Guess what?! I wrote a book!
Which you obviously deduced immediately like the Sherlock I know you truly are inside because of several helpful clues — like (A) I disappeared from the blogosphere for TEN WHOLE TRAUMATIC DAYS, and what else was I doing in that time if not writing???? and then (B) I am a writer so, on occasion, it stands to reason that I should actually write…just to keep the “author” title, you know? Also (C) it’s becoming a habit to do a pre-NaNoWriMo warmup novel which is insane but now tradition. And lastly (D) I actually wrote a post saying “HELLO I’M GOING GOODBYE DON’T DIE WITHOUT ME”. So. I think that last one was a bit of a giveaway.
But I’m back. Obviously.
And I WROTE MY 21ST BOOK and, due to an enormous amount of requests which — I WON’T LIE — made my small soul do a tango of joy, I decided to do a snippet post! BECAUSE YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT I WROTE!! You can’t get enough of me and you know it.
But before we dive into my glorious snippets, I’m going to do a Q & A with myself about how this writing expedition went. These are all questions that no one asked. But you probably wanted to ask them. So I’m here to provide for your unvoiced questions.
SO, CAIT, HOW DID THE WHOLE WRITING THING GO THIS TIME?
It went very well, thank you so much for this thoughtful and kind inquiry. It actually went BETTER THAN WELL because I had a lot of fun writing this book. It’s fantasy. Fantasy is my homeland. You all probably assume I grew up in Australia and frolicked through a paddock eating lamingtons and counting wallabies. BUT NO. I grew up in FANTASYLAND with dragons and stabby knives and magic. Hence, whenever I go back * to writing fantasy, I just get very very happy.
I actually got rather moodily sad when I finished writing this book BECAUSE I MISSED IT. **
* That is not to say I don’t like writing other genres. I quite enjoy writing contemporary because you can have characters who LIVE OFF PIZZA and survive because of google. It’s so convenient.
** And then I smacked myself in the face and reminded myself I hadn’t slept much FOR A WEEK and my hands had both fallen off and my eyeballs had melted and it’d be nice to have a day doing nothing except watching youtube and colouring-in. So. That moment was fleeting.
WHAT WAS YOUR FINISHED WORD COUNT?
It was 130,000-words which is DOUBLE WHAT I USUALLY WRITE. How did this happen. What idiot wrote the outline. WHAT IDIOT IS GOING TO EDIT THIS???? *
* Not this idiot. I’m relocating to Guadeloupe immediately.
WHAT WAS THIS BOOK ABOUT AGAIN? I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER.
Shame on you, little mulberry. I did a whole post on it! But since I, too, have a memory of a goldfish, here is a brief recap of things this book is about:
- dragons
- evil queen origin stories
- jungles
- stabby magic dryad-tree people
- stabbing in general
- so many food scenes this book would be 1/3 shorter if I cut them out, but is that going to happen?
I love food, okay?
DID YOU BREAK ANY PERSONAL RECORDS? OR WERE YOU A GRAPEFRUIT OF SLACKNESS, HMM?
I mentioned recently that my personal writing record is 22,000-words in one day. I’ve always secretly wanted to do 25K in one day…just because.
Did I achieve that?
YES. IN FACT, I WROTE 27,000 WORDS IN ONE DAY AND I AM A MAGICAL WIZARD CREATURE OFFICIALLY. I did not say they were good words. But they are words that vaguely resemble a story more than a bag of scrabble tiles. #winning
Also it was my best writing time of 130,000 words in 6 days.
PS. I take a week off from working/responsibilities to be able to do this! I mean, obviously, but I thought I’d clarify.
DUDE, DID YOU DO ANYTHING EXCEPT WRITE???
I showed up for meals. I took irregular naps. I petted my dog. I went for walks. I ATE CAKE. But mostly I just wrote and felt my brain slowly melt while I laughed hysterically at my own jokes.*
* Blessed are we who find our own humour the most amusing, amirite?
DID ANY AWKWARD THINGS HAPPEN WHILE WRITING THIS BOOK?
I’m very glad you didn’t ask because I have a list.
- Autocorrect had a LOT of fun. It kept changing “demon” to “lemon” which made my super scary dark book rather like a lemon meringue pie. Which keeps with the foodie theme, but I think readers are going to be a mite bit befuddled.
- Autocorrect also changed “fiery” to “fairy” which made several torture scenes really not that scary.
- I kept writing sentences like “Mikael went to stand next to Mikael”. Editing is going to be a dream. Everyone is beside themselves with joy waiting for it. (Hahahahhahhhahha.)
- At one point I did take a writing break to make gaucamole for lunch on request of my parental. I ended up staring at the fridge looking for a spoon. This is ridiculous for many reasons including: we do not keep spoons in the fridge. And also I didn’t need a spoon???? I needed a fork to mash the avocado with??? WHAT IS MY LIFE.
- Tired. My life is tired.
- Toward the end I cut out two important scenes because I was sick of writing this beast of a book. FYI that is not a good reason to cut out scenes. But who even cares when you’ve been writing for 8+ hours for 6 days? NOT ME ANYMORE.
- I wrote several lines that made me laugh out loud at my own stunning wit. In retrospect this is either awkward or I’m entirely narcissistic. Analyse as you will.
CAN I READ IT?
Okay this is actually the one LEGIT question that has been asked by LEGIT PEOPLE *. And the answer is: no. No you cannot. Unless you buy me a second bookshelf filled with books because then, good fiend, you have also won my heart forever. <3
It needs (A) editing copiously within an inch of its life because a book should not be 130K…maybe 100K but even then that’s too big no no no, and (B) I will most likely beg an opinion or two off a beta reader; but really (C) it’s just a “for fun” project because it’s adult fantasy and I’m mostly a YA author.
But obviously I would like it to be published one day, hit the NYT bestseller list on it’s first day, get a TV show deal, and make me more famous than Game of Thrones. (But probably not.) SO LET’S JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS, RIGHT?!? I won’t say you’ll “never” read it…but just not yet. Patience, my pets.
* Maybe??? Are you all actually PEOPLE?!? I don’t want to discriminate against aliens and very intelligent computer-using cats who are reading my blog. Welcome. I love you too.
IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU’D DONE DIFFERENTLY FOR THIS DRAFT?
Eh. I mean, I followed the outline pretty well. I was very disappointed in myself over the action scenes. I DO NOT WRITE ACTION SCENES TO MY SATISFACTION. Leave my characters alone at dinner time with their witty banter = I gotcha. Put them in a battle = there’s only so many times I can say “everyone got stabbed and it hurt” while trying to sound convincing.
Plus I kept exploding everything because it was aesthetically pleasing. No other reason.
Pls send help for these edits. I can’t even.
I’ll try to put these in chronological order but otherwise HERE ARE RANDOM SNIPPETS! I hope you enjoy them. I enjoyed writing them. #humble
And yes THERE ARE TYPOS. I am just the Typo Queen. And also if my OTP is not obvious…it is Mikael x The Princess.
ALSO I’M SO NERVOUS RIGHT NOW. AH. AH. AH. WHY IS SHARING SNIPPETS SO INSANELY HARD?
MIKAEL HATES EVERYONE
CHOCOLATE QUEEN
GRAMMAR, MATE
THE SUGAR RUSH
HAIR CUT TIME, GOOD SIR
CONDESCENDING TO-DO LIST
ACCIDENTAL CARING
PLS LET ME PUSH YOU OFF NOW
HAIRY PRIORITIES
POOR LITTLE THING
HYPOTHETICAL STABBING
DANGEROUS FINE DINING
Now for a quick break before NaNoWriMo!
And possibility of edits on another Secret Important Project before that! While my TBR just grows and grows with no permission at all. Oh the life of insanity I lead. #goodtimes
And also pleeeease remember, I don’t share any of my successes to make you feel bad. IT IS NOT MY INTENT. I wasn’t always able to write long and fast…I worked up to it in the last 5 years. And it’s my process. It doesn’t have to be yours. But I had a good time writing this book and even if it is a HOT STABBY MESS that needs so so much editing...the first draft is done. Cake and sprinkles for all. But mostly cake for me because I am the queen.
How can I possibly choose a favourite snippet??? They’re all so great! They totally made me smile and try to hold back my laughter (so my parents wouldn’t look at me crazily like: why is she laughing at her computer?) Key word: ‘try.’
I’m the slow and not so steady writer. 😀 It’s really interesting how everyone writes at different paces; I’m not sure if I’d want to write as fast as you or not! Great post! I always love hearing about your writing. 🙂
OMG MELISSA YOU ARE SO KIND. *flails all over the universe* And I’m actually so ridiculously happy they made you want to laugh.😂 MY GOAL HERE IS ACCOMPLISHED.
