Bookish Feels: A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Aaahhhhh the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic!

The Book: Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again—meaning that another London must fall. (From Goodreads)

My Feels: Can I just say that I love Kell and Rhy? They are the swooniest (is that a word? ha) brothers in fiction! Lila is pretty bad ass, but I feel like feisty woman are always in books as of late, so I'm afraid I overlooked her a bit. BUT the chemistry she has with Kell! I'm all over it, and will ship them to the ends of the earth.

So as a sequel, this book did not disappoint despite the cliffhanger. From the twittersphere, I knew it was coming and I had a good idea when it could come. So that said, I think the sequel really set up the overall story for books 2 & 3 and left the reader wanting more.

Schwab created this awesome world that's so captivating (can someone please find me an Antari to bring me to Red London? I will take the high chance of being blown into a million pieces just so I can see it). She also did a great job with character development. I love seeing these characters I care about get into a mess of trouble and continue to grow from it.

great characters + awesome setting + magic = AMAZING!!!

The book's been out for more than a week now and I am so happy for the author for hitting the NYT Bestseller list! She truly deserves it, and I cannot wait for the last installment of this magical series.

So if you haven't started the book, I suggest you do so now and help me get over my FEELS, because I am suffering from a book hangover.

I will say chapter 2 of the last section of the book was my favorite scene so far in the series. When you get to that part, let me know so we can swoon together!

Bookish Feels: Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Alright you 'Man in The High Castle' and Book Thief fans, this is for you.

The Book: The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball.

Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year's only female victor, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin's brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move. But as Yael begins to get closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?

(blurb from Goodreads)

My Feels: So my friend who is also an amazing book blogger (Michella, looking at you), recommended this beauty. The first few chapters were well done and set up things really nicely, but then I decided to put it aside for a bit to work on some writing stuff. BIG MISTAKE. When I picked it back up, I couldn't stop.

For one thing, the language was gorgeous. I eat up pretty words when it's done right (not a fan of the over flowery dramatics--which this was not). Also, I like that it played with form. Books that play with form and it works get major kudos for me.

But back to the story. The main character Yael was the kind where you wanted to follow where she went. The supporting characters took me awhile to figure out, because I didn't know if I could trust them. Those conflicted emotions I felt meant the writer did a superb job of blurring the lines. This is perfect when it comes to books with duplicity, and this was exactly that. I also enjoyed how all the characters were vibrant and complicated, it truly brought them to life, and I felt my own loyalties along with Yael's were tested.

Then you throw in the awesome shape-shifting ability, a motorcycle race, and a setting across the globe in an alternate historical universe, and it's like SO MUCH AWESOME. Lots to love about this book. I want the sequel NOW! But I guess I have to wait. On the plus side, a short story comes out next month about two of the characters that I've been dying to read. YES!

And the twists! Ugh! Well-planted, I couldn't believe I didn't see them. So yeah, my heart ached at some parts, and I may have fallen for one of the love interests.

Bookish Feels: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Instead of my normal book reviews, I've decided to do something new on my blog. No more 'book review' posts; in its place will be 'Bookish Feels.' Basically, it's my way of fangirling over the books I'm reading instead of rating them. Then you can decide for yourself if you'd like to pick it up and have some FEELS of your own! Got it? Cool.

The Book: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London—but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—trickier than they hoped.

(blurb from goodreads)

My Feels: So I read this in like two days (I would have stayed up all night to finish, but I'm cranky if I don't sleep, and I didn't think the best way to show up Monday to work would be cranky with a book hangover--because so many FEELS).

The best way to describe the adventure within these pages is a rollercoaster. You creep up, slowly, slowly, slowly, anticipating that drop, and suddenly your plummeting into the ride and you're going with it, not stopping until the coaster slows down to an abrupt stop.

That's how I felt the whole time I read it. The up, up, up feeling from the immersive world, getting my bearings, and then once that inciting incident happened, I was plummeting through the plot, devouring it all--the characters, the setting, the dialogue.

And then you have me today. At that abrupt stop, because I pre-ordered the sequel (which comes out today), but it wont be delivered until Thursday. AAGGGHHHH! The agony!!!

So here I am, licking my wounds, while everyone else is devouring the words and I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for my copy.

Revising, reading, and eating.

The title basically summed up my week in the best possible way. I revised my MS, perhaps overthinking things, but I had fun all the same. I did a brainstorming session in my home office with stickies against the closet instead of my usual index cards strewn across the carpet. I kept thinking how aesthetically pretty they looked, so I still have yet to take them down.

Also, Blaire loves to revise. He couldn't help but put his two cents in (which is really him biting the keys and typing out cat-gibberish).

After I finished revising, I set my sights on my TBR pile. I've been neglecting it for awhile, so it was nice to dive into it and relax the rest of the week. I finished Wolf by Wolf and am almost done with A Darker Shade of Magic (book review posts on these to come). For now I'll just gush and say that I LOVE them and definitely suggest picking them up.

