LOOKING BACK ON 2009 + *My Top Hot 5*

This year hasn't been particularly good for me. I can't say for the overall effect but I went through a really tough time when I lost my grandpa in June. Grandpa who was my confidant and the most awesome person ever. Losing him was something I never really contemplated...which I guess is silly because life's a flippant thing. I learnt that when an old friend of mine passed away at the beginning of the year. She suddenly fell ill one Thursday, was taken to the hospital on Friday where during a city scan the docs detected a tumour and on Saturday she was dead. Just like that. No symptom of any previous serious medical condition. Forever 18. 
Yeah, that's how flippant life is.

I'm not kidding about the tough thing. I've been through major, major upheavals this year. And each upheaval's left me numb each time. Numb and emotionally dead. Time passes, life goes on...and I found my escape in writing (lots of poems flowed out during this period). Writing and books. My santuary.

That's when reflection started trickling in, along with a sense of urgency. Urgency about doing it right now. About living in the moment. Carpe Dium.

That's why SW is so important to me. It helped me find my escape (and no, I don't think escapism is necessarily bad). My haven. I've never been the one draft in three-months-or -less-writer but I've never worked with such an urgency as I'm doing with SW. And, I've never held on to any work for so long.
I lost a lot this year but it has also given me SW, which is now a major part of my life.

The books, as always, have been awesome companions, comforters (that a word?). All these years and I can still count on them. This year there have been some great releases --fab debuts, fab non-debutes, shaken-not-stirred heroines, high calorie males. It's been a great year for the writing industry. So, I just thought I'd do Top 5s of my fave books, characters and such.


TOP 5 HOT BOOKS OF THE YEAR

> TAKEN BY STORM. I've gushed and gushed and gushed about this book. My fave debut.

> HUSH HUSH. It kept me hyperventilating. I was ecstatic, thrilled, elated, frightened --I don't think any book's made me feel all the emotions at one go.

> WHEREVER NINA LIES. One of the best roadtrip books I've read. I don't know how accurate the portrayal of all those places was since I haven't been to any of them but I think this book had the mood just right. Breezy, then a leap right into thrilling.

> THE HUNGER GAMES/CATCHING FIRE. I don't know what to say about this. If you've read them you know what I mean. If you haven't, well, you're missing out.

> WINGS. This book is so sweet. It brought back magic (in a good way) since Harry Potter.


TOP 5 HOT FIC MALES OF THE YEAR

>PATCH (Hush Hush) *stops breathing* Move over, everyone! Patch makes you lust over a fic character like never before. The bad guy is here to stay.

>ADRIAN (Vampire Academy series). I don't want the popular guy, give me the outcast anyday! Twisted humour defines Adrian. Dream on.

>TAMANI (Wings). Charming. Witty. Gorgeous. Want more? He's a faerie.

> MICHAEL MOSCOVITZ (The Princess Diaries). Okay, Forever Princess came out last year, so technically he shouldn't be on this year's list, but, c'mon..who can get over Michael Moscovitz? He's perfect. He invented a robotic CardioArm. And he read Mia's 400 page romance. And said it was hot. Yeah, hot.

> PEETA (The Hunger Games). Good guys aren't done away with. Sweet Peeta's on the 'Most Wanted' list.


TOP 5 HOT FIC FEMALES OF THE YEAR

> LEESIE HUNT (Taken By Storm). Bogged down by rules of your faith --fight it or succumb? Hold your own. That's Leesie Hunt. Adorable. Strong. Someone you'd love to know. Oh, and she writes poems. Fab ones, too.

> KATNISS EVERDEEN (Hunger Games/Catching Fire). Equally capable of fierce love and fierce hatred. She hunts. She fights. And she can beat any boy any day. Absolutely K-I-C-K-A-S-S.

> NORA GREY (Hush Hush). Even with someone with as strong a presense as Patch, this girl knows what she wants. Being a mere human makes her no damsel in distress. And she's a fun person too.

> ELLIE (Wherever Nina Lies). No, she isn't paired opposite a hotter-than-hot male, nor does she have any significant talent. But Ellie is awesome. You can't help loving her. She is determined to track down her sister even when glaring, impossible-to-remove obstacles stand in her way. <33

> AISLINN (Fragile Eternity). The fifth was a difficult choice considering all the awesome female MCs and non-MCs we've got this year, but Aislinn it is. There's just something about her. Even when she wasn't Summer Queen she was special. And we should know how hard it must be to choose between Seth and Keenan.


BOOK(S) THAT SHOULD BE MADE INTO A MOVIE: (Tie!) HUSH HUSH & THE HUNGER GAMES

Really, there should be a Thank You Award sent to all the wonderful writers who have written such fantastic books this year (and, yes, over the years).
Anyway.
                                         THANK YOU!
From me.

And to all you lovely twifties, G'luck with all your WiPs and SNIs.
I, for one, can't wait to see them ALL in print! :D

                                           ~Wrapping up this year~