Sanctuary

Prompt: Two teenage girls are slugging it out in a parking lot. What do you do?


Seriously, the first thing that came to my mind was to take notes on it. Who knows when I might have to include a scene like that in one of my many writings? In reality, though, I'd probably stay out of it. Maybe get an adult to break it up. I'm not really one to rush in to situations like that.

~~~


Writing, to me, is a sanctuary. It's a thing I do to get away from everything else. Sure, I do it to amuse myself when I'm bored, or to get rid of the thoughts that my overactive imagination conjures up, but really, the reason I originally started to write was to avoid life. With writing, I can create my own worlds, and then put myself into a character's shoes as they do stuff in that world.

I started writing seriously when I was twelve. That year was probably the worst year in my life, which doesn't say much, since I've only lived through almost seventeen years. I was going through so much, though.

Since then, whenever I've struggled with anything, I've turned to writing. It relieves my stress. Last year after NaNoWriMo, I had a serious case of Writer's Block, which lasted almost two months. It was horrible. I was so stressed out until I finally got through it.

It's no wonder, then, that I've been writing so much lately, what with everything going on. It feels good just to be able to retreat into my own mind and become a different person for a while.

People have wondered why I'm rarely angry or upset. Writing's why. It calms me down and cheers me up. Everyone needs an outlet for their frustrations. Mine is writing. And it works.

I didn't really find it surprising that  I tested high for Avoidant Personality Disorder on Ginanne's personality disorder test. I avoid the real world. How much more can you avoid than that?

After NaNo

Prompt: If you could erase one type of animal from the face of this Earth, what would it be?


You know, this is quite hard. I like most animals. What would be the point of erasing one from the face of the Earth? I've grown to appreciate them even more since putting myself in Elliza's mindset with animals. There aren't any animals on the moon, after all.

Hmm...I guess, the moose. Why? No idea, but I'm sure the Earth would survive without moose wandering around all over the place.

~~~

You would think that after NaNoWriMo, and writing 83,000 recorded words in one month, that I'd be sick of writing. Not so. December first, I received two new fanfict ideas from the muses that wander my mind. December second, I started writing both of those ideas. The last three days since November ended, I've continued writing Imminent Pandemonium, and my work-in-progress fanfic that I haven't posted up yet.

That's why I decided to accept the challenge of writing 600,000 words in one year. If I'm able to write that much, I may as well keep myself busy, right?

Plus, it'll keep me motivated when Writer's Block decides to strike. And it will. Eventually.

Right now, though, I'm just trying to concentrate on finishing my novel. There's probably only a few thousand words left, which is good, except that I'm not that great at endings. Sure, they turn out alright, but I always have trouble trying to write them. I think it has something to do with stopping with the characters.

It may sound weird, but when I create a character, especially a main character, I really connect to them and don't like to see them go. Really, if I had my way, I'd just use the same characters over and over and over again, just in different settings. Too bad that really wouldn't work that well. I think my readers would get annoyed.

Although, now that I think on it....isn't that what a fanfiction is? I'm just using the same characters again and again...but then again, I don't put Harry on the moon, and then take him to a magical forest, and then put him in a fairy tale....that might be a little weird.

On to a different topic. Driving. Ooh, what fun. No, really, though. Driving in snow has been interesting so far. I've had one experience where I slid, at a stop light and the car was crooked. Luckily, there was no one around, because it was late enough at night.

My first time driving into town, I didn't realized just how tense I was until I wasn't driving anymore and I  could feel my arms aching.

But altogether, I do enjoy driving in the snow. It's quite the adventure compared to the repetitive boring driving that was happening before the snow fell.

Driving Adventures

Whenever someone suggested that I drive somewhere myself, I always said, "I'll get lost, I guarantee it." Well, turns out I was right. See, I supposed to drive to Ginanne's house, then with them, go to the NaNo Kick-Off Party, then back to their house, and then back home. Sounds simple, yes?

Not so.

You see, I knew the way mostly to Ginanne's house, but I got lost at the very end. I ended up wandering Ginanne's neighborhood for about ten minutes, searching for her street, before Lydia remembered we had the GPS. Lydia turned it on and led me to Ginanne's street. Still, it took us three tries to find her house on her street, because we didn't recognize it with the Halloween decorations.

We picked up Ginanne and Jordan, and I drove us to the Associated Industries building, where the party was being held.

The party itself was fun. We started by folding origami "plot bunnies". The ML said to be careful not to make too many, or they might multiply, and it's definitely a problem when you have way too many plot bunnies, because they start creating plot holes. :)

Next, we ate. Well, I stuffed myself. It was a potluck with a ton of great food.

After eating, we all worked on a collage, showing a glimpse of each of our novels. It was interesting trying to search for pictures that might represent my novel in magazines.

Then, we went back to Ginanne's house, and Lydia and I went on our way. Unfortunately, I made a wrong turn and ended up somewhere that I had no idea where I was. Suddenly, I found myself at a stop light at a familiar road. Division. "That'll take me home," I said.

It was a one-way street.

It wasn't until I saw the sign saying, "Welcome to Oregon" that I knew we were going the wrong way on Division. (Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating...does Division even take you to Oregon?)

I turned off and spent about twenty minutes wandering around, trying to find a way to cross Division and get to it's counterpart, heading the opposite way. At one point, I made a U-turn in a parking lot while a cop watched on. I was hoping at the time that  he wouldn't stop me and question what the flip I was doing, but looking back, he probably could have given us directions.

Finally, we found a way to cross Division and turned left onto Ruby. We followed that back in the direction home was.

It was crazy how far into Spokane we had managed to get as I started to see familiar landmarks.

