October is here, which means Preptober is in full swing! I'm so excited, as this is the first year I have EVER participated in NaNoWriMo.

Today, I thought I would talk about what I'm doing for NaNo (My W.I.P, my plan to reach 50,000 words, and more!)

I'm not going into too much detail about my novel, but for November, I will be on hiatus so I can focus on writing my novel. I wish I was the super blogger who could churn out posts every week and still get that 50,000 words, but sadly I am not.

I can't go into too much about my W.I.P because it is book two of my trilogy. Rise has been completed and I want to work on book two, Fall. (Rise and Fall are working titles and not the official titles. Official titles will be revealed closer to publication.)

So, to avoid spoilers, I can't say much about Fall. HOWEVER, I can say I'm breaking my own heart with this book, so there is that.

I know I haven't revealed much about Rise, either, but I will be introducing my characters in a post very, very soon.

What I can tell you is this trilogy is dystopian, but breaking the boundaries of traditional dystopian and bringing in contemporary, sci-fi vibes. Yes, there's romance, but it doesn't control the entire, freaking plot. There's hurt, and heartbreak, and death, and friendships, and family, and an evil president bent on ruling the world, one nation at a time. There's a conflicted heir to the country and a sassy henchman. (Don't tell him I called him a henchman, he'll be offended.)

I'm taking traditional dystopian and kicking it in the rear end because I've seen too many fail to be about the actual government problems built up in the world and become all about romance.

I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible. So I've based it in current times instead of a future date, like most dystopian. (ALSO SIDENOTE, Just because it's based in current times does not mean I'm basing it on current people in power, or anybody who's currently president or ruler of any one nation. This idea came to me when I was fifteen, and I'm 20 now, so it's a story I've created for five years. I've seen so many people leave reviews of dystopian novels, comparing it to current times and I just want people to enjoy the story for what it is: A STORY.) #rantover

Now that we have that out of the way, you may curious about what I've done for Preptober.

Well, I've also been working on finishing Rise, so Preptober has consisted of me really just outlining book two. I used to be hardcore write from the seat of my pants type, but I've converted over to outlining and planning because it's fun and it's organized. I'm an organized person in everything else in my life, so it makes sense. (Abbie's videos are amazing if you want to look into outlining.)

Outlining actually doesn't take me a whole month, so I've just been adding to the outline here and there while I write Rise and now my focus can solely be on the outline. Because it's a sequel, I already know my characters. I know where I need to continue from, and that's AMAZING.

If not, I do suggest creating an outline for your characters first, but I'll link some videos here to help you figure out a method for that.

So, how will I reach 50,000 words by the end of November when I'm working a full-time job and am away from the computer for most of the day? (Well for one, full-time at my job is 30 hours instead of 40, so that helps.)

I will be using the Pomodoro Technique. I will write for twenty-five minutes, take a five-minute break, and repeat. My daily goal is to get down 1,667 words, which shouldn't be too difficult. I'm going to attempt to write twice a day, so before I leave for work and after I come home. If I can do this every day, I'll hit 50,000, which should bring me to having most of my novel complete. (My novels are about 70,000+ words.)

I guess that's it for now. I was going to do a post for Halloween, but seeing as I need to focus on my outline, this is going to be my last post for this month. Starting today, I will be on hiatus from blogging. I'll be back in December to give y'all a recap of how it went, and if I won NaNo. Because this is the first time I've done this, I'm not too concerned about winning NaNo. I'm happy to participate.

It's Monday, folks.

Which means I shouldn't even be here right now. But, y'all get me twice this week. Yes, Thursday's post will be going up as planned, don't worry.

This little extra post exists because I have a special announcement.

I am now on Twitter and Instagram!

Yes, you read that right! The girl who has avoided this for as long as possible FINALLY has social media. And I'm not mad about it. I'm actually very stoked. Why? Well, for now, let's just say things are moving in a positive direction with Rise. I have special news coming about that very, very soon.

So, if you would like to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, you can click here and here.

OR...

The links to my social media can be found at the top of my blog to the left of the header, or on the side of my blog, just underneath my fake picture. (Yes that is not me, haha. A real picture will be coming soon for all my social media, but for now, we go with one that looks similar to me.)

Spread the word! Tell your friends. On Twitter, I try to spread positive writing and life advice. On Instagram, I do bookish posts. Well, one at the moment. I'm working on my aesthetic, haha. Trying to get that Fall aesthetic. (I need to buy some props, okay? I'm getting there, haha.)

If any of y'all have any advice for me, leave it in the comments because I need all the help I can get. I'm really new to all of this.

And shoutout to Faith for forcing me into making an Instagram early in the morning so she could be the first follow. 😂😂😂❤❤❤

That is all for now. See y'all on Thursday!

~ Brooke

Welcome, one and all to today's post!

Today, I have a book review for you. We love books around here, don't we?

I have a book that's not only amazingly deep but honestly took me on the ride of my life. I love this book so much and you will, too. Also, you may be thinking, "Wow, that cover is a little girly."

I don't think I have that many male followers, but for those of you here, welcome! This book was not at all girly. In fact, I think both genders will enjoy this book. It was so deep.

Enough ramblings, let's get to the review.

But first... book details!