And it totally is awesome how everyone writes at such different speeds! And with such different, methods right?!? I love comparing them all. We writerly creatures are amazingly unique things.
OH THIS IS GLORIOUS.
I WANT TO READ IT ALL, RIGHT NOW (but instead I’ll sit here like everyone else and cry because WHY AREN’T YOU PUBLISHED YET?)
And those snippets are brilliant, Cait! I love your characters names and can’t wait to hear what you’re writing for NaNoWriMo!
And, for once, I’ll be joining because #HomeSchoolPerks (and, I don’t have exams for a change!!!) I’m SO excited!
I think my favourite snippet is probably where she threatens to push him off or maybe where he cares? or maybe ALL OF THEM?
And I DO have a question for you!
Is your fantasy set in medieval times (and or) how many books have you written set in those times?
ALSO: WHERE IS YOUR NEXT WHATTPAD BOOK, HMMMM????
And, lastly, I LOVE that you share your accomplishments – if anything it just motivates me to keep working…and also maybe reminds me that spoons don’t belong in the fridge. HAHA!
BECAUSE I JUST LIKE TO TORTURE YOU ALL MWAHHAHAH. *flings evil confetti* But aww, thank you Kat! THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME THO. <333 And I'm super glad you're doing NaNo too!! We bloggers must support each other with much cake and random encouraging shrieks. I'm sure it'll help us all write faster. For sure.
So this fantasy IS medieval times. Although eh, wait...maybe a little later than traditional medieval. Maybe more so around when the Grisha books are set? They haven't invented pistols yet or anything, but they lob fiery bombs at each other and believe in fine dining. :')
PATIENCE, GRASSHOPPER, PATIENCE FOR THE WATTPAD.
AAAAHHAHAHAHA. Love it. I can’t believe you wrote a whole book in 10 days I’d give ANYTHING to not have a life and write all day every day. You must publish something soon because now everyone’s going to pester you to sooner or later (particularly because of the snippets, wow). Also question: you were using scrivener, right? I need to get scrivener, it looks SOO helpful.
Definitely using Scrivener!!😂 And I take a holiday to write (I should’ve mentioned that in the post hhahaah) so I do have a busy life, I just work it so I can schedule a week free of work/responsibilities to simply write!
ACK THOSE SNIPPETS. I loved them so much Cait. 😀 All the sass and stabbing and fun.
AREN’T YOU THE NICEST THING OF EVER. HERE. CAKE FOR YOU!!
Hypothetical Stabbing was definitely my favourite. The Kill Season sounds AMAZING. ALSO 130,388 WORDS IS FREAKING AMAZING. *ahem*
Here’s the thing about my writing: either I write 20 chapters in one go, or 5 sentences per writing session. This can make things really difficult.
Okay here’s a question: What would be your dream cover for the book? idk about you, but that’s something I love to think about lol.
THANK YOU. YOU’RE MAKING ME BLUSH.😂😂 *gives you all the cake* And I totally get that about 20 chapters or 5 sentences and no in between. hehhh. That used to be me about writing! And then a few years back I suddenly was like HYPER FOCUS FOR EVERYTHING and idek what’s wrong with me. Many things, probably. But let’s not talk about that.😂
Omg, I actually don’t think about covers!! Sometimes I vaguely do but never in great detail. Although I confess to making up mock covers sometimes which is completely illegal to steal photos off pinterest bahah, so I never show them to anyone. They’re just for meeee.
I BOW TO YOUR WRITING PROWESS.
Also, I get to read it right? RIGHT?? I AM THE SPECIAL EXCEPTION??
Because I love your snippets. Omg. Can’t wait to brag about how I knew you back before your book deal, movie deal and Red Carpet appearance.
OF COURSE. YOU ARE MY FAVOURITE. in fact, here, you can have the whole darn thing and you can edit it for me and then we can pretend I did it? Yes yes?? FABULOUS PLAN, RIGHT??
I LOVE THESE SNIPPETS. I mean, you might have jsut written a joke book? That’s all out of context for me rn? but it’s amusing. I suck at writing humour so I’m VERY impressed. ‘Accidental caring’ is my favourite for sure. My question is: How long do you think about an idea before you begin drafting? It kind of depends but because of school and life and also I accidentally signed up to help write the script of a short film which I’ll probably quit, I write in small doses, but mostly on weekends. GO YOU *cakecakeckae* *raspberry white chocolate macadamia blondies for breaking your personal best*
EXACTLY. It’s just a joke book. It’s just 130,000 words of sass basically at terrible times because everyone is getting exploded and stabbed and sassing their way out of it. :’)
Ooh, that is a marvellous question. AND IT DEPENDS TOO FOR ME.😂 Like this book, since I attempted it the first time when I was 15…has technically been going on for 7 years.😳 But this particular outline for it, I’d only had for 2 months. And like both of the other books I’ve written this year I’ve only had the outlines/ideas in order for 3 or so months. Buuuut, I have a TON of outlines waiting to be written that I’ve had there for years.😂
And you “accidentally” signd up to write a script?! That sounds like a story right there! hehe.
HERE’S MY FAVORITE SNIPPET
I flop back. “I’m going to attempt to sleep before the first test comes up, if you don’t you’re a complete idiot.”
“Well as your commanding officer I’m putting you on watch duty first,” he says.
I wait for him to laugh.
Probably to tell me he’s kidding.
And wait.
“Cough.” His tone is serious.
You’re kidding me.
I scramble up to face him. “You’re serious?” I say incredulously.
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Ok, are you mad?” I watch him, trying to figure out what I said.
“No, but seriously, you thought I wasn’t going to put you on watch after you said that?” He smacks my face with his pillow and shoves it under his head.
I stay there, a little on shock.
Ok…he really just did that.
“Jordan!” I shout at him, smacking him with my own pillow. “I can’t-I can’t even right now! So if I say I’m tired then I get put on watch, and if I say I’m ready to play you say sleep?”
“No, I was going to put you on watch anyways,” he assures.
“Oh, thanks, that makes me feel a lot be-Why? Why not Shannara?”
“Because you’re my favorite, obviously.” His eyes are closed and I groan.
“You’re not funny,” I inform him.
“Tell that to them.”
I look up to see most of the squad laughing. “I’m going to kill you,” I groan at him,
*beams* I really like dat one.
*dies bc I thought this said your favorite of your snippet* Just like ignore this then…
I like your snippet too! 😜
I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! IT IS SO SARCASTIC AND STABBY AND WONDERFUL!!! I laughed a lot while reading the snippets! Especially the Poor Little Thing one. I can’t believe you wrote that many words in 6 days! Question: do you ever just suddenly have to fight this wave or intense tiredness in the middle of the day for no reason because I do when writing, and what do you do about that?
I love your characters. Mikael has the best sarcastic voice ever; I love characters like that! I would 10/10 read your whole book in one sitting. I’ll buy you that bookshelf full of books if you let me (yes I am sort of bribing you but you suggested it and think of it like me giving you a gift which you have to return with something else because so kind).
But really, Cait, you are going to end up on the top of that NYT bestsellers list soon! Your writing is so amazing and full of humour and wars and princesses and food, which is the best combination. THANK YOU!!!!! <3
I’M SO GLAD YOU LAUGHED AHHH!! Actually so relieved.😂 Sometimes I worry that my bizarre sense of humour only amuses me? So. I’M GLAD YOU LAUGHED TOO. I SHALL JUST BE HERE FLAILING NOW.
I do get suddenly very very tired when writing. *nods* So I do two things either (A) I go eat something because that gives you energy, or (B) I take a nap.😂 Power naps are GREAT when one intends to write all day, trust me.
Dude, I will totally fall to bribes. TOTALLY. No questions asked. You just give me that bookshelf of books and you get this mess of stabby sassiness I wrote in an instant. #legit
afdjlkasfda but thank you for saying all these nice things. I CAN’T EVEN. I’M JUST SO HAPPY. <3
Hahaha no trust me; I laugh so much when reading your posts!! You’re super funny and it’s perfect for books!
And oooohhhh I’ve only tried power napping once but it did refresh me, unlike normal 2 hour naps, which are the worst. Or a lot of sugar like you said!
I am seriously trying to find a way to send a bookshelf across the ocean to Australia.
I’M HAPPY TOO!! This story made my day!!! <3 <3
YOU CAN USE THE BOOKSHELF AS A RAFT AND SAIL TO AUSTRALIA!! Solid plan, amirite?! *nods* Nothing can go wrong here. :’)
SO MUCH SASS!!!!
