And Now, Let 2013. . . BEGIN!!!! (Plus - Sneak Peek Into My Work In Progress)

Who gets the subtle Harry Potter reference? It's from the 4th movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". Anyway, moving on.

Happy New Year everyone! It's 2013! I can't be;iev it and I'm so excited!This post is to show you all what my Resolutions/Goals are for 2013. It's an ambitious year. But I'll do it all this year, I will. On to my list.

1. Read at least 20 books in 2013. (Work from my list.)
2. Get my "Stay Gold" tatoo.
3. Finish the first draft of My Heart is Yours.
4. Edit My Heart is Yours.
5. Send My Heart is Yours out to literary agents and/or publishers.
6. Start selling my marinades and rubs.
7. Find or "make" another darkroom to use.
8. Organize my clothes and room.
9. Publish my second collection of poetry.
10. Make Thousands of Mornings available as an e-book.

Those are my resolutions/goals this year. I am going to do them all! I wrote a list of books to read this year too. And I'm determined to stick to it. In no particular order. I'll post that list later. Wish me luck on my resokutions.goals. Think I can do it? I do! :)

Now on to the sneak peek of one of my current works in progress. It is from the bovel I'm working on, My Heart is Yours. All it is is a picture. And I'm not saying anything about it except that it was my inspiration for something in the book. Here we go.

photo credit: http://www.turtleloveco.com/v/vspfiles/photos/VNG-005-2.jpg

 

Okay, that's it for now guys. Bye! Have a great New Year's Day!

 

<3 Amanda Leigh

2012 Wrap Up

I'm doing a wrap up post of my New Years Goals and Reading Challenge of 2012.

My goals got thrown off track this year so this is what I accomplished.

1. Read 17 books in 2012.

2. Open an Etsy Shop.

What I did not finish was finish the first draft of my novel My Heart is Yours. But I forgive myself for this, because of uncontrollable circumstances. But I want to be done by the end of January.

I completed my 2012 Reading Challenge! Woohoo! Technically because I listed my book as "read" GoodReads says I read 18 books. I'm not sure about counting my own. So I read exactly 17 books this year. You can view which ones in the "Reading Challenge" tab. :)

I have ambitious goals for 2013. But I'll tell you about those later. What are your resolutions and/or goals? Let me know in the comments. Happy New Year! Here's to an amazing 2013!

(Off to work on my novel.)

<3 Amanda Leigh

General Update ~ A Bit About Me and Cystinosis Too

I have to get used to doing general updates. Especially when I have a tendency to dissapear for a month at a time.

It is so strange to talk about myself. But I think some things are important. Let me give you some background. I have a rare chronic condition classified as terminal. I'ts called Nephropathic Cystinosis. It is extremely rare. The type I have is diagnosed during young childhood. There are only about 500 people in the United States diiagnosed with this. I believe about 2,000 world wide. This is the general definition from Wikipedia:

"Cystinosis is a rare genetic disorder^[2] that causes an accumulation of the amino acid cystine within cells, forming crystals that can build up and damage the cells. These crystals negatively affect many systems in the body, especially the kidneys and eyes.^[1]
The accumulation is caused by abnormal transport of cystine from lysosomes, resulting in a massive intra-lysosomal cystine accumulation in tissues. Via an as yet unknown mechanism, lysosomal cystine appears to amplify and alter apoptosis in such a way that cells die inappropriately, leading to loss of renal epithelial cells. This results in renal Fanconi syndrome,^[3] and similar loss in other tissues can account for the short stature, retinopathy, and other features of the disease.
Definitive diagnosis and treatment monitoring are most often performed through measurement of white blood cell cystine level using tandem mass spectrometry."

I know. Some things are still hard to understand. But I wanted to give you something. Anywa, this condition also causes a whole list of secondary conditions. Thant just means conditions caused beacuse of it. I say I'm going to save most of this for my memoir, but I thought it was time to share some of the secrecy.

Due to my condition, I have a very weakened immune system. And whenI get sick, oh boy do I get sick. Total my entire life I've been in patient in the hospital 34 times. I'm 21 and a half. 2012 was not a great year. I was hospitalized 3 times this year. This time may well have been the worst though.

