Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023

Hello everybody and happy 2023, nine days late! I am so amazed that we are already more than a week into the new year. It seems like 2022 went by in a blur, and now, we’re stepping into 2023. My 2022 was pretty good, and in today’s post, I’ll be looking back over 2022, reviewing my goals, looking up at 2023, and sharing my new year’s goals!

I made a few goals at the end of 2021, and I’ll go over them now, reviewing which ones I completed and which ones I didn’t do so well on. Honestly, I half forgot about these goals and didn’t follow them throughout the year a lot.

~ Blogging-related ~

• Get 100 followers.

Yes! Thank you, guys! My current total following count is 175 followers. I cannot believe that I made it this far, but I know that I wouldn’t be here without y’all. I am so happy to be here!

• Plan and schedule more posts.

I guess. I think that I did write more posts in advance this year.

• Do a few collabs.

I did, and they were so fun! You can check them out here.

• Have fun blogging!

Yes, I am! This year has been my third year of blogging, and it was very fun. I love blogging: sharing about the things I love, interacting with other bloggers, and reading other’s posts!

~ Writing-related ~

• Finish the first draft of my contemporary novel.

No. I just kind of scrapped that book, because I realized the lack of a plot. I might pick it up again, but probably not. I didn’t plan the novel much, and I kind of just didn’t enjoy writing it.

• Finish the first draft of my dystopian novel.

I did! Then, I wrote the second and third drafts. I feel like I got really far with this book this year!

• Write at least 1,000 words a day.

No, not really. Some months I wrote more, and other months I barely got any writing done.

~ Reading-related ~

• Read at least 60 52 books.

Starting out the year, I was aiming to read 60 books. About halfway through the year, I changed it to 52 books because I realized 60 wasn’t going to happen. I ended up reading 55 books, so about in between.

• Finish the LOTR series.

Yes, I finished the series this past fall. I loved it, and I don’t know why it took me so long to read it.

~ Running-related ~

• Enter another race.

I did! I entered a race in our local fair, and finished first for the females in my age group, although I was the only one, lol. It was a lot of fun, though!

• Run at least 200 miles.

I ran about 186, so I was soo close!

~ Life-related ~

• Start waking up earlier.

This has changed throughout the months, but overall, I guess I completed the goal.

• Make a better schedule.

Like with the previous goal, it’s changed throughout the year. I think that this is something I still have to work on this coming year.

• Write in my journal every day.

Nope. I didn’t do that a lot, definitely not every day.

Goals for 2023

• Finish my new book’s first draft.
• Improve my schedule.
• Get 300 followers on Books and Hooks.
• Read one classic a month.
• Read one spiritual book a month.
• Read at least four books a month.
• Improve with piano.
• Continue my Duolingo streak throughout the whole year.
• Do a gratitude jar every day.
• Run 223 miles (at least).

In 2022…

• I posted 74 posts on this blog and wrote 44.5K words overall.
• Some of my favorite posts I wrote were Organizing my Yarn/Crochet Shelf, The Music Loving Writer’s Tag (Original), My Favorite Book to Movie Adaptions, How to Start Crocheting: A Collab With BetsyJane, and The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys: Book Review.

In 2023…

• I plan to post consistently.
• I will continue sharing the same types of content I’ve been sharing, although I will probably be doing more crochet-related posts, and book reviews as well.
• I want to reach 300 followers, which may be a bit ambitious, but I guess we’ll see!
• I will try to post once a week, although breaks will be taken.

That’s all for today! How was your 2022? Did you hit your goals? What are some of your goals and plans for 2023? I’d love to chat in the comments! Also, be sure to comment and ask me some questions on my latest post, and I will answer them soon! I hope everyone has a blessed week, and I’ll be back with the Q&A in a few days! Bye for now!

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New Year Q&A: Ask Me Some Questions

Hello! I know I already posted today, but I thought I’d do a Q&A post for the new year! So, just ask me some questions in the comments, anything you want to know. They could relate to the new year, or this past year, or they could just be general questions: hobbies, blogging, life, etc. I won’t answer any questions that I don’t feel comfortable answering, however. I’ll answer them sometime in January. Have an amazing day, and be sure to ask some questions in the comments!