I've also been into food lately (well, more than normal). I got into the bad habit of making the same stuff over for dinner, so I tried making rolls at home (this is my second try) and they came out awesome! (My first attempt kind of fell apart -_-)

I'd also been craving ramen, so I talked Michael into going to Yoroshiku for our date night before watching Deadpool (which was so funny, that I think everyone needs to watch it--just don't bring your kids). Ahhhh, I love Japanese food. Look at that!

What's your favorite way to brainstorm?

What's your current read?

And what cuisine have you been craving?

I want to know, so comment below :D

Bar Cantinetta

It's been awhile since I did a food post! But with Valentine's this past weekend, Michael and I couldn't help but head into the city for a delicious meal.

I was really craving Italian so Michael and I made reservations at Bar Cantinetta in Madison Park. The place is small, but cozy, and the atmosphere intimate.

To start we had the wild boar polpette with endives and pomegranates, and baked cedar plank, pecorino, with truffle honey. This we paired with prosecco.

Both dishes were amazing, I'm still drooling over it.

For our mains I chose the raviolo di mare with scallops, prawns, saffron, and butter. It was so pillowy and sweet, I thought I'd happily drowned in a warm ocean. Michael stuck to the land animals, and had the roasted organic chicken breast with romesco, which was equally delicious. Both went well with our bottle of vermintino.

For dessert, we had nutella stuffed donuts sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. It was nice and hot, fluffy, chocolate, and sweet. Probably one of my top desserts in the city for sure!

Oh food, how I love thee. Let me count the ways... Kidding, but not kidding.

But that was basically our Valentine's. Always gives us an excuse to go out and splurge. The rest of the weekend I spent eating chocolate, drinking coffee, and reading (my other loves).

What do you normally do for Valentine's? Do you hang out with your friends? Watch rom coms? Or do you (like me) use it as an excuse to indulge? ;)

On taking a break & changing gears.

To start, let me just say that last week was so awesome. Getting my agent was just as amazing as I'd hoped and made me feel like all the ups and downs in this journey were worth it. The overwhelming support and well wishes I received really filled my heart with pure joy. It's something I'll keep in mind as I start on this new venture.

Since signing with my agent last Tuesday, I wondered if I should give myself a mental writing break before she got back to me with revision notes (and by mental break I mean reading for pleasure or binge watching shows). Since drafting, for me, is pretty time-consuming (since I like to get my first draft out fast), I decided to taper off slowly and paused at a good place--31K.

The snapshot below gives you an idea of how my drafting really slowed within the past three weeks.

It's safe to say I won't be able to finish this draft by the end of the month, so I'm pushing back my personal deadline to my Birthday next month.

Despite my slowed progress last week, I still felt it was productive since I beta read for a good friend of mine (Joan, who is AMAZING, I'm still in awe of her prose), and finished two seasons of THE ROYALS and got to fangirl my heart out with my friend Michella, who introduced me to the show (Jasper + Eleanor Forevvaaaaa). So, awesome week in my opinion.

But alas, it's time to switch gears and go from drafting to revising! It's been about two months since I read my Pitch Wars manuscript so it's been really fun getting back into the story. It's funny, when you work on a story non-stop for awhile, you start feeling like you know the ins and outs of every single scene, but to my surprise, my reading of the story greatly differed from the time I had written it. When I wrote it, I was very sympathetic to my MC instead of the love interest, but reading it this time around, my heart ached over the love interest instead of the MC. I wonder why that was. I mean, I've read this manuscript a million gazillion times, but this reading of it is so different compared to my previous reads. Am I just reading with a more critical eye? It'll be interesting to see what readers think if it gets on the shelves one day.

How about you? Have you reread a manuscript of yours and received a totally different impression of it from when you wrote it? I'm curious to know, comment below!

How I Got My Agent :)

As a hopeful writer, I scoured the internet for stories about how authors got their agents and they were always so inspiring. Deep down I always hoped that I could return the favor for those after me by writing one of my own. And alas, I can.

So short story? I wrote a book, sent out some queries, got some rejections, had a good cry, then got an offer! So I popped the champagne and signed with Penny Moore of Fine Print Literary.

Sounds so simple and easy, right? Wrong.

Here's the long story. I hope it's a bit more inspiring than the short one ;)

Growing up, I felt this immense pressure to succeed in the medical/science field. The only one born on US soil in an immigrant family, it was like an unspoken expectation to be a doctor or something else of 'high-esteem.' I took that on like a badge of honor because I wanted to make my mother (who had given up everything to bring us to the US) proud.

But once I hit college and started the groundwork on the path to medicine, my heart ached. I wasn't into it, I couldn't do it, and that filled me with shame.

