Destiny Vandeput

I’m super excited about a new book that is just about to come out. I was lucky enough to win an ARC from Epic Reads and I also get to go to the book release party tomorrow!

The author Julie Murphy is hosting a bucket list bash and so I wanted to participate by giving my bucket list!

1. Sleep in a treehouse hotel in Brazil

2. Get published

3. Take my family to Disney World every other year till my youngest is 18 🙂

4. Buy a house I live in for 15+ years

5. Visit all 50 states

These are the first five that came to mind, but I’ll be thinking more about it since this list was not my finest work.

When you think of a list of things you want to do before you die, it definitely puts things into perspective. I mean, you never know when life could be over for you. I could die of a brain aneurism right now….

….

#sighofrelief

I’m still here guys.

But honestly, life isn’t guaranteed and so I want to live it to the fullest every day. It’s so easy to get tangled up in the monotony and focus on the negative things that are happening around you.

I think in the end, it’s not about what you accomplished, it’s about your legacy going forward and the memories in others you leave behind. In the sage words of Ralph Waldo Emerson that I have been trying to live out: “Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.”

Take this day to celebrate the awesomeness of your life and be grateful for the things going right!

ALSO,

Don’t forget to get a copy of SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY by Julie Murphy and if you life in the DFW area, stop by the Irving Library tomorrow at 2:30 to get a signed copy (you’ll be able to get it a few days before the official release! Fancy!)

IndieBound: www.indiebound.org/book/9780062245359
B&N: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/side-effects-may-vary-julie-murphy/1115554719?ean=9780062245359
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Side-Effects-Vary-Julie-Murphy/dp/006224535X

Summary:

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

I’ve taken a lengthy break from writing… part of it was self-imposed distance that I felt like I needed for perspective… another huge part was I just moved back from Europe and that was a bit ca-razy.

But now that I’m reading back over what I wrote, I’m realizing that the first few chapters are just crap. I like the way the book evolves, but especially that first chapter just needs a hell of a lot of work!

I found some great resources for revising. One is this cool article on the NaNoWriMo blog called 7 Steps to a Big Picture Revision. The other is Second Sight by Cheryl B. Klein.

It’s a little overwhelming, especially since I’m not really sure exactly how to get that first chapter where I want it to be… but I guess that is part of the journey I am on.

So here’s to re-writing