What's Kate Doing This Semester?

With all of the COVID-19 chaos, I decided it was best for me and my health (both mental and physical) to take a leave of absence this semester. Luckily, with all of my dual enrollment credits, I won't fall behind and I should be good to return (most likely remotely) to school in the spring. But I still wanted to make sure I spent this time at home doing something meaningful. I'm taking time to relax and see friends (on video chat and at a distance outside) and hang out with my family, but I didn't want to look back on these months and feel like I'd let life pass me by.

So what am I doing? A little of this, a little of that, and a lot of writing.

Writing a musical - "Firstborn"

I'm finally writing that musical I've been talking about writing for forever! I still have little confidence in my abilities as a lyricist and I have zero experience when it comes to composing, but I'm working on the book of a musical called "Firstborn."

It's a comedy (think "Wicked" meets "Something Rotten!") about a woman who promises two witches her firstborn child separately, so when the baby is born, both witches show up expecting to claim their prize. Instead, they're forced into joint custody, which is difficult when one witch is Wicked and the other is GoodTM.

It features an enemies-to-lovers F/F romance, a spunky and naive heroine who is a mixture of Ariel/Fiona if Ariel and Fiona had been raised by witches, and a musician with the personality of Orpheus from "Hadestown" if Orpheus were a horrible songwriter.

I'm having a lot of fun figuring out these characters' unique personalities and voices. I love writing dialogue, so scriptwriting is always a blast. I write so much faster when dialogue is the main focus, so I'm breezing through these pages no problem. The goal is to have the rough draft done by Christmas, which I think I'll be able to manage without any issue.

Writing a YA contemporary romance - (still needs a title)

My Josie Jones book (I'll figure out an official title eventually) is about a bisexual girl named Josie Jones who finds herself crushing hard on two different girls in her town. But there's a problem: Josie isn't fully out yet. Rather than going through the awkward coming-out process over and over again to friends, family, and classmates, Josie decides to throw a big summer party at which she'll come out to everyone all at once. It's going to be quite the show and turn coming out into a celebration rather than an obligation. Josie just has to navigate the complications of a love-triangle romance and teenage friendships and other shenanigans and misunderstandings first.

While my plot needs some work (it's so much easier to have my characters sit around and crack jokes rather than to have a conflict-filled scene), I love the vibe I'm building: it's summer-y and fun and full of queer girls and baked goods. Add a semi-dysfunctional but all-around really supportive family and you've got the feeling of my book. I made some collages featuring pictures from my Pinterest board to show you what I mean.

My mood board

My main cast of characters (starting upper left and going clockwise): Josie Jones, Hannah Ridley, April Harrison, Cassidy Morgan, and Drew Goldman

Querying Once Upon a Stage

Remember my F/F YA contemporary about theatre girls? It was previously titled All the World's Afraid, but since that title didn't make any sense after rewrites, my beta readers helped me land on a new title.

The querying process has actually been going really well! I've had lots of interest, including multiple requests for full manuscripts (no true bites yet after that, but one agent is reading the manuscript now!). I'm really hoping someone picks it up, because out of all the books I've written (and there have been many), this one really has my heart.

Eleanor's aesthetic

Sonya's aesthetic

Journaling

With college and then the pandemic hitting, I got super behind on journaling. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget to write about anything later though, so I'd take notes on what I did each day in my phone. I now have a HUGE list of notes in my phone, so I'm slowly working through the days and catching up on the days I missed journaling about.

NaNoWriMo - Mamma Mia: Here We Go to Hell

I can't tell if I love or hate the title of this book yet even though it makes me snicker every time I think about the pun I've created, but that's the title we're sticking with for now. I can't stand "Mamma Mia," but I love the concept for this book:

"Mamma Mia" meets "Supernatural": After learning that her mom sold her soul to one of three demon lords, seventeen-year-old Sophie Lewis and her friends venture into Hell to find out who has it and how to get it back.

It's going to be so much fun to create the world of Hell and all of the demons in it. I already love my main character and her friends. I'm very excited to get started on this project in November.

My (very rough) book cover

Reading Jane Eyre

This is a classic I've meant to read for years, so what better time to finally read it than during a global pandemic? It's slow going because I have to have an incredible amount of focus to comprehend the sentences I'm reading, but I'm liking it so far. I don't know a ton about the plot, so I'm curious in what direction this is heading.

Continuing with vocal lessons

My vocal teacher is continuing lessons with some of her students (like me) virtually, so I get to keep up with my vocal work. My range is slowly stretching, which I'm really pleased about, because now I can comfortably sing more mezzo-soprano songs rather than struggling through them. There's a ton more work to be done, but it's all about practice and commitment.

Learning editing and proofreading

I took a certification course on proofreading a couple months ago and now I'm learning about other kinds of editing through YouTube so I can branch out with my writing skills. I've even started offering my freelance services to make some extra cash while I'm stuck at home, and not only is it fun, but it's also helpful to those who need the second set of eyes. I'm having a great time with it!

Learning to tap

Tap has always been my weakest spot when it comes to dancing in musicals, but anytime I've done it, I've had a lot of fun. I'm utilizing the tap floor we built in our basement to really focus on the basic moves.

