A Review: Heir of Power by Michele Poague

All books that I love have something in common - good characters. This book, Heir of Power, is among those books. The characters are very memorable. Each character has a set of personality flaws and strengths; worries, fears, and insecurities; loves and hates; strong, realistic emotions; and all the other things that makes a character real. Things that make a character stick out in a person's mind. Part of the enjoyment of reading about the characters is to watch them grow and develop. The main character, Kairma, is probably the one who changes the most, and it only improves her life. Michele Poague does a good job with this and I feel that by the end of her novel, all of her characters have grown into better people.

Not only do the characters face their internal and personal issues during the plot of the story, but they face something greater - circumstances that are out of their control. The civilians of the colony of Survin, which has been hidden away in seclusion for centuries, are suddenly being forced to interact with the outside world, in ways that could potentially help or harm them. Because of this series of seemingly random plot twists and events, the Survinees are forced to adapt from their lifestyle in order to survive.

Another thing the author has done that I liked was the subtle hints about where and when this story takes place. Instead of telling you outright that it takes place on, say, the moon in the year 2121 (which, for the record, isn't this novel's setting), Poague leaves small pieces of the puzzle throughout the story, revealing something here or there that tell you the setting of the novel. Though that knowledge isn't necessarily critical to understanding the novel, it is good to know, and by the end, it all mostly fits together. Personally, as soon as I finished, I wanted to go back and start reading it again, just to see if there were some things I might have missed while reading it the first time that fit with the setting that I had discovered.

The end of the novel isn't exactly a cliffhanger, which can be a good thing. Though there are two other books in the series, which I do intend on finding to read, just as soon as I can, I would be content stopping right at the end of this book and not continuing on, because the book ends well. There are very few things left unsettled - just enough that a second and third book can be added on to it.

Between the interesting religion and lifestyle of the Survinees, the characters that were placed in this world, and the series of events, this novel kept me attached to it, reading to the very last page with curiosity and excitement. It is a book that I would recommend to anyone seeking a science fiction tale with adventure, romance, and just enough mystery.

Click HERE for the link to purchase.

The link for the author's blog : http://michelepoague.com/

Playing Games with Reality

When I was a child, I used to play imagination games, like most other children. My favorite was a hypothetical situation game. What would happen if some random stranger showed up and told me I was actually adopted and belonged to a different family? What would happen if my parents died and I was sent to live with some random unknown relative in some random unheard of country? What if the house burned down and we were forced to live as forest people? I would play like this had actually happened for weeks on end with the same situation, not telling anyone, but imagining how real life went differently in my mind, without anyone else noticing except that I simply observed rather than participated. Then, I would write those pretend things down in my journal, like they were what really was happening. That was probably actually a good indication that I would become a writer, someday, now that I think on it.

One thing that I never anticipated was how reality would actually turn out. One circumstance, out of the hundreds I must have played out with myself, that I never imagined, was having divorced parents. I never even thought about that situation. It just simply could never happen to me. Of course, reality showed me it could and would, in time. Reality is funny that way, I suppose. It does what it wants, because, of course, other people shape what happens in it as well, not just you and your overactive imagination.

It's rather like being a character in somebody's book. You can develop your personality and your little quirks and a few other things about you, but someone always keeps the plot moving. Something is always happening, whether you can see it or not, and suddenly you're faced with a challenge that you have to get passed to make the writer, and whoever eventually reads this book, happy. It has to keep moving forward, you have no choice in it.

Of course, there is always help. People are sent to help you if you get stuck and such, but it's your challenge. You  must face it and overcome it to continue on to the end, because nobody likes a book where the hero dies trying to face the first great challenge. The hero has to make it to the end of the book, and hopefully that book has a happily ever after, in whatever form that happens to come in.

Now let's just hope that I'm actually one of the heroes of the book and not just a lovable side character that the author plans to kill off halfway through the book.

A Bit of Original Poetry

Because it wouldn't let me sleep until I wrote it...

Left Behind

AG Stewart

Running up the staircase,

Fearful of the basement monsters.

Chasing cats around and 'round,

Through the rooms in a circle.

Shrieking, laughing, shouting late at night;

No neighbors to bother as they sleep.

Hiding alone without a chance to be found,

Because of the spaciousness of the house.

These are the things I've left behind,

Memories created, things of the past.

These are the things I've left behind,

Signs of a childhood, things I will miss.

Long ventures through the woods.

Going a week or more in seclusion,

Nobody met except members of the household.

Stepping outside in the night,

Seeing uncountable stars, and the moon;

Lord of the darkened sky.

Playing, chasing, climbing, exploring,

Pure silence, pure darkness, pure nature.

These are the things I've left behind,

Memories created, things of the past.

These are the things I've left behind,

Signs of a childhood, things I will miss.

Friendships firmly cemented by years,

Memories of past laughter shared.

Tears shed, games played, jokes told; 

Time simply spent together.

No words required, a look will suffice.

Finding your birthdays are a week apart.

Hugs that knock you both off your feet.

Closeness of friends who knew you well.

