recommending for years to come to anyone who wants to become entirely engrossed in the mind of a character teetering on the edge of madness.

6. Mrs. Everything (Jennifer Weiner, 2019)

Rating: 3/10

The concept of this novel is interesting in theory—two sisters, contrasting in personality, growing up side-by-side and evolving into exactly the opposite women they imagined they’d be—but the execution falls flat. Weiner’s writing is basic, unnecessarily descriptive in some sections and lacking in others, and honestly reads like a poorly-written alternative universe Little Women fan fiction. Every scene felt either unrealistic or preachy. Obviously younger characters are going to make mistakes, but they don’t seem to learn and grow from them, and some of these decisions are so incredibly stupid that I could not even sympathize with Jo and Beth. The pacing is also strange and choppy; it jumps so quickly from decade to decade that none of the side characters have any time to become memorable. I think there are some poignant moments in this story, purely plot-wise, but they are so poorly written that I felt myself skimming over them to avoid cringing. Overall, Weiner spends too much time telling a story as if she’s writing a Wikipedia page instead of showing us what her characters think and feel and why they make the decisions they do. She relies too heavily on overdone tropes and stereotypes and tries too hard to construct tragic moment after tragic moment.

7. Me (Elton John, 2019)

Rating: 10/10

This biography is an incredibly personal, honest, hysterical, and insightful look into the life of one of my favorite music artists and personal heroes. I don’t have much to say other than that I found myself in tears both from laughing at Elton’s outrageous anecdotes and overwhelming awe at how much he overcame and accomplished. These two aspects of his story are interwoven so flawlessly—sometimes you’re reading about how he showed up onstage at a Wham! concert in a Ronald McDonald costume, and a few chapters later, you’re reading about how he tried and failed to help George Michael before it was too late. Journalist Alexis Petridis, Elton’s ghostwriter, does a fantastic job at capturing Elton’s voice and writing in a way that feels (and is) authentic. One of the most important takeaways from this book for me was Elton’s self-deprecating but also appreciative nature—basically, even the greatest music icons of all time shouldn’t take themselves too seriously and should understand the help they have received and the lessons they have learned.

8. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Suzanne Collins, 2020)

Rating: 5/10

While I was extremely hesitant to read this prequel, I opened the cover with hope that it would at least be entertaining. And it was—in the latter third, at least. The first three hundred pages are oddly paced, unnecessarily detail-heavy, and failed to conjure any real sympathy in me for any of the characters. Coriolanus is contradictory, Lucy Gray is confusing and inhuman, and Sejanus is unrealistically Boyd (and faces no consequences for his actions). The pacing does pick up once the actual Hunger Games begin; writing action is definitely Collins’ strong point, and I wish she spent more time on this as opposed to attempting to force a romance in the first couple of chapters. The last section (post-games), while slightly weaker, is decent enough that I finished the book.

Characters and pacing aside, my main criticism lies in the fact that Collins and her editors thought, for some reason, that it was very necessary to include complete lyrics to half a dozen (or more?) songs in addition to Genius-style commentary of Coriolanus in between every line, during which he provides riveting insights on the level of “she said we should meet at midnight by the hanging tree, so maybe she wants me to meet her at midnight by the hanging tree.”

9. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Holly Jackson, 2019)

Rating: 9/10

Fans of Karen McManus will definitely enjoy this book. In fact, I found it to be even more well-paced and well-written. The plot, while leaning toward predictable at times, is so enticing that I devoured it in two sittings. Jackson has presented one of the strongest YA debuts I've read in a while.

My High School Graduation Speech

As I prepare to make the transition from living—and learning—at home to studying at Providence College, I have been reminiscing on all of the incredible opportunities I have been granted over the course of these past ten years. Before I embark on this next step in my personal journey, I would like to share with you all the speech that I wrote and presented at my high school graduation. I was so honored to speak side-by-side with my friends and classmates on that day, basking in the love and support of my family, former teachers, and fellow homeschoolers, and I hope that perhaps my story can inspire others who are struggling to take the reigns of their own (or their children's) educations.

Thank you to everyone who has walked with me every step of the way. Without further ado, here is the speech!

* * * * *

My dad once told me that the most important skill to learn is how to think critically.

I don’t remember how I responded when he said that, but, being a fourteen-year-old, I can imagine that I sighed, didn’t look up from my phone, and rolled my eyes when he turned away. That was all just for show, though, of course, because those words stuck with me and have maintained their position at the forefront of my mind for years now.

Every day, I try to live by that sentiment. Every time I read something, I’ll read it again when I remember what he said. How can I look at this from a different angle? Is anything missing? Does it all add up?