Whenever I've tapped in shows, I've just been thrown in to all the complicated steps because there isn't time to slow things down and teach me the foundational stuff, so that's something I've been missing all these years. Luckily, now I have the time to spend a half hour perfecting a basic shuffle. I've even got a single time step down!

Max is teaching me most of the basic steps, but I've also been using YouTube to learn some fun combinations set to music, like in this video:

 

Learning/polishing audition monologues

I'm great at practicing a variety of songs, but when it comes to monologues, I always scramble to find and memorize one, let alone have the time to polish it before an audition rolls around. Not anymore! I got myself a fancy binder ("fancy" meaning I created a simple graphic to print out for the cover) and organized all of the monologues I want to work on, both comedic and dramatic.

I'm marking up my monologues with various notes, recording myself, and using those recordings to critique what could be better. An audition opportunity came up the other day for some short digital performances at my community theatre and rather than half-assing a barely memorized monologue, I had something prepared I could submit!

My fancy binder 💖

Practicing photography

I've learned how to take some pretty good headshots over the past few months, but now I'm focusing on other aspects of photography and digital editing. It's been a challenge, but a good one! I recently went through a fraction of my book collection to sort out old books to sell (because again, any cash I can make at home is great right now!) and focused on taking artsy pictures of them so they'd be more eye-catching to potential buyers. I think a lot of them turned out nicely!

Some examples from my book bundle photos

Practicing drawing

I am not an artist by any means when it comes to putting a pencil to a sketchpad, but it is fun to stretch a different part of my creative brain sometimes. My boyfriend is an amazing artist, so we've been video chatting while watching different how-to-draw YouTube videos together and he'll give me pointers on how to do different techniques. I'm pretty happy with how my human eye turned out the one night we watched a video about that.

Learning about a hodgepodge of topics

I made Fridays my "hodgepodge day" so I can explore a variety of interests I might not want to dedicate an entire semester to. I've done photography some days, coloring/drawing on others, and this past week I watched a bunch of different YouTube videos and crash courses about psychology fun facts. It's been a nice way to end the school week. Here's one of the videos I watched if you're interested in learning more about psychology (in this case specifically, motivation):

 

Teaching violin lessons

I've been teaching violin to a few students over Zoom these past few months, and while it was a little weird at first, it's a lot of fun now! It takes a lot of creativity to figure out how to teach a young kid how to hold their violin or put their fingers in the right places on the strings when you're not able to just physically guide their hands to the right positioning, but I'm getting it.

Exercising

I've definitely exercised way more in these six months at home than I have ever past years. It's been a lot easier to stick with my exercise goal this year though! My mom, brother, and I have been playing a lot of "Just Dance" recently, which is both fun and a hell of a workout. I sweat more doing that than I ever do with regular cardio workouts. Maybe it's because my competitive side forces me to work harder than I would if I were just jogging on my own.

What have you been doing this semester, whether or not you're currently in school? Any exciting writing projects in the works? Leave a comment!

A Simple List of Comforting Things

I love lists. Lists are one of the things that comfort me, especially when I'm stressed out and overwhelmed and don't know where to start when I have a thousand things to do. Since I'm sad more often than not given the current state of our world (I think I'm going on week 10 of self-isolation soon?), I figured I'd share a list of various comforting things that help me find cozy vibes when I'm stressed/sad/anxious/upset. Not only does it help me remember the kinds of things I should turn to when I'm too overwhelmed to come up with anything, but maybe there will be some good reminders for you here too.

-Tea
-Lattes
-Homemade baked goods (cookies, coffee cake, scones, etc. Basically anything that goes well with tea)
-Mac 'n' cheese
-Ramen (Yeah, I know, I'm a stereotypical college student. You can make the ramen fancier by adding a soft boiled egg)
-Reese's cups
-Kettle corn
-Sushi
-Spanakopita
-Tamales
-Milkshakes
-Egg rolls/spring rolls
-S'mores
-Rissóis 

-Egg in a nest

I think just based off how long this section is, the solution to making me happy is giving me food.

-Rereading a favorite book (Usually Harry Potter or some fluffy contemporary)
-Fan-fiction (writing or reading)
-Blogging!
-Drawing (only if it's something simple that I feel like I'm pretty good at or else it stresses me out LOL)
-Latch hook kit
-Writing poetry
-Making graphics (like the ones I use for my blog)
-Getting totally lost in my WIP
-Making Pinterest aesthetic boards for my novels
-Starting a brand new books (writing or reading)
-Walking through bookstores and libraries

-My "happy" playlist
-The playlist Josh made for me
-Making new playlists for my novels
-Singing
-Listening to my favorite Broadway soundtracks
-Taylor Swift
-Dodie
-Going to see a musical
-Rehearsing for/performing a show

-Scruble
-Minecraft
-Wii games (like Mario Kart or Lego Harry Potter)
-Cards Against Humanity
-Jackbox games (I think freshman year got me addicted to Quiplash)

-Harry Potter movies (including Fantastic Beasts)
-Love, Simon
-Wonder Woman
-Castle
-Supernatural
-Doctor Who
-Gilmore Girls
-Bingewatching a new show

-Texting old friends
-Video chatting
-Hugs
-Cuddles
-Dancing (if I'm not too drained to get up and move LOL)

-Cleaning my room
-Reorganizing my desk
-Getting a big homework assignment done (the trick is actually starting it . . .)

