Love Letters to Forever

i love monday

2012-01-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

Today I really actually do love monday.

I don't have school today or tomorrow which is too awesome for words.

I know I haven't done this in a while, but if you want to check out the last "I Love..." Monday click here. I'm just going to post things that I am currently in love with and would LOVE if you guys did it too. If you do decide to participate in "I Love..." Monday just leave the link in the comments.

So...I wasn't really going to check out this show. To be honest, I didn't have any desire to. I mean...I love a good mystery. I have a Sherlock Holmes computer game and I own mostly all of the Nancy Drew interactive games that I used to play with my mom when I was younger, but for some reason I just didn't feel inclined to watch Sherlock. Let's face it, I have so many tv show addictions it's not even funny. From Parenthood to Being Human...I watch EVERYTHING. Then I saw that Steven Moffat co-created Sherlock and I was sold. Now if you don't know who Steven Moffat is, then I suggest you leave my blog for a moment and google him. If you've never seen Doctor Who then I won't say a word to you until you go and watch a few episodes.

Well anyways, this show is AMAZING. There are probably more words I could use to describe it but in a nutshell...it's perfect, flawless. Benedict Cumberbatch brings Sherlock's character to life. I love him and this show. Give it a watch. Season 1 (which is only 3 episodes) is on Masterpiece Mystery's website until February 28, so you still have time to get caught up with this AMAZING show.

Don't you just love this?

Whispers in the Dark is my new project and I'm glad to announce that I'm really actually outlining this project. I want to get this one right. I'm tired of hitting walls and not finishing anything that I start. I have the first three chapters outlined and chapter one is halfway finished. I'm so excited about this project I can't even begin to explain. I won't give anything away but WitD has a lot to do with Djinns and myths that I gave my own little spin to. And the cover art was made for me by another lovely writer from AW who is EXTREMELY good at making covers and this particular picture is currently my screensaver. It helps motivate me to finish this project.

Not only do I love this project and the cover art but I love finding pics of my characters, I have only found a pic of my main character Jo, but I'll keep an eye out.

The idea for WitD has had a chance to sit and simmer for over a year now and I really am drawn to it because I want to write something dark, romantic, and magical. Though I do enjoy writing contemporary YA as well I need a break from reality.

Did I mention that I was outlining? (That picture isn't the outline of my novel, but it's from the website which can be found here) I can't really believe it myself but...I'm outlining! I always thought I would be a die-hard pantser but Liquid Story Binder has shown me the light lol

I only have the 30 Day Trial but I'll just export all of my files before it expires, and hopefully using Word, I'll be able to continue outlining/planning and if you never heard of Liquid Story Binder, give it a chance. You might like it. You may even LOVE it.

That's all I have for you today guys. But tell me...what are you in love with today?

Thanks for reading! <3

i can't stop listening to this song...

2012-01-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

So I know I haven't been posting a lot and I know that when I do post I say that but...sorry guys. Senior year hasn't been as easy as I had hoped it to be. I have Midterms to study for and I'm not doing so well in my AP Calc class so I really have to work hard to make sure I get a high grade.

I'm also trying to figure out where I'm going to college. I got accepted into both of the schools that I applied to, and now I just have to tour them before I make my final decision.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share this AMAZING song with you. You might have heard it before because everyone else on the interwebs seems to have heard it before (except for me...I live under a rock haha) but this guy's voice is so beautiful and this video is creative and the song is something everyone can relate to.

I've had this song on repeat since yesterday. Honestly, it's like I can't live without listening to it. I know that sounds a little dramatic but music is one of my favorite things in the world besides writing. I write songs and I sing (a little) but whenever I hear a song that's filled with as much emotion and depth as this one...the musician side of me geeks out.

Also, you should check out some of his other songs. The woman in the video is Kimbra (never heard of her before yesterday) but she has a song called Settle Down that is equally good and expressive and you should go listen to that song as well and...I should really get back to studying but...have you heard any new songs that has blown her mind recently?

I love all kinds of music except for country...okay that's a lie...there are some songs that I don't mind listening to especially if they're by The Civil Wars or Lady Antebellum but other than that I am not a huge country music fan.

But I'm looking forward to hearing what new music you guys have discovered!

Thanks for reading! <3

The 3rd Annual No-Kiss Blogfest: a scene from my new wip

2012-01-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

So this is my first post of 2012, and what better way to ring in the new year with an almost kiss scene from my new wip Chaos & Dinosaurs: A Love Story.

I haven't talked about it much here but it's a YA Contemporary Romantic Thriller (don't know if that's a genre) that is inspired by Heathers.

I just wrote this scene this morning just for the blogfest but who knows, maybe it will end up in the first draft of Chaos. If you're not sure what this whole No-Kiss Blogfest is then go take a look at Frankie Diane Mallis' blog and read all about it.

I hope you guys decide to check out all of the other entries because I've read a few and they're really good. Mine is a little short but if you want to check out a longer one that I wrote for the first No-Kiss Blogfest when I was fifteen click here and hopefully I improved as a writer since then.

Here you go:

Fox wrapped his arms around me but this time, I didn’t pull away. I don’t know if it was the desperate look in his eyes, or the way his nails delved into my skin through the camisole I wore to bed but I knew that he needed this more than I did. He smelled like a cocktail of things. Cigarette smoke, gasoline, and peppermints.