We live in a fast-paced world that unfortunately doesn’t allow for a whole lot of this. For example, if you take out your phone, open Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, and scroll for a minute, you’re going to see a hundred little tidbits of information. How much of it’s useful? How much of it’s true? How much of it are you even going to remember for longer than a few minutes?

School, in my opinion, is similar to Twitter in a lot of ways. Kids sit in classrooms for six hours a day, and they’re fed all this information in big dumps, then asked to recite it back a couple weeks later, and after that they’ll probably never think about it again. They listen to the same couple of voices over and over again, every day, just like how we choose a small circle of accounts to follow on social media. Sometimes, if they speak out of line, or say something a teacher doesn’t like, they’ll get sent to the principals office—muted, blocked, banned from the platform.

Questioning authority, critical thinking—it’s almost entirely unheard of in our education system. You can’t freeze time in a classroom and spend extra time looking at something from different perspectives when the goal is to cram as much information into your head as possible.

This is, obviously, why I’m so glad my parents pulled me out of school in third grade. Over these past ten years, homeschooling has allowed me to thrive as a critical thinker. I get to spend time taking the classes I’m interested in taking, reading books I’m interested in reading, and writing papers I’m interested in writing. I’ve been given the time and opportunity to explore and research topics that I might not have ever been able to if I had stayed in public or private school. Most importantly, I have been able to be exposed to so many different people with a vast array of worldviews and perspectives—people I never would have met if I were stuck in school all day. 

People from whom I’ve been able to learn include college professors, homeschool parents and teachers who come from all over the area and carry all sorts of different experiences, and both older and younger homeschool students who have served as role models, mentors, friends, and people to whom I can serve as a role model and mentor. Being able to listen to and converse with these different types of people on a daily basis has provided me with knowledge of so many different backgrounds, careers, and points of view. My favorite part of it all is that we don’t always have to agree on everything or share the same ideas—and we can still get along, and we can learn and grow as a result of our interactions with each other.

This, to me, is what critical thinking is all about—looking at a topic or an issue from as many perspectives as you can, listening to others, and starting dialogue. I am so incredibly grateful to my teachers, my peers, and my family for allowing me to experience such a unique, extraordinary, and unforgettable education.

Thank you!

Seventeen (A Poem)

In less than five minutes I’ll be seventeen

Many changes this year have been unforeseen

My alliances have shifted to contravene

This world that now functions like a faulty machine

I feel I’ve become a sort of Constantine

Constant peril like Caesar but by guillotine

Cast out from both armies, I’m in quarantine

Makes me cower away from the projection screen

These narcicissized hypocrites gripe and preen

Though my own words are admittedly labyrinthine

But each one of them disgustingly philistine

Each day catalyzing more internecine

Issues hyperbolized, dubbed elephantine

All concern placed on one’s moral hygiene

What we need now is a falsehood vaccine

But how would I know when I’m just seventeen?

"Defying Probability" (Massasoit Writing Contest Prize-Winning Essay)

Here is the essay I wrote that won second place in Massasoit Community College's One Book, One College writing contest. The prompt was to write about a story that is told within your family and how it has influenced your life. Enjoy!

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It seems that I hear or ponder the story of my father's recovery from shattering his foot every day, and I know I experience the aftereffects every minute. There is a reason that my siblings and I are as healthy, strong, and hardworking as we are today, and it all started one day with a devastating injury. Whenever I feel inadequate, incapable, or incompetent, my dad reminds me of his journey.

My dad has always been an extremely active person. He played football all through high school, has cycled over one hundred miles, races motocross, and participates in Olympic- and Half-Iron Man-distance triathlons. Endurance exercise is his idea of fun. Therefore, when he shattered the bones in his foot back in 2004, he was devastated. Being an athlete, of course, he's more prone than the average person to injuries such as these. He had broken his wrists, tailbone, ankles, and even his pelvis before—but this one was different. After a tough search, he managed to find a specialized surgeon who said he would need to lodge a permanent titanium plate and seven screws in his foot. "Here's the deal," the doctor said. "We're going to do our best to reconstruct your foot so you can walk again, hopefully without any devices, but there are no guarantees. You'll likely have a limp for the rest of your life, and you'll certainly never run again." My dad knew the surgery was his only hope for being able to get out of bed and off his crutches, so he agreed to go through with the procedure.

After the surgery and eighteen months of physical therapy, he could walk again, but with the addition of the promised limp and support from a dozen Motrin capsules per day for eight years. Because of his condition and his inability to keep up with his normal exercise regimen, his health gradually declined and he fell into bouts of depression. He always describes the fall of 2008 as his lowest point. He was missing out on many milestones in his three children's lives, was becoming extremely overweight, and had developed Metabolic Syndrome (a common precursor to diabetes). When his physician warned him that if his blood pressure and sugar levels didn't improve within six months, he would be forced on additional medication, my dad decided that enough was enough.