Deep down, I knew I wanted to write. I loved stories with a passion. Growing up, books saved me. They were an inkling of solace in this great big world I didn't understand.

In the end, I made the switch and graduated with a BA in English Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing--half of me thrilled, and half of me terribly afraid. It was one thing to want to write, another thing to make a career out of it.

Honestly, I had no plan. But I was pragmatic enough to know that I needed to support myself, so I got a full-time job and wrote stories in my spare time. In the Spring of 2014, a full year after I had graduated, I had a fully finished and revised manuscript.

That Summer, I entered Pitch Wars and didn't get in. I sent some queries, not really sure what I was setting myself up for and got a rude awakening when I had to face the rejections. I gave up after 20. Maybe I didn't give that manuscript enough of a chance, but deep down I knew it wasn't the one to land me an agent.

But it was the one to teach me how to finish a large volume of work, and it was the one that taught me how to revise.

So back to the drawing board and after a few failed first drafts, I started writing DIAMOND QUEEN on April 19, 2015, two months after an inspiring trip back to Vietnam (if you want a detailed post on my inspiration, click here).

I wrote the first draft in less than two months, quickly revised, and sent it to my CP. Once I got my CP's feedback I revised once more before entering Pitch Wars.

This time, I got into the contest and I cried (the ugly, but happy kind). Under the mentorship of Brianna Shrum, I revised for the fourth time to get it agent ready.

During the agent round of the contest, I did well in piquing interest and garnering requests, but never got an offer. What I did get was a solid writing community and the best mentor ever who continues to go above and beyond for me.

After I started collecting rejections for this MS, I knew I had to go back in the query trenches. The trenches are no joke. They are filled with small victories, hopes dashed, a lot of chocolate eating, a few tears, and if you're really lucky, the offer you've been waiting for.

On January 24th, I was on twitter looking at the #MSWL hashtag hoping to find more agents to query when I stumbled upon Penny's. Though this was dated a while back, I thought I'd give it a shot and sent off my query.

She requested a full two days later. I sent her the full, trying not to get my hopes up. But then, my friend asked if I had a full out with Penny the next day because Penny had tweeted this:

I told her I did, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Sometimes agents can have a long reading queue, so I couldn't imagine the full I had sent the day before could be the one she was reading.

But then Penny tweeted this the day after:

And all of my PW writer friends were sending me all good vibes and happy thoughts that I started to get my hopes up. That Thursday I refreshed my inbox thinking maybe I'd get an e-mail. I didn't. The next morning when my alarm went off for work at 6:05 a.m., I checked my e-mail and started screaming. My fiancé, who isn't a morning person, turned to me and said, "Congrats! You got an offer."

It wasn't an offer.

It was an e-mail setting up 'The Call.'

So 'The Call' is kind of a funny thing, because a lot of writers hope that 'The Call' will lead to an offer. That's not always the case. Agents can call and offer a 'Revise & Resubmit' without an offer of representation, or they can call to kindly reject your manuscript (rare, but I have heard of this happening).

I e-mailed Penny back and we arranged a time for the following Monday. I was in panic mode all weekend as I hoped for an offer, but completely freaked myself out for all the worst case scenarios.

When Monday came, I sat in my car outside of Barnes and Noble during my lunch break. It was freezing, and I was so nervous I thought I'd puke. Right on time, my cell rang, and the screen brightened with a New York number. How I managed to even answer, is beyond me.

Penny told me what she loved about my manuscript, she asked about my inspiration for it, and then she said the magic words, "I'd like to offer you representation."

OH. MY. GAWD. Cue incessant internal dialogue in my head as I tried to sound calm, cool, and collected, but really I kind of stuttered as I scribbled down notes from our conversation.

I loved how Penny was completely honest with me, how her vision of the story matched my own, and how passionate she was about her job.

The call was just as I had hoped it would be.

A week later, I officially accepted the offer and am still in shock that I now have a literary agent!

I can't foresee if DIAMOND QUEEN will sell or if I'll be able to make a solid career out of writing, but I do know how much I love writing and how I'll continue to do so. And knowing that I have an agent in my corner championing me makes me all the more hopeful of the possibilities.

It's funny how a few years ago I'd felt shame for not succeeding in a field I thought I should have been in. But in the time since, I've procured a new badge of honor for myself: following my heart and never giving up. And because my mom is and continues to be my inspiration to write, I know she's proud of me regardless. After all, it was her story that ignited my urge to share my own.

If there's one thing I want people to take away from my agent story, it's this: Make your own definition of success. Whether it's following your heart, dreams, or taking each day at a time, do it bravely and courageously. Let yourself fall, and then pick yourself up. You might not get it right on the first try, but if you continue to try, you'll get there eventually.

Also, Penny, if you're reading this, I'm sorry for twitter stalking you ;)