~ Rebekah

Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2022

Hello, welcome back to my blog! I hope you are having a wonderful day today! ☺️ Am I the only one who can’t believe it’s the final day of 2022?

In this post, I’ll be wrapping up December: talking about what I did, the books I read, which goals I accomplished, and sharing photos from my month! Let’s dive right in!

Books I Read

I feel like I had a really good reading month! This was probably due to the fact that I was trying to hit my 2022 reading goal.

By Your Side by Kasie West was a reread for me. I listened to the audiobook while I helped clean my little sibling’s room. This was the first Kasie West book I read, last year, and maybe my favorite, although it’s hard to rank her books! They are such cute, quick contemporary books that are easy to read, yet are still wholesome.

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway was my second book of the month, borrowed from the library. Although there were some aspects I did not like, I was able to overlook that and appreciate other points of the story. I liked it fairly well, although I was a bit disappointed with the ending for some reason.

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys was just…amazing. Her books are always very good, informational, historical fiction novels, but they still are interesting and easier to read than a history textbook. This Ruta Sepetys book was no different; I learned a lot about a time in history I rarely hear of, 1989 Romania. I really hope she writes more amazing YA historical fiction novels!

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson was very interesting. It’s not a genre I would normally be picking up, but my sister and I read it together so we could discuss it afterward, and I thought that it was a very thought-provoking book. I feel like the story didn’t really revolve around the characters, but more the question of how far is too far in medical science. It definitely made me think of things I’d never considered before, and I like that.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen was the third Jane Austen book I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it! Although it is an older book, I was able to follow along pretty well, and may be one of my favorite Jane Austen books so far.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was a book I was assigned to read for school, but I actually enjoyed it a bit. I found it very fun at points, yet I didn’t see a very clear storyline in it.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han was another reread of the month. I remember really liking these when I read them last year, but this time, I feel as if I don’t as much. I was getting fairly annoyed by Peter Kavinsky, and just some things in the story.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han is the second book in the series. Again, it wasn’t as good as I remember it being the first time. One thing I do enjoy from these books, though, is the sister relationships!

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was the perfect Christmas read! This was actually my first time reading it, though I’ve watched the movie multiple times. I really liked it! I like the story overall, and many of the descriptions throughout the book.

Stranger Things: The Other Side by Jody Houser is a comic book about the tv show, Stranger Things. I enjoyed it, although I don’t usually read comics. This is one of my favorite shows, and I read through this graphic novel in one sitting!

Today, on the last day of 2022, I am reading The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. I am probably going to finish it today, as I have only about 150 pages left in it as I am posting this. I think that it’s very well so far, and contains many good quotes.

Crochet Projects

This month, I got a few Christmas decorations finished, as well as many of my Christmas presents, despite my resolutions to get presents finished early this year! 😅

Blog Posts on “Books and Hooks”

DIY Book Tree: BetsyJane’s Blog Tour

The Christmas Tag

Five Last-Minute Gift Ideas: Collab With Diamond!

Merry Christmas // A Christmas Poem

Reviewing December’s Goals

• Go to bed by ten each night. Not every night, but I do feel like I’ve improved my sleep schedule this month.
• Bake some Christmas cookies. Yes! My family and I made many Christmas cookies and treats this year! I’ll add pictures of some of them at the bottom of the post!
• Complete my reading goal. Yes, this year’s goal was 52 books, and I finished with 55 books read this year. (If I finish the book I’m currently reading today.)
• Practice the piano every day and learn some Christmas songs. Nope!
• Make a Christmas music playlist. I added some new songs to a playlist my sister made last year, so kind of, I guess.
• Go thrift shopping. I did go thrift shopping a couple times this month, mostly to buy Christmas gifts and decorations!
• Get some more yarn. I did! I mostly needed to get some to make some presents, but I also bought some Christmas colored yarn and made myself a hat!
• Decorate for Christmas. Yup!