(Still blaming you for the caps.)
Also, I imagine this is what your head is like much of the time, no? Much stabbing, knives, sarky responses, and defence of good hair 🙂
I ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILITY. I’m like a bad All cap influence and we all know it.😇😈
This is absolutely what’s going on in my head at all times. Stabby snarky dialogue about hair. Honestly it’s a wonder how anyone puts up with me BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS.
OH MY GOSH, Cait, I should know better than to eat my breakfast while reading your posts! 😀 There was actual food flying out of the mouth moments! Thank you so much for another sass and humor filled post! 😀
I loved all the snippets, not at all picky! PLEASE can we read the whole thing one day?! (Starts looking for way to ship best bookcase IKEA has to Australia…)
Seriously, well done! Now go grab a nap and some more cake!!! 🙂
THIS IS LIKE THE BEST COMPLIMENT EVER.😂 Thank you, Daley!! I’m so so glad you liked my snippets…and it’s not just me being amused by my intense oddness. bahaha. AHEM. And sure. It’s all yours when I get that bookshelf. *wink wink* 😉 And napping + cake = definitely my agenda until NaNo basically.😂
😀
Oh. My. GOSH. Your Amazing Queenliness!!!!!!!
I am just laughing my head off, (but not literall, because that would be gross, and I couldn’t write amazing comments to your even MORE amazing posts. Haha! I love being logical) and seriously dying because I just WANT TO READ IT SO BAAAAD!!!!!!!! (If you ever need a beta reader… hint hint)
So, either the Condesending To Do List, Pls Let Me Push You Off Now, or Hypothetical Stabbing are my favorite if I HAD to choose at gunpoint. Otherwise THEY ARE ALLLLLL MY FAVORITE AND I WANT TO HUG THEM AND KISS THEM AND CALL THEM GEORGE!!!!
Y’know, I find it awfully funny, that I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING A BOOK TOO, I WILL PROBABLY FINISH TODAY OR TOMORROW, but *sigh* it’s probably my third book I’ve actually FINISHED. Yeah, I know. *sigh*
Unfortunately, I have an actual life and family in which writing is not a favorite past time, nor is binge writing, so I do about *cringes* *whispers* 3000 words a day. There! I confessed!! I feel so mortified!! But then again, as you say, you have had years to work up to awesomeness. So, as far as snippet sharing and writing too much, DUDE. (Or is it Dudette?) Calm down please. You are already SO much better than us, your poor little minions! So, share away! Blog away! Keep being YOU!!! (Aka, AWESOME. AMAZING. FANTASTIC. BRILLIANT. FANTILIANT. SO DANG COOL, and HIGH QUEEN OF ALL!!)
~E
AHHH I’M SO GLAD IT MADE YOU LAUGH! And also so relieved honestly bahhahaa.😂 My sense of humour can be so weird sometimes. ahem. But aww, thanks for the beta offer, but trust me: it needs SO MUCH WORK and won’t be ready for human consumption for a loooong time. 😉
OH OH ARE YOU FINISHED WRITING NOW THEN?!?! I will have cake here to celebrate and smush in your hair. And pfft, 3rd is AMAZING!! IT IS!! The more you write, the better you get, right?! So celebrate every single milestone and celebrate it TWICE. Double the cake. Double the encouragement to yourself. #SolidLifeAdvice And heeey everyone’s pace is different right!? And that’s totally glorious!
Oh I know whatcha mean. I finshed a DIFFERENT story a while back, and it was just blechy. I mean, I was SCARED to edit it. Well, just keep it in mind! I can wait!! And I know it will be brilliant no matter what!!!
Awww. Thanks Cait! No, I’m not finished yet… life is so busy!! *frowns at life*
Thank you so much for the advice, I will follow it!!!
I love it so much that you answer like EVERY comment! It makes us feel special, and you do such a good job at answering individually and making it seem like a real conversation!
~E
You…you wrote 130,000 words in 10 days? Are you sure you’re human?!?
As always, I LOVE your snarky little snippets. I approve hugely of the Queen’s priorities and of Mikael’s hatred for everyone. 🙂
Nope. WIZARD. Definitely wizard. Or immortal dragon wizard queen. <– winning title right there.
afkdlasd but thank you THANK YOU, Rain. This is so encouraging and means so much to me. <3 Mikael needs to find some chill but yet I love him. :')
So, obviously we liked all of your snippets. They’re great and funny and we’re honest enough to admit we have much envy for them.
We’re not great with dialogue. It always comes out clunky and stiff which is beyond annoying.
You have supreme writer stamina which definitely makes your title of Immortal dragon queen accurate😂😂
AFDKLAJSD I AM REALLY PLEASED TO HEAR THAT. And kind of relieved hahhhha.😂 Sometimes my sense of humour is just so weird, so it’s such a relief when other people find it moderately funny too. SO THANK YOU. <3 MY DAY IS MADE.
Dialogue is my favourite to write! I wish I could make my prose as interesting.😂
You keep telling us you’ve written all these books, but where are they? Where can we find them?
They are in the dark murky corners of my MIIIIIND. MWHAHHAHHA. Okay. And my laptop. If you steal my laptop = you will find them all. *nods*
Congrats, Cait! I love all of the snippets. 🙂
REALLY!? SQUEEEE. MY DAY IS MADE.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE I HAVE WAITED ALL THOSE LONELY TEN DAYS FOR THIS POST AND IT IS FINALLY HERE AND SCREEEEEEAM I’M SO HAPPY. <3333 THESE SNIPPETS!! THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL GAH WAHT SHFLJSKADHLK AND THE Q&A WAS FLAWLESS. But first of all HOW. EVEN. did you write 130,000 words in 6 days?!?1 HOW DID YOU WRITE 27,000 WORDS IN ONE DAY?? YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT OF THIS WORLD, CAIT. You are a mythical creature. End of story. (Also I'm plotting to figure out how to get you two more bookshelves full of books because I WANT TO READ THE KILL SEASON SO MUCH WAHHHHHH :''''')
THE GUACAMOLE STORY I WAS LAUGHING OUT LOUD SO HARD OMG XD that is beautiful, truly. <3 yes. ALSO HAHA I HAVEN'T EVEN FRIED MY BRAIN WRITING A BOOK LIKE THIS I JUST HAVE A PERPETUALLY FRIED BRAIN APPARENTLY because at the screenshot of your word count where it said under the selection category "characters: 130" I thought it means characters like tHE ACTUAL PEOPLE IN THE BOOK. AND I WAS LIKE HOW. ON EARTH. DID SHE MANAGE TO CREATE 130 CHARACTERS??! and then my brain was like lol Abbie you're an idiot. xD AHEMMM.
Okay so these snippets are gloriously beautiful and I CANNOT EVEN WORDS because I don't have words because wah they are just perfect. Mikael is a little buttered waffle can I just cuddLE HIM PLS??? <333333 and the sassy banter. wow. you just slay that sassy banter like your characters slay each other. :''') IT'S A GLORIOUS THING, CAIT.
this post has made my day <3
I BASICALLY WROTE THIS POST JUST FOR YOU, OF COURSE, ABBIE. <3 And omg I don't even know how I got 130K in 6 days. Well, I mean, technically 5.5 because I stopped writing at lunch time on the 6th day AND FELL INTO A COMA FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON.😂 But it was a cake coma so that is fully acceptable I just know it. *nods* I'm definitely a wizard. It's time to realise the truth of who I am inside. *twirls majestically*
Frying brains while writing is DEFINITELY a sign of the author life, right?!😂 Omg my brain was so so dead. And even when I just looked at my mum and said "What am I even doing" she just said "you've been writing for a long time, haven't you?" 😂
HAHAHAH YES. I have 130 characters in the whole book.😂 Okay, well, I mean, if we count the unnamed armies, maybe???? Who all DIE. Ahem. *composes self* I mean, wait. Everyone lives and it's all happy. #lies
Mikael is totally a buttered waffle. I LIKE THIS DESCRIPTION. Also if you cuddle him he'll probably stab you but sure. GO FOR IT. The sass is so strong with this one I can't even handle these two. :')
Yay for the book and breaking former writing records.. BOO TO THE FOOD THAT STARTS WITH G! Ha ha. Have fun editing. 🙂
I HAVE TO ASK: what’s wrong with guacamole??! It’s delicious!! 😂
I almost have a phobia about it. The sight of it makes my skin crawl. I have never tasted it because of this. The worst thing was I used to be a cold prep chef in a restaurant and we had what was called a California Pita Pocket, AND IT HAD THE G-WORD IN IT AND I HAD TO MAKE THEM! Ahhhhhh! Yesterday I started reading a kids’ cookbook to review and the first recipe in the book was… THE FOOD THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED! XD
Aww, you’re missing out! It’s delicious.😂 But it sounds like it’s coming after you to haunt you now hahahah.
