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/

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.