These are the things I've left behind,

Memories created, things of the past.

These are the things I've left behind,

Signs of a childhood, things I will miss.

Left behind, but never forgotten.

These are the things I will miss.

Happiness

Last night I stayed up until 2 AM reading a book titled The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. (Check out http://www.happiness-project.com/ for more information). I guess you could say it inspired me.

In it, she plans a happiness project that will last for an entire year. I decided to do one as well, except on a much smaller level. I'm kind of sick of year long projects because of WriYe. Anyway, to start, she wrote her list of twelve personal "commandments" and some resolutions that she wanted to complete in the yearlong project, thinking that they would make her happier.

Last night, I wrote my commandments as well, though made fifteen of them. Here they are:

• Do it now.
• Do more than is asked.
• It's okay to fail with some things.
• Do your best.
• Be positive.
• Take the time to do it right.
• Don't worry about things that don't matter.
• Ask for help.
• Serve without a grudge.
• Take some time for yourself.
• Wear your hair up.
• Write a list.
• Enjoy the simple things.
• Keep a record.
• Don't doubt your potential.

I've made a list of some good habits I'd like to develop in myself, and some bad habits that I'd like to get rid of. It's more of a project to better myself, including making myself generally happier. Not that I'm particularly unhappy or anything. It's just an experiment to see the good in the life I have. As she said, (though these aren't her exact words because I don't have the book next to me) "I want to change my life without changing my life, finding my happiness in my own kitchen."

In the coming weeks and months, I'll work on these resolutions and keep you updated, since one of my resolutions is more regular blog posting.

Reflections of Sunlight

Every morning as I drive home from Seminary, or at least in the Autumn and Spring months, the sun, having just risen, is usually just above the horizon, causing a glare on the windshield that prevents me from seeing hazards in the road very well. The deer are usually out this time of the morning, creating more dangers. This morning, there was even the added hazard of the body of a dog in the road, already hit, that I had to avoid.

At one particular part of the trip home, there is this corner that is dangerous if you go around it too fast, even in the best of conditions (actually, there are several of those, but this is the worst, in my opinion). That corner is especially dangerous because right then, the sun peaks above the hill and casts a glare on the windshield, so I can't see out at all. When I was just beginning to drive, this freaked me out a lot. How would I know where to go if I couldn't see the road?

Eventually, though, I had to get through it. I had to have the faith that the road wouldn't suddenly disappear from under my wheels and I'd run off into the ditch.

Now, after many days and months driving around that corner through the blinding sunlight, and in worse conditions, I worry less (though I still worry, because seriously, I can't see!). I know that if I just keep going straight, the sunlight will disappear right as I get to the beginning of the corner, so I can see to turn it safely.

This morning, I found it particularly symbolic for me for some reason. It reminds me of the trials that we go through. I start the trip at one safe place (the church) and end at a safe place (home). In between, I face many dangers, some worse than others, and I have to figure out how to get through them without hurting myself and others that may be in the vehicle. It's the same way with life. Before birth and after death, we're safe. In between, we have to face trials though out the entire thing. Some of them, we can avoid easily enough, and get over, forgetting them fairly easily. Others, though, like this corner, are more difficult. You have to have faith that you'll get through it safely. Though at the moment, you're blinded and can't see where you're going, or where life may take you, you can make it through, if you take precautions and just keep working through it. You just have to have faith everything will turn out right.

A Review: The Key of Kilenya by Andrea Pearson

As I'm sure most, if not all of my readers know, I am a big procrastinator. As such, I didn't start reading this book until late two nights ago. I continued reading all day yesterday and into the night. The thing is, even if I could have put the book down, and still have finished it on time, I wouldn't have. It completely enthralled me, and this is even the second time I've read it, the first being online, a couple months ago.

From the first page, this book drew me into it and kept me in Eklaron with the main character, Jacob. The action just kept coming, sending new twists and challenges that had to be faced. If Jacob wasn't dealing with one thing, he was trying to escape from something else.

When explaining the book to my sister, I said it was a classic fantasy adventure; a seemingly normal boy with a fairly normal life gets pulled into some different place and goes on a quest that changes a lot of things. However, this is far more than that. The challenges that the main character, Jacob, faces are original. The creatures he has to live among and fight against are new, fresh, and creative compared to other similar novels I've read. There aren't orcs, vampires, or elves. Instead, there are Makalos, Molgs, and Eetus.

Beyond the plot and the creative new creatures, the characters themselves were lovable. Throughout the book, new characters were being introduced, and all of them had a distinct personality that made them memorable.

All in all, this book was one I was glad to add to my bookshelf, and I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series.

