Quick Announcements?!?!

Bonjour, to all my lovely readers, to celebrate my return to the blogging community I want to host an event and what better way to do it in January. Not only is January a New Year, but it's my birthday month. The goal for the month of January is to have a post up every single day. January is going to be a busy month with the start of a new semester in college. I also want to revamp my social media accounts, so stay tune for that. Speaking about college, I started a college blog of sorts on Tumblr called Once Upon A College. Catchy Right? The attentions for Once Upon A College is still unknown to me, but I do know I want to document my college journey.  Since I want to post every single day in the month of January I have to do a large amount of schedule posts. Furthermore, I will be neglecting a consistent posting schedule until the New Year.  Sorry for such a quick post, but remember, keep looking for your Once Upon A Time

Getting Candid

Blogging started out as a passion and still is one, however, with the last year and a half I haven't been blogging or reading as much as I used to. 2017 has brought a lot of changes some good some bad; it also has allowed me to realize that I do have depression and anxiety. I always knew I had anxiety, but was skeptic about the depression. Despite knowing they go hand and hand. Anyways the lack of motivation to do the things I once love started to become more prominent. And like a chain reaction life events started to throw me into a vicious cycle of anxiety and depression. The last week of my first semester of college starts today, and looking back on it the grades I received reflected what was happening in my life. Going into my second semester, I will do better. Looking back on it I had the time to read,blog, and write I didn't because I just want to stay in bed, and watch Netflix.

I have tried reading multiple books, but nothing seemed to stick. A few weeks back I started reading Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. Forms of entertainment about sensitive issues usually leave me unaffected. Turtles All the Way Down was different because I could easily relate. To put some more context behind I started reading it at the height of all the issues going on in my personal life. Long story short I stopped reading the book. I can say from what I read it is beautiful written, and John Green did an excellent job writing it. Maybe one day I can pick it up again. I tried writing multiple posts, but the motivation to finish them is undiscovered.  

The reason I am making this post is to break the ice on why I haven't be blogging. I know I don't owe an explanation to my readers, but I want to. The plan is to reform my blog and start working towards a consistent schedule, starting with this post. To all my readers new and old, if you are going through hard times in your life just know it will get better, not all at once or even quickly; but it will get better. Remember to always keep looking for your Once Upon A Time. 

Writing Update #4

Before I begin on my writing update I would like to throw in a small disclaimer. This post is being written right after Camp NaNoWriMo, but you won't be seeing this until September in my attempts to get ahead of blogging. Now that we have in the clear let's jump into the update, I think I started Camp NaNoWriMo with 4,500 words. I think I mention and my most I had 6,000 which is probably what I hoped to hit before it started, which that didn't happen. July was a very busy month for me as I was getting ready for my freshman year of College. I didn't really start writing hardcore until the end of July with 3 days of Camp NaNoWriMo left. In those three days I went to 9,000 words.

My biggest problem so far when writing this particular idea was how to start it out. It took forever to figure out a way that flowed with this story. I kept starting the WIP over and over again because I didn't like the first chapter. In my head I thought if I changed the first chapter I am going to have to change everything just to keep up the flow. Reality is this is just the first draft it doesn't have to be perfect, but I think I am the point where I am not really shooting for perfection with the first draft. I just want to finish it and have a few people read to get started on the second draft.

Another I thing that I learned is the outline is a guide not something is set in stone. I finally got the beginning I like, I basically just moved a chapter to the beginning instead of where it was at. This means that one of my chapters I had no clue  what to write for. I took a look at my outline and was all worried about it not being the exact same thing. I guess this branches off the perfection that I was trying so hard to keep.

My goals going on further are very simple don't look back at the beginning of the story. Don't worry about chapter length let there be chapters that are longer than others. It is the only first draft. Word count wise I want to try to write 500 words a day. However, I leave for college in two weeks and have no clue when I will have time to write at first. If I make it into my daily routine it shouldn't be too hard to keep it in there. How did you guys do with Camp NaNoWriMo? Are you guys planning to doing NaNoWriMo in November? Please feel free to leave a comment below. Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout Book Review

Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Pages: 299
Publication Date: 11-29-2011
Publisher: Entangled Teen
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 Goodreads Summary: "Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring… until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something… unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don’t kill him first, that is."

