New Writing Project

So I got this book for my creative writing class next school quarter titled "The 3 A.M. Epiphany". It not only has taught me how to spell "epiphany" but it has started me writing again. It is full of unusual writing exercises that actually make me think about how I write. I'm attempting to do one of them a day, just to see what I can do with them.

I'm on day three, but I decided these snippets of writing just might be interesting to post somewhere, so here I am, posting them up on the Internet for the whole world to see.

I started a blog specifically for them. The link is here --> http://ellaswritinglab.blogspot.com/

The first two exercises sounded incredibly complicated to me, but I've found that to my surprise and delight, once I started in on them, it came easily to me. Perhaps I'm a better writer than I give myself credit for...

Also, after doing one of these exercises, I'm much more in the mood to write, so perhaps I'll get some actual writing done as well. I can't wait for my creative writing class to actually start!

A Review: Fall of Eden by Michele Poague

The first thing you should know about this book is that it's a sequel. It is the second book of The Healing Crystal trilogy. You can find my review for the first book HERE.

Just like the first book, the thing that stood out most to me about this book were the characters. The main character, Kairma, is very relatable She has emotions like the rest of us, loses her temper like the rest of us, and definitely feels helpless at times, just like the rest of us. The characters around Kairma that support her each have personalities that are unique from the others, but also common enough that a person might relate to them as well. Between the group of characters, there is easily one that you can slip into the shoes of and fall into the story with. Each of the characters feels almost alive, as they struggle through their trials and grow from them.

Another plus for this book is the settings the author puts her characters into. Her descriptions allow you to see what the characters are seeing, feeling, and going through. You experience the dryness of the desert and the chill of winter along with them, letting you get deeper into the story.

One thing I felt this author was great at, in her writing, was keeping you in the story. As the villain chases the group of main characters through the wilderness, always lurking just behind them, you simply don't want to put the book down. The urgency and suspense that she lays out keeps you turning pages until the very end. Indeed, up to the very last sentence.

That brings me to the ending. Now, I won't spoil it, but the ending frustrated me beyond measure. It opened up this entirely new idea in the story, gave me an entirely new perspective on everything I'd read so far, then ended, right there, leaving me hanging, wanting more.

All in all, I'd say this book, like the one before it, is definitely worth a read.

Link to Michele Poague's website: http://michelepoague.com/

Link to the Amazon purchase link for Fall of Eden: http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Poague/e/B004SRRKV8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1320889696&sr=8-1

Link to the Barnes and Noble purchase link for Fall of Eden: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fall-of-eden-michele-poague/1104253011?ean=9781462013074

Link to a trailer for The Healing Crystal trilogy (which gives a very good impression of what the books are about, I must say): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIGSE2hhRrQ

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

Along with the blog tour, there is a raffle with awesome prizes. Keep reading for information on it.

Grand Prize Giveaway

As part of the tour, Michele is generously offering 3 AMAZING giveaways to the blog readers. 

• The first winner will receive signed copies of the entire Healing Crystal trilogy. 
• The second place winner will receive a signed copy of Fall of Eden as well as a $10 gift certificate. 
• The third place winner will receive a signed copy of Fall of Eden. 

To enter to win these prizes, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form provided HERE.

• Open from September 8 to October 8.
• Must be 13+ years of age to enter
• US mailing addresses only

Earn entries by doing any/all of the following:

• Leaving a blog post comment
• Liking The Healing Crystal Trilogy on Facebook
• Tweeting about the giveaway (once per day)
• Writing a review of Fall of Eden
• Posting an interview, the book trailer, or a link to the tour.

A Lot of Writing Stuff That You Probably Don't Much Care to Know (But With Adorable Cat Pictures Interspersed)

Six months between posts? Yeah, lately, a lot of things have been getting in the way, but such is life. The little things get pushed out of the way for the big things. Big things meaning, in this case, my graduation from high school and seminary, plus church youth programs, travelling out of state no less than three times for various vacations, my dad's wedding, my mom's wedding, and trying to arrange schooling and work for the future months/years.