Then, we were on the Newport highway, heading home in the RIGHT direction. It was foggy out, and very secluded, and in the times that you could see the sky, it was very cloudy and the moon was full, or very close to being full. The setting kind of reminded me of a horror story. O_O

We did arrive home in safety, though, and nothing too dramatic happened.

So, I got lost driving a route that I've drive quite a few times, and isn't all that hard, really. Now, imagine what'll happen when I drive to Colville for a Stake Dance. I could end up in Canada. Lydia says she doesn't mind though. She wants to see a polar bear. XD

NaNo Looms

Only twelve more days until NaNo arrives, and yet, I am not freaking out at all. This pre-writing thing really does wonders. How did I ever write anything without it? Just kidding. I really do enjoy just writing randomly sometimes.

I took on two dares today, for my novel, one including a zombie apocalypse (you must be wondering, 'on the moon?' but trust me, this actually works) and another including a space whale.

Oh, and I'm sure you noticed the banner I made for it. ^^^^^^^^^

The first NaNo get-together is next Saturday, and I'm pretty excited at actually being able to go to this one.

I don't have much to talk about, other than NaNo. The blog will be updated with a new page tracking my progress and a widget or two for my word count soon.

Just Another Update On My Mostly Boring and Average Life.

What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? Hum...well, nothing REALLY scary has ever happened. There's been all those near car accidents that have happened since I started learning to drive, of course. Then, there was that incident with those stupid cops that nearly gave me a heart attack. Last year, MusicFest was really scary, mostly because it was new and made me super nervous.


The scariest, though, was probably when, on the way home from Seminary, mom got really sick and ended up having to go to the hospital to get a tumor removed. That scared me a lot. 


~~~


On a lighter topic, I got my Driver's License yesterday. Finally! Although it'll only really change with driving to Seminary and Mutual, there's just something to having your Driver's License...independence maybe?


Today for the October NaNo Prep Challenge on writing.com, I was supposed to draw a setting that was part of my novel. I chose to make a map of the city that is on the moon. I made it on Excel, and I think it turned out pretty well, although I couldn't manage to fit in quite as many house as I would have liked to. All well, I guess the Moon civilization is restricted to only 452 families.....


So, I think I'm going to change The Brotherhood II's title to either The Uprising  or The Innocents' Revenge.  I asked for title ideas from my fans, and then put all the suggestions to a vote, and those two are the only two that have been voted through so far. I do like them both, though.

So with school, things have changed a bit since the start of the year. First of all, I'm finding myself, wait for it....almost ENJOYING history! That's a far cry from where I've always been, hating the lessons and just trying to get them done.

My second favorite class is French, actually. I don't like the speaking part of it, so much, but I like learning the new words every week and being able to form sentences. I'm  thinking of, way later on - possibly next year, when I'm in French II, trying to write a story in French. Maybe even translate one of my existing stories into French.

Digital Video Production is my next favorite. Of course, it's super slow, like all the rest of the tech class I've taken. I don't like it as much as the other two tech classes, though. It's not something I'd consider for a career.

Next is Journalism. The actual classes and lessons are super boring, but the Yearbook ClassConnects make up for it.

Then comes literature. The last two units have been boring, but the next one is about mythology, so hopefully it'll get better.

Lastly, is Music Appreciation. It's all about jazz, and you'd think that it was interesting and stuff, but the lessons are actually very dull. Plus, for the tests, you have to go through and memorize all these names and dates of jazz performers and what type of jazz they created. There must be around fifty types of jazz.

It's funny, really, that the classes I was looking forwards to most, ended up being my least favorite, and the ones I was kind of dreading ended up being my favorite. That's very strange, for me. Things don't usually happen like that.

Pre-NaNo Warm Up

Tell us about five things you want to do before you die. 

1) Write and publish at least one book/novel.

2) Travel - visit every continent - or at least Egypt, Italy, France, India, Guatemala, and Scotland.

3) Swim with dolphins in their natural habitat.

4) Find a spouse and raise a family.

5) Something incredibly reckless, like skydiving or something... O_o

~~~ 

NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and already I'm preparing for it. I'm participating in a Pre-NaNo Contest on writing.com where you pretty much write your outline, develop your plot, and define your characters for your novel all during October. It's going pretty well and my plot is going to be epic. I'm trying for a sci-fi of sorts again, rather than another fantasy. It's going to take place on the moon. :)

My drive test to finally get my license has been scheduled for next Tuesday. I'm super nervous for it, especially since I'm not really sure about parallel parking. Seriously, it can't be that hard though, everyone has to pass it to drive, right?

The Brotherhood II is all plotted out. I've got the outline written, plus the first three chapters. I plan on posting up the Prologue tomorrow. The only problem is that I need another title other than 'The Brotherhood II'. I'm not that great at coming up with titles, except on the rare occasion, like 'Involuntary Notions' and 'Tentative Reality', both of which were complete accidents, but that I decided I liked after all.

I was also planning on posting up Everlasting Heartache this month too, but I might wait until December, when I'm less busy writing other things to post it up. It's not like anyone's going to miss it, like they will The Brotherhood II.

The Start of School

If you needed a pseudonym, what would it be?  I've always kind of liked the sound of my name backwards - Alleira, but that might be somewhat obvious, so I'd probably go with Alena (which was the name of my imaginary friend when I was younger) as a first name, and Faison as the last name (because it's the 4,24 2 most common surname in the US.) As a middle name, I'd pick Marie, simply because I like that name.

