Get to Know Me Tag// Writer's Edition

If you've been around the blogosphere for the past few months, chances are, you've heard of (or participated in) this Get to Know Me Tag. And guess what? I was tagged!!

(Also, you may notice that this is most definitely *not* a writing prompt. I was tagged on Saturday, and completed the tag on my lazy Sunday. It was supposed to go up this Friday--but yesterday was a LONG day (I'll elaborate in another blog post) and my brain was too frazzled to come up with something coherent for a prompt. :P)

Rules

-Link back to the person who created the tag
-Thank the person who tagged you
-Share the tag graphic
-tag eleven bloggers


This tag was created by the wonderful Savannah at Inspiring Writes

Thank you so much to the always awesome Danielle for tagging me!! <3

And most of the bloggers that I follow have already participated in this tag, so if you see this, and you want to participate, then go ahead and consider yourself tagged!

Vital Stats and Appearance

Name: Kara

Nicknames: Well, my name isn't one that really has a whole lot of variations and/or nicknames--but I do have one friend that calls me Mega-Nerd. :P

Birthday: I don't really like putting my birthday on the internet.
(Creepy people are real, man.)

Hair color and length: Brown, and it used to be close to two feet, but I cut it back to my shoulders this week
(Perhaps a new blog profile picture is in order?)

Eye color: Green

Braces/piercings/tattoos: No tattoos and no piercings. I have a retainer, if that counts.
(The byproduct of two awful braces-filled years.)

Righty or lefty: Righty

Ethnicity: Caucasian, but most of my family hails from Europe.

Firsts

First novel written: Eesh. It was about four years ago--and was about a girl who passes out and wakes up in another dimension. (The logic was *very* shaky. :P)

First novel completed: This past June, I competed my first novel, a middle grade fantasy.

Award for Writing: This past year, I won a golden key during the regionals for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. 
(That same story went on to win a silver medal at nationals.)

First publication: Nothing yet--but hopefully someday!

Conference: Again, nothing yet.

Query/pitch: I feel like I should just be copying and pasting my answer, because once again, nothing yet. :P

Favorites

Novel (that you wrote): Well, I've only ever completed one--but right now, I'm going to say my new WIP. The old one is being too difficult in revisions right now.

Genre: Fantasy all the way!

Author:
Middle Grade--Shannon Messenger
YA--Stephanie Perkins or Sarah J. Maas

Writing Music: Lately I've been writing to the Zelda: Breath of the Wild soundtrack. But my go-to bands/artists are Lindsey Stirling, OneRepublic, and Imagine Dragons.

Time to Write: Late at night--there are less things to distract me.

Writing Snack/Drink: Popcorn! It's my favorite snack in general--but I have to be careful not to get my keyboard oily, so sometimes it can be a pain. :P

Movie: Okay, there's no way I can choose just one, so: How to Train Your Dragon, Murder on the Orient Express, Incredibles 2, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or Set it Up.
That was a lot. Whoops.
(I love Ferris so much. There's a picture of me floating around the internet where I'm wearing a grey T-shirt that says SAVE FERRIS. :P)

Writing Memory: Probably finishing my first novel.

Childhood Book: Anyone else grow up with Skippyjon Jones? Ooh--or Elephant and Piggy!

Currently

Reading: To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han
(Can't wait for the Netflix movie to come out!)

Writing: Another fantasy novel, and a few flash-fiction pieces

Listening to: Imagine Dragons, and Chuck Berry

Watching: The TV show, Bones (It's SO good!)
(Although it's a detective show, so if you're squeamish about bones and blood and, uh, killers, you might not want to watch it.)

Learning: Nothing much--it's summer vacation. :P But I am doing some novel research, so I guess that counts.

Future

Want to be Published: Absolutely!
(I have, like, zero backup career plans.)
(Whoops.)

Indie or Traditional: Traditional! It would be awesome to have a whole publishing team behind me.

Wildest Goal: To write a New York Times bestseller. Or visit Australia. A girl can dream, right?


Wow. That was fun!


So what about you guys?
What was one of your favorite childhood books?
And do you want to be a published author?
Indie or traditional?


Have an amazing week!

MMGM--The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas

Yay!! I'm back! Whooop whooooop!!
(You're probably not nearly as excited as I am. :P)

The Assassin's Blade, by Sarah J. Maas




Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin's Guild, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance. She will have to risk it all if she hopes to escape Arobynn's clutches--and if she fails, she'll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling--and deadly--world.

My friends have been recommending these books to me for some while now, and I finally got down to reading them. And, Sarah J. Maas' books are SO GOOD. I am totally in love with her writing style! She concocts amazing descriptions and even better action sequences--not to mention the characters. *fangirls eternally*

After Arobynn Hamel--The King of Assassins--saved Celaena Sardothien's life when she was eight years old, he trained her and molded her into his protegee. Now, eight years later, she's known as Adarlan's Assassin, and is notorious across the kingdom.

But just because Celaena has a knack for killing and fighting, doesn't mean she's not a person. When it really matters, Celaena proves that she does indeed have a heart, even going to far as to teach a barkeeper, named Yrene, how to fight, as well as leaving Yrene the money she needed to get out of her bar job and to go the one of the most highly ranked schools in the kingdom. And Yrene isn't the only one that Celaena has gone out of her way for. She cares for her partner in crime, Sam Cortland, more than she would ever admit.

While Sam and Celaena might trust each other--and only each other--it doesn't mean that they always get along. They're almost equal in skill, but Sam had always been known as the "second best" while Celaena Sardothien is a household name. And although this sometimes causes some tension between the two, Sam respects Celaena, and risks his life to help her (on multiple accounts). Sam is snarky, dangerous, but has a heart of gold. (He just might have been my favorite character.)

The character development that Celaena goes through during this book is truly spectacular, as is the evolvement of Celaena and Sam's relationship.

Before reading this book, I was very closed minded about assassins--as odd as it sounds. (That was one of the most peculiar sentences I've ever typed for a blog post.)

I knew they killed people for a living and . . . that was about it. I never really put much thought into why someone was an assassin, or how they became one. I think that over my years of reading novels where the assassin is one of the Bad Guys, I (sub)consciously decided that assassins and protagonists were too different to ever be on the same side--but in the Throne of Glass books, they are one and the same. Sarah J. Maas has managed to shine a completely different light on what being an assassin means, in this truly one-of-a-kind book.

You can find Sarah J. Maas' website HERE and you can read a free excerpt of  The Assassin's Blade HERE

Happy Reading!

Weekly Wednesday Writing Prompt

Sorry there was no MMGM review this week. I had a very hectic weekend and didn't have time to sit down and write a review. I tried--but I just couldn't seem to do the book justice. But don't worry, I will be back this coming week with a review. :)

Happy writing!