My dad spent the next four years working with a personal trainer, during which he began to study the facts behind nutrition and endurance sports. When, after every attempt to curb his blood sugar, it still didn't drop low enough, he kept digging deeper until he discovered something called the ketogenic diet. Ketosis is a state of the body in which it is processing stored fats for energy instead of sugars and carbohydrates. After many trial runs, my dad learned that by consistently eating fats in place of grains, starches, and sugary foods, he could lose weight faster and last longer in athletic events. Then, being our father, he passed his knowledge on to me and my siblings. Thanks to him and his journey, our overall health, endurance, and athleticism have also seen great improvement, even if we're not quite as strict and self-disciplined as he is. But my dad didn't stop there. Now that all of his issues, including the painful, everyday inflammation in his foot, had been so noticeably lessened, a question arose in his mind—would he now be able to run again?

One day in early spring of 2013, my dad experienced one of the most pivotal moments of his life. He has described this particular part of the story in such detail that I could never forget it. On his way home from work, he noticed dark clouds beginning to appear in the sky and, predicting that it would soon begin to rain heavily, decided to grab the mail from our mailbox before going inside. After parking his truck and walking across the street, however, he realized he was a few seconds too late. The clouds opened up and rain began pouring down on him. Without even giving it a second thought, he grabbed the mail, slammed the box shut, and sprinted back into the house.

"It took me another few steps before what just happened hit me," he says. He had just run painlessly for the first time in almost ten years. He recounted this experience in a post on his blog, writing that "to the average person, running to seek shelter from a pouring rain is nothing out of the ordinary...but to [him], this was a mind-bending moment." For nearly the entire past decade, even mere walking had caused him pain to the point of misery. Running had been completely out of the question. I remember when we used to play at family softball games, and he would purposely try to hit a grand slam over the fence every time he was up at bat, because his only chance of getting around the bases was to slowly walk them. I remember him being forced to participate in relay versions of triathlons—he could bike and swim just fine, but then he would longingly watch a teammate from the sidelines as he or she completed the running section in his place. I remember watching him sit down on a couch and ice his foot at the end of a day of walking around Disney World, not understanding as a young child just how much agony he was experiencing—but then everything began to change.

My dad dashed through 2013—literally. He began running almost every day and completed his first full triathlons. After each of them, he recounted parts of his story for us again and again. His doctor had said he would never run again. He had believed it. And yet, here he was. By 2014, he was running ten miles at a time. In 2015, he completed a Half-Iron Man triathlon, which includes a 13.1-mile run. And later that year, after noticing that one of his business clients was looking for runners for their charity, he set his sights on the Boston Marathon.

It was during this leg of the journey that I really began to listen to him and fully understand his story. I watched him train every Sunday, riding my bike alongside him as he ran, holding his water bottle as he progressed from fifteen miles to twenty to twenty-five each week leading up to the race. The experience was incredible. This guy had gone from being bedridden with a shattered foot, always forced to the sidelines, to running and completing the 2016 Boston Marathon. Every member of my family knows his story, young and old, even if they weren't directly involved in it. This story has shaped all of our perceptions of what is truly possible to accomplish. We have all been inspired by my dad to strive to achieve any goal we have—athletic or otherwise—despite our impediments. He has taught us all by retelling his tale again and again that we can overcome anything to which we set our minds, even if it goes against all odds.

"I'm Writing A Musical" - Seven Months Later

Words can't even begin to express how incredible this journey has been, but I'm a writer, so I suppose I'll have to make them work.

On April 8th, 2016 (at least, according to the date on my earliest Word documents), I was struck with an idea. It wasn't so much of a grand plan for a spectacular production as it was a fun project to keep me busy. What it has grown into, however, is more than I could have ever asked for.

On October 15th, 2017, this crazy, ambitious figment of my imagination finally became reality. Percy Jackson: The Musical played at the Oakes Ames Memorial Hall in Easton, Massachusetts. We had a cast of thirteen awesome local actors ranging from age twelve to seventeen who had been working tirelessly since mid-July to make this show happen.

There are a few people I'd like to thank, the first being my awesome assistant director, Catherine. She was one of the first to read my script and provided the encouragement I needed to get started on the production. Next, my parents, who blindly trusted that this wouldn't be a complete disaster and helped with the logistical matters. My brother, Shane, who was coaxed into taking on the lead role but ran with it and elevated it to the best it could have been. My sister, Zoe, who has helped me with every aspect of writing, composing, casting, and directing, since the beginning. The rest of my incredible cast who put up with my antics for three months and dealt with uncomfortable costumes, difficult harmonies, and too many lines. I hope everything was worth it for you guys, because you performed terrifically. And, of course, everyone who came to the show. Thank you all!

