Lily Ableman's Blog, page 7

Playlist for Today

1. How to Dress Well – Repeat Pleasure

I hate Pitchfork and its pretentiousness with a burning passion, but damn it, the site has great taste in music. Hence my discovery of How to Dress Well.

2. Ariana Grande – Best Mistake

This song has grown on me. I didn’t like it much at first, but now I really dig its chill, cool vibe. Big Sean’s rap still sucks though.

3. Sam Smith – Latch (Acoustic)

This man’s voice, oh my God. So beautiful.

4. Echosmith – Safest Place

5. Taylor Swift – Shake it Off

Finally, T-Swizzle’s officially gone pop.

And it’s divine.

6. TVXQ – I Love You

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SONG.

7. Kimbra – 90s Music

8. Spoon – New York Kiss

9. 15& – Sugar

To those people that say one of the girls in this K-pop group needs to lose weight, fuck you.

10. MYName – Baby I’m Sorry

11. Ariana Grande – Cadillac Song

12. ZE:A – Breathe

And a separate list of just B1A4 songs. Okay, yeah, maybe I’m still suffering post concert depression.

1. What Do You Want to Do

2. In the Air

3. Lonely

4. Oh my God

5. Tried to Walk

6. Solo Day

7. It’s Going Well

8. Starlight Song

9. How Many Times

10. Beautiful Target

11. Baby Goodnight

12. If

 

 

 

Trying to Find My Academic Groove Again

I just finished my second week of school. And Christ, I’m so exhausted.

Worse, I shouldn’t be so exhausted. For every minute I’ve done homework, I’ve spent 30 minutes wasting time on Buzzfeed. Damn you, addicting quizzes.

As usual, I’m perpetually behind on schoolwork. I have a paper due Wednesday, reading due Tuesday, a tedious Food Label project thing due Friday, and a math problem set due Friday. And have I started on any of it yet? Hell no.

What the fuck am I doing with my life?

It took me twenty minutes to come up with two sentences for a post I had to make for my social science class. And they were mediocre as fuck sentences.

I honestly need to get my shit together.

Last weekend, I did nothing productive. Friday night, went to see The Princess Bride. Saturday night, got shit-faced. Spiced cider rum is my new best friend. Sunday night, went to see B1A4. OH MY FUCKING JESUS CHRIST, IT WAS SO AMAZING. I mostly got over the post concert depression, but it was hard, man. I love B1A4 so much.

And I haven’t been doing much writing either. I want to try to write 10,000 words a month, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen with my schoolwork and major procrastination.

Side note: I took a “Can We Guess What Type of College You Went To?” Buzzfeed quiz and got COMMUNITY COLLEGE. What the fuck? Sorry, but the University of Chicago is not a community college.

Oh my God, I’m becoming a snobby fuck…

Scratch that. What type of college you went to honestly doesn’t determine what kind of person you are. There have been countless times when I’ve wondered if I would’ve been happier going to a less prestigious but more laid back school. Honestly, there are so many people who haven’t gone to college AT ALL and have been seriously successful. Really, if you’re ambitious and talented enough, you can do anything, with or without a degree.

But I’ll probably end up spending four years at UChicago. Forgive me, but I kind of want the fucking meaningless prestige, man. And I need a backup option if my writing never takes off (which to be depressingly honest is highly, highly probable and almost certain).

I hate math, but a math degree will give me some options career-wise.

Ha, ha, but will I be good enough to get that degree in the first place? PROOFS ARE KILLING ME.

Seriously confused and tired college student.

My Feeble Attempts to Make my Book a Smashing Success Part 2

Status: still not a “smashing success.” Not even close.

*Tweeting: I don’t know how effective tweeting constantly about things that might not even be related to your writing is, but hopefully, by tweeting about a lot of random things, my chances of someone checking out my Twitter increase, and perhaps my chances of someone checking out the link to Bitter Candy on my Twitter increase, and then my chances of someone buying the book go up. Faulty logic, maybe, but hey, I have to create more of a social media presence anyway.

*Adding keywords to Bitter Candy’s Amazon product page: Hey, someone’s got to type in “rich boy and poor girl romance” and see my book, right?

*Joining book promotion groups on Facebook: INCREASE MY VISIBILITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA -> INCREASE CHANCES OF SOMEONE CHECKING OUT MY BOOK. HOPEFULLY.

*Adding my book to various lists on Goodreads: Someone’s got to actually read these lists, right?

*Writing the next book: To be honest, the only way to become a successful writer is to write more. Okay, maybe if you’re a celebrity like Kim Kardashian or Tyra Banks, you don’t necessarily need to write more to sell books, but for most people, the key to success is writing more. So on to my second novel.

