Time Management

               Okay so wow it has been kinda crazy as of late for me.  I used to think I had a fairly descent grip on the whole time management thing.  Then you become unemployed and well you have nothing but free time.  Everything can always be done tomorrow.  That’s what happened to me.  Then I got a new job.

                I like having my new job, don’t get me wrong but it is surprisingly harder than I thought to readjust.  I figured I would just be able to roll with the punches so to speak but sadly it is not so easy.  I haven’t been writing on my book and my fanfic is coming along slow.  Okay that’s a lie, it’s there it’s just when I’m in front of the computer and can type I have other things to do or my mind is elsewhere.  I am not doing as well in my reading as I’d have liked to be and it’s hard because I have so many wonderful books that I am dying to read and they are just sitting there on my shelf or on my kindle waiting. 

                Now what do you ask is the reason for this post?  Well first it’s to say I haven’t disappeared.  Really, I’m still here.  Promise.  I might not be posting very regularly but that is because I’m not watching new movies or reading/finishing books as quickly as before because of everything else.  Though I hope you will all stick around.  I plan to have a movie or book review for you in the next day or so.  However, this post was to talk about time management. 

                Do you really manage time or does it manage you?  I have been putting a lot of thought into this while I’m driving to and from my job.  I have 30-50 minutes one way (depending on weather and traffic) and these are the kind of things that occur to me.  So I am taking suggestions from anyone willing to give advice.  How do you make everything in your day run smoothly and still find time for the pleasure of things? 

                My plan right now is to get a regular schedule down and just stick with it.  I just have to figure out everything I was doing and find ways to fit it all in to better time periods.  No more reading until 4am then sleeping all day…but I can still read.  I get breaks and I always have my kindle with me, never know when you might have 5 extra minutes to read.  Though usually at work on breaks there is too much going on to read, I have people to talk to or e-mails and text’s to respond to. 

                The funny thing is that while I’m at work or driving, when I’m not able to write things down I have some great ideas for my writing.  I know I have tried putting them in my phone but I’m trying to be better with the whole using cell phone while driving thing.  Maybe I’ll locate my old digital recorder.  I could record my thoughts, oh wow that might be dangerous, and then work on them at home.  There is that I suppose but then again anyone who’s ever received a voicemail from me can attest to just how random and convoluted they are. 

                Though I have been looking into moving closer to my current job, and everything else really.  That should save time and even save me a bit of money in gas.  I’ve worked the numbers, and even my dad gives it his approval.  I am still only slightly offended that he doubted my math but hey it felt nice to have a second opinion.  Now I just have to make sure the place I’m looking at is good.  Don’t want any surprises.  I know I need to do something because I am sick of feeling so drained all the time.  Plus, my writing has taken a huge hit.  I really can’t even remember the last time I wrote on my WIP and my fanfic is coming along slowly…

                So how do you all find time in the day to get everything done?  Do you have schedules? 

Wilde’s Army Krystal Wade

                So I have to say I have been kinda MIA as of late.  Ironically enough I was working on a post about time management and an update about me but well…I couldn’t do much of anything until I finished this book.  So it looks like you will get that another time.  Right now…my review of the ARC of KrystalWade’s Wilde’s Army curtsey of NetGalley.com and Curiosity Quills Press.

                I was so excited when I got my approval to read the ARC of this book I made a slightly embarrassing squeal in the break room of my job.  First thing I did when I got home the other day was download the book to my beloved kindle.  I pretty much read it last night until my eyes hurt and begged for a rest from reading and today.  Yep I finished it!  Yay!

                Now for those of you who don’t know this amazing book is the sequel to Wilde’s Fire (click to go to my review) so there will be spoilers in this one pertaining to book 1.  So be warned.    First, look at that cover.  So pretty, I still prefer the blue of the first one but this one really captures the essence of what they are. 

                In Wilde’s Army, Kate finds her love, her family and everyone else she has grown to love gone.  All but one, Perth the man she’s been traded to marry for a favor.  She must listen to the god’s guiding her and form a tentative partnership with this man everyone has warned her about.  Finding and rescuing the ones she love is only half the battle they still must make it to Willow Falls and face a different kind of danger.  Danger of their own kind because they take seriously the promise that was made, Kate to marry Perth, and her love for another could cost many their lives.  Oh and if that isn’t enough of a problem she has to unite the people who have hated one another for far too long and form an army willing to fight for her.  Yep she has a lot to face, and when everything appears stacked against her she must find out if she is still the same girl, the Light, the girl with fire.

                Well now there is a lot of stuff happening in this book and it just flies right by.   No dragging.  Full of action or conflict or just good stuff.  There is the return of our romance, sigh.  Arland is so dreamy.  We also get to learn more about Perth which I really enjoyed.  I got glimpses of him in the first book that made me think there was more to him than what the other characters said and I am pleased with that.  It was very interesting how he is portrayed.  Not really bad but struggling to be good in his own way.