So, if you ever come across someone with the name Alena Marie Faison, it just might be me in disguise.

~~~

A week and a half ago, school started up again. I have some fun classes this semester, but American Literature and U.S. History are two of the most boring classes ever. French is also being difficult, although I think with a little effort I could get the hang of it.

I haven't really even started Journalism (JrnlYrbk), Digital Video Production (DVP), or Music Appreciation. I'm only a few lessons in on all of them, but the JrnlYrbk ClassConnects I've been going to are pretty fun. It helps that I like the teacher, Ms. May, although I also her her in DVP, so it gets kind of annoying having her twice as often as the rest of my teachers.

I spent the weekend down the hill at the neighbor's house, helping with their garage sale. I came home Saturday evening with about twenty books, most of which were mysteries. None of them were authors I am familiar with, but I can always try something new, right? Maybe with all these mystery books I'll actually be able to writing a semi-good mystery story. The garage sale itself was rather boring, just sitting around most of the time.

I finished The Brotherhood, and posted the last chapter up this morning. That leaves room for me to work on my other fanfic that I've been working on ages, Everlasting Heartache. However, since NaNoWriMo is coming up in a month and a half (wow, that's quicker than I realized!), I probably won't start posting chapters of that online until after November.

I've got an idea of what I want my NaNoWriMo novel to be about his year, but I'm not sure if the plot line will carry me past 50,000 words. It will be a stretch, but I might make it.

If all else fails, it's not like I haven't won it before or anything. Nobody will be impressed if I win it a second time, it's only the first time that really counts to impress people, unless you can say, 'Oh, I've won it ten times in a row!' then someone might be impressed.

Another thing that I have to start thinking about is the sequel to The Brotherhood. I ended the fanfic in such a place that I had to promise a sequel or else people would be super mad at me. I only really have scattered ideas of what it might be about though. All the main things that needed to happen have already happened, and if I write anything it'll just be fluff and nonsensical crap. There won't really be a plot unless I add a whole other major twist into it, which is a possibility, but would mean that I have to come up with a good one that hasn't already been used a bajillion times, and I don't have that long, since it really should be put up within a month's time, or people will forget that I will be writing a sequel.

Trolls, Leeches, and Pink Zombie/Vampire/Unicorn/Pony Horses

This weekend, I went to the annual Daddy/Daughter Camp Out.

We arrived at camp and found that another group of LDS people had taken our usual spot, so we chose a spot next to them. We found a troll sitting on the table and were told that we were only allowed to camp there if we left him there when we left. We agreed and reserved the spot.

We ate a lunch consisting of hot dogs, then went geocaching. We found six caches.

After we came back to camp we just hung out with the other people who had arrived until Brother Romero got there with dinner at six. he cooked us all hamburgers and we had several salads and chips with it.

After dinner, a fire was built and marshmallows were roasted while we sat around talking. I brought out my deck of cards and Cati, Lydia, and I played some card games.

Soon after night fell, another family showed up and all the dads went to help set up their camp. The daughters stayed around the campfire and played a game where you tell a story a sentence at a time with each person adding to it. It started out with a girl named Elinor who lived in a castle and had a pony but ended up being about a Zombie/Vampire/Unicorn/Pony horse who was killed by its Zombie owner. After scaring each other a few more times, and a few jokes being told, we went to bed.

The next morning, I got up and sat around while waiting for breakfast. The neighbor's dog, Sox, came over for a visit a few times.

For breakfast, we had breakfast burritos.

After breakfast, marshmallows were roasted again and some of the girls went swimming while I just stayed by the fire.

Most of the group went on a hike around the lake, but Cati, Lydia, and I stayed back. While they were gone, we had a visitor to camp. A squirrel came and we fed it potato chips.

After the hikers got back, everyone started to pack up and leave. Several girls went swimming and Cassie came back with a leech on her back. It was promptly removed.

Before we left, Cati started burning our plastic cups into creative shapes. All the girls who were still there got one as a souvenir.

The camp out was officially over, and we all headed home, leaving the camp troll behind.

A Review: The Hidden Sun by J. Lloyd Morgan

Back of the book: 
The kingdom of Bariwon in at a crossroads. Ever since Eliana was born, she had been primed to become the kingdom's leader. But she is not to rule Bariwon alone. A contest of sorts, called the Shaginoc, is to be held when Eliana turns twenty one. The victor gains the right to marry Eliana and become king of Bariwon. Rumor has it that the favorite to win the Shaginoc is Daimh, son of malevolent Govenor Abrecan. However, Eliana has fallen in love with her personal guardian, Rinan. She is torn between renouncing her title to be with the man she loves or marrying to keep the kingdom out of the hands of those who rule it unjustly. A plan is hatched to keep her in power while allowing her to marry Rinan, but little does she know the impact this deception will have on everyone in Bariwon for years to come.

My review:
I read this book on the long road trip to a family reunion, and all along the way, I was giving a commentary of what was going on in the book. My sister delights in asking me every few minutes, "Have they died yet?" whenever I'm reading a book, and this time I could answer truthfully every time she asked, "Yes, someone has, actually." It made her day, I'm sure.

I am a big fan of unique names, so seeing so many of them in this book excited me. Not only were the names unique, however, but the characters themselves all had unique and well defined personalities. You could easily fall in love with the characters, even several of the evil ones, which made it even more devastating when several characters were unexpectedly killed off.

The plot was always twisting and turning, making certain events very unexpected. I often cried out in protest or surprise while reading it, because of something that had happened with no previous foreshadowing to lead up to the event. There was also a certain level of predictability, but not too much. I certainly wanted to keep reading to see what might happen next.

