Something Cool

(This title is an understatement).

I've already mentioned that I recently got an internship with the lovely ladies over at "Adventures In YA Publishing" (which I still can't believe), but I hadn't mentioned that I contributed to a post called "What We Wish We'd Written." Since I had to choose one book instead of, oh, I don't know, seven (*cough cough*) I chose Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Apparently someone saw what I'd written and, well, I'll let the screenshot speak for itself.

Amazing, right? :)

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Updates From MV:

Giving away three books for the price of absolutely nothing (click HERE).
Defending Harry Potter over at "The Book Chewers" in honor of the monthly theme, Banned Books (click HERE).
Sharing my favorite September read, also over at "The Book Chewers" (click HERE).
Going bonkers over THIS news.

(If you have something you'd like me to share in "Updates From MV" please send me an e-mail at themagicviolinist(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Thank you! :D)

Book Giveaway

I'm giving away the first three books in the bestselling Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy, Frostbite, and Shadow Kiss). Check out the Rafflecopter giveaway below to enter! :D (Sorry, USA only).

Couldn't get this picture to rotate, but you get the idea. ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three Random Writing Thoughts

I much prefer it when agents reject my novel with "I wasn't the right agent for this project" rather than "your project was not right for me." It's gentler.
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I love this quote:

via Figment

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If someone asked me who my all-time favorite character that I've created was, I would reply, "All of them." Trying to single one out is like trying to choose who you like more: your mom or your dad?

Tolkien Blog Party Meme

I'm participating in a Tolkien blog party over at "The Edge of Precipice." It's complete with giveaways of awesome Tolkien stuff, so be sure to check it out. :)

Now on to the meme!

1.  Have you read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit? If so, how many times? Once for each book, though I've only read the abridged Lord of the Rings on audio.

2.  Have you seen any movies based on them? Yes, part 1 of "The Hobbit." I'll be watching all three Lord of the Rings movies soon. :)

3.  Who first introduced you to Middle Earth? My parents (mainly my dad) along with a bunch of our friends.
4.  Who are your three favorite characters?  (Feel free to elaborate on whys). Ooh, that's a tough one. I like Golem, just because he's so odd and adds so much to the story. The Ents were funny, and I like Gandalf.

5.  What's your favorite Middle Earth location? Hobbiton.
6.  If you could belong to one of the races of Free Folk (Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Ents), which would you choose? The hobbits, because they like food and a good time. :)

7.  Would you rather eat lembas or taters? Lembas. Or taters. (Can I say both)?

8.  If you lived in Middle Earth, what weapon would you prefer wielding? (Well, magic, but I'm not sure that's what they're looking for). In that case, a bow and arrow. Call me a coward, but I'd rather shoot from far away than be in combat where the enemy is a foot away from you.
9.  What draws you to Tolkien's stories?  (The characters, the quests, the themes, the worlds, etc.) The wonderful storybuilding. Everything is so precise and detailed, down to the maps in the books.
10. List up to five of your favorite lines/quotes from the books or movies. "Not all those who wander are lost." "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." "My precious." "You shall not pass!" (Get ready for a long one):

"Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."

(And because I couldn't resist, here's a bonus one): "The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater."

Be sure to check out the post below this one. I have some exciting news!!! :D

I'M GETTING PUBLISHED!!!!! :D

YES YES YES IT'S TRUE!!!!! My short story It's the End of the World As We Know It is going to be published in an anthology! :D It's a self-published anthology, so a big, fancy publishing company isn't publishing it, but still! I'm so excited. :) It's called the Fauxpocalypse and the guy who started it is Misha Burnett, self-published author of Catskinner's Book, and Cannibal Hearts. The publication date is unknown, as is the cover, but most of the short stories are edited and the ones that aren't are being peer edited as we speak. :) The stories are all so good. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a part of the project. I'm so excited!

Here is an excerpt of It's the End of the World As We Know It:

Tomorrow my life will end.

Hold up, I'm not talking about suicide or anything. Nothing that dramatic. No, I'm talking about the end of the world.

Hold the screaming! I know the scientists have proven it. I know everyone's at home, hugging family and friends and saying their goodbyes, but I'm not.

Why waste your time on something that's never going to happen?

I know I said that my life was going to end tomorrow, but that was just a trap to get you to read my story.

Did it work?

Good.

My story is just way too interesting for anybody to ignore.

Summer of 2013

This was (yet again) stolen from nevillegirl over at "Musings From Neville's Navel."

Image From This Summer

I haven't taken many pictures this summer, so I'll show you my three favorite images I've found online.

I LOVE this one. I also LOVE "Bohemian Rhapsody."

So I took a quiz recently and found out that I'm a Hufflepuff . . . hmm . . .

This is just too cool.

Favorite Quote From A Book I Read This Summer

"You look like a protagonist." from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. (By the way? Best book I've read since Harry Potter. And you know how much I like The Hunger Games, which used to be my second favorite book. It's that good).

This Summer In One Word

Awesome.

Most Popular Review This Summer

Ha, my most popular book review from the summer actually isn't one I wrote! Nope, it's Karoline Kingley's East of Eden book review by John Steinbeck. :) Great job, Karoline!

Top Two Books I Read This Summer

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.
2. How I Lost You by Janet Gurtler.

Two Things I’m Looking Forward To This Fall

1. The "Catching Fire" movie on November 22!!!!! :D And my dad already promised to take me to the midnight premiere, so I'm especially excited!
2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth comes out on October 22! I hope our library gets it soon after it comes out. (Really soon after).

Three New Obsessions This Summer

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (can you tell that I like it)?
2. The band "Imagine Dragons" (especially THIS song, which I discovered after watching the trailer for "The Host" over, and over, and over again. Thanks to my pen pal for introducing me to more of their stuff)!
3. Is it weird to say my book, Cosmo? Because I'm having tons of fun writing it. :)

Most Popular Five Blog Posts Overall This Summer

1. Writer's Camp--Day 3. (Day 4 is coming soon)!

2. Interview With Em Garner + Giveaway

3. Harry Potter Meme

4. The Open Letter Challenge

5. ABCs of My Awesome Life

Five Things That Happened This Summer

1. We went to a Taylor Swift concert. (SQUEE!!!!!)
2. Our family's best friends moved here (though they're more like family than friends).
3. Our friends (mentioned on the line above this one) joined us on our beach vacation.
4. I got a few new writing gigs: one at "Positive Writer," another at "The Book Chewers," one at "As a Teen Writer," and a recent internship at "Adventures in YA Publishing"! :D
5. My brain nearly blew up (because of THIS. If you haven't heard about this you either don't like Harry Potter or you do like Harry Potter and have been living under a rock).

Six Songs That I Listened To Far Too Often This Summer

1. "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars (Always).
2. "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons (This song is too cool).
3. "Clarity" by Zedd featuring Foxes (Thanks to the radio and my brother. It's not my favorite--mostly because of the annoying, heavy dance beat in the middle, but parts of it are unique and pretty cool).
4. "Gone" by Ioanna Gika (This is not a well-known song at all, but it was in "Snow White and the Huntsman" and I loved it. It's now constantly stuck in my head, but no complaints there).
5. "Cups" by Anna Kendrick (I even learned how to do the cups. I can't listen to this song without going through the motions, cups or no cups)!
6. "Poison and Wine" by The Civil Wars (This song is haunting).

How was your summer? Leave a comment! :D