CAIT WROTE (another) BOOK! GO CAIT! YEAH! This book sounds hilarious and wonderful and stabby (also probably a mess but hey aren’t we all). And 27,000 words in a day=my mind is blown. That’s just like some kind of writerly ultra-marathon. Although this does make things harder for you, right? Because you keep having to improve on your (already rather impressive) records. Anyway I will go and do homework but this I really liked the interviewer and the interviewee so go them. (Also, currently, if my writing=not for school, it also basically=nonexistent, but I have two weeks off! (well, technically 1 with internet. oh well)
Yesss, we are all stabby hot messes, probably. < -- I mean, that's probably a good description for ANYONE'S first draft *nods* Because 1st drafts are meant to suck.😂 I'm just going to run away before editing comes calling hahhahha. Ahem. BUT DUDE, YES. Like how can I bet 27K in one day? I CANNOT. (Okay, my brain is totally banking on trying for 30K sometime, but I'm also telling my brain to shut up. I like life. 30K is not life. It is death and ghostdom.) Oh but maybe if I keep breaking my records I'll finish a book before I start? #winning
These made me laugh!! The dialogue is fabulous, love! So much fun! Thank you for sharing some snippets of your wonderful story! And yes, I know how utterly terrifying it can be to share a part of your writing with peeps… : 0
PLS LET ME PUSH YOU OFF NOW
HAIRY PRIORITIES
DANGEROUS FINE DINING
I truly wish I could binge write, but alas…I am so easily distracted it’s scary. BUT, you’ve been an inspiration to me and someday soon I may just give it a whirl.
Blessings –
~ Aspen
EEEEP, THANK YOU SO MUCH, ASPEN. *flails forever* It is kind of terrifying to share snippets but also so so worth it when I get such nice feedback.💕 It’s so motivating to keep going. I shall just flail and squawk and possibly give you cake now.
I totally recommend trying bingeing someday! I try basically EVERY type of writing method there is, just to see what worked best for me.
DUDE. I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WROTE A 130K BOOK IN SIX DAYS. SIX. DAYS. THAT IS INSANE. you are, obviously, the queen and i can’t wait to read it someday!
And AHHH YOUR SNIPPETS. #SUCHSASS HAAAAHAHA. I love the, “Pls let me push you off” one OH MY GOODNESS EEEEEEEHEHEHEHHEE.
I KIND OF CAN’T BELIEVE IT EITHER. I AM A WIZARD. A REALLY WEIRD WIZARD, BUT WHATEVER AT LEAST IT’S ALLITERATED. *flails* (also I’m soooo glad you liked them THANK YOU THANK YOU. <33)
As always, Queen Cait, your writing is fantabulous and makes me laugh from the sassy stabbiness. Congrats on finishing another book!
I myself am more of a slow and steady(ish) writer. It took me two years to write a first draft, and I’m trying to write the second draft in >6 months. Something is probably wrong with me.
*squeaks happily* THIS IS SO NICE OF YOU TO SAY, KRISSY. THANK YOU. <333 When I started writing it took me at least a year to write one book too. I definitely sped up, haha, but hey! Slow and steady wins too, right?!? It just depends on our process and what works for us!
So WELCOME BACK! A huge congrats to the AMAZING Cait for writing 130,000 words in 6 days, 27K in one day, and on your 21st book! *flailing* You’re incredible, and I mean that in the best way. 😀 ALSO SNIPPETSSSS!!!! ALL OF THE SASSY HILARIOUS SNIPPETS! I lost it at so many,. XD Your dialog is gold. I JUST LOVE ALL OF YOUR SNIPPETS SO MUCH AND I NEED TO READ ALL OF YOUR BOOKS SOME DAY! <3 Thank you for sharing! ^_^
If I keep breaking writing records like this pretty soon I’ll be finished the book before I start, right??? RIGHT??? Surely it works that way.😂 And aafjdkaslfda thank you THANk YOU. It makes me so unbelievably happy to know you like my snippets too…and also that my weird sense of humour appeals to more than just me HAHAHHA. Ahem. *composes self*
I don’t know that I can pick a favorite snippet, Cait. I think the to-do list may have made me snort the loudest! 😉 It may be a ‘stabby mess’ but I’d pay money to read it. 🙂 Good on you, my dear! Congrats on accomplishing your goal and good luck with NaNoWriMo.
Awww. THIS MAKES MY DAY SO MUCH. <3333 Seriously, I shall just be over here smiling like a deluded penguin. *squeaks*
CAN I PLEASE HAVE YOUR BOOK NOW? BECAUSE I WOULD LOVE IT AND GIVE IT THE PLACE OF HONOR ON MY BOOKSHELF. Seriously though, have you tried to publish yet?
Let’s take a look at my checklist for a perfect book, shall we?
SASS + MURDER + HILARIOUS CHARACTERS + ADORABLE, BEGRUDGING ROMANCE + FANTASY.
Guess who just checked off all of those requirements? I’ll give you three guesses.
SURE JUST SEND ME THAT BOOKSHELF FILLED WITH BOOKS AND YOU CAN READ THIS. *wink wink*
I am pursuing traditional publishing!
OKAY BUT I’M REALLY GLAD I MADE 100% ON YOUR CHECKLIST. THIS MAKES ME VERY HAPPY.
Actually, I do have a couple curiosity questions, since you asked: 1) Were you happy with the outcome/what did you think? 2) Did any unexpected turns/scenes/plot points/whatever come in that improved the story and surprised you? 3) What was your favorite part (of the process, the product, whatever)?
Oh. My. Goodness. I love your sass!!!! I think one of my favorites that you shared was the dinner one. WHO WANTS TO EAT WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE THE FREEDOM TO KILL ANYONE?!?!?! (Although I also mightily love the grammar one… And, well, ALL of them… So yes, THANK YOU FOR SHARING, CAIT!!! (P. S. Trying to type “sharing”, ever-helpful autocorrect changed it to “warring”. So there you go. Thanks for warring.))
And I totally sympathize with your action issues!!!! OMG, that’s me all. the. time. “They got grievously wounded, they almost died, they fought hard, they sweated and BLED A LOT, the heroes escaped with their lives (barely)”. I basically just try and rearrange the order I report the data in, BUT THERE’S ONLY SO MANY WAYS YOU CAN TALK ABOUT BLOOD AND DEATH. It kinda loses its novelty after a thousand times…
When you’re Queen of the Universe, I think your beta reader(s) should be crowned princes/princesses… Actually, maybe not, because that might tempt them to try and steal the throne and that would be mega bad.. Maybe just petty lordlings instead. ANYWAY, they need some sort of crown/throne to regally declare their position as a trusted vassal of the Great Queen Cait. Just a suggestion. 😉
You have all my sympathies for your editing job ahead!!!! I cannot imagine tackling that beast (I mean, 130,000 words?!?! That’s…big)!! Sending you lots of cake and chocolate and a pet hedgehog to help you through…
I am ALWAYS happy to answer questions about myself. I’m such an interesting topic after all. :’) #humble 😂
1) I AM happy with the outcome! I know it’ll need a lot of work and polishing and honestly, sometimes I think it’s just the skeleton and now I have to make it PRETTY…but I’m still happy. 😉
2) YES. Believe it or not, Mikael wasn’t meant to be this sassy.😂
3) I really enjoy starting writing. Everything is like newwwww and freeeesh and EXCITING and it’s just my favourite. Provided it follows the outline and the characters behave. WHICH THEY DID HERE, THANK THE BOOKISH UNIVERSE OMG.