Camp NaNoWriMo Starts Today!!!

This time last year I was going into this strong. Then I had the worse family vacation ever and that's a story for a different day. However, this year is a new year and to make a big dent in my writing. I am going to stay positive about it. I don't expect to write 50,000 words, but if I could get half of that I would be happy. Some of you may or may not know I have been working on the same writing project for awhile now and there's always been a problem with the beginning. Whether the first chapter was cliched or there wasn't a good flow it never worked out. About the beginning of June I came up with the perfect beginning for my story. Six thousand words later I am making progress on my first draft.

The goal of this month is two right 25,000 words, so by the end of this I should have 31,000 words which is great. I am going to be doing weekly updates every Saturday. These updates will include how it is working out for me and something I have learned. Perfection isn't the key because this is a first draft. There's going to be more drafts after this, more times to polish, and more times to strive to getting published.  Even after it gets published that doesn't mean it is perfect because perfection is impossible.

I am buckling down and finally telling the story that has been forming in my head for years. I am double majoring in college to better my writing. Too better my future. No one is going to write the books for me. It's time for me to get serious. It's time for me to start carving my future as a writer. My worries have been keeping from a lot of things, but I refuse to let it stop me from what I want to do. Writing is risky and anything is risky. A lot of people don't follow their dreams because it is too risky. Maybe that is why I have been putting it off.

No one is going to take you seriously if you don't take yourself seriously. Hopefully this inspirational cliche speech has helped motivate someone, because it has helped me. Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

It's Monday What Are You Reading is a weekly tag hosted by Book Journey. Where we share our reading plans for the upcoming week.

Wonder Woman Review (non-spoiler)

Wonder Woman was released on June 2nd 2017 and it is the origin story of Wonder Woman. The movie stars Gal Gadot and Chirs Pine. For the full cast and more information about the movie itself check out IMDb.  If you aren't familiar it takes place in the DC universe. I wasn't sure how I was going to enjoy this movie because I'm more of a Marvel kind of gal. Also DC hasn't been very promising in the movie department since the Batman trilogy ended awhile back. Then they try to rebound with Batman vs Superman which looked horrible and reviews weren't the best. Suicide Squad was great, but it wasn't no marvel movie. Despite all of this I went into Wonder Woman not knowing what to expect and unbiased opinion. From one Marvel fan to the next you should totally go see Wonder Woman. 

Diana's background was really amazing and I loved it. It's very mythology based and I love my mythology. The setting of the movie was in the early 20th century. Basically combining mythology and history together which is some of my favorite things. The plot was great, predictable, but overall great. I enjoyed how the character development was there and there's still room for them to grow. I couldn't help, but compare it Logan where that development was on point and it had to be on point. My next favorite thing about Wonder Woman were the graphics they were amazing. Of course graphics aren't everything when it comes to movie, but they are still pretty crucial. I told my mom that they were up there with the Marvel movies.

Gal Gadot who played Wonder Woman was an amazing actress. I felt like she was the perfect actress for the part. I vaguely remember her playing in the Fast and Furious movies. Chris Pine sort of reminded me of the person played on Timeless. While at least his character did and I was fine with that. The whole movie left you wanting more and I came to the conclusion I need a sequel. I guess we will have to wait till this fall to see the Justice League, which looks really promising. 