The first line of the book, "The sun's playing hide and seek," ties the whole story together in a way so that all the characters introduced halfway through the book, and the periods and time that the story skips all make sense and fit right into the plot of the story.

One thing that distracted me while reading the book, was all the little mistakes. A word misused or a grammar mistake here or there. Still, these mistakes weren't so noticeable as to completely draw you out of the story. I just took note and kept reading.

This novel's mix of fantasy and romance drew me in and kept me in and I can't wait for the next book to come out.

J. Lloyd Morgan's site is http://www.jlloydmorgan.com.
You can purchase the book here:  http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Sun-J-Lloyd-Morgan/dp/160911437X.


Disclaimer: This book was sent to me free of charge so I could review it. However, it did not influence my opinion of the novel at all. This review is my honest opinion of the novel. 

Conference, Driver's Ed, and Other Events

Writing Prompt: Take a random book, open it to a random page, and then post the passage that begins at the top left. It you want to go further, tell us if the passage you posted sheds any light on your life at present.

My passage:
"At least the Pale Prophet will serve me some useful purpose."


"What about the girl?" someone asked.


"The girl?" said Jacob. "What about her?"


The stones vibrated. Footsteps were leaving the tower. My uncle's shrieks faded as Jacob, the priests, and the prison guards, carried him away. I was alone. My head was floating. Floating like a helium balloon. I was lying on my back now, just rocking back and forth. Just rocking back and forth. My energy was slipping away...slipping away. The dark light of death was settling over me...settling around me...settling in.


I heard trumpets. 

That was an interesting passage to share. Someone dying. Great.

Anyway.....

Last week, I started Driver's Ed. It is a pain, let me tell you. I am learning a few new things, mostly random facts, but most of the class is just repetitive and boring. Plus, it's annoying having to drive into town every day for four plus hours.

On the other hand, last weekend I attended a Multi-Stake Youth Conference. The first day, 1,600 LDS youth ages 14-18 gathered together in Spokane. We started out playing some games while people were arriving. My favorite was Human Statues in which a group of ten or so people tried to make a human statue of a monument. I had Double Decker Bus, Old Faithful, and Statue of Liberty, among others.

Once everyone arrived, we went outside to the big grassy field and played Simon Says before splitting into smaller groups and playing some other games. We then ate dinner, consisting of tacos, and then prepared for the dance. There were two dances, one was a DJ and the other was a live band. There were also some Minute to Win it  games going on.

The next day, we listened to a couple soldiers and a Gold Star mother speak, mostly about soldiers who lose their lives fighting for our country. Afterward, we made Christmas and Thanksgiving cards to put in care packages.

For lunch, they made hamburgers for us all. I was at the back of the line, so had to wait forty-five minutes in the hot sun. After lunch, we gathered again to listen to several more speakers and sing some songs. We then went home and celebrated Lydia's birthday. She turned fifteen.

In other news, I remade my website. The link is now http://agstewart.webs.com.

And a last bit of advice - at Baskin Robbins, don't eat the watermelon flavored ice cream with the chocolate seeds. It's really not that great.

Update

So, I've kind of ditched the whole 'NaBloPoMo' thing. It's just not working out for me. Yeah, and last's month's writing contest didn't work out so well either. The novel just didn't want to be written. However, I'm not giving up on the novel writing quite yet. I'm attempting JulNoWriMo, but trying something different. You see, I'm just trying to write 50,000 words, not a novel, which means, this blog counts.

It the past week, I've worked more on the shorter obscure stories that have been sitting in dusty files on my computer, than I have in the past year. It's pretty great. Not to mention that I'm working on Involuntary Notions again, and The Brotherhood. My fanfic fans are thrilled, let me tell you.

The Brotherhood, my main fanfic at the moment, is coming to a close. I only have about four or five chapters left. It should be finished before the end of the month. The problem is, The Brotherhood was my first multi-chapter fanfic ever posted on the internet. I started it over two years ago, finished it, then rewrote it to make it four times as long. Now, it's finishing up again and I don't want to leave my story behind. I might just have to write a sequel, although I have no idea what it would be about. It's almost sad.

If I can get so attached to characters that aren't really mine, what'll happen once my novel is published and I am done with the characters I actually created? Now I know why people create series, because they love their characters so much......

On a slightly different note, Lydia keeps telling me to write a story where the world explodes in a billion different pieces and everyone dies. I keep amusing myself by imagining my novel ending that way, but its not going to happen. Still, I might end a fanfic that way, and annoy all my fans.

I like annoying my fans. Today's chapter of my fanfic, and the next two chapters I have written but not posted, all end in major cliffhangers. Yes, my fans are going to kill me. I may just have to go into hiding...at least on the internet.

Time Traveling to the Present is Purposeless

Today's Prompt: If you could go back in time and meet your 16-year-old self, what three things would you tell yourself?


This is kind of a problem, you know, because I'm sixteen right now..........

I'll just move on to other stuff.

My novel word count is behind. I'm supposed to be at 16667 words today but I'm only at 15366. It's because I didn't have the time to catch up from the day when I only wrote 91 words. I'll catch up eventually, I'm sure. Maybe tomorrow, since I don't have exams or anything.

Words and Wishes

Today's Prompt: Japanese lore suggests that if you fold 1,000 cranes your wish will come true. What would your wish be, and what would you be willing to do 1,000 times to get it?

How about, my wish is to get a book published and I would write 50 words, 1,000 times to get it. Oh wait, I've already done that, and I'm working on it again........And, for that matter, I've helped fold 1,000 cranes as well, for Ginanne's wedding.