Do you know what electrolytes are? Well they are very important. First what happnened wasI got Pancreatitis. And then my electrolytes dropped. And then my muscles froze up and I couldn't move or talk. And I started halucinating. I came out of it, but then they spent the nest two weeks trying to get my electrolytes right.  One thing effects another and on. It is quite a process. I got out a few days before Christmas though. (For full details see my memoir.)

On to writerly things:

Since I've been home I have written 39 poems about my recent hospital stay. I'm toying with the idea of maing a collection out of all of these. This could be a forth coming project.

Today I finished typing all of these poems I wrote.

I have a renewed resolve to finish my Young Adult Romance My Heart is Yours. I worked on it today.

I was invited to speak at a high school. My first speaking engagement. Eek!

I started a facebook page for my book Thousands of Mornings. http://www.facebook.com/ThousandsOfMornings?ref=hl

I think that's it on writer stuff.

Here's some bookish Christmas stuff:

I got The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, Robert Frost: Complete Poems, Prose and Plays, a Barnes a& Noble gift card, a journal.

Here's something you may not know about me. I adore cooking. I got some "chef" stuff too"

An egg cooker.

A panini press.

Gourmet spices.

An apron.

If you want to see more about cooking and/or me on my blog let me know? I hope you had a happy holiday and have a happy new year. My next post will be about resolutions.

Thanks for reading.

<3 Amanda Leigh

I - yes I - have A YouTube Channel!

A while ago I started a YouTube channel and I forgot to post about it here! Oops! Well I have started one.. Remember, I'm just a begginer and the last few weeks have been...interesting. Amyway, I thought I should post my videos here too. So I'll give it a try.

Introduction to My Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeTs9RnDWaY

#FridayReads #1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtYpMyIAKMo

Okay, let's give this a go! Subscribe? Name of my channel is AmandaLeighYA. Thanks!

<3 Amanda Leigh

My Top 10 Books of 2012

I did this last year -compiling a list of my favorite books of the year- and had so much fun doing it. So I'm going to do it again. This year I read some more I'm proud to say. I'm not going to include my book because hey, I wrote it lol. Without further adieu, here it is. My top 10 books of 2012.

1. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins\

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7107665-the-hunger-games

2. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8663600-mockingjay

3. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8376549-catching-fire

4. Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6556855-chasing-brooklyn

5. territories of folding by T.C. Tolbert

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10996406-territories-of-folding

No

Picture

Available

6. Poem by Emily Bronte

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12447727-poem-by-emily-bronte

7. Jane Austen on Love and Romance by Jane Austen, edited by Constance Moore

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10261745-jane-austen-on-love-and-romance

8. Timelesss (Transcend Time Saga #3) by Michelle Madow

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12933542-timeless

9. Remembrance (Transcend Time Saga #1) by Michelle Madow

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16006359-remembrance

10. Vengeance (Transcend Time Saga #2) by Michelle Madow

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16006374-vengeance

So, that is my list. In order too, that was hard! But I did it! I completed my reading challenge too! What about you guys? Did you finish your challenges? Did you read any of these? any make your list? Let me know! I'll be updating more soon!!! Happy New Year!! :)

<3 Amanda Leigh

And The Winner Is...

 I sent out an e-mail to the winner of my one year blog anniversary contest notifying them that they have won! I didn't do a post because I was exhausted. I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. That's why it's all late and I've been gone. I will not put the winner's e-mail here, only their name. The winner is Dena Gard! Congratulations!!! Please look for the e-mail I have sent you and respond with the message you'd like your book to say and your mailing address within the next 72 hours. Thank you! Congratulations again!

<3 Amanda Leigh

Revised New Years Resolutions/Goals 2012

I always make an initial list of resolutions and end up revising them to ones I consider most important to me or to what I can realistically accomplish or some combination of both. I posted my original list of resolutions/goals back in January, so here is my revised one.

 

1. Read 17 books in 2012.

2. Finish the first draft of My Heart is Yours.

3. Open at Etsy shop.

 

Here is the list with what I have accomplished crossed off of it.

 

 

1. Read 17 books in 2012.

2. Finish the first draft of My Heart is Yours.

3. Open at Etsy shop.

 

 

So one more to go! Probably the hardest one on the list! Before I know it I'll be making my resolutions/goals for 2013! Which will very likely include editing!! Wish me luck, cheer me on!! :)

 

 

<3 Amanda Leigh