Goals for January

• Get into a new running routine.
• Post weekly on both of my blogs.
• Create a new schedule.
• Drink eight cups of water a day.
• Write every day.
• Get new glasses.
• Go through my clothes and get rid of stuff.
• Read a classic.
• Journal every day.

Pictures From My Month

My nails!

Truffles!

Buckeyes!

It snowed!

🤍

My cat, Luna! 💕

Icy frost on the window.

Peppermint meringue cookies!

Chocolate white chocolate cookies!

Gingersnap cookies my brother made!

Fudge!

Soup! 🍲

I’m the only one in my family basically that likes the Little Debbie brownies, and everything else thinks that they’re gross. Am I crazy?

What Happened in December?

• The main thing in December was Christmas! Although I didn’t get to go visit relatives due to some sickness going around, I had a fun Christmas with my family!
• My mom graduated from nursing school as well this month.
• I did a lot of baking, decorating, and crocheting this month!
• For Christmas, I got a notebook from my sister, and I have started to write another book! It is a contemporary novel, and maybe I will write a post about it soon.
• Now, I’ve started planning out my January and 2023.

That’s all for today! How was your December? Do you have anything exciting going on in January? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Check out for a post next week for a yearly wrap-up and an overview of my 2023!

Merry Christmas // A Christmas Poem

Hello and merry Christmas, everyone! How is your Christmas day going?

I am having a lovely day so far, just relaxing and spending time with my family. I am not going to do a big post for today (and I’m not sure I’ll post anything tomorrow) but I thought that I’d pop in here and wish everyone a joyous Christmas day!

I also decided to share a little poem, written by my younger self. Keep in mind that I was probably about seven or eight when this was written and I didn’t know a lot about poem writing, so it’s definitely not the best, but I just wanted to share something about the true meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate this lovely season. Enjoy!

When fall is gone, and winter’s here,

I know Christmas is very near.

We put up the tree, and light the lights,

Whose soft glow looks so pretty in the dark night.

On Christmas morning, you may see

Many gifts under the tree.

But, make sure not to forget:

The reason of Christmas is not the gifts.

Jesus was born on Christmas night.

In a world full of darkness, He became our light!

This is a beautiful thing to remember. Sure, presents are exciting, and baking cookies are fun, and all of these festivities seem to spread the joy of Christmas.

But, what are we really celebrating? Jesus’ birth! The coming of our Savior! To me, that is more exciting, more joyful than anything else. Just something to reflect upon.

Merry Christmas again; I hope your day is full of love, peace, and joy, family and friends!

Five Last-Minute Gift Ideas: Collab With Diamond!

Hello, and welcome back to Books and Hooks! I hope that your week is off to a good start. ☺

This post is a collaboration with Diamond from “I Have 12% of a Plan”! She reached out to me last month, asking if I wanted to do a collab with this amazing idea, and I gladly agreed. I would really recommend checking out her blog, and her five last-minute gift ideas for this holiday season!

With Christmas quickly approaching this weekend, some people may be hurrying to finish making and buying gifts for their friends and family members. I know what it’s like…hurrying to come up with gift ideas, finishing up and wrapping the gifts just days before Christmas comes. For that reason, today’s post is a list of five last-minute gifts, featuring four handmade/homemade gifts made from things many people have around their house, along with one store-bought gift idea!

I couldn’t choose between this image and the one above, so I decided to incorporate them both! Which is your favorite?

1: Baking mix

Is there someone who loves baking in your life? Why not gift them a homemade baking mix? If you have some basic ingredients, you will be able to make a lovely, thoughtful gift that the recipient will enjoy baking! What’s even better? Your homemade baking mix will look great in a jar, maybe with a festive ribbon tied on the top!

To make a baking mix, just layer all of the dry ingredients from a certain recipe into a jar, so that the person receiving this gift will be able to add the other ingredients and quickly whip up a delicious treat! Be sure to give them the baking instructions! Here are four different cake mixes that look amazing, and there are also many recipes online for all types of cakes, brownies, and cookies that you can find online!

2: Decorated mug

I know I’m not the only one who loves receiving personalized gifts, and I’m not the only one who loves warm drinks, such as coffee and tea. This gift idea incorporates the two: personalized decorated mugs! Decorating mugs is a really fun thing to do, and it’s something that many people will appreciate being gifted with.

