According to Alyssa

Though my year has been one of the most exciting ones yet, I think this announcement may be the best of all!  I am so very pleased to share with you that I am writing and self-publishing a children's book!  HOORAY!  I can't believe it is actually happening.

If you are new to my blog, then you should know that I write about beauty, fashion, music, and life for Maniac Magazine which is so much fun!  I truly love every second of it.  But, I've been wanting to do some more fictional creative writing to stir up the pot.

I am also a HUGE fan of Christmas.  I have been watching the past few years of Zoe Sugg and Tanya Burr's vlogmas videos every day for the past month (I know it's early!) and listening to Christmas music in the shower.  MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAAAAYS! (Anybody know who sings that?!)  My boyfriend is extremely annoyed with me, but whatever!  It's the most wonderful time of the year, and it's only 5 months away!

So with my mind full of ideas and high on the thought of Christmas being so soon (lol), I texted my friend Katherine, who is an AMAZING artist (YES, SHE DID THE REINDEER PICTURED ABOVE.  ISN'T HE GORGEOUS?!) and half-jokingly said "let's write a children's book".  Her response was entirely serious and 100% for the idea.  And that was it.  We got to work right away and are now so pumped to be writing a children's Christmas book!

The story follows a retired reindeer far past his glory days who is searching for a way to continue to bring happiness to children!  We've launched a Go Fund Me campaign in the attempt to raise some of the money that we need to publish this book in time for Thanksgiving!  If you're interested in learning more, PLEASE don't hesitate to check out the campaign and make a donation!  We've included some pretty awesome rewards for anyone who helps us out, so we think it's definitely worth it!

Also, if you can't afford to donate, don't worry!  You can always just share the link to the campaign and help us spread the word!

Thank you all in advance!

xx

While I've been a big reader forever, I've always leaned more towards fiction works than anything remotely real. I'm a sucker for a good love story or a fantastic tale of magical adventure (*cough* Harry Potter *cough*). However, I've recently found myself picking up more and more autiobiographical works, whether they be essay collections, books of inspirations, or full on autobiographies, and I thought I'd share that newfound love here by gushing over a few of my current favorites!