On a random note: I keep seeing posts about people spending hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on publishing their books. Um, am I doing something wrong? Because, bro, I didn’t even spend a hundred bucks on Bitter Candy. 

Then again, Bitter Candy hasn’t even made me a hundred bucks…

Maybe I am doing something wrong.

But I’m too cheap. I ain’t paying for no advertising or no fancy editor or no reviews.

And yes, the incorrect grammar was intentional.

 

My Feeble Attempts to Make my Book a Smashing Success Part 1

Granted, my book is currently not a smashing success by any stretch of the imagination, so I don’t know if this “guide” will help fellow indie authors like me any. But hey, I only include free methods (because I’m too cheap to actually spend money on advertising), so maybe it will help you all sell a book or two. Maybe.

*Posting excerpts of Bitter Candy everywhere: Figment, Wattpad, Authonomy, Booksie, Fictionpress… You name the site, I’ve probably posted an excerpt on it. Of course I don’t know how much this will help considering I’m not really a big well-known author on any of these sites, but hey, more chances of exposure, right?

*Tweeting about the book constantly: #BitterCandy is a sadly a hashtag that is only used by me thus far.

*Submitting it to book reviewers with blogs: So far, 4 people have agreed to review it. And if it’s all bad reviews, hey, bad publicity is better than no publicity, right?

*Posting on Amazon’s Meet our Authors Forums: Someone’s ought to click on my posts, right???

-_-

 

Wish me luck.

Trying to Get My Novel Noticed

Now I have written and published my first novel Bitter Candy, which means it’s time for promoting!

I hate putting myself out there. I just hate it.

Ha, good thing I want to make a living as a writer, right?

Anyway, I’m just submitting my book to various book blogs in the hopes they will agree to review my novel. Ag, what if everyone hates my book? Worse, what if no one responds to my emails?

I love Daria!

Hey, even if all of the reviews I get call my book total shit, bad publicity is better than no publicity, right?

The little insecure girl inside me: EVERYONE, PLEASE LIKE ME.

Bruh, I’m so pathetic.

Bitter Candy is Out on Amazon!

Finally finished and proofread my book Bitter Candy. Hopefully, it doesn’t have any glaring typos, but hey, I’m only human if there are any.

You can now buy it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NNSYG42

Take pity on a poor indie author, maybe? I promise it isn’t that bad. I put all of my heart and soul (ha, ha, I’m saying that like I have a soul) into the book, so I hope it isn’t that bad.

Please?

It’s only $0.99 for the first week (I was originally going to sell it for $2.99, but because of my ineptitude and procrastination, the book was published on the 16th, not the 15th like I promised, hence the temporary lower price).

Crickets chirping?

 

Now that I’m done with my first novel, I can have my life back. And by life, I mean binge-watching Korean dramas. My Love from a Star is a current obsession. I love Cheon Song Yi! She is such a refreshing, hilarious heroine!

Don’t be sorry, Cheon Song Yi! You do you, girl.

I can see why this drama might ruin lives in China. That may be because I’m Chinese myself.

I can also go back to reading books that don’t consist of my amateur language skills. The Duchess War is making me squeal like a little girl. Courtney Milan, your romances are amazing.

Thanks for reading as always, you all.

Thoughts on Requiem

Just finished the last book in the Delirium trilogy.

AG. WHAT THE FUCK? OH MY GOD! FEELINGS!

Beware: spoilers ahead.

I’ve always enjoyed this series. Yeah, it’s a pretty weak-ass dystopian series, but Oliver’s writing is so fucking gorgeous, and the first book is so romantic, and Lena had great character development.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the conclusion, but I had some issues with it. Major ones.

Some points/things I loved/things I hated/things I was incredibly annoyed with:

*Oliver’s writing is beautiful. OH MY GOD, YOU ARE SO TALENTED, WOMAN.

*Lena seriously annoyed the fuck out of me at points. She imagines killing this girl just because the girl is flirting with Alex. Okay, she immediately feels ashamed for thinking that, but the Lena from former books would never think something so bitchy and petty and just plain cruel. Also, Lena, you have Julian, who loves you but you treat like fucking dirt throughout most of the book!

*ALEX, WHY ARE YOU SUCH AN ASSHOLE? I get that you think letting her go would enable her to be truly happy, but WHY ARE YOU SUCH A PRICK ABOUT IT? And seriously, if you want to let her go, stop picking fights with Julian!

*The love triangle – Argh. Initially, I wanted Lena to end up with Alex because I loved him and their romance in the first book and I didn’t really see the connection between her and Julian (screamed of hormones and insta-love to me), but Alex was such a dick in this book. I was ready for some sweet and heart-wrenching moments between her and Alex in Requiem, but noooo. Instead we get stupid angst and jerk Alex and Alex flirting with this chick named Coral.