YOU’RE WELCOME FOR ALL MY WARRING. I do so love to war after all. :’)
Duuuude, but why are action scene SO HARD TO WRITE?!? I have this epic movie-action-scene going on in my head and it’s SO HARD to put it on paper without just turning it into a joke or something. I put in jokes in terrible places and my beta-readers often smack me in the head. Then I have to go back and be serious. 😂
I’m just going to pretend it doesn’t need editing…for a while. Hahahahah. *crawls into a hole to hide from this beast of a book*
WOW CAIT! 27 BOOKS? I’ve only written one, became uninspired, started writing again a few months later and BAM! I have another book in the progress for November, hopefully. I really want to do Nanowrimo (which I probably am,) but November is going to be JAM PACKED! I am writing a modern day novel about British people and cyborgs, pretty cool huh? I write two or three chapters a day, but sometimes my eyes get weak and I can’t write anymore. 😀
I LOVE YOUR SNIPPETS! How can you choose a favorite? I have three favorites; Sugar Rush, Chocolate Queen, and Hair Cut Time, Good Sir. I think that everybody wants to be some type of food queen, mostly chocolate or cake. Perhaps chicken if it is possible. Good luck during Nanowrimo this year! *sends chocolate cake your way*
AHHH, no just 21. 😂 It’ll be like 27 next year mwahhaha. OKAY I JOKE. I JOKE. I’m not that fast. But I hope you do NaNo with me and we both have a great time! It can be hard to stay focused on an idea, but honestly the more you write: the easier it gets. I promise. But cyborgs? DID YOU SAY CYBORGS?!?!? *shrieks* That sounds so so glorious!
And yesss to wanting to be a food queen. Someone make me a chocolate palace because LIFE GOALS.😂
Haha! I seriously don’t know why I said 27. I was thinking about something else. 😀 Yes, somebody needs to make you a chocolate palace because why not?
OKAY HOW DO YOU DO THIS ?? There is so. much. sass. … and I love it ! Seriously though, if you could tell me how the world domination plans are coming along, I want to plan ahead and take the day off. There is no way I’m missing that !!
Those snippets are pure gold and i want more, like yesterday !! I hope it does get published so I can buy seven and stare at them all day long ! (and then proceed to shove a copy in the face of anyone who hasn’t heard of it!)
I just want to say that reading your blog posts is one of the highlights of my (admittedly kinda bland) week, and you are solely responsible for my newly developed sass.
Planning ahead to take a day off on the day I take the universe IS LIKE THE MOST EXCELLENT THING TO HEAR, I THOROUGHLY APPROVE. *nods* I do like to keep these things mostly a surprise BUT AN OFFICIAL DATE SHALL BE RELEASED SOON. I’ll get the minions onto that. *nods majestically*
Also thank you. <333 *blushes* This really really encourages me and makes my day. I JUST WILL FLAIL NOW. ETERNALLY. And omg, my blog is a highlight of your week???!?!?!? i CANNOT EVEN RIGHT NOW. I SHALL HUG YOU AND FEED YOU CAKE BASICALLY.
IF YOU GIVE ME CAKE I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND POSSIBLY HAUNT YOU AFTER MY DEATH. are you ready for that ?? you are basically gonna be haunted by an awkward seventeen year-old …
But honestly, if you give me a date for world domination i will bring food, no world domination campaign is complete without munchies !
YEP. I’M TOTALLY READY FOR THAT. I’ll set you to work, you can dust my shelves. *nods*
And omg YES. World domination = needs snacks. There is no taking over the world without snack breaks.
CAKE, JUST EAT CAKE. 130K in a week wHAT you wizard, we need to celebrate with cake. because cake.
WHOO FOR RECORD BREAKING, My novel is 250 words long hELPPP.
Anywayyy I have to go and (not) write
– http://www.whatlexieloves.blogspot.com
I AGREE! MORE CAKE FOR EVERYONE! CAKE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND!!!
And omg your little baby novel. <3 I'm sure it will grow up big and strong really really soon. Feed it more cake? #SolidAdvice
Yay! Well done!! Also you included my favourite excerpt!!! The last one, it is truly the greatest!!! Thank you! In Mikael I found my spirit animal so I truly thank you for that! Also I am awed by your abilities! It is truly amazing!
N’aww no thank YOU, Chloe. It’s actually super encouraging and inspiring to have people cheer me on while writing. YOU ARE THE BEST.💕
Thank you haha! I can imagine how awesome that would be! I’m just super grateful that you are giving us the chance to be excited either with you or for you! Also, you are the best too!
Hmmm… what is a jungle demon’s normal diet? Now I’m curious…
Do you have a timeline for when you think you’d like to get something published? Writing 21 books is impressive. Getting one of them published would be awesome! Any ideas on which book you think you’d like to get out there first?
Most likely, like, plants. OR HUMAN SOULS. Mwhahhaha. Ahem.
Since I’m pursuing traditional publishing, I really have no timeline.🙈🙊 Just plenty of hoping and working! I’m working on a contemporary YA with my agent atm and have high hopes for it. So fingers crossed. Eeeep!
This novel sounds fabulously fabulous – just like you! I can’t wait for when you’re published, Cait! I’ve been following your blog for quite a long time but rarely comment and when I get emails that you’ve posted I get so excited – and omg this is probably one of my favourite posts.
I LOVE your writing blog posts.
Your snippets read like you write your blog – with such fantastic, rollicking enthusiasm, and I feel like any novel you make create would be such an epically fun adventure. I know your blog post ‘to write’ list must be as long as your TBR pile, but would you ever consider making a post about your planning/plotting process? I’m just a sucker for all your writing-related blog posts and would love to see how you think through your process – I can only imagine it and it’s whispering to me as something like Alice making her way through Wonderland.
I personally find the process fun but not always entirely satisfying because I just want to START (which usually leads to my going straight ahead and being half-way through an action scene and having some terrible moments of omg what happens NEXT). Do you follow one of the age-old mechanisms for creating a story? Do you just focus on beginning-middle-end? Is it just one big mishmash of epicness?
I’d love to hear more! X
AHHH THANK YOU, BETHAN. *blushes* I’m so so really glad you liked them. <3 And like I think it's definitely time for an OFFICIAL WELCOME THEN!! And welcome cake. Plenty of welcome cake. 😂 🍰🍰🍰 Thank you so much for commenting!! I really love chatting to people. <3
And omg any post requests are MOST welcome! I have done a post on my plotting process, but it could honestly be updated. 😂 I mostly write a detailed synopsis and call it my outline. So it’s all linear (I can’t ever seem to do anything else but linear timelines!) and I just write what’s going to happen in ever scene. Depending on the scene, depends how detailed I am. But I follow NO RULES and NO ADIVCE. I’m really the worst bahaah. I just go for it and do it all by feel. But I do want to do a post on how I put together a story idea!! So I should do that before NaNo!!
I LOVE THE QUOTES!
I’M SO RELIEVED I CAN ONLY FLAIL OMG THANK YOU.
Tolkien: *takes 12 years to write Lord of the Rings*
Cait: *writes an epic fantasy in 6 days and still has time to eat cake*
I think we CAN agree that Tolkien is a lot better at this though.😂
Wow! You are so amazing! I can’t even imagine writing that many words in 10 days, I would probably die. 😀 Also your book sounds amazing and it’s so not fair of you to taunt us with just snippets. 😉 JK! I’ll take all the snippets I can get until you publish the story. 😀
Is it bad that I’m tempted to actually buy you an entire bookshelf (and books) just so I can read your book?
Glad you’re back!!!
I probably am dead, though. THIS IS LIKE THE GHOST OF CAIT TYPING RIGHT NOW. Or my dog. But the chances of him doing anything more useful than being adorable and eating my stuff is like zero. AHEM ANYWAY. Thank yoooooou for reading this AND FOR LIKING IT. *blushes*
And definitely go for buying the bookshelf for me. *nods* You won’t regret it. :’)
Welcome! 😀
130.000 words? That’s great! I am so proud of you. You’ve worked so hard and you deserve to be acknowledged. Let’s eat huge cake 😀
I like the accidental caring and pls let me push you off now 🙂
THANK YOU, HANA. <33 This is so nice of you to say! CAKE FOR US ALL.
You just wrote 130k book and you’re still going to do NaNoWriMo?!?!?! I applaud you, madam! And wow 27k in ONE DAY! I think you are a wizard. Do you have a time turner? Yeah, I’m pretty sure you do because how else could that be possible?!
Love your snippets! Your writing is so wonderful and witty!!
~Sara
I KNOW. WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME.😂 (Spoiler: everything is wrong with me omg.) And I did this last year too, although was unorganised and finished my pre-nano book only in mid-October. Which left me like 2 weeks off which was FAR too stressful and I got so tired doing NaNo.😂 At least now I have a month off?? To..figure out what I’m doing.😂
Definitely a wizard. Entirely definitely sure I’m a wizard.
(Also thank you. <333)
This entire post is pure winning! So hard to pick a favorite snippet because they are all so good, but if you put a knife to my throat {and Mikael probably will ;)} I would have to say the condescending to-do list.
I am truly impressed at how quickly you write!