-Sending letters
-Baking someone something
-Buying someone their favorite candy
-Coming up with creative gifts

-Dogs, dogs, and dogs
-Cute/funny animal videos
-Fuzzy socks
-Sweatshirts
-Flannel shirts
-Rainbows
-The color yellow
-Cartoon heart icons (I love fun designs on things)
-The beach
-Cozy blankets
-Candles
-Campfires
-Getting packages or letters in the mail
-Sunflowers
-"Themed" packages

What comforts you? Leave a comment!

20 Bucket List Items for the Next 20 Years

I turned 20 on the 11th and even though I had to stay at home, I still had a wonderful day. My dad made tons of good food (homemade mac and cheese, quiche, poke bowls, Portuguese codfish fritters, etc.), we played board games and virtual escape rooms, made s'mores in lieu of a traditional birthday cake, watched a half-hour long surprise video of virtual birthday messages from friends and family all across the country (Mom had a brilliant idea and Max did all the editing), and did all of this while carrying Josh around on my phone with us via video chat.

20 feels big to me even though it isn't really a huge milestone in terms of American culture (I'm kind of in between milestones: I've been an adult for two years, I can already vote, I can't drink yet, etc.). But on the other hand, I'm no longer a teenager, I've been alive for two decades, and there's a whole different number at the start of my age. For the next several months, I suspect I'll write a "1" out of habit when starting to list my age on some form.

So to celebrate this "kind-of" milestone, I wanted to list a bucket list of sorts for the next twenty years of my life with all kinds of goals (dreamlike and achievable) I've wanted to do for a while now. I've already done so many big things in the past twenty years (traveled to Europe, seen Broadway shows, been to "Supernatural" conventions and "met" the actors through photo ops, met up with friends I made online, gone to college, started dating, etc. etc. etc.), so I can't wait to see what I'll do in the next twenty years.

1. Publish one of my YA novels
2. See one of my books adapted into a movie
3. Meet some of my favorite authors in person (J.K. Rowling, Rainbow Rowell, Becky Albertalli, etc.)
4. Go to YALLFest
5. Win an award for something creative I've done (writing a book, writing a play - do I dare dream of a Tony Award before 40? 😬)
6. Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda in person
7. Create a concept album or put on a concert/performance for a genderbent "Les Mis"
8. Perform on Broadway (even as a walk-on role!)
9. Write a musical and see it performed (anywhere, but especially on Broadway in my dreams)
10. Play the lead in a non-junior musical
11. Check Eponine off my list of dream roles
12. Get married
13. Have a kid or two
14. Have a house of my own
15. Adopt dogs (so many dogs)
16. Dye my hair a crazy color (I've wanted to do this for years and will actually be doing this in the next week!)
17. Be an extra on a TV show
18. Find a day job/long-term career I love (something that will support me on its own without artsy endeavors)
19. Dabble in screenwriting (I wouldn't want to write for TV or movies long-term, but I'd love to have that experience of being in the writers' room just once to see how it works)
20. Go on a book tour/be a part of book conferences

Are many of these goals pie-in-the-sky or out of my control, no matter how hard I try? Probably. Yes. But many of these things are within my control and the rest are fun to dream about. I'll be curious to look back on this list when I'm forty and see how much has or hasn't happened. And I'm sure even the things that don't happen will be replaced by so many other amazing experiences.

Here's to the next twenty years!

What are some of your bucket list goals, both "realistic" and "unrealistic?" Leave a comment!

College Dorm Room Tour

Since I just started my second semester at college, I thought I'd give you a tour of my cozy, colorful dorm room. I love how it's set up; it's the closest thing to home even though I'm far from home because of how many pictures and familiar objects I've used to decorate the room. If you're headed off to school soon yourself, hopefully this will give you some ideas.

Here's a shot of my room right after we set it up when I moved in. A little has changed here and there (more pictures on the walls, etc.), but this is basically what it looks like.

I opted for twinkle lights over curtains around the window, which makes for really nice soft lighting when I'm going to sleep.

Josh's mom got me the photo holder before I went to school, which was super sweet, and then two cast mates of mine from "Beauty and the Beast" got me the plant and the framed picture on the far right. I use this windowsill all the time as a nightstand for my books and mugs of tea.

I wasn't planning to go with a pink/purple theme, but once I got a couple things for the room, I stuck with the color scheme. The rug is super soft and comfortable when I get out of bed in the morning.

I realized last minute that I needed something for my books, so my dad got me a couple crates and I painted them.

This is probably my favorite part of the room. I love sitting at my desk with the lights on my photo clips. The sunflowers were a gift from Josh after a show. It adds so much brightness to the room!

A friend of mine sent a Halloween care package to me, so I taped fall leaves to the wall to add a little seasonal decoration. It was so nice and unexpected!

My closet is big enough for me to stand inside and change my clothes, which is really cool and very unexpected for a dorm room, LOL.

And finally, I hang up every drawing Josh gives me so I can look at them anytime I want. They're gorgeous!