I included the Spanish speaking zombie cat in my writing today. It appeared in a dream sequence. I think writing dream sequences are a lot of fun to write, because you get to lead the readers on, making them think it is really happening then all of a sudden, some weird twist happens and everyone is like 'what?' and then they find out it's just a dream that the characters wakes up screaming from it. Yes, dreams are fun to write.

Expensive Things That I Want But Probably Won't Ever Get

Today's Prompt: You've just been given a million dollars. You are not allowed to keep it or give it to anyone you know personally. What do you do with it and why? 


If I had a million dollars to spend, I would buy:

<--This island, in Canada, featured here for the price of $220,000. Plus have a cabin built on it for around $1,300 as found here. Why? Because I've always wanted a private island, and I need somewhere to sleep when I'm there.

And this sailboat to take me there for $3,925, found here. I'd need this to get to the island. -->

This grand piano, for the price of $24,000, from here. I want this so I can play music on a nice piano, of course. -->

At least $200 worth of books....probably more. I'm sure you can figure this out....

$100,000 would be given to the church for tithing, of course...

<--This laptop, found here, for $2,089, because I've heard that it is the perfect laptop for writers.

A trip to visit the 7 wonders of the world, outlined here, for the approximate price of $25,695 (for my parents, Lydia, and I), because I've always wanted to travel the world.

The remaining $720,791 would be spent on small things such as movie tickets, fine dining at fancy restaurants,  clothes shopping sprees, getting through driver's ed, birthday and holiday gifts for friends, family, and even extended family, etc. etc........because I don't know any other big things I would spend lots of money on.

Anyway, today was a bad day for me and I only got 91 words written, so I'll definitely have to make up for it tomorrow, but it's okay. I'm super tired right now, because of a headache I have, so I'll be going to bed now. Goodnight!

One Week Done

Today's prompt: Do you owe an apology to anyone? Why?


My answer: No, I don't think I owe anyone an apology.

It has officially been a week since I started writing both my novel and these daily blog posts and things are still going strong for both of them. However, this is where the trouble always starts. The second week is the hardest of them all.

Extinction

Evidently, the writing prompts fro NaBloPoMo have stopped, because there isn't one again today. However, I found a site that provides writing prompts. Here is today's: Assuming that complete recovery were instantaneous, would you be willing to accept a year of total paralysis below the neck to prevent the otherwise certain extinction of a species of animal?


Complete paralysis for an animal? It sounds kind of crazy, really, but I think I'd do it. As long as it wasn't permanent. I don't I could handle permanent paralysis. What I want to know is how someone being paralyzed from the neck down would stop a species from going extinct.


Anyway, I reached 10,000 words on my novel today. Yay! It's cause for celebration! Actually, I'm not doing much. I still have a long way to go. This post is going to be short, like the last bunch, because I actually have stuff to do and so can't ramble on. Plus, you run out of ideas when you blog every day.

Spanish Speaking Zombie Cat

Uh oh, there wasn't a prompt put out today, now I'm lost as to what to write about! Actually, I found a list of prompts on the JulNoWriMo site that you're supposed to write to everyday so you're nice and warmed up for the novel writing. I don't I really need them, seeing as I'm going to be plenty warmed up for it, but it works for today. One of of the prompts is this: A little girl named Helen is wandering through the woods alone when she comes across a large wooden box. She opens the box. What does she find inside?


My answer to that is simple. She found air.

Yeah, I'm not in a creative mood right now. I wrote four pages of a short story earlier, plus the daily word count for my novel, so I'm creative-ited (Yes, I know. It's not a word, but as a writer, I claim some allowances about making up words.) out and can't come up with anything better.

What? You're not happy with that answer? Fine, fine, I'll come up with a better answer. Let's see....in the large wooden box, she found the souls of a bunch of other girls who were randomly wandering through the woods and found the box. And then what happened? Well, her soul was sucked into the box as well and poor Helen was never seen again. Yep.

Oh, and about the title......well, today at Damien's birthday party, one of the people was talking with me and telling me how I should make a story about a Spanish speaking zombie cat, so I'm now writing it into my novel. That should be interesting to fit in.

My weirdness is probably overwhelming you at the moment......so I think I'm going to go to bed now...........

Slow Day

Today's Prompt: What's the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of your father?


The first thing I thought of when I heard the question was laughter. Dad is always making us laugh.

Today it took forever to write the recommended word count for the story. I hit a hard spot and I don't think it's written very well at all. It's mostly all filler that'll have to be rewritten after the month is over.

Today's post is going to be small, I guess. There's not much to say.

Day 3

Today's prompt: Define 'freedom'.


Freedom is being able to act, think, write, or say things without restriction. Freedom allows people to make choices. Too much freedom sometimes leads to a lack of freedom. Not enough freedom leads to rebellion. You sometimes have to work or fight for freedom. Freedom can, in some cases, be a pain to deal with. The opposite of freedom is school.....just kidding.....kind of.

And now to exercise my freedoms......

I just barely got my writing done today because mom insisted I go into town with her and then Lydia had to go to mutual an hour early for a presidency meeting. I wrote the last 500 words sitting at The Ram drinking a cookies and cream milkshake. Funny how I almost wrote more there than I did at home....I think it was the ice cream. I'll have to remember that when/if I get writer's block later on.

I made a cool cover type thing for my last novel, Involuntary Notions yesterday evening. I think it fits well.

I'm going to make another one for this novel, but it probably won't fit as well because I don't even know the whole conflict/idea yet. I'm only 5000 words in after all.

Day 2

Today's prompt is: What's your favorite poem? (And if you don't have one, why?)


I don't really have a favorite poem, mostly because I'm really into poetry. I do like 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost, though. And also 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud' by William Wordsworth.