This makes me LAUGH. And also flail because YOU ARE TOO NICE TO ME. <333 Thank you, Michelle. :')
SO. MUCH. SASS. I want to eat this book now. I haven’t written anything with sass in it, but I love it. PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO WRITE SUCH SASS!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!
THE SASS IS SO STRONG WITH THIS ONE OMG.😂 WHAT EVEN AM I DOING. I mean, like 15% of the book is serious I promise. hahaha. Ahem.
And omg I don’t even have any tips for writing sass. Read sassy books and watch sassy movies and ABSORB?!? #SolidAdviceGoodJobCait
HEHEHEHEHEHE…. XD
I DON’T THINK I KNOW ANY SASSY BOOKS!!! Do you have any recommendations?
Omg I have SO many sassy books that I love!! I should actually do a post on it now that I think about it.😂 But try Ruined by Amy Tintera for AMAZING amounts of dry sarcasm and I love The Curseworker Trilogy for all the sass and Six of Crows has the best sassy banter ever. :’)
These all make me so, so happy! But “Chocolate Queen” makes me happiest, because Chocolate.
It will be so FUN for us all when you start getting published.
I don’t write fiction, so I have nothing to compare with. But when I do write, I prefer to just write and write and write. Not a fan of little by little. I think it’s amazing how you can read writing advice from two different successful and excellent writers, and they will literally contradict each other. The trick is to find the creative process that is right FOR YOU.
Chocolate Queen makes me so happy too because CHOCOLATE. The queen eats chocolate when she’s stressed and it makes me deviously pleased I tell you. Mwahah. Ahem.
I’m glad you’re a binge writer too though! *hi fives* I feel like if I take breaks, I lose my train of thought. I need to just goooooo once the words are there. AND YES I am 1000% for finding what works for yourself. *nods* There’s too much “advice” out there and not enough people saying “experiment and do what works for you”. < -- which is actually truly some of the best advice.
to be honest, I LOVED ALL OF THEM! Sass and banter in dialogue are the best!
And just a quick question: do you have any tips for turning off that part of your brain that wants to write so you can sit down and actually get some edits done? cause I’m having a few issues with that at the moment (my brain won’t shut up!)
I AM REALLY GLAD YOU LIKED THEM. <3
Honestly basically every answer to 90% of writerly questions is: just force yourself to do it.😂 Reward yourself. Threaten yourself. WHATEVER WORKS. I generally have to bribe myself to edit because editing is haaaard. But I know if I don't edit I'll (A) never get ANYWHERE with my writing, (B) limit how much I can grow as a writer...so that motivates me to edit basically.😂 (Also you can compromise with your brain! I do a "write one book; edit another" sort of trade off.)
So, question. How long did it take you to outline this? Because I have a story that was dystopian but suddenly turned fantasy and now I’m wondering if I can outline it all before NaNo. AAA writing why do you have a mind of your own??
(Fun fact, I’m also wearing a Chewbacca suit right now.)
I’m like 99% sure the Chewbacca suit will help you outline faster *nods* SO for me? I usually plan like 80% of the story out in my head before I even go to outline. So that could take a few months. But when I’m ready to outline I basically write it up in a week. A lot slower than writing because I have to think through the plot holes more.😂
I will come back to leave a proper comment but for now, did you mean to refer to us as “good fiend” in the ‘Can I read it?’ section? Or was that meant to be ‘friend’?
Mwahahahhahhah..hahaha…ha….it was meant to be fiend.😂 I have been doing that for months actually and no one’s said anything.😂 I’M SO DEVIOUS I KNOW.
Hahahaha oh, Cait, devious doesn’t begin to describe you. 😉
OMG Cait!!! You are an amazing human and I want to read this book sooo bad, but I’ll survive on these snippets till then! Mikael’s sass is #tooreal. You inspire me so much, and make me proud to be part of this writer universe!
And I can’t wait to see what you create for Nanowrimo!
AWWW, JAIMI THIS MAKES MY SO HAPPY. <333 THANKYOU!!!
OH MY GOD I’M SCREAMING, TOTALLY SCREAMING RIGHT NOW!!!! I LOVED these snippets, Cait! I can’t waiiiit to read your book, please, do something about it soon, like, REALLY- I’m already shipping Mikael and the Princess SO HARD. It kind of feels like you’ve fed the Princess a bit of yourself, you know? 😀 And all that chocolate and food and food and food. I love how Mikael is vain about his hair haha 😛 LOVED reading these- thank you for sharing!!!!!! I’m glad you had such a great time writing (despite the occasional looking-for-spoons-in-the-fridge episodes). Totally happens to everyone. Well, not really, but whatever 😛
I AM ACTUALLY FLAILING SO MUCH, RUZAIKA. <333 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS AMAZING COMMENT THAT JUST LITERALLY MADE MY DAY. *takes a moment to flail wildly* And omg.😂 I always put a bit of me in all my characters basically, but any reference to chocolate = me for sure. And hair. omg.😂 I didn't even intend for Mikael's hair vanity BUT THERE IT IS AN I'M NOT UNHAPPY.😂 Ahem. But yesssss. So much fun. I'm going to to just...not look at the draft too closely. Because #mess.
I loved reading your snippets. They made me laugh. 😀 I haven’t written a full novel yet but I don’t think I would be able to write like you do, but I think it must be some sort of awesome talent. I can’t wait to read your books one day. They all sound so awesome.
Writing this much definitely takes practise.😂 I think it took me a year to write my first novel?!? And like I only started writing in huge quantities at the end of last year. SO PRACTISE, YES, FOR SURE. hehe. But awww, thank you so much Anna!! THIS MAKES MY DAY.
I am not a writer although I have been tempted to try at times. I am however a reader and love reading your blog!
Thanks for sharing your snippets – I loved peeking into your book and I think it would be something I’d love to read one day when you’re published and world famous.
My favourite snippet was the Hair cut time, Good sir. I don’t know why this one so appealed to my sense of humour but it did!
Aww, thanks for reading my blog, Di! I APPRECIATE IT A MONSTROUS AMOUNT. *shares cake with you because reasons* And AWWWWW, this just doubly makes my day. <3 I really really love this book and just knowing other people enjoy it too is AN AMAZING FEELING.
Cait, this book sounds absolutely incredible and it sounds like you kicked all your goals out of the ballpark with this one! I love all of your snappy dialogue and the food mentions please me.
OMGGGGGG. I’m absolutely flailing that you think so, Jeann. <3 THANK YOU. (Basically my books are just foodie fiction.😂 I can't help myself.)
I was laughing about the lemons so much that I didn’t understand if “she is can do an admirable job” in the snippet was an intended joke or not anymore xD
Good idea about the Q&A with yourself. Lovely AND very funny.
It’s really too bad I don’t enjoy YA so much because I like your style a lot. Maybe I should make special Cait-xeptions. Badumtss, no? ..no?
What do you go on your job days when you’re not writing? I mean *THE THING* you have to take time off of. Let’s not call it the dreaded word it’s supposed to be called. I suffer freelancer syndrome.
– from @AvalinahsBooks
Omg that’s probably a typo. 😂 I kind of edited some stuff out of the snippets that made them confusing BUT I THINK I MADE THEM MORE CONFUSING. But to be fair my brain is fried.😂
Well, LUCKY FOR YOU, this one actually isn’t YA! It’ll be my first adult fantasy. It’s a lot darker than the snippets let on haha. But DUUUUUDE, you should definitely make a Cait-exception because my books are wonderful. (I’m super humble too, isn’t it easy to tell?😂)
I mostly work from home, running a few online stores and freelance blogging, and also nannying. I can’t support myself yet but HOPEFULLY MY WRITING WILL TAKE OFF SOMEDAY! Hopefully…😭😂
Haha, where does one even find your books then? Also, need a proofreader? 😛 Although I suppose you have an editor, thus all those posts about editing nightmares 😀
I also work from home, but I started like last month. We’ll see where that goes. Used to do Etsy too in the past, but it sucks doing Etsy from anywhere far away, cause shipping.
Oh hehe, sorry. I’m not actually published at all!! I just meant *one day* you can make a Cait-exception to read my books.😂 ONE DAY SOON I HOPE! *wishes hard* But yeah, no, so far it’s just aaaall me writing wildly at my computer and hoping things happen. 🙂
I hope your home-based-working goes great too! I hear you on shipping though, with Etsy. argh. Postage is horrendous in Australia. I’m sure it’s worse in other countries too, but it just sucks because it’s also so sloooow.
Yeha, that’s why I tried selling digital content. Worked better. But not too well.
So then *one day*, where is it going to be published? xD real book, ebook, amazon, wattpad? Do you have a plan? 🙂 I thought you had already written so many books 😀
I have an agent in the UK and we’re working on a book!