I'm not going to tell you this post will be a quick read or a cure for all your problems. This post is going to be a story of how I went from depressed, anxious, and basically acting like a crazy person to being calm, rational, and stable.

Let me start at the beginning.

The first time I remember being depressed was fourteen. I can't say I really know why. My family life, not to brag, is great. My life is great. I am blessed.

But, I remember my emotions being like a rollercoaster, and sometimes I'd be fine. As I got older (16-17) things were a bit tough concerning my mental health. I was depressed, my anxiety was at an all-time high, panic attacks would rob me from sleep at 3 A.M... it wasn't good.

At 17, I told God to take this depression and anxiety away. I told Him He can have it, I don't want to be this way anymore. I feel like that is the moment I truly experienced a miracle from Jesus. He is the reason I am here today.

I wish I could say my story with my mental health ends there, but... it doesn't. In fact, in some ways, it gets worse.

I am now 20. And I am just now finally pulling my mental health together. My depression came back, haunting me. Anxiety found new ways to torment me. And my mood went from calm to raging in not even a second.

September 28th, 2019 was the low point of all of this. I was at my worst. I was raging, crying, yelling, then I'd be fine. Then it would start over, like a cycle that kept repeating itself, a broken record that could only repeat over, and over, and over.

In these times, I didn't treat my family with the kindness or patience they deserve. For that, I'm sorry.

It has never been my parents who didn't want to take me to a therapist. In fact, my mom's suggested it many times. I've turned it down every time. I'm one of those people who don't really trust doctors. Yes I know, you're going to say, "Brooke, doctors know what they're doing. How could you know more than a doctor?"

I'm not saying I do. I'm saying I know my body and I would rather try natural methods of healing rather than putting some chemical medicine in my body. This is why I'm coming here today, over a week later, to tell you what has worked for me to stabilize my mood and hormones.

So, after that Saturday, my mom began research on everything I have been experiencing. Besides mental health, I've been dealing with hormonal cystic acne.

Hormonal cystic acne is different in that cystic acne forms giant, painful pimples that usually don't have heads or they do, but they're deep and red and painful. Hormonal acne comes on your chin and cheeks. Mine was all the above.

Besides that obvious sigh, I was depressed, anxious, and as I said, raging and crying, then I'd be fine.

This is not okay.

My mom felt like there were things going on in my gut. Your gut controls a LOT of your body, including your hormones and the release of the happy hormone. As she did more research, we decided to clean up our diets and begin taking a probiotic.

In less than a week, my whole life has been transformed. I feel so content and joyful. I still have bad days, but they're normal bad days. They don't involve me raging. I was even getting to the point of nearly breaking down at work. Now I can brush things off and move on with my life.

Customers still get me mad sometimes, but in five minutes, I'm fine. Before, I would hold on to that anger the entire day and even into the entire week!

This is not normal. I was not okay.

But I'm getting better every day and it's amazing!

So I want to encourage you to get the help you need. I'm not saying stop taking medicines that help you. NOPE, don't do that okay? I'm saying if you feel something is wrong, never be afraid to research the crap out of it. And I'm not a doctor, so if you feel like you need to see a doctor, go for it. I'm not saying doctors are bad. I've had bad experiences, so that's just a personal thing for me.

In case anyone is curious about the probiotic I use right now, it's from a brand called Spring Valley.

now all these sirens sing for me, but I just wanna hear your melody
I call, and I can hear you sing, but oh, it's only my echo ~ starset

I can't breathe at the thought of you
it's a telekinetic issue ~ starset

oh, oh i'm on my way, counting down the miles to your heart
oh, oh I can hardly wait, i just wanna be right where you are
i just wanna be right where you are ~ sultan + shepard

i ask about your day and tell you that i miss you
we go through everything, but nothing that we need to say ~ parachute

i'm on the other side, on fire, with an ocean between us, ocean between us
you're on the other side of this wire with an ocean between us, ocean between us ~parachute

i'm sorry I can't give enough, these scars they only leave me numb
i'm paying for my own mistakes, i've given all my feelings away ~Declan J. Donovan


these trials make us who we are, who we are, we are
we're motivated by the scars that we're made of
these trials make us who we are, who we are, we are
we take our places in the dark
and turn our hearts to the stars ~ starset

got me shaking at the sight, oh, got me quaking in my mind, oh
you're tripping over every fault of mine, you're breaking open every single time ~starset

don't let me let the
don't let me let the
don't let me let dark take over ~starset

I guess it's easy to see what music I listen to the most. I wanted to take a moment to talk about mental health. Take care of your mental health. This month was rough for me, but honestly, I'm feeling so much better. I'm taking care of my mental and physical health. For the first time in a really long time, I feel amazing, I feel joyful and happy. 

It's easy to fall in line with constantly working, using our phones, social media... but we need to know when to step back, when to prioritize our mental health and our minds. 

Trust me, a few days away from the screen, a few days to focus on your health is not selfish. It's worth it. I'm not talking about the self-love movement. I'm talking about self- care. There's a difference. You need to take care of yourself in order to care for others and you want to be in the best health possible, right?

Mini rant over. 

Have a wonderful October, my frens. See you next Thursday. K.C.T.D <3