How do you decorate your room/office/cozy space? Do you like photos and twinkle lights as much as I do? Leave a comment!

In Which I Share My Favorite Onstage (and Offstage) Moments and Mishaps from 6 Theatrical Productions

Ah, live theatre. Part of what makes a live show so exciting is that anything could happen at any time and the actors will be forced to find a way to carry on. There isn't any way to cut and start over; you have to be quick on your feet. I have many wild tales to tell about the past two plays and four musicals I've been a part of in the past couple of years (as well as some of my favorite pictures to share!).

Beauty and the Beast Jr.

This show was extra special because it was my first true musical and the entire cast was so supportive. Every single person felt so special, from the leads to the ensemble. A lot of my initial nerves about singing and dancing onstage vanished (not completely, but mostly) after we took our final curtain call.

Favorite onstage moment: I always looked forward to "Gaston." The song is funny and lively and we got to bang old-timey mugs together throughout the dance break. It was a crowd favorite, for sure.

Favorite offstage moment: Helping with the transition from "Human Again" to "Beauty and the Beast." Belle and the Beast only had a minute to change out of their older costumes into the iconic ones worn in "Beauty and the Beast," so while the castle servants were singing the end of "Human Again," the rest of us backstage were frantically helping Belle to change into her gown and the Beast into his coat. He had these massive paw-like gloves on, so it was up to us to untie his cape and get his coat on and give him the magic mirror to hide away so he could present it to Belle later. It was all kinds of stressful during that time crunch, but there was something exhilarating about getting it done with seconds to spare. The rest of us backstage would always high-five each other for a job well done once "Beauty and the Beast" started.


Favorite mishap: I can't remember any mishaps at the moment, but I was definitely scared of knocking all the books off my shelf in my little bookshop during "Belle." To give myself some stage business, I kept rearranging the books or dusting them, but knowing my klutzy self, I had to focus on carefully placing them back on the shelf instead of dropping them on the stage.


A Christmas Carol

My first show at the Hershey Area Playhouse! I love the intimate staging and the general vibe of the whole place. Every show there is an absolute joy. This was especially exciting because it was Max's first show where he was onstage instead of behind-the-scenes, and both of us got a considerable number of lines.


Favorite onstage moment: It's hard to choose, but I looked forward to Fred's party each night because I got to wear a pretty dress where I wasn't drowning in layers and it was one of the more joyous scenes. I ran around the stage and giggled with the other girls as we played games and laughed at each other's jokes. But I also enjoyed any time when I sang carols in other scenes.


Favorite offstage moment: During intermission, I would go to the dressing room with the other teen girls and we'd practice our harmony while singing "Milkshake" (the "Riverdale" version). It became a nightly ritual.


Favorite mishap: There were a small handful of dropped lines or missed cues, but the one that amused me the most was during the Fezziwig party scene where all the guests danced to my violin playing of "Roger de Coverly." Since it was only me on the violin, I would start playing and the dancers would clap along to add an extra bounce to the song and scene. It was tons of fun. But as they got more comfortable with the song and dance steps, each night they began clapping faster and faster, which forced me to play even faster to keep up with them. By closing night, my fingers were sore and had blisters and rosin flew up in clouds of dust from my bow scraping against the strings so quickly.

Peter Pan Jr.

This show continues to be my favorite theatre experience. Not only was it my first time playing the lead, but it was my first time playing a villainous, comedic role. My entire pirate crew was a rowdy, fun-loving bunch, making each scene a joy to play out.

Favorite onstage moment: Easily "Hook's Waltz." As I mentioned in my end-of-the-year wrap-up, this was my favorite song to sing every night, because it was the best one for my vocal range, the most fun when it came to choreography, and it came at the climax of the show when I was running on pure adrenaline. At that point in the show, I was completely settled into my character and no longer nervous about the audience in front of me. From that song all the way to the end of the final battle with Peter, I was having the time of my life.


Favorite offstage moment: Any time I wasn't onstage, I was usually guzzling water and trying to mitigate the amount of sweat dripping from my face, so I didn't have a lot of time to do anything but prep for the next scene. But, during "I Won't Grow Up," the pirates all sang along backstage to provide extra volume, and, of course, we made up our own obnoxious choreography. It made us laugh each night.


Favorite mishap: I didn't find it funny at the time, but now that the show has passed, it's a great theatrical anecdote. There were two major mishaps that happened on the same night (my first night as Hook onstage):

1. My costume combined with the lights made me ridiculously sweaty, so by the time I reached the "Tarantella," I was drenched. Right at the point when I was supposed to flick my wrist in the air, my hook flew off and clattered (loudly) across the stage. Keep in mind that during dress rehearsal, I'd said, "I'll be fine so long as my hook doesn't fall off," so I'd basically cursed myself. Luckily, my double (the one who would play Hook on the nights I didn't) was there to do damage control. Throughout the night, he stuffed the inside of my hook with paper towels so I could keep a better grip on it. Future crises averted!