To purchase The Key of Kilenya, check out this link: http://www.kilenyaseries.com/p/purchase-information.html
To check out Andrea Pearson's blog, click this link:  http://www.kilenyaseries.blogspot.com

Ten Odd Quirks You Probably Didn't Know About Me

1.  My best time to write is in the middle of the night, when the house is silent and my imagination can run wild without distractions. I always get my best writing in when I write in the middle of the night.
2. When I'm at home, my hair is always up in a pony tail or a messy bun. In public, it's almost always down. I can't stand it being down when I'm at home, and out in public, I can't stand it being up. 
3. I can't pass by a book. If it's sitting on somebody's table, and I'm in their house, I pick it up to look at it. I always admire peoples bookshelves and all the books that are on it. I could spend hours at a bookstore and/or a library, if I were allowed.
4. When I prewrite something, I always hand write it, on paper, usually with a pen, because it takes more effort and time, so I put more effort and time into prewriting it. That way, when I'm typing the story on the computer, I have a firm foundation to work with.
5. I listen to music all day long, every day. I never get sick of it, and I can't stand being in silence too long. However, when I'm trying to sleep, I can't stand having any sound at all. I think it distracts me, so my mind is too busy to sleep.
6. I like lists. I make them all the time. However, I rarely actually follow them once they're made. I just like making them.
7. I'm actually a very organized person, despite the clutter that seems to follow me everywhere. Everything has to have a place, even it is in a cluttered mess, they all have a place, and I know exactly how to arrange them back into the exact same looking cluttered mess every single time they get messed up from their cluttered mess...if that cluttered mess of words made sense. 
8. I like sharp pencils. Once they get even the slightest bit dull, I discard them for a sharper one. That's why I switched to ink, because I got sick of sharpening pencils all of the time.
9. I like to collect things. You know those little plastic tag things that come on bread bags? Yeah, I collect those, and have for years. I have a whole jar of them. I once collected those little paper dots that come out of the hole punch, but then they spilled everywhere and made a mess, so I threw them away. As a kid, I collected rocks. Not even cool looking rocks, just plain old ugly rocks. I threw those out too. 
10. I love to learn, but I hate school. It's too structured. I learn more, and better, and can remember it all longer, when I research and learn things myself, without being told to study it. It's like when I'm told to study in school, my brain rebels and shuts down. I've learned more about science and math by researching obscure facts for my novels than I ever learned in my school classes specifically meant to teach me those things.

21. Vacation

Part 21 of the 100 Themes Challenge

(And no, I don't plan on doing the words in order.)

Emery took a deep breath of the evening air and just savored it. It wasn't the best tasting air in the world, in fact, a lot of people probably hated it. Emery, however, couldn't get enough of the salty air that you could only find at the ocean. A light breeze wafted the air right towards her and Emery inhaled deeply again as she looked over the waves that were crashing in on the shore. The sun was almost ready to set, and though clouds blocked the horizon so Emery wouldn't be able to watch the sun set directly on the ocean, it was still a beautiful sight, one that she could never get enough of.

Unfortunately, this was the last day of her week long trip. Tomorrow morning, she would pack up and head back home, where she was at least five hundred miles from any sort of ocean.

Turning her back to the ocean, Emery entered her hotel room and glanced around. The room was, as was typical for her, a mess. Even having a maid come in every day and tidy up made no real difference.

Resigned to having to pick up the mess so that she could leave, Emery started on the work. Every so often, she glanced back through the sliding glass doors to look at the ocean and the sun that was setting through the clouds above it. Finally, Emery couldn't resist any further. She dropped the clothing she had been gathering onto a heap on the bed and went to the front door. Slipping on her flip flops, she left her hotel room and walked down through the hallways to the back entrance. Walking across the grass of the backyard, Emery finally made it to the path that led directly down onto the beach.

The day was chilly, so not many people were on the beach. Emery liked it better that way. At the top of the staircase leading down into the sand, Emery kicked off her shoes and left them sitting there, trusting that nobody would be along to steal them while she was down at the beach.

The sand was still warm and Emery dug her feet into it for a moment before she continued walking toward the ocean. The water was at low tide at the moment, so it was a long way off.

Emery simply enjoyed the walk through the sand and was soon as the water's edge. The cold water tickled her feet as it gurgled up and then swept back down to join the whole. She turned her face to the sky to watch the sun disappear behind the clouds. Her feet sunk into the sand up to her ankles, but she didn't attempt to stop it from happening.

The sun finally was gone and the sky because to lose its blue hue. Still, Emery stood and let the water sweep over her feet. The rhythm of it soothed her and she closed her eyes and simply listened.

Emery was reminded of a pebble she had picked up earlier in the week. It was perfectly smooth, the type of smooth that can only be made by machines polishing a rock, or by it being beaten down by the forces of nature. The constant beating of the ocean on this rock made it smooth and refined, and Emery felt like the ocean did that to her as well. Every time she came here, she felt like she left a changed person. It was good to get away from the world for a while. Her life was stressful and visiting the ocean was like an oasis in the middle of the scorching desert for her.

Opening her eyes again, Emery stared into the darkening waters and sighed. She wouldn't be able to stay much longer. She had no light with her and the beach wasn't always safe at night.

Heading away from the water seemed so much harder than walking to it. The sand was difficult to trudge through and Emery dragged her feet. Already, the heat was fading from the sand. The sand stuck to her wet feet and made her uncomfortable. Finally, she reached the stairs and climbed them to the top. She slipped on her flip flops, which hadn't been stolen, and walked to the nearby water spout to wash the sand off her feet before she entered the hotel.