*Hana’s POV – I have to say I found her chapters more interesting. I love Hana, and she wasn’t angsting over a love triangle/square (unlike, cough, Lena). Also, I feel she’s a more complex, real character. She’s made some mistakes, horrible mistakes, but I see why she made them and she does try to right them.

*The open ending – WHAT THE FUCK? THAT’S IT? THIS IS SERIOUSLY THE LAST BOOK? WHAT? WHERE IS MY FUCKING HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

4 out of 5 stars.

New Playlist

1. Lana Del Rey – Fucked My Way Up to the Top

“This is my show.”

Yes, it is Lana’s show, bitches.

2. Coldplay – Magic

I will always love Coldplay.

3. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – Bang Bang

I have to say…I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG. I played it 3 times already today.

4. Angel Haze – Planes Fly

This girl is crazy talented.

5. The Vamps – Can We Dance

Should be called “Can We Fuck” but I guess that wouldn’t be appropriate for Radio Disney.

6. The Weeknd – Adaptation

This guy kind of sounds like a slut (if his lyrics are any indication), but he’s so talented.

7. Disclosure – What’s in Your Head

If I ever throw a party (which would probably be one of the lamest things ever), this would so go on the playlist.

8. Does it Offend You, Yeah? – Dawn of the Dead

Catchy indie music.

9. 5 Seconds of Summer – Voodoo Doll

My sister has been listening to this song on repeat, and I can see why. I still say 5SoS are just an All Time Low copycat, but their songs are catchy.

10. Glee – Jump

Back when the show had inspired song choices and was actually entertaining. Sigh… RIP, Cory.

11. Lana Del Rey – Off to the Races

What can I say? I love the woman.

12. We Are Scientists – It’s a Hit

Should have gone to their concert. :(

 

Reading Ember by Jessica Sorensen

Ag, yet another book I regret paying for. Although it was only $0.99, I nevertheless spent some of my money on it and thus felt compelled to read the whole damn thing.

Beware of spoilers.

Ah, a typo already. And I’m only at 4% of the book. This is not a good sign.

Clunky-ass writing.

Terrible emo poetry.

For God’s sake, the main character hangs out in cemeteries and talks to fucking ravens!

Her best friend Raven (though she sure as hell doesn’t act like one) is annoying. She cares more about boys and parties than the fact that her best friend just got STABBED by her MOTHER, is possibly going batshit crazy, and is being accused of multiple murders. Ugh, and Raven, bitch, please. You ARE jealous that Ember (her best friend and the main character) is getting attention from two hot boys.

On that note, I didn’t feel chemistry between Ember and either boy.

Also, this book is so fucking chaotic. And not in a good, blow-my-mind way. So many things are unexplained and just, like, what the fucking fuck?

This is the last Jessica Sorensen book I’m ever going to read and sure as hell the last one I’m ever going to pay for. She seems like a sweet person, but I don’t get how so many people love her books. They have potential, but the writing is just not up to par and the execution could be way better.

1 star out of 5.

Thoughts on Beautiful Darkness

I enjoyed Beautiful Creatures. Yeah, it was kind of longer than it needed to be and Ethan is pretty much the most boring narrator ever, but the plot was interesting and I thought it was pretty well-written.

But the sequel, Beautiful Darkness, OH JESUS CHRIST, IT WAS A STRUGGLE TO FINISH IT.

Meet Ethan – the most boring narrator ever. Seriously, have you never heard of a personality or actual human emotions? And dude, you are so not a convincing dude. You pay way too much attention to a girl’s clothes and makeup. And you are a heterosexual red-blooded teenage boy, right? So why do you say a skirt is short like it’s a bad thing? God, you’re boring AND a slut-shaming prick. I can handle one, but both? Barely.

Lena – an incredibly annoying super-emo chick.

God, she even writes poetry. And girl, talk to your boyfriend. Seriously, talk to him. Even if he is boring, he deserves to be told shit.

 

Liv – boring British component of an infuriatingly unnecessary love square.

John Breed – the only somewhat interesting part of the love square. But of course he hardly appears in this book.

Ridley – the target of some eye-rolling and uncomfortable slut-shaming.

This book could have been at least a hundred pages shorter. Get rid of the weak ass attempts at humor, some of the dull dialogue, repetitive writing, Captain Obvious statements, and teenage angst, and this book would be so much shorter. Then again, it might be a very short novella.

Will I read the next book? Probably. The last 30 pages were pretty good. And my sister told me this was the worst book in the series, so it can’t get any worse, right?