All you need is a plain cup (white works best with darker markers) and some oil-based sharpies. To decorate your mug, you will draw/write your design on your clean mug, and then bake it in the oven for a little while to set the ink. Here is a helpful, detailed post with full instructions.

3: Playdough

Is there a child who you are trying to make a gift for? I don’t know about you, but playdough was always a super fun gift when I was a kid. I recently learned that homemade playdough is very easy to make at home, as well. It is made with some very basic kitchen ingredients. Check here for a detailed recipe!

4: Bookmark

Any reader knows how difficult it is to keep track of bookmarks. It seems like they just go missing out of nowhere! That’s why this is an amazing gift idea, perfect for any reader. Here are eight different ways to make bookmarks! You can check out that post, and make whatever ones you have the materials for!

5: Kits/sets

Do you have time to run to a store before Christmas? Maybe you are just going to the Dollar Tree, but you want to buy something meaningful for a person you love. One good gift idea is a gift set/kit. Are you trying to come up with a gift for your friend who has a specific hobby? Maybe they like art or baking?

For example, several years back, I was at Dollar Tree and still hadn’t bought something for one of my friends. I was contemplating what to buy when my mom had a good idea to buy things to make an art/school set. I bought a pencil pouch, some pencils and pens, colorful markers, cute erasers, and some glitter glue.

If your friend likes to bake, maybe buy some cake mix, cute muffin papers, a potholder…there are a lot of directions this can go. Some ideas are a baking set, an art set, a spa set, or anything related to their hobbies or interests.

That’s it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it and got some good ideas for gifts for your friends and family! Do you procrastinate when getting gifts? Were these helpful? Do you have any more last-minute gift ideas? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Again, be sure to check out Diamond’s blog, and her post with five more last-minute gift ideas. I hope everyone has an amazing week. Bye for now!

The Christmas Tag

This graphic is so cute!

Hello and happy Monday! Today, I have a fun post for y’all: a Christmas tag!! Because it’s just under two weeks until this lovely holiday, I thought that I’d participate in this tag, which has been created by Addie and Shanessa. Thanks to Heidi for the nomination! This tag looks very fun, and I am excited to answer the questions! Let’s get right into it.

Rules

1. Post graphic on your blog
2. Nominate at least 5 bloggers
3. Link to either of the creator’s original posts

The Questions

What is your favorite family Christmas tradition (if you have one)?

We don’t have a lot of traditions. Maybe getting up early on Christmas and talking with my siblings, and then opening gifts. Also, every year, my family goes to look for a tree, which is a fun experience and family tradition, although the trees aren’t always the best. We go and find a tree, cut it down, and then we will go on a short hike!

What is your favorite Christmas food/drink?

Christmas cookies are yummy, especially gingerbread! They’re just so Christmasy! Eggnog is also good, although I’ve only had it once.

Is Christmas your favorite holiday? Why or why not?

It’s between Christmas and Thanksgiving. In the end, I’d probably go with Christmas, but Thanksgiving is an amazing holiday as well, with food, family and friends, and being reminded of all to be thankful for. However, on Christmas, we are celebrating Christ’s birth, which makes it my favorite holiday. I just don’t like how stressful and commercialized this Christian holiday has become.

What is your favorite Christmas song?

Just one? I don’t know if I can do this, lol. 😄 I tend to enjoy listening to some of the more traditional songs and hymns, but there are also some more modern songs, too. The First Noel, What Child Is This, Breath of Heaven, Feels Like Joy, Silent Night, How Many Kings, Christmas Tree Farm, O Holy Night, Go Tell It On the Mountain…these are just a few!

What is your favorite Christmas activity?

Making Christmas cookies is really fun! I like all of the peppermint flavors and the ginger in gingerbread or gingersnaps. They smell so good baking, too!

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

I have so many! I don’t think that I can choose just one.

 What is your most favorite Christmas gift you have ever got?

Again, I’m not sure if I can decide on one. I’m not sure about my favorite, because every gift I have gotten may have been useful or something that I loved a lot, but they are all different and hard to compare.

