Sunday Funday: Summertime

Sunday Funday

This or That Summer Edition

1. Ocean or Pool
    ocean

 2. Beach Vacation or Wilderness
     beach hands down

 3. Watermelon or Strawberries
     strawberries (watermelon is disgusting!)

 4. Bikini or 1-piece
     one piece

 5. Lemonade or Iced Tea
     iced tea

 6. Hotdogs…grilled or over a fire
     grilled

 7. Hat or Sunglasses
     sunglasses but both

 8. Windows Down or AC all the way
     AC

 9. Tanning Lotion or Sunscreen
     sunscreen

 10. Baseball Game or Concert
       baseball

 11. Ice Cream or Popsicle
       ice cream

 12. Fireworks or Fireflies
       fireworks

 13. Flip Flops or Bare Feet
       flip flops (not a feet person)

 14. Water Balloons or Squirt Guns
       squirt guns

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

Author Spotlight: Judy Blume

Author Spotlight

Judy Blume

Judy Blume is an American writer.

She's more known for her children's books, namely the following:

1. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
2. Blubber
3. Fudge Series (5 books)

While she does write more for children, she's written a few for adults as well, including one that came out a couple weeks ago:

1. Wifey
2. Summer Sisters
3. Smart Women
4. In the Unlucky Event (came out June 2)

At age 77, Judy is still writing today (as you could probably tell already).

I have yet to read any of her adult books, but my favorite book of Judy Blume's as a child was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

More information on Judy Blume can be found at her website here.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

You're a Writer...Own It!

Writing Tip of the Week. If you can't read it (since some of the writing is small), this is what it says:

You're a writer. Claim the title. Writers write, so make time for it every day. Set realistic goals. Embrace the ecstasy of writing. Read, read, read, read, read, read, read. Follow your heart, not the market. Don't just start stories, finish them. Dream big. Learn the rules. Follow the rules. Break the rules. Constructive criticism: solicit, accept, manage. Put your ego in your back pocket and sit on it. Writing is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy the scenery. Give back to the writing community. Write scared. Remember you are the master of inspiration, not its slave. Set your stories free. Send them into the world. Don't slack on the hard stuff: outline, research, rewrite. Build a lifestyle that nurtures and supports your writing. Love what you do. Write with joy.

We all need this reminder sometimes. I personally don't consider myself a writer mainly because I haven't had anything published yet. That's not the way to look at it. In order to become a writer, you have to believe that you are a writer. If you're going through writer's block or struggling through a piece of writing, remind yourself of this.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

Meg

 

 

Sunday Funday: 50 Questions

Sunday Funday

50 Questions You've Never Been Asked

1. What’s your favorite candle scent? Don't really have one; I'm also sensitive/allergic to most scents.
2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? Anna Kendrick
3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? Mark Ballas or Derek Hough
4. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married? around 30/31
5. Do you know a hoarder? kind of
6. Can you do a split? nope
7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? don't remember, like 6 or 7 w/o training wheels
8. How many oceans have you swam in? one
9. How many countries have you been to? one
10. Is anyone in your family in the army? yea
11. What would you name your daughter if you had one? Emily Marie
12. What would you name your son if you had one? Joshua David
13. What’s the worst grade you got on a test? don't remember, but probs a failing one
14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child? Full House, Boy Meets World, 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls
15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight? not sure
16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? all Harry Potter, two out of three for Hunger Games - got to read Mockingjay, and none in Twilight
17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? American, although I like the British one
18. Did your mother go to college? sort of
19. Are your grandparents still married? yea, but none are living
20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? no
21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is? duh, who doesn't?
22. What’s the first amusement park you’ve been to? as a little kid, Sesame Place or Dutch Wonderland; when I got older, it was Hershey Park or Six Flags
23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in? French
24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray? grey
25. Is your father bald? nope
26. Do you know triplets? no
27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook? both are equally great
28. Have you ever had Indian food? yep
29. What’s the name of your favorite restaurant? Olive Garden, Friday's, Cracker Barrel, Uno Pizzeria, Cheddar's, and Mugshot Diner
30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden? yea
31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ’s, etc.)? no
32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender? don't know
33. If you have a nickname, what is it? don't really have one except for Meg
34. Who’s your favorite person in the world? my nephew
35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs? suburbs
36. Can you whistle? not that great
37. Do you sleep with a nightlight? no
38. Do you eat breakfast every morning? nope
39. Do you take any pills or medication daily? yea
40. What medical conditions do you have? long qt syndrome
41. How many times have you been to the hospital? nine
42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? yea, love it
43. Where do you buy your jeans? aero or anywhere, no place special
44. What’s the last compliment you got? that I looked nice
45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning? not usually
46. What flavor tea do you enjoy? lemon and peach
47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own? around ten or so
48. What religion will you raise your children to practice? Catholic
49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn’t real? don't remember, maybe 8 or 9
50. Why do you have a blog? to offer writing advice and promote my journey on becoming a writer

Note: The last question was why do you have a tumblr - as I actually don't have one, I changed it to a blog since I'm doing this on my blog.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

Young Writers/Authors Advice

It's late on Tuesday when I'm writing this. This will be the start of my writing posts on Tuesdays. And I promise it won't always be late. I'm still working on a title; I'm giving myself to the first Tuesday in July to figure that out.

