What's Been Happening

Hey everyone!  I know it has been ages since I last posted, but now I finally have time to blog more since it's the summer!!  I am so happy and relieved that it is finally summer, now I can relax and I can now say that I am officially a sophomore in high school!

I have been busy working on writing my novel lately, and I am really getting into it!  I am still on my first draft, but I am making a lot of progress.  I want my book to be around 100,000 words, which is good for contemporary YA fiction, which is the genre that I am writing in.

I have also have some great news!!  Just when school finally ended my dad got a Chromebook laptop for me!  I was and am so happy!  It works great, it's fast and it's portable.  I am also so happy because now I don't have to share a computer with my brother, that can be really hard sometimes...

I am also so excited because we will be going up to my great-grandpa's cottage soon!  We always go fishing, play cards, water ski, and watch fireworks there, (since we will be there on the fourth of July.)  We all have so much fun, and it's a great way to get the family together so we can all have an awesome time and talk about everything new that's been going on!

Sorry for not blogging in so long and I will definitely get back into it this summer!! :)


-Alyssa :) <3

A-Z Challenge

      I signed up for the wonderful A-Z Challenge this year but sadly, I actually won't be able to do it this time.  :( I'm just waaay too busy!  So I'm really sorry!  I was going to do it on the books I've read or books I want to read!  So I'm very disappointed I won't be able to do it this year! I will still be checking out other people's A-Z posts and be commenting + following!

Thanks everyone!
-Alyssa

YA Highway: Road Trip!

Hey guys!  Again today I'm doing the YA Highway question of the week!

This weeks question is: 

What's the most dramatic road trip you've ever been on?

 In 2011 my dad decided we were going to move out to Seattle, Washington.  This was something that took us completely by surprise because we had been living in Ohio for five years.   So instead of doing the normal flying out to Seattle, we drove out to Seattle...

Yes, we drove across the whole country practically, but it was one of the most awesome and unforgettable trips that I had ever taken!  We got to see so many cool sites like, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Sun Valley and more!!  It took us a long time to get to Seattle but we finally made it!  Seattle was so beautiful, we went to see the Space Needle of course (which was super awesome by the way!) And we just had so much fun there!! 

But after a month of being in Seattle, my dad decided we should move back to our house in Ohio!  We were all completely taken aback when my dad had told us that, but we were also feeling like this wasn't the right place for us to be living in.  So we packed our things and drove the long journey back home!

I'm the one in pink!!   (Hiking in Sun Valley)

  If you want to participate click the link at the top of my post!! 

Thanks for reading!

-Alyssa :)

YA Highway: Good For a Laugh!

I've been wanting to do a lot of blogfests lately and I'm doing another one today!

So, today I'm participating in the YA Highway question of the week!

This week's question is:

Who is your favorite comedian or funny book and/or movie?

I am going to share by favorite funny book because, I just recently finished a really cute, humor-filled read!

The book is called:

Anna and The French Kiss

This book was soooo funny and it was just a very fun read.  I loved that this book took place in France. I also loved how the author explained the different and awesome places there.  It felt like I was really in France!!  And I absolutely loved all of the characters.  They were all very well developed, and they didn't feel one dimensional.  Here's a summary of the book that I found on Goodreads.

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

It was such a great book and I highly recommend you read this, if you want a fun, cute and romantic read!! 

If you want to sign up, click the link at the top of my post!

Thanks  for reading!

-Alyssa :)

Express Yourself Blogfest!

Today I am participating in the Express Yourself Blogfest hosted by Dani and Jackie!

This week's topic is:

Are there any books, movies or music you are anticipating this year?

Yes there is!  Here are some of my answers!!

BOOKS:

Splintered, by A.G. HOWARD.

Here's the summary I got from Goodreads:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

This book looks really awesome!  I am totally intrigued by the cover too, the first time I saw it I was like, I need to read this! It's also cool that her name is Alyssa, just like me! :)

MOVIES:

Oz the Great and Powerful, Catching Fire and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.

I'm anticipating all of these movies very much!!  They all look so exciting and totally action-packed!  I can't wait to see some of these movies in the theaters!

Music:

One Directions new album, Take Me Home.

This album isn't coming out, it already came out a little bit ago, but it is really new and I love almost all of their songs!

Hope you enjoyed my answers!  If you want to do this Blogfest, go over to the link at the top of my post! :)

Thanks for reading!

-Alyssa :)

YA Highway: Fantasy Bookstore!

Hey guys!

It's been hard for me to blog on a regular schedule, and once I skip blogging for a week or two I just feel like I'm letting all my followers down!  So then I don't blog for even longer!  Which in the end, just makes it worse...

Anyway, first,
I wanna give a big shout out to my sister Jessica McKendry from Write.Skate.Dream for finishing her novel called From The Ashes!! :) :)  Great job Jessica!!

 Today I'm participating in the YA Highway question of the week.  This week's topic is:

Imagine you get to open your own bookstore.  What would it look like?  What kinds of books would you sell?

I would want my fantasy bookstore to look really cutesy and almost look like it's in a fairy-tale!  Since I'm fourteen years old, right now, I would like to have my bookstore be pink and just look super cute! I would have cute decorations all over the bookstore to make it look even better! In my bookstore I would sell all kinds of books!  Of any genre as well, so it would bring in all kinds of people, little kids to adults!  And of course I would have my sisters book in my bookstore too!! In my bookstore I would also have a little bakery inside, selling cupcakes, cakes, muffins and more, so you can read and enjoy a yummy dessert! This is what I think my bookstore would look like!

 Hope you enjoyed reading!  

-Alyssa :)