 What is your favorite part of Christmas day?

I love going to Christmas Eve Mass, and singing Christmas hymns beforehand. However, I don’t know if this counts because we usually go on Christmas Eve instead of the morning of Christmas. On actual Christmas day, one of my favorite things is getting up early with my siblings, and just spending time with family in general.

What’s your favorite? Ham or turkey for Christmas dinner?

We don’t usually have a traditional Christmas dinner of ham or turkey. If I chose one, though, I’d go with ham. That is because we go with turkey on Thanksgiving, so we’ve usually had it more recently than ham when Christmas comes around.

 What’s your favorite Christmas story?

The birth of Jesus!

My Nominations

Raegan

Lydia

Sawyer

AnnaKate

…and anyone else who wants to do this tag on their blog! If anyone I tagged has already done this, is tag free, or doesn’t want to do this tag, don’t feel pressured to!

The Questions

What is your favorite family Christmas tradition (if you have one)?

What is your favorite Christmas food/drink?

Is Christmas your favorite holiday? Why or why not?

What is your favorite Christmas song?

What is your favorite Christmas activity?

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

 What is your most favorite Christmas gift you have ever got?

 What is your favorite part of Christmas day?

What’s your favorite? Ham or turkey for Christmas dinner?

 What’s your favorite Christmas story?

That is all for today’s post! Are you excited for Christmas? How would you have answered these questions? I’d love to chat in the comments! I will see everybody back next week!

DIY Book Tree: BetsyJane’s Blog Tour

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back (or welcome, if you’re new here!) to my blog! 😃

I’m so happy to be participating in BetsyJane’s blog tour today. I would really recommend checking out her blog, where she shares an assortment of different posts! I get very excited when I see a new post of hers in my WordPress reader, and they’re always fun to read!

Sooo…with Christmas quickly approaching, I thought that I would share a fun Christmas-themed post for today! I also thought that this post should incorporate something with books (that word is in my blog’s name, after all) so I decided that a Christmas tree made of books would be just the thing!

Just a bit ago, my sister and I made a book tree (you may have seen it if you’ve read November’s monthly wrap-up) and I really like how it looks!

I have seen pictures of book trees like this on Instagram and such, but I always thought that they looked really complicated. Turns out, they’re actually not. So, today I’ll be walking y’all through how to make one of your own.

The materials you’ll need are…lots of books! (I know, who would have guessed? 😄) Besides that, though, you may want a topper, such as a star. You can also use some ornaments or other decorations to decorate, however, these are optional and I didn’t end up decorating my tree.

You’re going to start by getting all of the books you will be using for your book tree. I used about seventy-five, but the number of books you’ll need will vary depending on the size of the books, and how big your tree will end up. My tree is a bit more than three feet tall, excluding the star.

Be sure to use books you know you won’t be reading in the near future. You don’t want to take the tree down, because the next book on your TBR is at the bottom!

Once you have taken down all the books, sort them into stacks according to size and thickness. Try your best to do this, but it’s okay if they are slightly varying in size, as no two books will be totally identical.

When you have sorted out all of your books, you will begin building the tree. Use the three biggest books you have to create a triangle as shown. In this example, I used three “Taste of Home” cookbooks that are all approximately the same size.

You can either make the tree with the book spines showing, or with the pages facing outwards. I made mine with the spines showing, as to showcase different books. I think that making it with the pages outward would make a more uniform and simple-looking tree, which would probably look better decorated than with spines showing, but if the spines are facing outward, it’ll look more colorful. It really just depends on the look you are going for.

Take your next three books, which are slightly smaller than the previous ones, and make a new triangle, as shown above, as if rotating the previous triangle by 180 degrees. For this tree, you will continue in this pattern of rotating the center triangle 180 degrees.

Keep on working in this manner, gradually reducing the size of your books.

If you must, you can use two books for one layer, as shown. Just be sure that these two books equal the thickness of the other two in this triangle of the layer.

When you are almost done, and the tree is about the height you desire, take a larger book, and set it on top of the triangle, as shown in the image above.

