A Semester Recap

I feel one of the best ways to grow as person is to reevaluate certain aspects of your life. I want the Spring Semester of 2019 to be my best semester yet. In order for me to be some of what successful I am going to give a quick recap of my semester and then go into what went wrong. I will not discuss my goals for the Spring Semester of 2019 in this post, that will be a post you will see later in the week. 

The Hardest Year and Half

It is time for some honesty. I have been a horrible blogger, reviewer, reader, and writer. I have no consistency in the content I create. I feel like I have let so many people down because of my inability to follow through with posts. My response is I am having a hard time, which is not false by any manner. When I started Once Upon A Time A Review my freshman year of high school I was beyond ecstatic. I love reading and I felt like it would be a great way to build my presence, so when I meet my goal of becoming a published author I would have a following. I still want to build my presence for that reason, but I think past me was a little naive. What she didn't realize is going to cyber school would worsen her mental health. It would cause her to lose all motivation to do the things she loved including reading, blogging, writing, and even watching television. She would make all these elaborate plans to post regularly, but after awhile she would start to lose the motivation to do anything. She even thought going to college would be her escape from her depression and anxiety. She thought she would magically develop the skills of time management. Boy was past me wrong.

The lack of motivation has caused me to possess a not useful skill of procrastination; therefore, I have no time management skills. The one thing I know is I thrive with set schedule with no time to slip up. Unfortunately in college a strict schedule doesn't exist and you would think cyber school would have taught me this important skill, no it didn't. College was going to be hard for me no matter what, but I had a lot of personal things happen. Combined with becoming homeless, going through four friend break-ups, a car accident, and another thing. I was a wreck. No correction I am wreck. This past year and a half has been extremely hard for me despite all the amazing things that have happened to me. I am completely shocked that I was able to put myself through three semesters of college semi-successfully.

I know I don't really owe anyone an explanation, but I feel like I do.

Moving forward I want to bring this blog to life again. I am determined to take blogging as serious as a part time job. Starting by changing the name to In My Once Upon A Time. I love the name Once Upon A Time A Review, but it is no longer me. With a title like that I feel required to post only reviews; however, I want to post more than reviews. In the New Year you'll see posts about books, movies, television, time management, college, mental health, and so much more.  If there's any posts you want to see comment below. I will posting everyday up until  January 4th. You can follow or contact me on social media @chey_ouatar--I am always here if you need someone to talk to--and remember keep searching for your Once Upon A Time.

Reviewer Harassment?

Hello, and welcome to day 13 of Birthday Blog Bash 2018, which is an event where I post on my blog every single day for the month of January. 

I AM SICK

Hello, and welcome to Birthday Blog Bash 2018. Everyday in the month of January I will be posting.

My First Book Review

Hello, and welcome to day 11 of Birthday Blog Bash 2018. Everyday in the month of January I will be posting on my blog.

Waiting on Wednesday

Hello, and welcome to day 10 of Birthday Blog Bash. The entire month of January I will be posting every single day. If that sounds interesting to you keep on reading.

The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel Review

Hello, and welcome to day 9 of Birthday Blog Bash. The entire month of January I will be posting everyday. 

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

Hello, and welcome to day eight of Birthday Blog Bash 2018. Every single day in the month of January I will be posing on my blog.

Writing Update #5

Hello, and welcome to day 7 of Birthday Blog Bash 2018. The entire month of January I will be posting every single day.

The Afterlife of Holly Chase Review

Hello my lovely readers and welcome to Day 6th of Birthday Blog Bash, which is a whole month of me posting everyday. If that sounds interesting to you make sure to stay up to date.

My Favorite Webtoons

Hello my lovely readers and welcome to day 5 of Birthday Blog Bash 2018. Every single day in the month of January I will be posting content that you won't want to miss. 

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones Review

Title: Wintersong
Author: S. Jae-Jones
Pages: 436
Publication Date: February 7th 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
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Synopsis: "Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world."

Ferdinand the Bull Review

Hello my lovely readers and welcome to day 3 of Birthday Blog Bash 2018. Stay tune for more awesome posts every day in the month of January. Without further ado here is my review on Ferdinand the Bull.

Netflix Bucket List 2018

Welcome to day 2 of Birthday Blog Bash 2018. Stay tune every single day of the month of January to see a new post on Once Upon A Time A Review

New Year's Reading Resolution

Hello my lovely readers and welcome to 2018. Not only is this post the first of the New Year; it is also the first of my Birthday Blog Bash, which is a whole month of me posting everyday. Let's get into my Reading Resolutions for 2018.

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.