One downside of putting on a completely independent production was the fact that we could only have one showing, and tickets were rather limited. Fortunately, however, we took a video; you can view it here. Enjoy!

I'm Writing A Musical?!

Yep. It's official! I'm currently in the second-draft process of writing a—you guessed it—musical based on my all-time favorite book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Perhaps this is of zero interest to you, but maybe some of you want to know a little more. I'll try to keep this post as brief as possible, but I am admittedly extremely excited to share every detail about this project into which I have put so much time and effort.

First off, I'd like to mention that I am in no way associated with TheatreWorks or their Lightning Thief Musical that is opening in New York this summer. I began work on my musical months prior to its announcement, and mine is quite different in content. I am also in no way endorsed by Rick Riordan or his publisher or any of that (unfortunately). Okay, moving on.

In early 2016, about one year ago, I was assigned by my English teacher (hi, Mom) to write a scene from a book or movie in Shakespearian style. Of course, I chose a scene from a Percy Jackson book, and while writing it, I was suddenly struck with an idea—imagine Percy Jackson as a stage performance.

My first thought: That would be crazy. There are five books, ten if you count the second series. It would be, like, twelve hours long. My second: Eh, who cares. I'm gonna try.

So I gave it a shot—four, in fact. The first attempt was quite terrible. I decided to go with a musical drama—minimal song and dance, though, mostly dialogue. I tried to sum up the entirety of the first series in a single monologue and then dive right into the second. The plan was to show only the most important scenes from each of the five books, barely touching upon the characters themselves and focusing mainly on the plot. The idea was, in short, awful, and it was rightfully trashed after eight days and eleven pages.

Fast forward two months, and I've returned to the drawing board. I decided that this time I wouldn't take the story so seriously and attempted to make a humorous, AVPM-esque parody musical. It might've turned out well if I had put some effort into it, but the problem is I don't do silly very well. I can incorporate jokes and comic relief into my work, but writing straight-up comedy is not my forte. This one also lasted only about a week.

My next idea was to ditch the whole musical aspect entirely and just write a play. Then I narrowed it down even further to just the first book, The Lightning Thief. I spent two hot summer days simmering away in my attic bedroom, transcribing the book into a play format, and then gave up. At the time, I figured that was it. Maybe someday I'd return to this ridiculous project.

It wasn't until late September that I analyzed my thought processes for these failed ideas in an attempt to figure out what I was doing wrong, and I realized fairly quickly that I was focusing too much on plot.

To me, Riordan's characters have always been the most important and memorable aspects of his books. His characters are seriously like children to me—just ask my friends. I discovered then that I was putting way too much effort into making the plot of this stage adaptation exactly the same as that of the original stories, and that I was ignoring the best part, the part that means the most to me.

Here's something I've realized while writing this, my novel, and many other things—I am much better at creating and developing characters than plot. Therefore, for my next try at this Percy Jackson stage show, I decided to showcase my strengths instead of relying on my weaknesses.

It's not really a show for the average Percy Jackson fan. It's not a kids' show. It's something that is built on everything I love about the books, which themes I believe are the most meaningful. I played with each characters' strengths, weaknesses, relationships, and desires, and crafted a mainly character-driven plot that is a very simplified but still complex version of the original story. I decided to focus mainly on the first five-book series, but I tied in a few of my favorite aspects of the second one. Choosing what to include and what to skim over made for some seriously tough decisions, but I am extremely pleased with the outcome.

Despite everything I had to cut, the show's estimated running time is still close to two and a half hours. I have written over twenty original songs (just lyrics, vocals, and chords so far), and a completed rough draft of a one hundred and twelve-page script. Is it done? No. Is it almost done? Not even close. When will it be done? Who knows. I still have so much work to do and so many decisions to make. All I can tell you right now is that I really like it, and I hope you will, too.

There are no definite plans for the future of this project just yet. I would love to have an actual cast, set, costumes, orchestra, and performances before I go off to college, but that would involve quite a bit of time and money that I just don't have. It's still possible, though, and would be the most amazing dream come true.

For now, I'm just going to keep chugging along, refining and tweaking to bring this crazy project as close to perfection as I possibly can. I'll let its future be determined when it arrives.