Layer a few more books atop this one, shifting them slightly as shown. Continue stacking a few more books, decreasing the size gradually.

Finish off with the smallest book. Top with a star, if you desire. I made an origami star, and it’s propped up against a candle on top of my tree.

And, you are finished! You now have a lovely book tree!

Thank you for reading my post today! Make sure you go look at Corrie’s blog tomorrow because she will be posting the second post in this blog tour! Also, don’t forget to check out BetsyJane’s blog, poppyseeds!

How did you like today’s post? Do you have a book obsession, too? Will you be trying this out? How did it go? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

I hope everyone has a lovely week! I may have a bonus post this week, but if not, I will see y’all on Monday! Bye until then!

P.S. Do you like my new snowflake separators and the new footer?

Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2022

Hello everybody!

Today, I’m here with a wrap-up for the lovely month of November. Let’s just get right into it!

The Books I Read

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was my first book of the month. I took a bit of time to read it, as with the Lord of the Rings series, but I liked it very much.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson was my second read. This one was amazing! My sister read it before me, and she loved it. I thought she was hyping it up too much, but she was not! I loved the mystery elements a lot, so this one is easily a five-star read for me.

The Midnight Dancers by Regina Doman was my final book of the month. I previously read Doman’s other books in the Fairytale Retold series and loved them, and I liked this one a lot. It might be my favorite of the series, but it’s hard to tell. They are great Catholic fiction. Five stars!

Crochet Projects

This month, my main crochet projects have been little things, such as keychains, hats, and other small projects! I’ve also started on some Christmas gifts! 😁

Blog Posts on “Books and Hooks”

The Reader Problems Book Tag

Sunflower Crochet Keychain Pattern

A Random Saturday In My Life

I Finished Draft Two of my Novel + New Posting Schedule

What’s Your WIP Writing Tag: Dystopian Novel

Reviewing November’s Goals

Finish the second draft of my dystopian book. (Write 2,000 words a day.) As y’all probably know, if you’ve read my past couple of posts, yes, I did finish it! I’m super happy about that! I wrote every day for the first…maybe half of the month? Then, I took a small break before going back through it for a third time. I’m probably going to put this project aside for a little while, while I take a small break from writing. I’ll also be planning out the second book in this duology soon, too!

Run 10 miles. No, I didn’t get around to this. I think I went on two or three runs. For some reason, I find it harder to run in the cool weather, so getting out there in the winter is a bit of a struggle. I still love running, though! I might go on a run tomorrow, too, and it’s still not the end of November, so…

Go on a walk every day. I did this successfully for about the first half of the month, and then I started missing some days. Overall, though, I think this was pretty successful!

Re-decorate the walls around my bed. Yup! I just took down some pictures and put up new ones, and my sister and I put up some hanging fairy lights!

Start getting up early and make a schedule. Umm…😅 Not really.

Less screen time. I don’t feel like I went on screens any less, but also not really any more than before.

Drink more water. I think so!

Plan and schedule posts for the month in advance. I feel like I wrote more posts in advance this month, which I’m happy about, so yes!

Try out a new bread recipe each week. I did this for the first three weeks, and I made some Italian bread the first week, whole wheat bread the second, and for the third week, I made some French bread! I didn’t make any for the final week with Thanksgiving and all, because I had a lot of baking as it was. I did make rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner so I think that that almost counts.

Goals for December

Go to bed by ten each night.

Bake some Christmas cookies.

Complete my reading goal.

Practice the piano every day and learn some Christmas songs.

Make a Christmas music playlist.

Go thrift shopping.

Get some more yarn.

Decorate for Christmas.

Pictures From my Month

I like how the lighting in this one turned out!

Italian bread! 😋 I didn’t get photos of the other ones, because my siblings devoured them to quickly!

I love this book! It did annoy me not knowing who was who, but it was also great, and I loved finding everything out!

I made some cheesy bread sticks twice this month, and they were amazing! Recipe here. (Definitely recommend!!!)

Reading + rainy days are the best!

Broccoli from our Thanksgiving! It was so good!

And, our pumpkin and cherry pies!

