Pokemon Go Book Tag!

Disclaimer:  Pokemon Go belongs to Niantic and Nintendo, please don’t sue me.

So Read At Midnight has come up with a brilliant book tag for all the aspiring Pokemon Masters out there!  I just have to participate because I too, wanna be the very best like no one ever was.

Rules:

• NIL. Link back to my blog is appreciated but optional. Feel free to use my graphics. Tag people, don’t tag people, whatever. Just have fun!

The first book I remember loving (that actually inspired me to write as well) is Shortcut by Donald Crews.  That was preschool.  As I got older, I read all of the Bailey School Kid mystery novels as well as Lurlene McDaniel novels.  I also loved anything that Bill Wallace wrote.

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle.  This book is so beautiful and so inspiring and it really helped me to understand a lot about the significance of what goes on around us and how we interpret and experience life.

This tag actually made me laugh out loud because it’s TRUE. Zubats are EVERYWHERE and I already have a Golbat so I no longer have any need for Zubats!  Go away, ugly little flying creature!

And I’m just going to have to go with genre here and say anything erotica that features a submissive virginal female and an arrogant dominant male.  I’ve tried to read a few and they simply don’t appeal to me.

Nicholas Sparks’ books are all literally the same book, but I love each and every one of them and read every single new book he releases.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and Game of Thrones by JRR Martin.  I actually intend to read both someday (Outlander first because I love Scotland), but as of right now, I’m trying to get past the intimidatingly tiny text.

Any time a new Harry Potter book was released, sleep did not exist.  I had to read them straight through.  I actually passed out after the fifth book was released because I was running on no food and no sleep and I was sick.  Another book that kept me up, however, was Defending Jacob by William Landay.  It didn’t keep me up in the sense that it scared me, but oh my goodness, this book stayed with me for forever.  I would just lay awake at night thinking about it.

I think my #1 OTP of all time would HAVE to be Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games.  I love them so much I just don’t even know what to do with myself.  I want a Peeta!

Can I say my own books for this?  Haha!  I wrote them specifically to be fast-paced and fun and easy to read.  I’m not sure how “fire-hot” they are, but I like them.  So I’ll go with the Boy Band series and the Cemetery Tours series by me!

Harry Potter!  Harry Potter!  Harry Potter!  Harry Potter!

I need books on the Marauders and the founders and the Weasleys and Harry’s children and maybe a whole rewrite of the original series from Neville’s point of view and Draco’s point of view and Snape’s point of view and…

I’m actually in the middle of it, but I was really surprised by how much I liked The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.  I went into it thinking it would be kind of boring and serious.  Quite the contrary.  It was actually fun, dark, entertaining, and even funny.

So, my sister and my little cousin have been trying to get me to read The Selection series by Kiera Cass for forever, and I actually really want to.  I’ve just been trying to find the time to commit myself to all those books!  I am actually really excited to read it!

Oh, goodness, this is difficult because I love old books and I love signed books.  I could definitely use a brand new set of first-edition Harry Potter books, however.  All of mine have been read so many times they are actually falling apart.  OH!  Or I’d love to have the original UK editions!

I’m a bad reader in the sense that I don’t actively go seeking new authors.  I usually let the books find me, haha!  So for this tag, I’m going to mention a few of my friends and their debut novels (even though some of them have been out for quite a while).  I’m excited for Doll by Miracle Austin, Winter’s Curse by April L. Wood, The Wall Outside by James William Peercy, The Conservative Congregant by Paula Walker Baker, The Gay Teen’s Guide to Defeating a Siren by Cody Wagner, and Firebrand by Sarah MacTavish.

My current auto-buy authors are Deb Caletti, Meg Cabot, Nicholas Sparks, Rainbow Rowell and Jodi Picoult.

The wait is almost over! I’m going to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Saturday!  I would also kill for a sequel to Eleanor and Park and/or Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell but I’m not sure either will happen.  In fact, I’m certain that the latter will not.  Because I’ve asked her.  In person.  And she said no.