2. When I spun around to face Peter Pan, who had just snuck onto the ship, I noticed that Ava (the actress playing Peter) was holding her weapon in one hand and her mic pack in the other. I tried not to be distracted by the fact that she was going to have a difficult time doing our fight scene one-handed and kept going with my lines. Then, right as I drew my own weapon, the mic clipped onto my jacket fell off and dangled by my feet, making horrible noises as it dragged across the stage. Seconds later, the guy in the sound booth turned my mic off, so not only did I have to focus on not stepping on it as I fought Ava, but I also had to shout every one of my lines so the audience could hear me. It was a whirlwind of a scene.


Once Upon a Mattress

This show was pure fun. I loved each song I was in and our entire cast was so talented. It's the perfect example of a situation where being in the ensemble is just as enjoyable as being a named character. We all had a blast.

Favorite onstage moment: It's a tie between "Opening for a Princess" and "Spanish Panic" which leads right into "Song of Love." "Opening" is the perfect opening number to get an audience excited about the story to come. It took us a long time to get the timing of the lyrics down along with our complicated footwork, but once it came together, it looked fantastic. And "Spanish Panic" is a relentlessly tiring dance number that causes everyone to collapse on the ground (literally - it's in the script) and drip with sweat for a few seconds before getting right back up to sing "Song of Love," which is the showstopping number that ends the first act. Those two songs got great audience reactions, and it was one of the few times almost the entire cast is onstage at once.

Favorite offstage moment: Several nights, during a duet between Lady Larken and Sir Harry ("Yesterday I Loved You"), the actor who played Prince Dauntless would come down to the green room to entertain us all (mostly me) by miming the entirety of the song (both parts!). It never failed to make us giggle and became a running joke. Here's a clip of the final night he did it:

Favorite mishap: I remember all of us trying not to audibly snicker onstage when the queen accidentally said to Prince Dauntless something along the lines of, "I went through this whole heartbreaking process to find you a suitable prince" instead of "a suitable princess" because the actor playing Dauntless was gay and he seemed to be holding back laughter himself. We joked about it endlessly after the show.

Lion King Jr.

This was a beautiful musical! I was really impressed with everyone's hard work, cast and crew, to turn this junior show into something that seemed really professional. Several people who watched it said that they cried or even liked it better than what they saw on Broadway. I loved being a part of it.

Favorite onstage moment: The very first scene where the hyenas come on was my favorite one to do. I got to cackle along with the other two, be generally creepy, and taunt Zazu, who happened to be played by my brother.

Favorite offstage moment: I got a big ol' break in Act Two, so Mufasa, Serafina, and I usually hung out backstage and lip synced to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." It was a challenge not to make any noise since we were usually holding back laughter at our ridiculously dramatic (and silent) rendition of the song.


Favorite mishap: Seconds before Scar had to be onstage, he realized his fake mouse prop was missing, which was essential to his scene. Everyone else was involved in the "Circle of Life," so there was only the two of us who could try to remedy the situation. Once we realized it wasn't turning up anytime soon, I tossed him one of my furry gloves I used for my costumes and said, "Use this!" He balled it up in his hand so only the fur showed and it wouldn't be obvious that it was a glove and not a small animal, then went on right as the lights were coming up. We did find the mouse later, but there was some definite panic. It was one of the few times I was able to think quickly.

Charlotte's Web

Settling into a mom role took a long time since I'd just finished playing Banzai, but it was a fun change. I liked having my little family and messing around with my "kids" backstage.

Favorite onstage moment: Anytime Avery sassed me. He was adorable and hilarious, so it was really hard not to break character and laugh when I was supposed to be exasperated with him. But it was fun having to discipline him while he's still joking around and waving me off.


Favorite offstage moment: Doing the macarena with the rest of the cast right before curtain call. I don't even remember how it started, but it became a tradition each night as the lights dimmed on the final scene.

Favorite mishap: Our Edith had the hardest time saying the line "giving the pig a buttermilk sponge bath." For weeks during rehearsal she'd say "pilk" instead of "pig," which, of course, the rest of the cast teased her about endlessly. The couple times she accidentally said "pilk" during a show, even after saying "pig" to herself over and over again backstage to make sure she got it right, the rest of us had to fight back smirks.

Have you ever been part of a musical or play (onstage or off)? What's your favorite show? Leave a comment!

One Camp, Two Camps, Red Camp, Blue Camp

(This post features my sad attempt at a creative blog post title.)

This summer totally flew by, for a number of reasons, but part of why it was so busy was because I went to three different camps! Two writing camps and one non-writing camp. All of them were so cool in totally different ways, so I'm going to do what I do best when I'm excited about something and RAMBLE about them. I might even share some writing from the camps. Who knows? You'll have to read to find out.

Camp #1: Camp ArtWorks - Elizabethtown College

I had no clue what to expect with this camp since it was my first time going, and it looked like the camp was pretty new, but once I saw Daina Savage was teaching there, I knew I had to go. I had her as a teacher years ago at the Linden Hall writing day camp and loved her. It was so nice to see her again! I was surprised she actually recognized me after all these years, but from day one, she knew exactly who I was.

This was also my first time going away to a camp and not knowing who my roommate would be, so I was a little nervous, but she turned out to be great! We got along really well. And we were both night owls, so it worked out fabulously.

My roommate and me.