It was almost symbolic, Emery mused as she sprayed the water over her legs and feet. When she first went down to the water, she loved every part of it. Leaving, she didn't like it. Her trip was the same way. She would definitely miss the beach while she was back at home, but she was glad to be leaving at the same time. She missed home.

The beach was her solace, and she came here to be alone, but she wouldn't be able to stand being here all the time.

Emery finished up and went back into the hotel. Entering her room, she looked out over the darkened beach and ocean and murmured a fond farewell. She would be leaving before the sun rose the following morning.

100 Themes Challenge - 1. Introduction

Lydia is doing this project called the 100 Themes Project, where you are given 100 words and you're supposed to draw a picture for each one. I liked the idea, except, I'm not exactly capable of drawing all that well. So, I decided to turn it into a series of short stories and/or poetry instead. Or maybe I'll just give my personal feelings on the subject. I may sometimes include a drawing or photo if I feel so inspired, but more likely not.

I was told that I had to include the rules so if anyone wanted to complete the project, they could, so here they are (oh, and I should note that the project is one being passed around on DeviantArt.com, and I just adapted it for my blog) :

THE 100 THEMES CHALLENGE

~ RULES ~

Please make sure to copy whole journal (list and rules below this point).

The point of this challenge is to test and improve your skill as an artist. After 100 pictures, who wouldn't get better?

The rules:

1) Make 100 pieces each one having a theme listed below. Only one theme per piece!

2) No time limit so have fun!

3) Pieces should be of own artistic ability. You may not edit photos, or break any other rules set out in the DA etiquette policy. Your pieces can be anything from sketches and doodles to great masterpieces. Just have fun with it.

4) The list below is to be placed somewhere in your journal for others to see that...

a) You are in the challenge

b) What you have completed

5) Make sure to update this list with a link to your deviation.

Now the good part. CHALLENGE YOUR FRIENDS. CHALLENGE ME.

~ THE LIST ~

1. Introduction

2. Love

3. Light

4. Dark

5. Seeking Solace

6. Break Away

7. Heaven

8. Innocence

9. Drive

10. Breathe Again

11. Memory

12. Insanity

13. Misfortune

14. Smile

15. Silence

16. Questioning

17. Blood

18. Rainbow

19. Gray

20. Fortitude

21. Vacation

22. Mother Nature

23. Cat

24. No Time

25. Trouble Lurking

26. Tears

27. Foreign

28. Sorrow

29. Happiness

30. Under the Rain

31. Flowers

32. Night

33. Expectations

34. Stars

35. Hold My Hand

36. Precious Treasure

37. Eyes

38. Abandoned

39. Dreams

40. Rated

41. Teamwork

42. Standing Still

43. Dying

44. Two Roads

45. Illusion

46. Family

47. Creation

48. Childhood

49. Stripes

50. Breaking the Rules

51. Sport

52. Deep in Thought

53. Keeping a Secret

54. Tower

55. Waiting

56. Danger Ahead

57. Sacrifice

58. Kick in the Head

59. No Way Out

60. Rejection

61. Fairy Tale

62. Magic

63. Do Not Disturb

64. Multitasking

65. Horror

66. Traps

67. Playing the Melody

68. Hero

69. Annoyance

70. 67%

71. Obsession

72. Mischief Managed

73. I Can't

74. Are You Challenging Me?

75. Mirror

76. Broken Pieces

77. Test

78. Drink

79. Starvation

80. Words

81. Pen and Paper

82. Can You Hear Me?

83. Heal

84. Out Cold

85. Spiral

86. Seeing Red

87. Food

88. Pain

89. Through the Fire

90. Triangle

91. Drowning 

92. All That I Have

93. Give Up

94. Last Hope

95. Advertisement

96. In the Storm

97. Safety First

98. Puzzle

99. Solitude

100. Relaxation

My list of words, and the links to their posts, can be found on the sidebar.

A Matter of Perspective

Currently, I am reading two books (well, actually three, but one doesn't apply to this) and in both is a character named John Dee. This character in both books is based off of the same real person from history.

In one book, (the fifth or so book in a series, so I know the character fairly well by this point) John Dee is somewhat of a villain, in loose terms. In the other book, John Dee is an accomplice to the heroine of the tale. I didn't actually realize that they were the same person (technically speaking) until I was halfway through both books. By that point, I had a vision of what both of them looked like, and they were completely different.

Now that I realize they are actually the same person, I can see the similarities. Both can use magic in a sense (in one, he's a necromancer, in the other simply a sorcerer). Both are more grey than they are firmly planted on the sides they have chosen and they give the sense that they could swap sides at a moment's notice. Both have a way of convincing people (namely, the main characters in both books) to do what he wants them to do. I have no idea what the real John Dee was like (he lived in the 1500s, after all), but seeing as both authors made John Dee like that, there is probably some aspect of truth to it.

What is my point in writing all of this, you ask? I am saying it to point out a matter of perspective. Each author did their research (hopefully) on this man and shaped him into a different character from what they found out about him. They took creative liberties, such as in one making him immortal, but they kept him generally the same person.