That is so cool 😀 will be awaiting further news then!
Oh my goodness this is amazing! I can’t believe you wrote so much so quickly! Really looking forward to reading it once it is ready =]
I’ve never really considered myself a writer. I’ve been a reader since the age of 4 and I certainly enjoyed writing in school but never really tried it as a creative outlet, my blog excluded. I’m thinking about trying NaNoWriMo this year as I have a few ideas that have been floating in my brain for the better part of 3 years now and need to come out. Any tips?
I absolutely love your blog, by the way.
THANK YOU, HAILEE. <3 *flails and gives you cake* I hope one day it'll be published. *fingers crossed*
Oh I do hope you try NaNo!! I think my biggest tip for anyone writing their first book is: make sure you finish it. ;D Because it's (A) an amazing feeling and really motivating, and (B) drafting doesn't have to be good writing, but editing, I believe, is where you really learn your voice and style and how to make things better! So don't worry if your first draft is horrendous. Just get it written!🎉
Congrats on writing your 21st book! I’m still struggling away with my first.
I love all the snippets, and your book sounds awesome. The hair cut snippet especially made me laugh out loud though! Best of luck with the editing 🙂
oh you’ll get there!! I KNOW YOU WILL!! *Flails* Writing journeys are so different for everyone, right?! (But omg you laughed out loud? 😱😱😱 MY DAY IS MADE. 🎉)
Congratulations on writing a book! If I tried to write that many words in a day, I’d probably just sit on the floor and cry. I have a hard time writing a blog post every day. I don’t think I could write a book in a week.
AHHH THANK YOU!! And trust me, it takes working up to! I never used to be able to write this much, this fast.😂
I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WROTE 130k+ IN TEN DAYS? I struggle to crank out ten pages in that time and you’re writing giant novels and I just. Wow. I feel you on the action scenes, though – those are hard T_T I can picture it so nicely in my head and then I try writing it down and somehow the glorious battle turns into this fumbling person and. Well. I love love love how your book sounds so far, though! Evil queen origin stories are my favorite, and you do dialogue so, so well. Hopefully I’ll be able to buy this off the shelf someday!^^
DON’T WORRY, I CAN’T BELIEVE ME EITHER. I’M A DISGUSTING WRITING MONSTER.😂 But seriously, it just takes practise!! I thought 15K was insane last year and I nearly doubled that this year. 😱
And ugh yes to those action scenes. Why are they so hard?!? They’re easy when one is watching a movie. And I’m like “yeah that stunt was awesome, SO going in the book” and then I try to write it and…nope.😂
GAH Cait, I really hope that we are able to read this one day in its entirety. Actually, no, screw everyone else, I hope that I am able to read it one day in its entirety. 😉 Seriously it is REALLY good. I rarely read multiple snippets and… I read ALL the snippets. So that is saying a lot.
Sorry about the editing, because it truly sounds like a nightmare. This is coming from someone who. by nature, edits NOTHING. I don’t edit blog posts, I never went back and “checked my work” in school- I do something and hand it over and am done with it. BUt that isn’t how writing works, which is why I still have zero things actually written.
As for the process, if left to my own devices, I would be much like you- I would write as much as possible when the mood struck me/I had time/whatever, because that is how I roll. I once did an entire 25 page paper for class in ONE NIGHT. It was supposed to be done during the whole spring semester; I’d finished it by the end of January and never looked back. But life doesn’t let me do that right now, and it makes me SAD. Because when I get on a roll, I want to be able to keep going. Damn responsibilities!
I am so proud of your accomplishments, Cait! And sure, jealous, but that’s okay, a little jealousy never killed anyone (actually, that’s probably wholly inaccurate, jealously probably kills more people than we realize, but not in this case). Also, you have reminded me that NaNo is coming and I am still lacking a HUGE plot piece for the thing I want to write and that makes me want to panic and cry.
WELL. Just send me that bookshelf of books and THIS MESS OF A NOVEL IS ALL YOURS. I swear, only 5% of it actually makes sense, and those are all the sassy comments where everyone should really be freaking out, but they’re just…sassing. I tell you, this book is a hot mess.😂 But omggg, thank you Shannon. <3 This makes my day. ABSOLUTELY MAKES MY DAY.
I actually admire people who come up with amazing stuff WITH NO EDITING. Like your blog posts are the best. I edit AND rewrite mine a bazillion times.😂 (Omg shh, now my secrets are out.) But I was actually the same with editing in school. I’d like glance over it so I could assure my mum I’d “edited” hahhahaa. No. Poor mum. I’m sure she regretted homeschooling her kids like, at least, once an hour?
Agh, yes, those little responsibilities like, ya know, BEING A PARENT AND ALL THAT. *nods* Maybe there’ll be time for bingewriting someday in the future?
N’awww. *gives you all the cake* And you’re doing NaNo?! YAYYYYY. WE CAN SCREAM/FLAIL/DIE TOGETHER!!
OMG!!! These snippets are awesome and totally make me want to read the book!!!!! If I had to pick a favorite, I’d say Dangerous Fine Dining. I love all the sarcastic humor in these snippets, and if the whole book is like this, then I know I’d love it!!! You are incredible to have written so much in ten days!!! You will definitely be a published fantasy novelist, I see it in your future!!!!! Now let’s celebrate….somebody cut the cake!!!!
AHHHH THANK YOU DONNA!! *flail* And yes the whole book is basically sass and stabbing and the occasional moment where everyone shuts up and gets serious but those are BRIEF. I can’t help myself, I honestly can’t.😂 And yess, I do hope to be published someday. :’) CAKE FOR EVERYONE!
If you ever decide you want betas for this, can I be one? I’d also be happy to edit it for you.
AWw, thanks, Zara! That’s so nice of you!
Oh, the sass is real. This is brilliant. I feel like if I were to be a book character, I’d be the Chocolate Queen. And yet again, HOWWWWW. JUST HOW. It takes me weeks to write 27,000 words if it’s not time for NaNoWriMo. xD I’m routinely a terribly slow writers. Mostly because I’m distractable. I guess a good trade off is there isn’t usually a big need for drastic edits when I’m done? IDK, I think I’d rather be fast.
I think I want to be the chocolate queen, too, tbh. That’s how I would rule. Bossiness by day. Chocolate by night. CHOCOLATE BATMAN. (Okay, no, I have no idea what I’m saying either.😂)
And I think it’s just practise. 😉 I mean, last year I was dead getting to 15K and this year I nearly doubled that. SO YEAH. Plus hyper-focus is a handy tool *nods* But YES I do absolutely hugely nasty drastic edits and rewrite the whole thing. So binge-writing has it’s drawbacks.😂
My favorite snippets were Mikael Hates Everyone and Pls Let Me Push You Off Now. So funny. Love it!
I can’t believe you wrote so much is such a short span of time! That’s really truly incredible. Great job, Cait!
I like to do binge writing as much as possible, but lately I can only go for an hour or two at a time before I have to stop for a while. Sometimes I don’t pick it back up at all, so there’s that. Just need to get back into the swing of it.
Did you find that the story still made sense and followed your outline nicely by the end? Did it wrap up nicely?
AHHH THANKYOU, RAYNA. <3 This makes me so happy! And yes, I'm a bit of a complete writing monster I KNOW.😂 But then I have massive stretches of time where I like, write...nothing. Consistency is not my friend.😂 It sometimes is hard to get into the swing of things, though! I agree! And some books come easier than others. This one was sooo easy, but the last one was a beast.
And YES, it actually followed the outline about 90% of the time, which was a relief. I sped up the ending though because I was tired.😂
OMG these snippets are amazing. I already love Mikael and his banter <3 My favourite is "Grammar, mate"
Congrats for finishing your first draft though! I've only been following this blog for a few months but I've fallen in love with your tone and writing style, and I can see this reflected in your snippets. They make me smile 🙂
It is such an amaxing achievement (also excuse me- 21 books?!?!? You animal), you deserve to eat all the cake!
AHHH THANK YOU, LEANNE. *flails wildly* And omg welcome to the blog! This means you get official welcome cake and get to put up with me shouting happy things at you in the comments. #winning
I am somewhat of a writing monster. I won’t deny.😂
*buys you a second bookshelf of books because I NEED YOUR BOOK MORE THAN THE WINNER’S KISS.*
BTW, my autocorrect changes demon to “pie.” What even.
Also, I am hereby keeping all spoons in the fridge.
MORE THAN THE WINNER’S KISS????!! 😱😱😱 BEST COMPLIMENT OVER OMG.