I stayed up late last night finishing Inkheart. Of course, I've read it many times, but I do enjoy reading books over and over again, especially ones that I can relate to, like Inkheart. Imagine if this world was just a book and people could be read in and out of it.

The last ASB meeting of the year was this morning, and I probably won't be in it next year, because I'll probably be going to the Omak district rather than the Monroe district of WAVA. There's so much fun stuff planned for next year though. They're planning a writing club, and having published authors come in and share experiences and such. But it's only for people in the Monroe district. Oh, and they're going to try and put on prom next year. That should be interesting to see them pull off.

And So The Frantic Writing Begins

Along with writing a novel, I've decided to attempt NaBloPoMo again, since I only got halfway through in the month in May. This month's theme is easier for me. It is NOW, and it gives you a daily prompt as well.

Today's prompt is: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

The answer to that is easy. I've always wanted to be a writer.

The novel I'm going to attempt in June is a Sci-Fi, a genre I have never tried before, so it should be exciting. I've added a new page to this blog that tracks my progress. You can access it at the toolbar at the top of the page. Make sure to yell at me if I get too far behind, okay?

A fun part of writing during these month long novel writing things is all the challenges you receive of random things to put in your novel. I haven't been given very many yet, so suggestions of random things to put in my novel are very welcome.

My mascot during the month of June is this little creature I call Mr. Mouws. I picked him up from a geocache in Oregon last time we went, and I had no idea what animal he was. The closest I could guess was a cow/mouse, hence the name: cow + mouse = mouws. Later, Lydia suggested he might be a monkey, and it also fits somewhat, I suppose, but it was too late to change the name.

Mr. Mouws will be included in my novel, in some way or another.

YCL Retreat on Barnaby Island

Yesterday, I packed up all the stuff I would need for an overnight camping trip and set off to Sister Mckinney's house so she could take me up to Chewelah and then on to our camping place. We picked up Natalie on the way.

At the Chewelah Church, we met with five other girls and Sister Romero. I rode with Sis. Romero, her brother-in-law, his eight year old son, Chase, and two other girls up to where we would be staying. Near Inchelium, we crossed a ferry, which was interesting. Then we drove to a camping spot near Barnaby Island.

Sister Johnson met us there and showed us the way to where we would be camping. We had to hike, carrying all of our things, 3/4 of a mile across the sandbar and onto the island.

(A picture of the long hike to the island. Usually, the sandbar is covered in water, and the island would actually look like an island. For now, though, you can hike to it.) -->

Once on the island, we met with the four girls who had come earlier, along with Sis. Johnson's eight year old daughter, Zarahemla (or Zarah for short).

<--(Sis. Romero and Sis. McKinney planning)

I helped build the fire while some other girls built the latrine far away from camp.

<--(The campfire)

We did a few wood runs, and found roasting sticks, and then sat down for dinner, which was hot dogs, potato salad, grapes, and potato chips.

(The view from camp was beautiful.)-->

After dinner, we gathered around the camp fire to have a devotional of sorts. We decided who would get which level. I got the level 2 girls, along with Kaitlyn and Kati.Next, Sister Johnson showed us three types of plants: Yarrow, Mullein, and Lupine, and then Sister Romero told some stories.

<--(Hanging around the camp fire)

Afterward, we made smores and Kaitlyn decided to try and make some herbal tea from the Mullein leaves, which made her tired.

(Carly watches on as Kaitlyn sits on Micky)-->

Sister Johnson showed us all how to make ash cakes and we all made some.

(Our ash cakes cooking)-->

 Her mix was flour, a little bit or corn meal, ground flaxseed, salt, and baking soda. We mixed that powder with some water and then placed them directly on the hot coals to cook. They tasted surprisingly good, considering that they were cooked in ash. It's too bad we didn't have cinnamon and sugar though, that would've tasted great. At the same time, Sis. Romero's brother-in-law brought up some fish he had caught with Zara and Chase and cooked them over the fire.

<--(The fish cooking)

After that, mostly everyone headed off to bed, except the leaders and four of us girls. We talked for a while, and I didn't head back to my tent until probably around 11:30 PM.

(Zarah playing in the light)-->

I didn't sleep very well, waking up every so often. I eventually got up at around 7:00 and we had a small breakfast of granola, yogurt, oranges, and, of course, smores.

After breakfast, a few of us gathered flowers that we were going to press and then make bookmarks out of for our girls.

<--(A lot of flowers)

There were a lot of extras.

(Lupine flowers) -->

Soon after, we packed up camp before sitting down around the fire again.

<--(Packing up)

Sis. Mckinney taught us how to tie a couple kinds of knots, and then we gathered our stuff and left the campsite.

(Around the campfire again)-->

<--(Looking back from the halfway point back to the cars from the island)

The 3/4 of a mile hike back was worse than the hike there, since we were all tired when we started.

(Waiting for everyone to reach the cars)-->

We crossed the ferry again, and headed home.

<--(On the ferry)

<--(Barnaby Island beach)

Teeter-Totter

Today, we fit most of the Stott Grandchildren sixteen years and younger, plus two aunts and an uncle all on two teeter-totters. It was very exciting. There were a lot of pictures taken and I’m sure they will be plastered all over facebook.

Since it is super late right now, this is all this post is and I’m going to bed.

Stott Family Reunion: Day One

Today, we got up at 5:30 in the morning, piled into the rental car which dad got last night, and then drove to Choteau, Montana. We stopped in Rathdrum for breakfast at McDonald's and picked up an easy cache. In the cache was a necklace that I liked, so I traded some change from buying the food for the necklace. Then, we were on our way again. We stopped again for Subway sandwiches in Missoula and arrived at the hotel at 1:45.

Mom called Aunt Dorothy and she cut both mine and Lydia's hair before we came back to the hotel and got ready. At 4:00, we met everyone at the church and took pictures with Grandma and Grandpa. We ate dinner, which was soup and sandwiches, and then I read while we waited for the actual reception to start.