Did you guys seen Wonder Woman? What were your thoughts on it? Did you like this non-spoiler set up? Do you like Marvel or DC? Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

Summer Netflix Bucket List 2017 #2

This time last year school was getting out, and I thought it would be a great idea to make a Summer Netflix Bucket List. Which had all the shows I wanted to binge watch or re-watch over the summer. I failed at it, but I want to try it again. Considering that my first semester of college will be approaching soon, it's the best that I get as much watch as possible. Last year my set up was pretty simple I list the show and if it was a new show, a re-watch, currently watching, or if the show is on hold. If the show was something I was currently watching or something that was on hold I would list the season and episode number that I was on. I will be keeping that same formatting this year as well. If you want to check out last year's post to see if any of the shows are the same or different you can click here.Let's jump right into my second Summer Netflix Bucket List.

UPDATES GALORE

I have finally dust off my computer and I'm ready to get back into blogging and stay consistent. For real this time, I know I have said this in the past, but this time is for real. First question you may be wondering is where have you been? I could lie and say I have been busy with school, but the truth is my anxiety has been really bad. On top of that I was recently diagnosed with something and I was put on this medicine which drains me physically and emotionally. Throw in school to the mixture and I am a complete hot mess.

Something I realized these months is that I miss writing in general. Even if I wasn't writing a story, blogging was a way of writing. A way for me to improve and find my own style. I do have to point out that I do write essays for school, but it's not the same. I miss and I'm going to try post as often as possible in the last month of school. Over the summer I will be getting in a schedule, so when college starts I can be able to post. Noting that I will have a summer job, hopefully.

I want want to be able to make this blog the best version that it can be.  Developing the blog to be mature, professional, and great content is a major priority for me this summer. Stepping up my social media skills it can help my blog grow is another thing that I know is very crucial. This is also the time where I should mention you can follow me on most social media at @chey_ouatar, so you can stay update on my journey.

The last thing I wanted to touch on is my new blog A Journey to the Perfect Student. I started this blog as a way to help motivate me and keep me organize. Not to mention I love organization, planning, and anything that falls into that category.  The only problem is that's the wrong content for Once Upon A Time A Review. I still have the same goals and hopes for that blog as I do with this one, but my main focus is handling this blog then add the other one to the mix.

As always thanks for reading and stay tune for more posts this month.  Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.

  

Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

Title: Into the Wild
Author: Erin Hunter
Pages: 288
Published: 01-09-2003
Publisher: HarperTrophy
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Synopsis: For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by their warrior ancestors. But the ThunderClan cats are in grave danger, and the sinister ShadowClan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying-- and some deaths are more mysterious than others. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty . . . who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.  

Sherlock Recap S4:E1

If you guys don't know what Sherlock is where have you been? Sherlock is a British Television show featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. It has 10 episodes and is currently on it's 4th season. The fourth season just aired Sunday January 1st on channels BBC1 and PBS. Each episode is 90 minuets long. Overall Sherlock is an amazing show and so very incredibly detailed. All of the actors and actresses do a fantastic job with this show. If you haven't watched any Sherlock go turn on Netflix now don't come back until you're all caught up. Spoilers are going to happen so if you continue reading and haven't watched the latest episode it's you're own fault. Now goodbye for now.

2017 Reading Goals

It's that time of the year again where us bloggers of the book community or youtubers, break down our reading goals for the new year. Every year a lot of us make these goals, but this year I really want to stick with them so cheers to be holding me a more accountable.

1.  Get on my bookish social media more often. This seems like a small goal at hand, but I have been on an unannounced hiatus for awhile now and I really want to make time for it. 
2. Read 20 Classics this year. This goal is supposed to help me become very well rounded in different types of literature
3. Finish off at least 5 different series. I really want to finish the series I already started and I'm pretty sure I can finish off these in series within the coming months.
4. Start at least 5 new series that I been meaning to read. Again I think I can do that within the coming months. 
5. Read a an author I have been meaning reading to read.
6. Read at least two adult books.
7.  Read all of my Netgalley Books 
8. Read 175 books in total.

A lot of these goals are really going to be helping me with finding that diversity in literature, so I can learn and grow as a reader and a writer. I know this is a very short post, and I promise more there are posts coming soon. Remember keep looking for your Once Upon A Time.