It seems to me that perspective is a dangerous thing. One person can take a man, whatever he is really like, and see him as a villain. Another takes him and makes him part of the "good" side. He is the same man, just seen in two different lights.

I think that happens a lot in real life, not just in fictional novels. Nobody sees a person in the same way as anyone else. Everyone knows different things about people that shape their opinion. It's not really fair to judge a person according to what someone tells you about them, not that you should really be judging them at all, but you get my point, hopefully. Maybe a person that someone has painted as a villain really is on the good side, you just don't know it, because you haven't seen the right perspective on it.

My actual point to this whole thing? Books screw up your mind. Honestly, reading about the same person in two different books playing two different roles on two different sides in two different times is a bit difficult. It's given me quite a bit of confusion, actually.

A Little Bit of Symbolism

Life is a fickle thing. One moment, you're just cruising along, having fun and enjoying it, then WHAM! you hit a pothole. Your tire goes flat, but your spare is missing. You're just sitting there at the side of the road, watching others go past, wondering why this happened to you. Of course, you can't just sit there all day, so you get help and begin on your way again, but now you're incredibly stressed and have to cut out that stop at that book store because you are late to where you have to go. On top of it all, it starts raining, but your windshield wipers aren't working properly, so you can't see far down the road, and have really no idea where you're going at this point in time, you're just moving, because you have to.

Yeah, that's what my life is like, right now, symbolism style. I'm just waiting for the sun to come out again.

"Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Difficulties

Prompt : What are you waiting for at this very moment?


Right now, I'm waiting for Mom and Lydia to leave so I can turn my music on super loud and catch up on my writing while no one is around to bug me...besides Freddy, but I may just throw him out in the snow if he gets too annoying. He's a cat, I can do that. With Lydia and Mom...not so much.

~~~

I feel, at the moment, as if time is passing way too fast and dragging me along with it. For being busy all day, I'm really not getting anything done. This month so far, I've written only 13,357 words...I should be at 43,333 words today, if I'm going to finish my word count by the end of the month. School is rather falling behind as well. It's not for a lack of trying, though. I've had writer's block most of the month, and school is, well, school. It's not easy.

Not to mention I've been rather preoccupied with other things, which I won't go into here.

However, my writer's block was broken and I hope to start catching up (though catching up entirely won't be possible, as I'd have to write nearly 7,300 words a day). Ideas are popping up everywhere now, which is a good thing, meaning that I'll be able to write, finally.

Well, Mom and Lydia are finally gone. I suppose I should actually get to writing down those ideas, before my muse decides to take off again. This can just be a short post.

A Review : KiTE by Bill Shears

There are some strange things going on in the usually normal three months of Mason Dash's shift upon the high-flying space street sweeper, Kite. For one, there is activity on the supposedly abandoned ISS2. Then there's the unknown war taking place inside the Kite's computer systems as He_Ra tries to take over. Sheila, a virtual personality, takes things on her shoulders (figuratively) and tries to help with both unusual situations.

This entire novel takes place in only a few different locations (primarily Earth's Orbit) and has surprisingly few characters. However, the characters that are presented all have unique personalities and quirks. You are able to get to know all of them better than you might if there were more characters. Some of the characters are a few of the more memorable characters I have met, whilst reading novels, and they'll stick with me. Particularly Troy.

I was able to follow the plot line of this book fairly well, despite some technical explanations and technologies that are, as far as I know, not yet created. The point of view did switch around a lot, which made for an interesting perspective on things. The idea for the novel was new and it kept me thinking all the way through. The ending was different than what I expected and it amused me quite a bit.

The one down side to this novel was that it had a little more swearing and other content that I wasn't really comfortable with while reading. At times I was nearly tempted to just put it down and stop reading it. However, to each their own, I suppose.

Everything considered, this is a novel that kept me interested with it's strange twists, easily likable characters, and hints of humor.

To buy KiTE, click HERE.
To visit Bill Shears' website, click HERE.

A Review: StarScout Rising: First Trail by Gary Darby

The back of the book says: "The thundering acid tsunami raced towards Del as he tried in vain to pilot his damanged scouter out of its path. Tremors ran through the ship as it lost altitude and speed. Del had only one option, to dive the craft deep into the lake of acid ahead of the wave. Del glanced at his controls and wondered, 'would the bulkheads hold when the scouter slammed into the lake surface? Did the little ship have enough juice to power through the thick goo?'


Del didn't know. He only knew he had but one chance to save his ship and his comrades. With one final look back at the speeding swell, Del tipped the nose of the scouter over in a downward arc toward the orange liquid and the dark depths below."

Sounds intriguing, yes?

I'll admit, though, that it took me a bit for me to actually get in to this book. At first it was more of a chore, reading it, until I got about halfway through. At that point, it suddenly hooked me and I read the rest of the book all in one night (staying up far too late, I might add).

I think this was because of the characters. Some were introduced well, the main characters, but for the side plot lines, most of the characters were a little blurry to me, and it made it difficult to figure out what was going on a lot of the time. However as the book progressed, I was able to get to know even the more minor characters and really start to enjoy the book. I did like some of the personalities of the characters, though. A favorite of mine was Sami and his somewhat flawed humor.

The setting, "Out There" and the other terms that they used were a little overwhelming at first to me as well, which is probably typical of a science fiction novel, but I could catch on to the different terms easily enough as the book progressed.

The plot line is great, and I did enjoy that all the way through the book. The author, Gary Darby, had a few pretty good cliffhangers along the way that did keep me reading through the tough parts rather than just setting it aside and choosing one of the other books on my list to read.

Another plus for this book was its ending, which shocked me probably more than it should have. Now, I want to go back and read it again, searching for those hints that I now can tell led up to it. I'll probably enjoy it more the second time as well, since I already know the characters fairly well.

And, despite not particularly liking it in the beginning, I will be waiting for the next book in the series to come out so I can read it and continue the story.

Want to buy this book? Click here.
How about on Kindle? Click here.
And lastly, go check out the author's blog for this book -  http://starscoutrising.blogspot.com/

Thoughts About Motivation

Prompt: What's your favorite thing you love to waste time with right now? A guilty pleasure?


The Wii. The last week or so, I haven't been writing at all. Instead, I've been playing the Wii. Bad me. Tsk tsk..