Thank you so much, Aentee, for this fantastic Book Tag adventure!

Everyone, go follow her!

Also, if you’re reading this, I CHOOSE YOU!

Gotta Catch ‘Em All!

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock or on a desert island with no wifi, you’ve probably heard of Pokemon GO, the mobile app that is sweeping the nations and probably has groups of random twenty-somethings wandering around your lawn at four in the morning trying to catch that darn Nidoran.  I’ll admit, I’m guilty of the wandering as well.  My sister and I grew up on Pokemon and now, to be able to go out and “catch” them in the real world… It’s SO much fun!  It’s really bringing out the nerd in me.

I’ve never openly admitted my love for Pokemon, but the truth is it was a huge part of my childhood and one of the very first things to really spark my creativity.  I loved the idea of these cute, beautiful, powerful animals hanging out and going out and learning about them.  Granted, I’m pretty sure if I was a real life Pokemon trainer, I wouldn’t actually battle them or even train them.  I’d catch all the cute ones and keep them as pets and love them and take them on adventures.

Last night, I was hanging out with my birds (my real birds, not all the Pidgeys that have flocked to my front porch), and I started thinking, “I wonder what my characters would be like if they were Pokemon trainers?”

This inspired me to try to find one of those websites where you can make your own character.  You know, there’s a mermaid one, a Lord of the Rings one, a Disney one, etc… Well, I couldn’t find one.  So I decided to attempt to draw the characters myself.

May I just say that although I enjoy drawing, I’m not very good at it.

I started with Mel Parker from Boy Band, simply because the new book just came out and she was pretty easy as far as drawing is concerned.  I also knew almost immediately which Pokemon she would pick.  So I made an attempt at drawing Mel with her Marill.

I had a lot of fun with it.  I haven’t drawn anyone else yet, mostly because that one itty bitty drawing took me FOREVER.  But I want to.

Until I actually get around to it, however, I have been giving some thought as to who my other characters might pick as their Pokemon.

Luke Rainer from Cemetery Tours  is easy. He’d obviously have a Ghastly or a Haunter.  He’s far too obsessed with ghosts to have anything else.

At first I was thinking Kate Avery from Cemetery Tours might have a Mew, because of her sensitivity and sense of wonder, but then I reconsidered and realized she’d have something more like a Persian.  She’s a strong character.  And that’s not saying that Mew isn’t a strong Pokemon (it totally is), but I think a Persian suits her a little more.

As for Michael Sinclair?  He’d want something normal.  He’s all about lying low and fitting in.  I can see him with an Eevee.  Or anything that wouldn’t destroy his apartment.  He’d want a low-maintenance Pokemon.

Brink, on the other hand, would have something outrageous, like a Dragonite. The bigger and more destructive, the better.

Sam Morneau from Boy Band is very basic.  He’d totally have a Pikachu.

Oliver Berkley, for some reason, I can see with a Ponyta.  I think it’s because at first glance, Oliver is very meek and mellow, but he’s got a lot of spunk and fire in him.  A Ponyta would suit him.

Josh Chaill would have a Jigglypuff.  He wouldn’t want it, but that’s literally all he would be suited for.  Sorry, Josh.

Jesse Scott, I can see with a Wartortle (is that how you spell it?).  Not as cute and cuddly as Squirtle, but not as fierce as Blastoise.  But it can still pack a punch.

Cory Foreman, I think, would have something awkward like a Doduo or an Oddish.  He’s tall and awkward and the poor boy just doesn’t know what’s good for him.

His twin sister Joni, on the other hand, would probably have something like a Staryu.  I don’t know why, Staryu just always struck me as such a no-nonsense Pokemon, and Joni is the same way.

Now as for me, the author, I would want an Articuno.  I’ve ALWAYS wanted an Articuno because they’re pretty and blue and when they fly, they sparkle.  And even though I don’t necessarily enjoy the cold, I was born in the middle of a snowstorm, so you know, it fits.

What Pokemon would you choose?