And demon pie does not, unfortunately, sound delicious. (If I kept spoons in the fridge I’m sure I’d end up looking for avocado in the cutlery draw.)
Aw, there’s a character in my book called Makall!! Except your Mikael is WAY more sassy and I already love him. AKA I WANT TO READ THIS BEAUTIFUL CREATION RIGHT NOW. Please hurry 🙂
My favourite snippet was definitely the to do list one.
Simi
OMG WE ARE NAMING TWINS! *hi fives* It’s an awesome name though, right?! And omg Mikael wasn’t supposed to be this sassy, but this guy has no chill. I love him. :’)
I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THE SNIPPETS. 🎉
Cait all of these snippets are so good!! The sass is amazing (; I think my favourite would have to be condescending to do list, but it was hard to choose! I’m personally a slow writer but more because I have a busy life rather than choice…if I could write all day I would!
Ahhh, Libby, THANK YOU! *flails happily* And I totally get that! *nods* Life does get in the way. I used to only write in snatches where I could, but I found I could be so much more productive doing binge-write sessions.😂
HOW ARE YOU SO FUNNY, CAIT??? I am like OKAY at being funny in real life??? But when I write it’s like A TOTAL FAIL. WHY IS THIS? I have legitimately NO IDEA.
BECAUSE I’M JUST A HILARIOUS GENIUS THAT’S ALL. :’) And I’m the opposite because I’m barely funny out loud.😂
I loved all those snippets, Cait! So sass, MUCH SASS. I’ll sit patiently in your comments section until you ask me to be a beta reader. *puppy dog eyes* 😀
Astrid
http://www.astridkaniele.com/
Awww. YOU ARE SO NICE I SHALL JUST BE HERE SHRIEKING AND FEELING SO HAPPY!! And like it needs editing SO BADLY right now (I mean, c’mon 130K of monstrous writing😭😂) so I’ll do a shoutout when I need some betas, okay? 😉
Yay, snippets! Your novel sounds very . . . well, dark. And stabby. But still fun! And I’m glad you enjoyed writing it! Congratulations on setting new personal records!
It is quite dark and stabby I admit. 😂 But yessss, like some books are really hard to write, but this one just CAME when I demanded it and that’s such a relief.😂 Thankyou!!
27k in ONE DAY? You are a veritable word demon. And war after breakfast, always, though I admit I do not envy you the task of editing this beast.
I ACCEPT THAT ACCUSATION. 😇😈 And yes, I mean, just think of all this editing and how much crying I’m about to do.😭😂
All of these snippets! GIVE ME THE BOOK, QUEEN. NOW. It’s like Game of Thrones + The Raven Cycle <333333 But honestly, I love them all, but Accidental Caring was my favorite because I cannot resist feels, even of the accidental variety. Also, I'm currently revising a YA/NA fantasy so like I'd love to beta for you if you're in the market.
OMG THAT IS A COMBINATION THAT MAKES ME LAUGH AND FLAIL ALL AT ONCE. THANK YOU. My day = absolutely made omg. 😂 And omg I so appreciate the beta offer! I will definitely need help eventually *nods* But this beast needs to be edited within an inch of its life first. So I’ll get back to you?! *gives you cake in the mean-time*
Honestly Cait, your sass and snippets are basically what I live for. 😀
THIS MAKES ME VERY HAPPY. Thank yoooou, Skye. <3
I would honestly read anything you write. I LOVE THOSE SNIPPETS. (And really all the snippets you ever share on Twitter and here). And this fantasy sounds awesome! So much sass omg Cait. also congrats!! 21 books is FREAKING AMAZING. I don’t even know if many published authors can say they’ve written that many. I haven’t yet managed to finish writing ONE book, but one day. 😉 I think I would need to have to take a break like you did, and like give my story 100% of my focus. But I love writing so much and would love to become an author one day. And SOMEDAY HOPEFULLY SOON I will see your books on my bookshelf. 🙂 I wish you all the best with your writing, especially your editing because it sounds horrific. Loved this post!
N’awww, HOLLY. You’re too kind to me. *beams like an overexcited grape* The trick will be to get them published, hahah. 😂 And omg finish a book is the best feeling ever, so I really hope you get there too SOMEDAY SOON!! I shall be here to shriek encouragement if you ever need it! 😊
LOVE your condescending to-do list snippet!
I AM MONSTROUSLY PLEASED.
I’ve always thought about writing but I’m such a perfectionist, it stops me from writing. Perhaps one day.
But you are a fantastic writer. You’re so witty and funny. I don’t think I could choose just one snippet because I loved them all! I love writers that have great dialogue! I hope one day, your book gets published so I can read it. The snippets I read and your Goodreads reviews are enough for me to want to gobble up your book! 😀
I’m actually a perfectionist too!! 😂 I kind of had to learn to mute the perfectionism for the first drafts and let myself make mistakes or I would’ve NEVER finished a book ever. Eeek. Writing is a serious learning process that’s for sure. But awww, THIS IS THE NICEST THING TO HEAR OF EVER. THANK YOU. <3 You're so encouraging!!
I LOVE IT SO MUCH!
I like the part when she wants to push him off. And breakfast before stabbing. *nods* Always. Where are Tell’s priorities? And I rather like the hair appreciation. XD
Okay, I have to dash off. But I love the snippets, and I hope the editing goes well. That is a huge book!
AHHH THANKYOU! *flails around happily* 😊😊 (But I agree, sometimes I get worried about Tell’s actual priorities. He is not a trustworthy one tbh.)
Oh my word, I love you, Cait XD Mikael is such a little (haha) LEMON JUICE OF SASS AND SNARK i love him. and the princess. Help I ship them and I don’t even know that much about them.
BUT IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING I’m finally catching up reading your blog posts. I’m like a week and a half behind *headdesk* BUT I AM HERE NOW.
YES HE IS A LITTLE LEMON JUICE. That is his exact description honestly. He is insufferable and I love him too much, probably. <3 But it's always easy to ship the ones that hate each other.😂 THEY'RE JUST IN DENIAL EEEP.
And, awww. You are so nice to be reading my posts! But seriously don't feel pressure to. 😉
THEY ARE. I love it when they’re in denial. I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT IT’S JUST THE BEST.
“I quite enjoy writing contemporary because you can have characters who LIVE OFF PIZZA and survive because of google. It’s so convenient.” THIS IS A DEFINITIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WRITING FANTASY AND CONTEMPORARY, I LOVE IT. I mean fantasy is of course the Genre Of My Heart, but it is so so SO nice now and then to be able to mention Spotify and yoghurt and Instagram … to not have to THINK about the words you’re using because you know nothing is going to be inappropriate for your setting/register. IT’S SO NICE.
Anyway, not the point, the point is CONGRATULATIONS! I loooove the snippets. I love Mikael already, in fact, his hair and his vertically challenged-ness … I v much enjoyed all the sass! (But I have a question for the Q&A: Mick-ale or My-kall?)
It’s so true right?!? I LOVE fantasy but every time I do a contemporary, I remember how much easier it is.😂 Particularly dialogue. Like 80% of my dialogue in this fantasy is FAR too modern and I’m going to have to rework it…but I let myself have fun in the first drafts. hehe.
BUT THANK YOU. <3 YOU ARE VERY KIND.
Also I actually say "Mick-A-el" so basically it's very very phonetically said because I'm terrible at names. Everyone who's ever read anything of it has called him "Mick-ale" though. *facepalm* SO I DON'T EVEN KNOW.
Whoa, I’m glad you’re committed and finished a book so quickly-WHAT?! But it shows you can do anything if you have determination!
I’m glad you’re on a ‘break’ at least. Oh shoot, I think I’m late ._.
Haha, your snippets are full of witty dialogue… which is pretty interesting.
I also laugh at my own jokes… more than I laugh at other people’s. And I don’t wanna tell people what I’m laughing about, I DO NOT! *cough*
Determinatino…or lack of sanity.😂 Either or.😂😂 JUST KIDDING! ehhe, thank you, Grace! YOU ARE KIND. And yes I’m back to blogging now, although I’ll be taking a few days off in November for NaNo too. Because I am obsessed with writing apparently.
And blessed are we who can laugh at our own jokes, right?! WINNING.
Do you have a goal of getting any of these books published?
Not this one, but others, sure! 🙂
I LOVE THESE SNIPPETS <3 <3 <3 My favorite is the sugar rush one and the hair one. I laughed. The sass is strong with this one.
I’M RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY THAT YOU LIKE THEM THANK YOU. <3
I AM HAPPY TO MAKE YOU HAPPY. ^.^