~~~

So, the WAVA student ambassadors challenged the entire student body to have passing grades in every one of their classes before Spring Break. I agreed to it because, at the time, I had three failing classes (yikes!). It made me wonder, though, just how many of my classmates are also failing their classes. If that challenge is going out to the entire school, then obviously, there are a lot of us. At the moment, I'm only failing Psychology (only because it makes me think too hard), but even now that grade is quickly going up and I know I will be passing it again by Spring Break. My other classes grades are going up too, even though they are all at passing grades.

So, this whole thing made me wonder about WAVA, and why it is the way it is. It's difficult, that's for sure, and seemingly, a lot of people can easily slip into failing their classes if they aren't careful. Then, with just one simple kmail, grades started flying upwards everywhere, I bet.

I think it's a matter of motivation. At this point in the school year, all the students are just dying for a good long break. We're passed caring about our classes and our grades and just want to be done. Then, they give us a goal to work towards. 'Be passing all your classes by Spring Break, so we can all relax together,' (except the teachers, who will be too busy grading all the make-up work). We have a goal that seems attainable, and so we all go for it, and things get better. After Spring Break, since we won't have had to do any make-up school all week, we'll go back to the rhythm of school and continue working and continue with passing our classes, for a few more weeks at least.

I think we need to do that in real life situations as well. Stir things up a little bit and break through the routine. It'll give people something extra to work for and things will be done better for some time rather than getting sloppier and sloppier with each passing day.

Set a goal that is easily attainable, but that you might have to work a little harder than you are now to achieve, and then go for it. I bet if everyone did that this world would improve enormously because everything would have better quality.

Well, there's this month's attempt to save the world. I'm going to go write now. See ya! ;)

A Short Post

Prompt: Do you work too much?


If writing counts as my work...yeah, probably. Who cares, though. I enjoy it.

~~~

I suppose it's about time I updated my blog, not that anything new has really happened.

I've been writing a lot, as usual, but my daily word count is still fluctuating. Yesterday, I wrote only 500 words. Today, I made up yesterday's word count, wrote all of today's words, and then went on and wrote most of tomorrow's words. I like days like today.

I made Mexican Lasagna for dinner. It was good. Crunchy, but good.

I think I'm going to participate in Script Frenzy, though I'm still not completely sure. If I do, I'm debating between a comic book, which Lydia wants me to do, or a screenplay, which I attempted last year. I actually have some ideas for a screenplay, and none for a comic book. The comic book, however, Lydia could illustrate and then publish on Deviant Art, if it's good enough. The screenplay would just sit on a file in my laptop collecting dust. I don't know yet though. I still have almost a month to decide and plot for it.

We went to see The Music Man, a CYT production on Friday. It was boring, I thought. Lydia said she really didn't understand most of it, because some of the people spoke too fast.

I think it's pretty much everything, so this post will be short, I guess.

Stuck on a Desert Island with a Pair of Broken Headphones and a Stupid Video Game

Prompt: If you were stranded on a desert island, what ten things would you want in your pockets?


Matches
A pocket knife
A magnifying glass
A notebook
A pencil
A photograph of my family
Some water purification tablets
A pocket book of handy survival tips
A bottle of sun block, highest SPF possible
Chapstick

~~~

I suppose it's been a while since I've done this, so I should probably do it. Let's see, Saturday, the 19th, Dad took us to see the Monster Trucks for his 50th birthday. Sunday, the 20th, I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I've had a cousin born, on my dad's side, and one of my cousins, also on my dad's side, had a baby too. I've started making dinner for the family once a week. Lydia has borrowed a bunch of movies from the library, and so I've spent time watching them with her, in other words, I'm over 12,000 words behind my word count goal right now. I drove to Colville and back, and survived. Ashley had her baby shower. Any other significant events? No, not really. Just boring old life, as usual.