Another smaller thing that has been pushed out of the way is writing. Don't get me wrong, I still attempt to write daily, but it is definitely lacking in its usual vigor. I did my annual 24 Hour Writing Marathon in July and discovered, much to my dismay, that I was only able to write half as much as last year before I got sick of writing. I'm supposed to be improving on my word count goals, not failing in them. My actual writing is kind of slacking. I've been doing a lot of sorting and such of my stories, cleaning out old ideas that never would've worked, and sorting the scenes in written stories to find what scenes I can or can't actually use. Turns out, I write a lot of scenes just for fun and about 45% of them don't into fit into the projected outline. That 600,000 words I wrote last year for WriYe? Yeah, less than half of them were in scenes that I'll eventually use in one of my stories.

Next year, despite college and a job, I do plan to continue with WriYe (since I took a break this year). I'm going to try for the daunting task of one million words in a year. That's only actually just under 2750 words a day, which I can easily do in an hour of steady writing. Right now, the sorting I'm doing is going to, at some point, lead to all my stories being outlined, making my writing next year be easy. I'll pick one of my many, many in progress stories and work on it until it's finished or until I get sick of it. At the moment, though, it's nearly impossible to do that because I'm just too unorganized. I've been working since June on this organizing my stories thing and I'm not even half done. I just have way too many ideas that I want to work on. The thing is, when I'm going through and sorting a particular story, I get really into it again, just like when I had the idea in the first place. I've started a writing journal with each story, where I write down notes/ideas/random thoughts that I get while working on it. Those will later be sorted out between usable and unusable ideas. If I find I can't just get into a story (which has only happened once or twice) it is booted out of my collection as a bad idea.

At the moment, I am supposed to be writing a novel for August Camp NaNoWriMo, abbreviated by me as AuCaNaNo. The novel idea is one I had only a couple days before AuCaNaNo started, and I didn't outline it a bit. I'm approximately 10,000 words in and it's the twelfth day of the month, meaning I'm about 8,000 words behind. Somehow, I keep finding ways to procrastinate, even though I really love the novel idea and I'm incredibly fond of my main character, Blaise. Though I'm more fond of his wife and daughters - Alys (pronounced 'Alice'), Cinne (pronounced 'sin-ee), Alphia (Al-fee-a), and Dana.

Beyond writing, I've been having a sudden craving to draw again. These typical turn out with me managing to draw one half-decent picture that takes about a week to do, then deciding that drawing really isn't worth all the effort it takes for me to do it (as it doesn't come naturally to me like writing does) and set my sketchbook aside until the next time the craving overtakes me. Through the skill of being able to draw relatively well would definitely help me in the character development area of writing (with character profile sketches), it isn't worth the hours I'd have to put in to learn how to do so. My hobby of writing takes up way to much of my time as it is. I don't need another time consuming hobby right now.

"When your hobbies get in the way of your work - that's OK; but when your hobbies get in the way of themselves...well..." ~Steve Martin

A Review: The Ember Gods by Andrea Pearson

The thing about sequels is that you already kind of know what to expect. You aren't diving in blindly to a new series, having no idea what is to come. Just like that, the second book of the Kilenya series delivered the same qualities as the first book. There were new, unheard of creatures, new characters, and more on the distant lands and magical abilities of people in Eklaron. It is, however, also a continuation of the first book, in that you get to see the aftermath of what has happened.

The reader gets an in depth view of Jacob Clark and how he struggled to cope after his adventure in the first book. In this, you get to know him better and become more fond of him, cheering him on as he continues on his way.

My favorite part of the book was the characters. Just like the first book, each new character that was brought in had a unique personality and added just the right flavor to the story to keep it going. I enjoyed how minor, only briefly mentioned characters from the first book were brought back and thrust into the spotlight in the sequel, giving you the opportunity to get to know them while still having the original characters around and interacting with one another.

Though the plot line was a bit slower than the first book, it wasn't bad. In fact, it kept the anticipation growing throughout the book until the very end, where everything finally came to a head and things were mostly solved. 

The Ember Gods is a great sequel to The Key of Kilenya and I can't wait to see where the the story will go next.

To purchase The Ember Gods, follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/Ember-Gods-Kilenya-2/dp/1466381612/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329461543&sr=8-3

To visit Andrea Pearson's website, follow this link: http://www.andreapearsonbooks.blogspot.com/