At the reception, Grandma and Grandpa cut the cake, and then each family did a small presentation type thing. There were musical numbers, a poem, a dancing lesson, slideshows, and even a magic trick. Our family prepared a geocache in Grandma and Grandpa's honor. After the presentations, all the guests left, leaving the family for a dance. However, we left to hide the cache near Grandma's house and now I'm back in the hotel room, writing this blog.

That's it for today.

Grandparents

I don't have time for a long blog post today, because I am way too busy trying to pack for the family reunion. This family reunion is to celebrate my grandparent's fiftieth wedding anniversary.

As to keep with the theme, I am going to say that I really look up to my grandparents, one reason of why is that they managed to keep their marriage going for fifty years, unlike so many relationships happening today.

Now, I need to finish packing and working on my talk for Sunday.

Dentist

I had a dentist appointment today, and now I'm in pain. The appointment lasted 1 1/2 hours and I came out feeling numb as anything, but the numbness has worn off now and the pain has gotten to me.

Other than the dentist appointment, not much has happened today. I didn't even write anything. What a boring day.......

It's Not All Fun And Games

I've had sort of a hard day today. I was been in a bad mood this morning and so was picking fights with mom and Lydia. I was finally feeling somewhat back to normal this afternoon, but then I found out that my research essay got a C. I worked super hard on that essay. My mood is more than dismal right now. I don't even feel like writing. 


I'm already stressing out about my talk on Sunday, and then my YCL leader decides to choose me to write a short skit for us YCL's to put on to introduce the theme at Camp Kick Off. Yeah, great. One more thing to worry about, not that I can say no. It's an obligation.


Also, I've been feeling nauseous lately, but never enough to actually consider myself sick. I can't stand to eat anything that's greasy or very flavored, so I've been sticking mostly to Yogurt and fruit for now.


Mom and Dad want to go geocaching this evening, but I'm thinking I'm going to stay home instead and attempt to write, or else read. 


Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Lights

Today's post includes some pictures of lights, because what do people look up to more than light?

Daily posts are getting hard, without making them repetitive, and it's only the third day!

Let's see. I added another chapter of The Brotherhood today. Yeah...

Hmm, what else? I had yogurt for breakfast this morning. Strawberry banana. It was pink.

You know that flower pen I was talking about yesterday? Yeah, it's in my hair now, holding up a bun.

It's really windy outside right now. I hope it doesn't get too much worse so we can still go geocaching tonight, or at least so the power doesn't go out. That would stink because then I couldn't write.

I have a P.E. class connect. You know, I've never been to a P.E. class connect today. I've been to all of my other classes' class connects, but not P.E. What would you do at them? Talk about what exercise you did that week? I can imagine it would be boring, and it's not like I need extra credit for P.E.

Yeah, so that's about all I have to say, really.

I'm thinking about just making this the world's lamest blog post and ending it right here. It's long enough, right?




Oh, and enjoy the light pictures, okay?

The Sky

Since the theme of this month's NaBloPoMo is 'Look Up' I figured I'd post a few pictures of the sky that I took. The sky is the most 'up' thing you can look at, right? They're nothing great, just some pictures of the sky.

Anyway, on with the post. In church today, I was asked to give a talk on the Importance of Education on May 23rd in Sacrament meeting. That means I have two talks in one month. Seriously, that's kind of annoying.

The lesson in Young Women's today was on journalism, and I decided to try to set a goal to start writing in a journal at least twice a week. It'll be another thing added to this whole blogging thing, except that blogging and keeping a journal are mostly different things. Oh, and we got special flower pens that we're supposed to use to write in our journals, so how could I pass up using that pen?

On another note, last night I finally started working on my Haley Potter fanfic. Yes, I know what you're thinking, 'another writing project?' but I've been working on this one for a couple years now and it still isn't going anywhere at all, yet I have it all planned out. Now, it's near the top of my list, just under The Brotherhood. Sadly, it even beats Involuntary Notion.

On a more random thought, I had the strangest dream a couple nights ago. It does somewhat relate to my talk I have to give. You see, in the dream, I stood up and started giving the talk, but then I didn't stop. I just kept going and went fifteen minutes into the next meeting. I didn't even seem to realize that I was going WAY over my five minute limit, so I kept talking. Finally, someone in the congregation stood up and shouted "Shut up and sit down! I want to go home and your talk isn't even that interesting!" I nearly died of embarrassment and then I woke up. It was one of the more strange dreams I've had, even though I know exactly where it is coming from this time.

Anyway, I guess I'm done for today.

NaBloPoMo

So what does NaBloPoMo stand for? National Blog Posting Month! I've decided to do this since my blogging is very irregular, and it is writing, in a form, and it is for May, and all other months too.

On to my blog post. I am writing way too much, not that it is even possible, right now. I'm working on three fanfictions, (how did that happen?) The Brotherhood, Everlasting Pain, and Insanity. For originals, I'm editing Involuntary Notions; writing an unnamed story; and I just finished Scriptfrenzy yesterday. I won, by the way.

Oh, and Lydia wants to me to write another fanfic, a Warrior's one, so she can make a comic out of it.

On another note, I have gone to two YCL meetings since I last blogged, and those are a lot of fun. Mostly, we've just been designing the T-shirts, which, let me say, are going to be awesome. The theme for camp this year is going to be superheroes, and we are changing a lot of things. No more mock disaster and singing trees, we're doing other things instead. And, instead of having a ton of YCL's, there is going to be a High Adventure, so there are only twelve YCL's right now. 

The dentist said that I have to stop drinking juice and soda, so until my dentist appointment next week sometime, I have pretty much been not drinking anything, since I don't like water or milk and I always used to drink juice. 