Here’s the cherry pie! My brother made it, and I did the lattice topping. It turned out super yummy.

My dessert plate! I should have also taken a pic of my dinner plate, but everything was too good!

Peppermint mocha. ☕ Yum!

And last, but certainly not least, my sister’s and my book tree! I love how it turned out!

What happened in November?

• November was a pretty good month, but I don’t feel like a lot happened!
• I got sick. Mostly just an annoying cough, though, which wasn’t fun, but not too bad either.
• I mostly got a lot of walks in and wrote a lot, at least in the begining of November. I loved going on a walk, and thinking about the book a lot, then coming back to write.
• We also had a great Thanksgiving, with a lot of yummy food.
• On Friday (Nov 25) we got a Christmas tree! My family always goes and hunts for one, which is actually pretty fun.

That will be all for my November wrap-up!

How was your November? What fun plans do you have for the upcoming month? Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you are all having a good start to your week, and I hope you have a good week until I’m back on Monday!

See you later! Bye!

~ Rebekah

P.S. Please comment with any winter/Christmas related posts you’d like to see on my blog!

What’s Your WIP Writing Tag: Dystopian Novel

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog if you’ve been here before, or welcome if this is my first post of mine that you are seeing. I am so glad you’re here!

I recently finished the second draft of my dystopian novel, and I thought that I’d share a bit about it! (Thank you so much for all of y’all’s kind and encouraging comments on my last post!!)

So far, I’ve just given off some small details for this book, as well as made an aesthetic for the whole novel, and two aesthetics for the narrators, Elizabeth and Flora. I guess it’s time to give y’all more info!

I saw this tag on Diamond’s blog a little while ago, and I thought that it would be a good way to introduce everyone to my dystopian novel.

The rules:

• Thank the person who tagged you & link to their blog.
• Link back to the creator, Katja @ Little Blossoms for Jesus, & add the tag graphic. 
• List the rules. 
• Answer the questions. 
• Feel free to add snippets!
• Tag as many or as few people as you wish & let them know they’re tagged. 
• Add a clean copy of the questions at the end of your post for the “tagged.”

Has your WIP a working title? If so, tell us! If not, have you any idea of what it might be?

It does not yet (that’s why I have just been calling it “the dystopian novel” when I talk about it on here.) I want the title to be something relating to hope, or seeing the best in various situations because those are both main themes in this book.

Have you a synopsis for your WIP? If so, give it to us! If not, can you give us a blurb on what your WIP is about?

Elizabeth will do anything to save her niece after tragedy has struck her family. Flora’s life seems perfect from the outside. In a world destroyed by disease and war, these two teenagers live completely separate lives, but they both long for something: the truth. After Elizabeth’s niece shows signs of having the dreaded disease, and Flora’s sister goes mysteriously missing, they are thrust into an adventure that unites them, while they both follow their own paths.

Lol, I know that this isn’t that good (I made it up just now) but I hope that it gives y’all some insight into the story!

Have you a working/mock cover for your WIP? If so, show us! If not, have you an idea in mind?

I don’t yet. I think that I’ll maybe work on Canva to create one because they have some good templates.

How did you get the idea for this story?

I started writing this book years ago, and I honestly forgot where the original idea came from. I had the idea a long time ago, and it has morphed a lot into what it is now.

How long do you think it will be? Is it longer or shorter than you thought it would be?

After finishing the second draft, the word count is about 50,000, so it’s a bit shorter than I expected. I am planning to make this a duology, as I have an idea for the second book already. I think that this second book will be slightly longer than the first one.

Who’s your favourite character so far?

I really love my two main characters, but all of the characters are interesting in their own ways. I love the way that Bridget (Elizabeth’s niece) seems to find the good in every situation, and I like another character (who will stay unnamed) for their caringness.

What’s your favourite memory related to this WIP?

Maybe finishing the first draft! Finishing this second draft was great, but I was anticipating it so much and expecting it. However, when I was approaching the end of my first draft, I didn’t realize that it was almost done, and I was so surprised and amazed when I finished it!

Any special person(s) who helped create it?

