Coban, Guatemala

Hey Guys! Merry Christmas. I hope you had an awesome time with your loved ones and ate lots of candies. I went on a trip for the holydays. It’s a place called Cobán, here in Guatemala. The reason I went there is because my dad is a military officer and had military service for Christmas. When we found out about this me and my brothers were very upset. I hate when he can’t spend the Holydays with us. I was already picturing my Christmas back home, sitting in front of the T.V. watching extremely tacky Christmas movies and falling asleep before midnight because there is nothing to do.

One day, my mom sits down at the table with us, her smile is so big that It seemed It was too big  for her face. “Your dad has a House for us where he works” She says “We’re going to go spend Christmas with him”.

And we did. I just had a good Christmas, I spent midnight singing Karaoke with the Commandant’s daughters and other officers, we had champagne, we ate a lot and laughed at other people singing, I even got my parents to sing, they were so nervous. I came here con 24^th in the morning, it was a four hour trip in which I couldn’t sleep because I was copilot and I didn’t want my mom to fall asleep too. It was tiring and I caught the flu. But you tell me If this view isn’t awesome.

You know, I live In a very green area but it’s different, this is a town, and there is something about the cold, It’s not a windy cold like the city, It’s more like a dry cold, I love it.

I would definitely come back here. 

GERMANY!

Guess what? I'm traveling. 

Guess where? 

Yeah.

So this guy went to talk to me and my classmates at school. He informed us about this volunteering, and also this Au Pair Program. I was initially interested in the volunteering but I ended up applying for an Au Pair Program. You probably haven't heard about this therm.

Au Pair: A domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a Host Family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use. Au pair schemes are subject to government restrictions which specify an age range usually from late teens to mid to late twenties. In Europe, where the concept originated, au pairs only work part-time, and they often also study part-time, generally focusing on the language of the host country. 

The title comes from the French term au pair, meaning "on a par" or "equal to", indicating that the relationship is intended to be one of equals: the au pair is intended to become a member of the family, albeit a temporary one, rather than a traditional domestic worker.

So, yeah, that's what I'm doing next year. And the best of it: I will be able to edit my book. I'm leaving in 8 days to Münich, Germany. 

Eight days. 

I'm still processing it. 

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December Reading List

Hey guys, I finished my book, and I am allowing myself a month of recess before editing because I'm in no rush. In order to refresh my mind I am reading a lot this month. And by a lot, I mean a lot.

These are the books I still have to read:

Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay
Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
If Wishes Were Horses - Robert Barclay
The Autobiograpy Of Miss Jane Pittman - Ernest J. Gaines
Put Your Dream To the Test - John C. Maxwell
Percy Jackson and The Olympians (The Whole five books) - Rick Riordan

 I have already read Divergent by the second time and finally finished Insurgent. They are awesome! But there's still a lot to read.

Why? Because I need to distract myself, get new ideas and forget about my book. This month I will take notes while reading and when I finally decide to start editing I will be able to see my book with critic eyes, and take notes of what's wrong.

This is my whole month then. That, and hanging out with someone :)

A Cactus?

I'm gonna be quick right now. Meet my Cactus.

Its name is Tauro. 

Tauro is the first earth sign, the most stable and the strongest. Taurus are known for their stubborn nature and their unwillingness to change. Since Cactus are plants that might survive in the hottest of places I decided this name was perfect. Now, I asked how to take care of them but I don't remember what he said. Or if he said anything.

Does anyone know how to take care of a Cactus?

Writing Tip #7 - Draw

Hey guys! You probably know I wrote a book, finished NaNoWriMo and so. Yeah, I know I talk a lot about his, haha.

So, this week I remembered that meanwhile my writing I had a really blurry idea if how my characters looked. I even forgot it and whenever I had to mention someone's semblance, I invented another one instead of going back because I had no time. It was a really messy first draft.

In order to put this problem down I tried this. I drew them. It doesn't matter If you can draw or your drawing looks like a 3 year old's. We're not trying to be Picasso here, we write. That's what we're good at. I have never read about this working for writers but you know, every writer is different, you have to keep trying new things that might work for you.

To me, this works because It makes them real. Now, my characters are not just a bunch of ideas in my head, they have a face, expressions, flaws and differences. So this is my advice.

Draw. You might discover new things about them.For example, these are my main characters:

Abril Becker:

Small, short red hair usually messy, freckled, gray eyes.

André Franco:

Tall, tan, brown hair, red cheeks and stunning eyes. (Still, haven't decided what color because in my first draft he has three different colors). I can't draw smiles, but he's always smiling.

Tito Ferrati:

Slim, tall, blond long hair, blue eyes and he never shaves properly His torso is filled with tattoos.

Writing Tip #6 - Character Crafting.

Hey there. Most of writers know about this, and It's very logical. You can't tell how people is if you don't know them. You can't write about a character without knowing who she/he is. If your character is a guy how is rude to everyone you don't want to find him comforting someone he doesn't care about, you don't want him to magically change his temper. You need to know who he is, the reason he's like that and why is it important in your story.

For this, I will post some pictures that were very useful to me. I do not owe them, I found them in Tumblr.

Here they are.