Outside My Norm: NaNoWriMo News and a Daria Song Book Review

Hi All! It's November, and you know what that means: NaNoWriMo! I've actually been signed up on the NaNoWriMo website since 2012, quietly lurking in the shadows, watching other people's progress, but I've never actually tried to write anything of my own before. Sure, I've had ideas for stories, both fanfiction and original, but I've never had the (drive, time, patience) to actually attempt to flesh it all out in writing. This year, and last fall, has been very changing for me though. I went through, and am still going through, some things that made me realize that I have to go for what I want. In light of that, I decided to try writing some of my ideas out. Most recently, I have had several ideas for novels but, if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't think I have the experience/technical ability to do them justice. So, I decided to start by working on a Harry Potter fanfiction idea I came up with almost eight years ago.  School of course comes first, so my writing has been pretty sporadic, but I'm having fun anyway. If you're participating in NaNoWriMo (or want to, there is still time to sign up!), I'd love to be buddies! Here is my NaNoWriMo page. Good luck to everyone participating!

Because I'm juggling school and NaNoWriMo, my reading has slowed down some. But reading is my stress outlet (writing could be if I wasn't so type A about it). Luckily for me, Blogging For Books sent me a copy of The Time Chamber by Daria Song to review.

If you couldn't tell from the cover, this is an "adult" coloring book! I have been wanting to try one for a very long time, so I was doubly happy to receive this copy. The first thing about this book that caught my eye, and made me super happy, is that the cover (besides the copper leaf) is fully colorable on the outside and on the inside! The second thing that I noticed is that the book isn't just a coloring book! It has an actual story, with words, on the inside. There aren't so many words that it bogs you down reading, but just enough to drive your imagination forward! I also really liked the Visual Index in the back. Sometimes, when the pictures are big with lots of tiny details, I get overwhelmed. It's helpful that I can get an idea of the overall picture and what I want to do with the picture without being caught up in the minutia!

As for tools, I specifically bought Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils for this book. However, those are more blunt tipped and the pictures have many fine details that I think classic pencils that can be sharpened would be better to use. All in all, I am super happy with this coloring book! I give it 5 out of 5 stars. The pictures are gorgeous and I cannot tell you how much I enjoy adding color to them.