Not really, but of course, all of my blog’s follower’s support and comments really help! I appreciate it so much!

What’s your favourite scene so far (if you can tell about it without spoilers!)?

There are a lot of scenes between Elizabeth and her niece that I really love writing. Their conversations are interesting to write. I also loved writing the ending scene.

Can you give us a snippet? 

Not yet. 😄

Is the story still what you thought it would be or has it thrown you a couple curveballs?

A lot has changed while I have been writing this novel, and it’s totally not the same as I first envisioned it. The first idea I had was nothing like the current novel, but I really like all of the changes that have taken place.

Is there a Bible verse, poem, hymn, picture, or quote that helped shape this story?

No, I don’t think so. I do like this Sabaa Tahir quote that says, “Half of writing is dreaming. Let yourself dream.” I don’t think that it has really helped shape the story, but it is something that I like to keep in mind.

When and where have you done most of the writing so far?

I normally write on one of my family’s computers at our table…nothing crazy. Or, I’ll write on my phone.

Where do you get inspiration for this story?

There are many different things that I draw inspiration from, especially my daily life and conversations. I like to just observe things around me and I have gotten a lot of inspo from that.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am a very big plotter! I like to have the novel all planned out before writing it, with a detailed outline, and I like to make all of my character profiles before starting on it.

Do you have a little ritual before you start writing?

Not really. I will usually put on some music, and then just sit down and write! Sometimes I’ll make some tea or get a drink or snack while I write, as well.

Are you thinking of publishing this story?

I probably won’t end up publishing it at all.

What things have you learned while writing this story?

I’ve learned that taking breaks is not a bad thing and that they are crucial for a good book. There were a few times that I was just really not having the motivation to write, but I also didn’t want to take a break. I have learned that sometimes it’s good to just step away for a while and then come back a little bit later with some new motivation.

The questions:

1. Has your WIP a working title? If so, tell us! If not, have you any idea of what it might be?
2. Have you a synopsis for your WIP? If so, give it to us! If not, can you give us a blurb on what your WIP is about?
3. Have you a working/mock cover for your WIP? If so, show us! If not, have you an idea in mind?
4. How did you get the idea for this story?
5. How long do you think it will be? Is it longer or shorter than you thought it would be?
6. Who’s your favourite character so far?
7. What’s your favourite memory related to this WIP?
8. Any special person(s) who helped create it?
9. What’s your favourite scene so far (if you can tell about it without spoilers!)?
10. Can you give us a snippet? 
11. Is the story still what you thought it would be or has it thrown you a couple curveballs?
12. Is there a Bible verse, poem, hymn, picture, or quote that helped shape this story?
13. When and where have you done most of the writing so far?
14. Where do you get inspiration for this story?
15. Are you a plotter or a pantser?
16. Do you have a little ritual before you start writing?
17. Are you thinking of publishing this story?
18. What things have you learned while writing this story?

I won’t nominate any specific people, but if anyone’s working on a book, I’d love to see this tag on your blog!

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Thank you so much for reading! How did you like this post? Would you like to see more writing-related posts on my blog? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

That will be all for today. I’ll be back with another post on Monday! Bye until then!

I Finished Draft Two of my Novel + New Posting Schedule

Hello and happy Monday! How is the start of your week going? 😃

Soo…I didn’t really have a post planned for today, so I thought that I’d just notify y’all of my new posting schedule. I’m going to go back to posting once a week, on Mondays, because I’ve just been busy lately. I have been posting twice a week, but I feel like it’s starting to take up too much time considering my school, and other things I have going on.

Also, I finished draft two of my dystopian novel! I am very excited and will take a break before going into draft three, with editing and revisions. I will also be outlining and drafting the second book in that series (it’ll be a duology, I think) and that will be taking up some time, hence the change in my posting schedule. Would you guys like for me to share some things about this book? I already have an aesthetic up for it that I made at the start of my blogging journey, but would you like some other information about it, such as quotes, or something? Let me know in the comments.

That’s all for today. I will have a fun post for next Monday that will be much more interesting than this one. 😆 I hope you all have an amazing week, and I’ll be back later! Bye!

~ Rebekah