It was a really small camp, so everyone got to know each other. We all ate meals together, hung out and played games like Mafia and Truth or Dare during free times, and had impromptu open mic nights. Our RAs were so cool. We adopted them as our mom, dad, aunt, and uncle for the week. It was tons of fun hanging out with them and they loved to read and critique our writing.

Our dorm family.

The classes were all really diverse. We got a taste for flash-fiction, short stories, poetry, lyrical essays, and scripts, all in one day. Everyone liked some teachers better than others, but it was definitely the best camp I've been to in terms of how many different genres I got to try out. Some camps I'll write two or three pieces that I workshop like crazy until it's just right, but with this camp, I got to just generate a ton of work. Lots of it was garbage, but that's to be expected when you're trying to write twelve different pieces in a day.

Some extremely short flash-fiction I wrote when we were challenged to write stories in 25 words or less. Hopefully you can make out the text.

One of my favorite parts was writing a script together with my roommate. There was forty-five minutes between class and lunch, so we locked ourselves in our room and worked on it. We ended up having so much fun with it, we almost missed lunch. Our "dorm mom" had to knock on our door and make sure we knew what time it was.

All in all, it was a really great week.


Camp #2: Young Writers Workshop - Messiah College

This camp has always been my favorite. I look forward to it every summer, and this year was no different. I signed up to be roommates with two girls I'd met at that camp in past years (Sam and Dana), so we shared a triple together and had a blast. Of course, we didn't get any sleep with all of us hanging out in the same room together, but that was fine by me.The Messiah workshop usually has so many students, they completely fill three separate classes, but this year was tiny. We had maybe 20 kids. But this really gave me the chance to get to know students who had been there every year, but I'd never gotten to talk to.

Our epic squad.

My class had a great teacher who used some really meditative exercises each day to help us stretch our writing muscles and write in different genres or styles we may not always gravitate to on our own. She helped us form smaller critique groups within the class, and everyone was super supportive of each other. We felt like a little family, quirks and all. I wrote a lot of poetry this year, and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

A short love poem inspired by Luneville, the best headcanon ship to have ever come out of Harry Potter.

And, of course, the famous (or dare I say "infamous?") talent show. After Sam, Dana, and I did a hilarious and completely uncoordinated lip sync to "Farmer Refuted" last year, we'd become a sort of camp legend. The RAs made sure we were the ones to close the show this year, and boy, was it a hit. We did another lip sync, this time to "Gaston." We even got a new girl we'd made friends with that week to be part of it. It was tons of fun and we ended up winning first prize in the "Miscellaneous" category.

Camp #3: St. John's Summer Academy - St. John's

This camp was the one I was most nervous about, mostly because I wasn't sure what to expect from the campers. I had no clue what kind of people would be there and worried I wouldn't be "intellectual" enough to really find my people. It turned out to be okay! Most everyone there was really nice, even if they weren't the geeky/fangirly campers I was used to from my other camps.

The classes were cool. I loved the discussion style (for the most part), especially since the readings I had to read ahead of time were a mixed bag. Some of them I really enjoyed and totally understood (like most of the short stories, "Twelfth Night," and Pride and Prejudice), but others I was really confused by (like the science text and some of the essays) and needed to talk to the other teens and tutors in order to figure out what I'd read. The seminar style was a little tricky to navigate since sometimes it was hard to find a way into the discussion. One girl who was in all of my classes had a habit of monopolizing the conversation and never liked to admit she could be wrong, but she was quickly shut down by the other students as the week went on and everyone grew tired of her.

Annapolis is so cute and fun! It felt like a beach town without the beach. The girls on my floor in the dorms made daily excursions to get food, ice cream, visit shops, and go to old bookstores. In fact, we went out for ice cream so many times, we had debates on which shops had the best flavors and prices.

More daily activities were the workshops the various RAs hosted. We had a huge list of extracurriculars we could choose from (like poetry, flash philosophy, and fencing, all of which I tried), so I ended up going to theatre any time it was an option, which ended up being a good choice, not only because it was fun, but because I got to be a part of a talent show performance.

My RA ran the theatre workshop, so she worked with a couple classmates and me to put on the sleepwalking scene from "Macbeth" with a bunch of really cool choreography. There were three of us who played Lady Macbeth, and two other classmates who jumped in last minute to play the doctor and the gentlewoman. The video is dark, but you can still see the choreography pretty well. I'm the one on the very right in the red dress.

But everyone's favorite part was the swing dancing party. Each day, there were two groups of campers who alternated between playing croquet and taking swing dancing lessons. These lessons built on one another in order for us to be prepared for the swing party at the end of the week. It lasted several hours and our feet ached by the end of it, but nobody cared, because we were too busy dancing the whole time to notice. It was the perfect way to end the camp.

What was your favorite summer camp or camp activity you participated in? Leave a comment!

Snippets (What I'm Doing, Writing, Working On, Listening to, etc.)

So much has happened around here lately that I've had a hard time coming up with what to post about. How do I decide on just one topic??? Then inspiration struck. I'll write about EVERYTHING. I'll bombard you with little bits of my life, writing samples, pictures, and more until you wish I had just decided to write about one thing.

Buckle up, there's a lot going on in this post.