                The world of Encardia is ever growing.  We learn more about the world as a whole.  The daemons and Darkness that lurk around every corner.  The whole world is explained a little more.  I got to understand more about the history of the world and how things were ran.  A look behind the curtain so to speak.  In book 1 we hear about some characters and Leaders and such but you don’t really get how they work but in this you are in the thick of it and the politics of even a dying world.  This plays well with Kate and her growth.  She has to face horrors at pretty much every turn but she has to grow as an individual.  She grew in the first book by accepting who she is and what she can do as well as love.  That continues in this book, she is more confident.  She understands herself better, her power, and what she must do.  She struggles throughout wondering what she should do and if what she wants to do is what is right and that to me makes it great.  Yes she is growing more powerful in her understanding but she also has her moments, she can’t save everyone all the time.  She is powerful but she is not completely all powerful.  She can be hurt.

                The struggles each character goes through… is tough.  Knowing your prophecy doesn’t mean you know much of anything really.  Those who know things are not always willing or able to share them.  Then again some don’t know their purpose and that can be even more frustrating.  Her mother has kept things from her all her life and still doesn’t tell her everything.  Everyone always seems to know more about her life than she does at times and that frustrates her to no end and I can relate to that.  Trust is hard to give.  It’s even harder to rebuild.  What do you do when someone you trust tells you one thing but your gut says another? 

                This book is full of magic.  If you liked the first book even half as much as I did then you will love this book.  Again my only complaint is that I have to wait for more.  Yes, I am greedy like that.  Though I must admit this is the shortest time I’ve ever waited for a sequel, I just hope I that does not mean I have to wait even longer for the 3^rd book.  So there you have it folks, 5 starts according to me.  Wilde’s Army comes out July 4^th. 

The Raven Boys­ Trailer

                So this is just a quick post about a book trailer.  Now this isn’t just any book trailer to get excited about but this book comes out the week after my birthday.  Okay so that’s not a real reason every one should excited I just happen to be a bit partial to that one.  This book is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  Yep and not only does she write awesome books, she is also an artist and musician.  Talk about multi talented.  Maggie uses her other talents to create an awesome trailer for this book and haunting music to accompany it.  So I implore you to check it out.

Burn Mark by Laura Powell

                It seems like forever since I’ve finished a book.  Bright side is my new job is pretty cool so I can’t complain too much about it cutting into my reading/writing time.  So on  my lazy Saturday I finished the last half of Burn Mark by Laura Powell that I received as an ARC from NetGalley.com and Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

                In a modern world where witches are hunted down and burned at the stake two people who have lived completely different lives find they have more in common than they ever would have thought.  Glory is from a family of witches, and prays every day that she will develop the ‘Fae’ and become a witch herself.  Lucas on the other hand is son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition, a long line of Inquisitors for that matter.  His privileged life is completely different from the witches he has been raised and trained to prosecute.  Then one day, both Gloria and Lucas develop the Fae.  In one day their lives are changed forever and they start on a path that will entwine their lives together.

                So first let me say that this book does have some random terminology I was unfamiliar with, authentic slang from London I guess and I liked it.  I only mention it because I did do a quick good search to be sure that my understanding of a couple of words were correct, and they were so go me, so it’s nothing that will detract from the book in the least, I felt if anything it made it more authentic.  I will say that the versions of witches in this book is more elemental.  No simple phrase or thought and things happen, there is real work to do it.  I liked how gritty and complex it was.  For me it made it more realistic and not hyped up.  Fantasy but with limits.  Though I will say I don’t think I’d be practicing my Fae as I’m a slight germaphobe, but even as I cringed I enjoyed the way they had to do the work to make things.

                Character wise I liked Gloria and Lucas.  They are like two sides of a coin.  Gloria is tough and rough around the edges where Lucas is proper and refined.  They rub against each other and create this great tension and as a reader you are see both their sides and can understand them both.  I loved seeing things from both of their viewpoints.  I constantly felt myself being pulled to one side then the other over and over again with who I felt was right.  Seeing two characters who are so clearly different have to work together and eventually grow to understand the other slightly better while never really changing their core beliefs was amazing.

                Now the characters really sold me but they wouldn’t have been nearly as good without a great plot and let me tell you this one was stimulating.  A plot abound with undercover operations, mystery, intrigue and secrets galore.  I think the plot moved along very nicely pacing everything so as a reader you are always interested and not wanting to put the book down.  For me I’d finish a chapter and then think, just one more then to sleep.  Then that one chapter turned into four or five…  A good mix of suspense, action, and inner self development if you ask me.

                I give this book a solid 5 Stars.  Now this great book is set to come out June 19^th and I suggest you check it out.  Would you side with the witches or the Inquisitors?  Would developing the Fae be a blessing or a curse?  Let me know what you think?