It's going to be featuring writing advice, prompts, short stories, etc. I've decided to go with advice for young authors because I was young myself when I knew I wanted to be a writer. I'm in my 20s, so I guess I'm still relatively young (not for the intended audience of this post though) in the writing world.

I came across this just from scrolling around on Facebook. Aaron Shepard is a children's author and offers free resources on his website for anyone interested in writing, from librarians and teachers to children's authors, parents, kids, etc.

Most of these ten tips are spot on. I'm going to focus on just one of them.

Ask for criticism. This might not be the easiest thing to do, but it's important. Getting constructive criticism is crucial for anyone in any profession, field, etc. It's the only way we are going to learn to become better. The one thing to know about getting criticism is to not take it to heart. You should really try to have an open mind and listen to what a critic has to say. This is true, especially when it comes to writing. You're writing for an audience, so it's important that they essentially read what they want to read and not just how you want to write something.


If there are any young authors or writers out there, I hope you enjoyed. And don't ever stop writing.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

Sunday Funday: This or That

Sunday Funday

This is mostly for women/females.

This or That

Makeup:
blush or bronzer: blush
lip gloss or lipstick: lipstick
eye liner or mascara: mascara
foundation or concealer: concealer and powder
neutral or color eye shadow: neutral or depends what I'm wearing
pressed or loose eye shadows: pressed
brushes or sponges: brushes

Nails:
OPI or china glaze: opi
Long or short: short or in between
Acrylic or natural: doesn't matter
Brights or darks: brights or in the middle
Flower or no flower: flower

Body:
perfume or body splash: body splash
lotion or body butter: lotion
body wash or soap: soap
lush or other bath company: other

Fashion:
jeans or sweat pants: sweat pants
long sleeve or short: short
dresses or skirts: dresses
stripes or plaid: stripes
flip flops or sandals: flip flops
scarves or hats: scarves
studs or dangly earrings: both
necklaces or bracelets: necklaces
heels or flats: flats
cowboy boots or riding boots: cowboy
jacket or hoodie: hoodie
forever 21 or charlotte russe: forever 21
abercombie or Hollister: neither
saks 5th or Nordstrom: neither

Hair:
curly or straight: I've been in a straight mood lately, but I do like curly as well
bun or ponytail: ponytail
bobby pins or butterfly clips: clips; bobby pins for when I'm performing though
hair spray or gel: spray
long or short: medium
light or dark: well since I have dark brown hair, I guess dark
side sweep bangs or full bangs: side
up or down: usually down

Random:
Rain or shine: shine, although I do love the smell of rain
Summer or winter: winter (I don't tolerate heat that well or else I would have said summer)
Fall or spring: fall
Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
East coast or West coast: East coast, since I've never been on the West Coast
 
Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥ 
 

Author Spotlight: Louisa May Alcott

Author Spotlight

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was an American classic novelist.

She's best known for Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys.

Featured on Jeopardy a few days ago. The question (not phrased exactly) was what book was Good Wives the sequel to? with the answer being Little Women.

Of course, I had to look it up because I never heard of Good Wives before. This brings me to a fun fact this week.

Fun Fact: Good Wives is considered to be the second part of Little Women. It came out separately at first, but after awhile, it was published with Little Women. I never knew that and I even did a report on Louisa May Alcott in my freshman English class in high school.

Louisa May Alcott was born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, PA. When she was born, Germantown was not actually part of Philly at that time - it's a neighborhood not too far from where my own neighborhood in Philly is.

She grew up in Boston and lived there until she died of health complications.

The Alcott family home is where Little Women is set, as well as where Louisa wrote the book and it's based loosely on Louisa's childhood with her sisters.

You can visit the Alcott family house, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts.

Photo credit goes to the Orchard House website, linked up above.

Little Women was one of my favorite childhood books that I read. I've recently got Little Men and Jo's Boys and I can't wait to read all three again.

What is your favorite childhood book/books?

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

Sunday Funday: Life Lessons

Sunday Funday: Life Lessons

I'm going to be doing this a little different than usual. And, by the way, I know I'm a day late in getting this out.

In life, there are good times, as well as bad times. Sometimes, things are thrown our way that remind us just how precious life really is. This past week has been challenging in my life, as a family member has been battling a medical crisis and unfortunately, it won't get any better in the long run. Physically, she will and may feel better but it's something she, as well as the rest of our family, will have to deal with for the rest of her life. It is something that came up suddenly and we were not expecting it in any way. I for one have really learned the importance of just how valuable life is this week. It also reminds me that time spent with loved ones is also precious and valuable as you never know when they'll be taken away.

I like to look at the not so great times in my life as learning experiences. For example, I had my first ever job interview several months ago. I didn't get the job, but I learned how to better prepare myself for an interview - like some of what not to say, not letting nerves get the best of me, etc.

I was going to compile a list of life lessons that I've learned throughout my lifetime, but I came across something that said it perfectly, from the great Albert Einstein.

Most importantly, stay true to yourself and be who you are.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