I was in a musical!

A local theater group put on "Beauty and the Beast" and it was so. much. fun. (Besides the audition where I was like 60% sure I was going to pass out but somehow made it through.) I played the bookseller, which was perfect because I got a few lines but didn't have to be in the spotlight for one of my first more serious theater productions, and I got to be in all the best songs ("Belle," "Gaston," "The Mob Song," and "Finale")! We had four performances with two different casts (the main parts were all double cast) and everyone was really talented and fun to be around. The costumes and sets were amazing, too.

I'm friends with the family in charge of the sets, so they had me pick out a few titles like Harry Potter and Eleanor & Park for them to paint on the books. They also added my books (Fauxpocalypse and Instructions For Flight) as a surprise, which was so cool!

My brother and dad built Maurice's invention

From left to right: Bookseller, Maurice, stage crew, Madame D'arque, and Lumiere.

Jazz hands!

Beauty and the Beast

With our directors and choreographer.

 

 

Somehow I managed to avoid stepping on Gaston's feet here.

My best startled and annoyed face at Maurice accosting me when I'm just trying to get Gaston a drink.

I don't know what's happening with his facial expression here, but I love it.

The directors kept these two siblings in the same cast because they had way too much fun fighting each other onstage.

Kill the beast!

Fight scene.

The beast's transformation.

 

 

They put me in charge of a small child at the last minute for curtain call.

You can see me peeking out from underneath Babette's and the wardrobe's arms.

Phew, that's a lot of pictures.


We had a party to watch the Tony Awards!

Not that I wasn't already listening to "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" like crazy, but the Tony Awards just gave me another excuse to listen to them non-stop. Our friends who are also musical theater junkies (and were involved in "Beauty and the Beast") came over to watch with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we couldn't let a perfect food opportunity go to waste.

After seeing the "Great Comet" performance, I'm even more excited (if that's possible) to see it live! My dad surprised my brother and me with tickets to go see it on Broadway with Oak from "Hamilton" starring as Pierre! :)

I'm working on a thousand different writing projects!

This is a bit hyperbolic, but you get the idea. I just finished the first round of edits for Ms. Holmes and am horrified at how often I used adverbs and the phrase "She raised her eyebrows." I'm surprised my characters' eyebrows didn't fly off their foreheads from overuse.

And since I'm more sick of 221B Baker Street than I can say, I'm getting ready to tackle edits for 'Til the Last Star Dies, because I miss my little ragtag team of demon hunters and witches. I'm also curious what horrors I'll find in there. Maybe my adverb usage will have improved?

I took a break from my pirates, but I'm returning to Captain Zahira and her Wayward Crew after more inspiration struck me. I'd forgotten just how many characters I'd decided to include, so juggling all of them should be fun. Right now I'm especially fond of my half-mermaid Master Gunner, Jezebelle. Jez is that person who has a dozen different weapons hidden in the most unlikely of places and takes several minutes to unload them upon being captured by the enemy when they say, "Leave all your weapons."

I've also written a lot of flash-fiction I'm hoping to submit to the Scholastic writing contest later this year. So far my favorite one is about the four horsewomen of the apocalypse arguing over how best to destroy humanity. It's really freaking weird and probably needs a lot of work, but I loved writing it.

And finally, I've been writing a lot of poetry. Poems are always good to have on hand for contests, and I love writing them more than ever since I took that online poetry course from the University of Iowa. Who knows if they're any good, but I've definitely improved.

I completed my Goodreads goal!

Already? You might be thinking. Yes, already, because for some reason I thought setting a low goal this year would be more realistic since I wouldn't have as much time to read with the classes I've been taking at my community college. But I forgot I can totally count stuff I have to read in class toward my goal! (This is a super handy trick that I absolutely recommend if you're busy with school and need to complete a challenge.) My theatre class alone allowed me to add four or five plays to my goal of 40 books. I probably cheated a little, too, since I've been adding comic books toward the challenge, too.

In case you're curious, here are my favorite books from the year so far.

I have a bunch of writing camps coming up!

Writing camps are always the highlight of my summer, because it's the only magical place on earth where you can get a bunch of awkward and introverted writers together and turn them into these strangely extroverted creatures. Each year, I make new friends who are talented and hysterical and love all the same things I do. The classes are great and the teachers encourage you to keep in touch with them afterwards so they can continue to help you with all of your writing endeavors. It's going to be tons of fun.

In fact, I loved camp so much last year, I wrote a full-length movie script about it that's probably 85% autobiographical.

Somehow in this time, Kat managed to leave the room without being noticed and then come back through the door with a carton of Chinese food. She stops with her chopsticks midair when she notices everyone staring at her.

KAT
What?

PEYTON
Where in the world did you get that?
 
KAT
What do you mean?
 
PEYTON
We don’t have Chinese food anywhere on campus. And we’re not allowed to leave campus . . .
 
KAT
I know people.
 
DANA
Of course you do.
 
ANNA MARIE
Well sit back down and help us get stuff done.
 
DANA
Yeah, I’ve done nothing except quietly weep on the inside at how little I’ve gotten done.
 
SAM
Hey, Sarah and I got stuff done . . .
 