So, what do you think? If you like Percy Jackson, or even if you just like musicals, and would be interested in getting involved, let me know. If I want this to really become anything at all, I'm going to need quite a lot of help. Also let me know if you would perhaps like to see a blog post going into more detail about the musical itself—I'd be happy to ramble on for hours.

And if you've read this far, thank you. It's my love for writing and others' love for reading that inspires me to do crazy stuff like this.

Five Things I've Learned While Writing My First Novel

For the last eleven months, I have been working on a novel. I’ve been calling it my first, but the truth is, it’s more like a fifth or sixth. Many times, especially in the past three years, I have attempted to write a book. Each ended the same way—pushed aside “for later” and then eventually abandoned altogether. This time, though, I forced myself to the finish line. I’m taking a short break to clear my head, and then it will be finally time to embark on the lovely journey of editing (also known as: tearing my writing to pieces, shoving it through a thousand filters, and seeing what’s left at the end).

Throughout this process, I’ve learned quite a bit, and though I’m by far from being an expert, I thought I’d share some of that knowledge. I present to you the five things I’ve learned while writing my first novel.

It’s not going to turn out like how you originally plan. Before I started this novel, I had two ideas—two completely separate ideas that had nothing to do with each other, and each only one sentence long. I decided at one point, “hey, I’m never going to get around to writing both of these, and they’re too simple,” and so I fused them together. If you read those two sentences and then the completed book, though, you might see a tiny bit of resemblance, but in truth they are only minor features now that barely matter to the story anymore. As I progressed, I added more and more detail to my plan, but those details were always appearing, evolving, or being scrapped altogether. I never stuck to much of a real outline—the story just happened on its own. I was pretty scared of letting go of the reins, as someone who rigidly plans out every aspect of my life, but it worked out for the better.

It’s okay to take some time to think. My original writing plan was to write a thousand words or more every day, no excuses. This, of course, fell to ruins after day one. It was due in part to my schedule as a student—unfortunately, writing isn’t my full-time job yet—but also because of writer’s block. I would try to start the next chapter, but I wasn’t one hundred or even ninety percent sure of what I wanted to happen yet. Eventually, I decided I would use my “busy days” as time to think instead of write, time to gain inspiration from the outside world for what I could write about next. During those days, I still tried to write something—a short story, an essay for school, a poem, anything—to gain some extra practice. Writing every day is extremely important to me, even if it is work on a few separate projects.

Wait until you are finished with the first draft to go back and revise. There was a period in June when I was about halfway to where I am now with the novel, and I decided that it was probably a good idea to go back and make sure there were no huge mistakes or plot holes before I continued on with the story. Bad idea. All this did was hurt my confidence. Sure, I got some of the tedious grammar-correcting and typo-fixing out of the way, but picking apart my writing like that before it was finished made me want to quit. The story wasn’t yet going in the direction I wanted it to go, there were subplots I hadn’t tied up, the writing style I had chosen was starting to annoy me…everything seemed like it was headed for the dumps, and I didn’t feel like working on it anymore. Fortunately, it was only about thirty-five thousand words long at this point and I got through the editing fairly quickly. I realized by the end of it that no matter how awful it seemed, I had to keep going, because I still had some good ideas that I hadn’t put into play yet.

Write whatever you want. Countless times throughout this process, I have questioned many aspects of my story, saying things like “but no one puts stuff like this in a novel” or “this is too weird.” The truth is, though, anything can be in a novel. If you’ve never seen something in a book before, great. Write it. There’s a first for everything. If you think it’s weird, even better. Go for it. Staying safe is not what makes a good story. You need good characters, a good plot, and good writing—but no one is there to tell you what constitutes “good.” You have to take some risks. Make it a book that you would enjoy—you’re the first reader, after all.

Don’t quit, no matter how much you want to. The first real novel I tried to write ended after sixty pages when I realized the story was too similar to the rest of the YA genre. Instead of trying to make it different, and better, I quit. Another one, my second attempt at YA, lasted through one and a half handwritten composition books before deciding that it was too strange. In both of these cases, I had told myself that I would finish them. So, when I started this one back in February, I was terrified that it would meet the same fate. I think it was actually this fear that pushed me through, though—there were points at which I didn’t even care how it turned out; I just wanted it so badly to be finished and not trashed like everything else. 

And now, well, I guess my wish came true. Perseverance and trust in myself has brought me to the end of this epic journey, and from here I can only go forward.

As of today, I have a sixty-eight thousand-word rough draft, which is twenty thousand more words than I thought I’d end up with. So far, I’ve done one quick edit on my own, and I’ve handed it off to a few friends for critiques and suggestions (be mean to me, guys) before I begin a real second draft.

When will it be published? Who knows. That’s a whole other adventure.