I found a possible place to put the geocache that I got for Christmas, so now I just have set it all up there and post it. It should be up soon.

I've decided to attempt another writing contest. There are three next summer. The June one is called WriDaNoJu, which I am not going to put the full form up because it isn't that great. However, this is the one I'll probably be doing, despite being during finals. The July one is JulNoWriMo, and it stands for July Novel Writing Month. Since girl's camp and a family reunion at the end of the month are both in July, it might be troublesome to try and accomplish, but it would make a nice challenge. August is AugNoWriMo, which I'm sure you can guess is August Novel Writing Month. That one would be interesting, since at the end of the month I'm not even going to be home. That and it is too close to November, so it might ruin my writing vibes for NaNoWriMo. Also, it is too far away. I can't wait another three months! I don't know what one to do, but I might attempt all three and see what happens. Or maybe, I could write a massive 150,000 word novel during all three months. That would be cool, but unlikely to happen. 

I have a talk next Sunday, on Mother's Day. Here's the catch though. I'm not even giving it in my ward. I'm giving it in my grandma's Ward, in front of a whole bunch of relatives and strangers. That should be fun (Can you hear the sarcasm?) but I couldn't say no. Anyone have any good ideas on what to talk about for a Mother's Day talk? I'm kind of lost on the topic.

I think I'm somewhat getting over my shyness, maybe a little. A couple weeks ago, I had to present some slides things in front of a whole bunch of students for an ASB assembly in WAVA. It was frightening, but things like that keep happening lately. I'm getting used to it. I'm going to have to participate in a Key Club assembly coming up soon. Except, I haven't even completed my 50 hours of service I was supposed to do this year. Whoops. It's strange, though. The one year I don't do a whole bunch of service projects is the year that I end up in Key Club.

I guess that's it for today. 

A Review: The Sapphire Flute by Karen E. Hoover

In the world of Rasann, two girls live. Ember is a girl who discovers she can see magic and change the appearance of things at will. Kayla is a musician who is given the Sapphire Flute and told not to play it. Both girls are sent on quests and both face danger sent from the villain of the tale, C’Tan.

The chapters weave between the two girls’ paths, including an occasional scene from C’Tan’s point of view.

The prologue starts the book off with a bang and sets the book in motion, making you not want to put it down the entire time. Throughout the book there are twists and turns that make the plot intriguing and unexpected things continue all the way to the very end.

I could easily imagine the characters and the places that they went. Between the love-struck Kayla and the slightly crazy C’Tan, the emotions were strong and you could almost feel them as you read.

Karen Hoover has started a great series and I can’t wait for the rest of them to come out. The first book has landed itself on my favorite’s list and I’m sure the other six books will too.

You can visit Karen Hoover’s blog HERE. The book is available to purchase HERE.

Monday

Today is Monday and as such, it is officially lousy. Of course, it could be something to do with the fact that I didn't get much sleep last night due to reading Dracula right before bed...yeah, not a smart idea. Still, it's a library book and I only get it for two weeks. Before bed is the only time for me to read.

I started another story, this one, hopefully, will last a bit longer than my last idea. I have big plans for this one though, so it'll probably last. It isn't my usual rambling writing that I do, it's more structured. But then again, I wrote Involuntary Notions without any plans whatsoever and managed to finish it in a month, so who knows what'll happen.

Speaking of Involuntary Notions, the editing process has slowed down for that. I've gotten writer' block for it. Of course, I could just skip to a different part of the story, but then I'd have to be careful not to change too much, in case I change something when I stay working on earlier parts again. Knowing my luck, I'd end up completely messing up the whole story...I've done it before.

I was wondering, earlier today, whether anyone has ever won every single game of Freecell. I mean, there's like 1000000 different games. I'm sure it's possible, but I wonder how long it would take, and if anyone had done it. It might be something to look into.

On another note, the adapter for my laptop isn't working anymore. Lydia has graciously let me borrow hers whenever my battery needs to be recharged, but it is getting annoying having to recharge my laptop every two hours. Mom was supposed to order a new one online, but I don't know if she ever did.

I guess that's enough rambling for now.

Digital Camera and ASB

Hmm...thirty-seven days? And I was trying to post regularly...all well. 

I bought a digital camera last week. I've only taken a few photos with it, nothing of real importance or anything. Mostly, they've been completely random shots of random things.

Actually, I've taken a few pictures of my fish...which Lydia bought me in the last 37 days so you wouldn't know about them. Let me introduce you.

This is Bob.

And this is Baub.

And then this is Bawb.

Lydia named them...can't you tell?

Anyway, I only have the three right now, but I'll get more one of these days. 


Involuntary Notions is coming along well. I finally got past the spelling and grammar part of the editing. Now I'm on the fun part where I get to actually do some writing again. I'm rewriting scenes and such, plus adding a whole part that will hopefully add a whole bunch of words. I'm hoping to have it finished soon but it isn't going very fast since I"m writing The Brotherhood at the same time. 


At the moment though, The Brotherhood is kind of at a slow point because I've got writer's block again. I might take a break from it and work on the shorter story that Lydia wanted me to write based off of one of her dreams. It shouldn't take too long and should hopefully get rid of my writer's block.


I joined the Student Council and I'm officially the secretary. It's a good role for me, I think. I can mostly just sit back and just take notes and not have to speak in front of the group. Of course, to be able to get the position in the first place, I had to give a presentation about why I should get the position and speak in front of the whole group. Really, it wasn't so bad though. It's a whole different thing speaking in front of people when you're actually hiding behind computer screen.