Courtney Gilbert
A journey through cosplaying, tutorials, crafts and streaming games. Creating the Girlfriends Guide to League of Legends, learning the basics of making costumes and simply creating a fun community!
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
NanoWrimo Fail
It comes down to writing 1500 words a day, which I thought would be easy since in an hour I can smash out 1000. But if you miss a day....then another day, you're 3000 words behind and it lessens your chance at completing it. I had a rocky start.
October 31st we were out to pick up Martin's friend from the airport and when we had gotten in, we stayed up and gabbed a bit, so I, wanting to start of NaNoWriMo right, started writing right at midnight. Smashed out 500 words or more in a distracted mind set, but it was a good starting point. BUT that following night, I knew it was going to be an uphill climb. Andre, Martins friend, was staying in the living right by my work area, so it was hard to get around to even get to my desk, not keep our guest awake with my furious taping of the key board, and not be tired. We were out all day, then be home late so I was pretty beat after working and going out. This happened almost every night while Andre was down. So i missed a few days, but still wrote something. Then when he left I sat myself down every night and wrote and wrote and wrote but it felt like I could catch up. Not to mention my support group who were also doing it gave up as well. Martin said he'd start when Andre was gone, but decided it wasnt worth it. My brother Isaac just stopped because he had other non-job things to do. Steve ....well i dont even know what happened to him, he was so motivated at first! And Katie got a new job and also fell out of the running.
I got to about 10000 word or more before I did the math. I'd have to write over 3500 words a day to complete it in time. So I had to bow out of the running.
Its been different now, not writing at night. So I think I might work out continuing the Remastering of The Echoes, and get Fun Culture done. I like ending my night writing something and keeping warm by the computer, glancing over at Martin and watching him game.
Cheers mofos
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
My Year 2015
When we returned to our home in New West, it was really like coming back to a home. Because of the time difference I make it my goal to wake up earlier (I had been struggling with getting a good nights rest and being able to wake up early. I felt like I wasted alot of my life sleeping) So I began waking up at 9 am then 8am and even as early as 7am. I started this routine to prepare myself for the TIU Bikiniseries that started in April! I would wake up (after 2-3 alarms) make coffee and watch some tv on netflix. I think we were still using the laptop for watching things since we only had a TV but no cable!
Hello, it's me (probably the most overused phrase atm lol)
So it's been awhile! I had to take a break from blogging since I couldn't keep it up on a regular basis, plus I was also getting thefunculture.com website up and running. Yet I seem to go in and out of bouts of consistency with interests. Tons of stuff have happened in my life like moving into a bigger apartment then obtaining furniture, making permanent friends (I hope) I started with two and have recently made a third friend (they're actually from Windsor as well!) And this past summer was spent travelling BC, heading to the interior and having friends and family visit (Jen and Allan, my mom and dad, Baker and her girlfriend, Andre, Heath and Marc Baker, Alex and Mike) there was alot going on this past year!
My next post will have photos, this post is straight from my phone. I may not be as frequent on this right now since I'm currently doing NaNoWriMo for the second year, and also the remastering of The Echoes. I will do my best!
Cheers for now!
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Moving Sites!
thefunculture.wordpress.com
Check it out!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
FUN CULTURE final scene
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The Big Move
At the beginning of May on my older brother's birthdaym I messaged him a Happy Birthday and a following text saying: "Help me get out of here" Lol.
You see, lately I've been having missed feelings about Windsor. I grew up here and it'll alway be home, but something in my heart urges me to leave. I'm 24 and I've accomplished a lot. I have my Esthetics deploma, Can Fit Pro, Personal Support Worker cert. and I wrote a book! I feel that I've gotten what I can out of Windsor and it's time to move forward in my life.
My friend had re-added me to facebook and it's what he said that made me reginize what this feeling meant. He said:
"Courtney, we all have those friends, that after graduation I think, 'where are they even headed in life?'. I've never had to worry about that with you though. You have big dreams and big aspiration that you to go out there and get. You're too big for this city."
Not to be cocky, but he's right. And I think that's how I've been feeling, I need to escape, I need a change, and to be in a place with more oppertunity.
So I decided that I'm going to move to Vancouver BC. My brother already has a room for me to stay in while I'm there to get settled in. I'll be driving up there with my buddy, so I'm pretty pumped about the road trip!
I also plan on selling my book across Canada as we make our way to BC. Over all I'm pretty pumped. Money's the only issue atm.
Oh and there's a boy. But that's another story :)
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Ultimate Query Letter
So this is a format to write a unique-ish (cuz you can only be so different) and GREAT query letter that'll help you get noticed.
Agents read 100-200 query letters a day and it's only the first few lines that get them to ACTUALLY read your email/letter. So the first step to have a eye catching line, something that makes your email stand out!
1) Before you even put "Dear So & So" why don't you put your favourite line of your book at the top of the email/letter? It's draw their attention and intrigue them enough to want to read your email :)
2) After the Dear whom and who you need a good intro line. What I like doing it visiting the website of the agency I'm sending my query too. I do this to get an idea of what kind of person this agent is. Searching for their twitter account works too and gives you a deeper insight to either have a professional intro line, or to start it off fun!!!
3) The Body of the Query letter!! The hardest part if I don't say so myself. I find this the hardest thing to write because I can't, for the life of me, write a good paragraph on what my book is about. Hence all the years or rewriting and revising the damn thing!! So what I'd suggest, have a friend (who read your book and is generally good at writing as well) write one for you! That why you don't over explain things or go off on a tangent about something in your book that doesn't have to be explained. The power of a few words is important here!
Note: Keep it short BUT DON'T leave them hanging. Agents/publishers will stop reading right then and there.
4) Forth paragraph should be something about promoting your book, your dedication and drive to make your book number one. If you get your book published, you don't just sign a contract and bathe in the royalties, you gotta go out there and make people wanna read your book! So talk about your audiences, maybe how you'd promote you book and free samples. Everyone likes free samples :)
5) Always say thank you. :D
6) Even if they don't ask for it, send them 1-3 chapters of your book (unless they say NO in their guidelines on their website. What if you did such an awesome query that they want to read your book right away?! Give them something to read! OR if you have a unique and wonderful review from someone of your audience, adding that makes your query that much more different.
Hope all that helps. Over the years I've sent so many different query letters and following this format has gotten me the most amount of positive feedback/responses from agents and publishers. So try it out and you may get lucky :)