PEYTON
Really? What’d you do?
 
Sarah mumbles something unintelligible.
 
ANNA MARIE
(dryly)
Sorry, didn’t catch that.
 
SAM
Wrote “Wicked” parodies.
 
SARAH
(singing)
“I’m gonna tryyy defyyyying responsibilitiiiieeeesss.”
 
Kate and Peyton giggle. Anna Marie looks 5000% done with everyone.
 
ANNA MARIE
And this is why we get nothing done.
 
CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON THE ALARM CLOCK IN THE ROOM. IT READS 1:15. IT FADES TO 3:37.
 
Sam and Sarah are now belting show tunes. Kat somehow got a hold of an entire large Papa John’s pizza and gives everybody a slice.
 
Anna Marie quietly bangs her forehead against her keyboard. Dana is surrounded by at least five different notebooks and looks panicked. Kate and Peyton are the only ones typing away at their laptops as if they’re actually getting work done.

My dog is adorable!

In other news, water is wet.

I made the dean's list!

This past semester was the first time I took on a full load of classes, and I decided I really wanted to challenge myself, so I took a public speaking course and an Intro to Human Biology class. And let me tell you, our bio professor was freaking insane.

Eccentric and intense doesn't even begin to describe him. He gets like four hours of sleep each night because he gets up at 3 in the morning to run seven miles or so, then showers, drives to work, and repeats this every day. Every time I came to class, I'd try to see how much the bags under his eyes had grown. Not only is he a crazy runner, but he's a health freak, too. Anytime he'd talk about McDonald's, he'd called them "Micky D's" and get this manic glint in his eye like he was fantasizing about burning it to the ground. He frequently stopped talking about whatever it was we were supposed to be learning for the next test to go on fifteen minutes rants about how we need to get an hour of exercise a day and get our blood pressure checked and make sure we eat a nutritious breakfast. I would always describe him to my friend as a strange combination between a drill sergeant and a concerned father.

Anyways, all of this is to say that he terrified me for a good month. Imagine coming into class your first day for a course you already know is probably your worst subject and seeing this guy with a stern look on his face and bags under his eyes that could carry all of his groceries from how deep they were. And then as soon as the clock hits 9:30, he starts off class by telling us statistics from his previous classes. "Seven of you will fail, five will drop out, another seven will have to fight and claw their way to a passing grade, and maybe, maybe two of you will get an A. If you're lucky." This is a direct quote, I kid you not.

At that point, I was just hoping for a B and trying not to cry. But then he passed out index cards to all of us and asked us to write down our names and what grade we thought we'd get. I had no clue why and I'm still not really sure why he had us do this, but okay, I'd take the bait. This was a challenge. Even if I was 95% sure at that point I would get a B in the best case scenario, I wasn't going to write that down, so I wrote down I thought I'd get an A. I think most of the class did the same because they thought it was the right answer, and as he took all of the index cards back, I could see his disbelieving frown and a look of, "Yeah, sure, okay, you keep telling yourself that."

After about a month, though, he started to scare me less and less because I really tried to do everything I could to get my grade as high as possible. The tests were awful and required a ridiculous amount of memorization, so I took advantage of the fact that I was acing theater class to take extra time to study for the tests and pop quizzes. But there were also easy ways to get my grade up, like showing up to class (duh) and the participation points. He encouraged everyone from day one to raise their hands and answer questions (or ask questions), even if they didn't totally know the answer. Sometimes he'd even ask people to raise their hands to answer a question he hadn't asked yet. It was intimidating as hell, but I wasn't about to lose the easiest points possible for my grade, so I did it, and I think he appreciated that.

One day he found out that I was homeschooled and still in high school and he told me that both homeschoolers and high schoolers were always the best students in his classes, which was great motivation at that point, because I was pretty sure I'd just gotten a C on the last test we had (it was a C. I'm still bitter about it.).

By the time finals came around, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could probably scrape an A on the course. I studied for hours because I wasn't about to let all the hard work go to waste. I wouldn't have minded a B at first, but when I was this close to an A, I'd be pretty disappointed to fall short then. Especially since he'd told us only two people in the class had As at that point (I was one of them) and that he wasn't even sure those people could keep it with how hard the final was.

It. Was. On.

After class, I went to him to see what I had to do to keep my A, and he said he actually thought I had a good chance of keeping it if I continued to study as hard as I had been, which told me his little speech before was probably a scare tactic to kick the rest of the class into high gear. "But," he said, raising his eyebrows and giving me one of his Looks. "You can't take your pedal off the gas already. There's still another lap to go." Which was a pretty weird metaphor, even for him, because he literally never used car racing metaphors before, but okay, I could roll with it. It certainly wasn't the strangest thing he'd done (I'm pretty sure gleefully shouting "Let's talk about feces!" wasn't even the strangest thing he'd done).

So long story short, there were tears and sleep lost to an entire binder full of notes, and two excruciating hours of wondering if I remembered anything I'd learned as I took the final, but my stubborn pride paid off.

I was the only student who got an A.

And since I had As in all of my other classes, I made the dean's list.

What are you excited for this summer? What are the best books you've read so far this year? Who was your weirdest teacher in school? Leave a comment!