In the few times that I've actually managed to get some writing done, I've spent it working on my Haley Potter Fanfic, which is the one that I've tried to write umpteen times but it has never come out right. I think I've finally got it though.

In other news, my headphones broke, so now I can't even listen to music while I work. That's pretty annoying, considering one of the reasons I listened to music was so I didn't have to hear the TV in the background, which Lydia and Mom almost constantly have on. Sometimes, okay, most of the time, I really wish we didn't even have TV in our house. Too bad they're so addicted to watching it all the time and refuse to get rid of it.

Also, I've decided video games are stupid as well. Particularly my Harry Potter game. It was all going well enough, but then, halfway through the ninth level, the game got stuck and there was no possible way to progress, so I had to restart my entire game from the beginning. Yeah, now I'm wary of even playing it, because I don't want to have to do everything over again.

The Elusive Bookworm's Routine

Prompt : Tell us seven things you do when you procrastinate.


When I am procrastinating something, I get on Facebook and check out the "likes" pages, or one of my friends photo albums that I really don't care much about.


I also find something else to do, like for writing, I check on my writing sites or write on my blog instead, or just surf the web.


Number three is that I go watch TV, in the other room.


If I'm not done procrastinating yet, I then start organizing my files on my computer, something that could be good, but not when I'm supposed to be writing that difficult scene for my story. Or I organize my school crate. Or the large amount of pencils in my pencil holder.


I play Freecell. I usually play around twenty days a day, while waiting for sites to load or procrastinating something.


I eat candy. There's a candy dish by my computer where I dump all my candy I get from Seminary every morning. When I'm procrastinating something, I start going through that candy like crazy.


And the last thing I do (and one of the most common) when I procrastinate is read fanfiction. When I'm avoiding that scene, I go read fanfiction, after all, I never ever intended to write fanfictions until I had read 100+ stories that were all fanfics and finally decided to start writing my own. It's good inspiration, though still a method of procrastination.


~~~


Ever wonder what I typically do every day? Here's your chance to find out.


I wake up at 5:30 AM, quickly change out of my pajamas into some jeans, feed my two fish, Bob and George, then head out the door to Seminary, leaving at 5:45 AM.


Seminary gets out at about 7:05 AM, so I'm back home at 7:30 AM.


Immediately after Lydia and I get back from Seminary, we have Family Scripture Study, for around fifteen minutes. Sometimes, Mom also makes breakfast for us to eat at that time, otherwise I'm on my own.


At 8:00 AM, I'm already working school work, most days. I used to do my schoolwork in the order of hardest subject to least hardest subject, but for the new semester, I changed it to alphabetical order by name, just to change stuff up. I never like things to stay the same way for very long.


Depending on the day, I have ClassConnects during the morning hours, except Yearbook, which is at 3:00 PM on Mondays. 


School work can take anywhere from two hours to six hours, depending on the level of difficulty and whether or not I have to write an essay in several classes. However, I'm usually completing my last subject at noon, then take a short break for lunch.


From there, I start writing. I start at oneword.com and write with a prompt for a minute to warm up. Sometimes, I then go to 750words.com and write 750 words in one sitting as fast as I can. That takes fifteen minutes, or less.


Next, I get on to the actual writing. I work on The Innocents' Revenge very first, since that's my fanfic that I'm supposed to be posting online regularly. Then, I work on whichever story I've been working on lately, which happens to be my Haley Potter Fic.


Once I reach at least 2000 words from everything put together, I take a break. Most of the time, I go do my daily Wii Fitness work out. Then, I come back to my computer and check up on my other writing sites, WriYe, writing.com, and I used to go to The Muse Bunny, but they closed that forum down just recently.


If I'm in the mood, I then continue writing. If not, I go back to the Wii and play my Harry Potter game for the rest of the day.


At 9:00 PM, I go up to bed, regardless of if I'm in the middle of something or not. Of course, I usually spend at least an hour reading, and sometimes writing still, in my bedroom before actually getting to sleep.


Well, there you go. That's what a typical day for me is like. 

Progress

Prompt: Who's your favorite character from a book, play, film, or other work of art?

I'm going to choose out of my own characters, rather than try to choose out of someone else's work of art, so here goes:

The story of mine that has most of my favorite characters that I've created in it is my 2009 NaNovel. I don't really like the main character, but I like all of the minor characters a lot, especially Jared.

Of my main characters, I like Elliza, from my 2010 NaNovel, the best, probably because she's my most recent main character, and she is the most developed character I've created.

I also have a character named Jasper, who has popped into most of my longer stories in just one or two scenes randomly, and plays no real significant part. In one of my stories, he was even beheaded...

~~~

It's been too long since I last actually posted something on my blog. Since my last post, I've turned seventeen, attended a lia sophia jewelry party, and kept just chugging through my word count.

I passed the fifty thousand mark on Jan 31st, which was to be expected, since I'm aiming for 50,000 words a month.

I've finished several stories since then as well, all but two of my shorter stories that were on my list. Now I just have my longer stories and fanfics to concentrate on.

The last few days, I've been working mostly on my Haley Potter fic. Of all the past times I've rewritten it, I have more than 57,000 words on it, but I won't be using those, since I'm going to be starting it again from scratch. I made a list of the main events that would take place. It was ten pages long. Then, I extended those events and wrote details about what might happen for each main event. That is taking a lot of time. I've made it through the first page and slightly down the second, and I'm already at nearly 5,000 words. At this rate, the outline will be around 80 pages and be around 32,000 words. That will make for a super long fanfic. I may just have to divide it up into a series or something.

I still can't resist starting a new story every once in a while. I've written and posted one completely new fanfic up on fanfiction.net. It was only a oneshot. Today, I had another idea for a story, which I'm turning into just a oneshot as well. I think it's good for me to get away from my WiP list once in a while and do something new. It's a good thing they're just oneshots, though, or I'd just be adding to my WiP list.

Rambles

Prompt: How are you interesting?


I'm probably not. I suppose some people may find my writing interesting, though...

~~~

Life has generally been boring, lately. It's a new year, but despite this, things just keep chugging right along.

I finished one of my writing projects yesterday, which was nice. It was just a short fanfic that only ended up to be around 4500 words. Still, it's one project down.

Writing everyday has turned out to be easier than I expected. Sure, before I wrote a lot, but not every day. Thinking back on it, I didn't actually get a lot done.

I still don't, really. I write a lot of words, but I don't get a lot done. Only in November.

I don't think 1,644 words a day is enough for me to get all of my stories down. I have my 750 daily words, then I write 750 words again, except on my second account, which is devoted entirely to writing The Innocent's Revenge. That leaves only 144 words for me to write on whichever story I feel like.

The only thing I'm progressing in is The Innocents' Revenge, in which I'm two and a half chapters ahead. And I'm still behind with that, because I haven't posted them online yet, as they aren't edited.

I definitely need to up my word count. I'm thinking of making my daily word count 2500, which gives me 1000 words beyond my two 750 word sprints. The whole point of this year is to finish my WiP's, after all.

Plus, there's NaNoWriMo, where my total goal is 150,000 in that month. 5000 words a day. I need to start working up to that point, or I'll end up failing.

This is probably the world's most boring post, but all well...

Dusty Ideas

Prompt : Kant (Immanuel Kant, I presume) said that we require three things by which to measure happiness: someone to love, something we like to do, and something to look forward to. Who do you love, what do you like to do, and what are you looking forward to this year?


I love my family. I like love to write. And I'm looking forward to a bunch of things this year; girl's camp, my seventeenth birthday, NaNoWriMo, Lydia's sixteenth birthday, the upcoming stake dance...the list goes on. No wonder I'm happy....or at least, content.

~~~

I don't know why I'm putting up another blog post. Nothing, at all, has happened since my last one, and they don't even count for my WriYe word count, which I'm still behind in.

You know, 600000 words seemed reasonable when I picked it, but now the hugeness of that amount of words is kind of scaring me. I started completing my daily 750 words on 750words.com, and I calculated it out. If I do that every single day for the rest of the year, my word count for finishing my stories is down to about 270000, which is still a hugely large number. That's like doing NaNoWriMo almost five and a half times, which still sounds intimidating, despite me having won NaNoWriMo twice.

Still, I'm sure I can do it. It's just the matter of getting the motivation to go back and work on that large stack of stories that is just waiting to be finished. The ideas are still there, of course, but it's like they're covered in a layer of dust.

The effort of dusting one off, re exploring the idea in my mind until I become inspired enough to work on it again, and then resisting the urge to go back and edit/rewrite the parts I've already written is a strenuous process. And I have to repeat it thirty times, because that's the amount of old stories that I've found that I want to work on and finish. There are several others, as well, that I decided were more difficult to bring back to life in my mind, so they will stay in the file for now, perhaps until 2012, when I may or may not do this again, depending on how exhausted I am by then.

But, of course, by then writing so much everyday will seem like a habit, so I won't stop anyway, which is, I suppose, a good thing.

2011

Prompt: Which of your senses means the most to you?


My sight.

~~~

Well, it's officially 2011. My goal, like I said earlier, for this year, is to write 600,000 words throughout the year. I thought it shouldn't be too difficult, but I'm already behind. Haha, oops.

Basically, I have to write everyday, though, and I'll get it done. It will just take a little effort, really.

I have so many writing projects at the moment. I'm thinking that I need to finish them before I start anything new, but when inspiration strikes, you just can't hold it back.

My novel is so close to being finished. Then there's The Innocents' Revenge, and a bunch of other fanfics that I've started but not posted up. Plus, there are several original stories that I am in the middle of. Just finishing all of these will probably bring my word count up quite a bit.

I suppose, I also have last year's novel that I need to complete, and several of my stories that need to be edited. Editing counts toward my word count, though this blog doesn't, unfortunately.

Anyway, I guess I should get working on Imminent Pandemonium instead of wasting away my writing time writing words that really don't count...