Always peppermints.

I rest my head on his chest and listened to his heart. It sounded like thunder, as it thudded against my eardrum.

“Vanessa,” he breathed, his hand grabbing a hold of my chin. His skin felt cold against mine, but I didn’t want him to stop touching me. Our eyes met and it was like they were meeting for the first time, because they explored each other hungrily. His finger found my lips in the semi-darkness of the room, and swept over it, like a kiss, only it didn’t really feel the way a kiss with Fox Rhodes would feel like. This was a boy who had killed for me, a boy who set me on fire without gasoline or matches. I ran my tongue across the tip of his finger, taking it into my mouth, hoping he’d take the hint and give me what I wanted.

“You’re killing me,” he muttered, pushing me up against the wall. Fox placed his hands on either side of my face, and leaned forward. Our foreheads and noses were making out with each other while our lips remained centimeters apart.

“Damn it, Fox.”

He grinned. “You don’t have to swear to get me to kiss you.”

“Then tell me what…”

His lips found my neck. Hot breath prickled the skin there. He was driving me crazy and he hadn’t even kissed me yet. I felt his teeth graze my throat, as his mouth carved their own map into my skin. I leaned my head back, giving him better access, waiting for him to reach his destination. He was getting closer and closer and my lips were burning with anticipation. Part of me wondered if he tasted just like he smelled.

He pulled away.

“What…” I started, looking up at him.

“This is payback,” he said, with a look in his eyes that told me that he had wanted to kiss me just as much as I had wanted to be kissed, only his lust for revenge was stronger, more potent. That's probably why we were drawn to each other. We were so much alike that it hurt.

“You’re an asshole," I breathed, as he dragged his fingers from my temple to the base of my neck, following the path he had made just moments before.

“But that’s one of the many things you love about me." His fingers lingered on my collarbone. He looked down, eyes sweeping over my body for just a fraction of a second. When he looked back up at me a snarky grin was plastered on his face.

"Do you dress like this every night?"

I pushed him away. "Go screw yourself."

Thanks for reading! <3

Best of 2011: 5 Great Albums To Write To

2011-12-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

The year is almost over, guys. That being said - I thought it would be great to say goodbye to 2011 by posting five songs from the five great albums that I listen to when writing.

1.) Little Hell by City and Colour

Dallas Green is a Canadian singer who I absolutely ADORE. If you haven't heard of him before today, you should definitely check listen to a couple of the songs on the album. His voice is so beautiful and refreshing and...it's filled with equal amounts of hope, sadness, and truth. Beautiful.

I've got a sickness pounding in my head
I'm at the mercy of the ghosts

2.) Lover Boy by Brett Dennen

Some people compare this guy to Bob Dylan. I don't listen to much Bob Dylan, but despite Brett Dennen's boyish looks, he has a mature sounding voice with deep, powerful lyrics to match.

Like a southbound train
Here's a song for leaving
Don't you know the pain
It's a part of the healing

3.) All at Once by The Airborne Toxic Event

If you're looking to write a story about angst and rebellion, then you need to listen to this album seriously. There's something electrifying about it. It's like the match that started the fire, you know?

Stuck here with these people
Wide awake, the crush of bodies in one space
I feel your heart breath on my tongue
I wonder where you've gone

4.) Ceremonials by Florence + the Machine

I can't explain how much I LOVE Florence + the Machine. Really, I think it's safe to say that EVERY writer (who has great taste in music) listens to Florence. The lyrics are breathtakingly, hauntingly beautiful and each song tells a story.

And the only solution was to stand and fight,
And my body was loosing all the sattelites,
But you came over me like some holy life,
And I know the whole story,
You're the only light

5.) Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay & 21 by Adele

I couldn't possibly choose what album I wanted to be the fifth greatest album to write to in 2011, I decided to post both songs from two AMAZING albums from a band that I love with all my heart and a singer who takes my breath away.

When she was just a girl,
She expected the world,
But it flew away from her reach,
So she ran away in her sleep

Under haunted skies I see you
Where love is lost, your ghost is found
I've lived a hundred storms to leave you
As hard as you try, no I will never be knocked down

Thanks for reading! I might do more of these Best of 2011 posts if I can think of another topic to cover. What music/albums in 2o11 did you like that you wrote to? Tell me in the comments! <3

i couldn't resist....

2011-12-20T16:13:00.001-08:00

So these might be extremely corny but I couldn't help myself.

So...yeah. These were corny but I hope they at least put a smile on your face? I mean it's RYAN GOSLING? Or maybe he's not your cup of tea. In that case...I'm sorry but really? How can you not like him? He's so...dreamy.

If you are confused about the whole 'Hey Girl' thing...I invite you to check this out. It's one of my favorite Tumblr blogs and it puts a smile on my face. But yeah...hopefully next time I have something better to blog about.

Until then, thanks for reading! <3

Teaser Tuesday

2011-12-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been posting...a lot. Sorry guys! Life has been super busy. Senior year has been hectic and I'm waiting to hear back from a few colleges that I applied to so...yeah. Since it's Teaser Tuesday, I decided to post a short story I just wrote. It sucks and it's really sappy but it's the first thing (besides essays for school and college) that I have written in a long LONG time.

I hope it doesn't suck too bad. :)

______

Time was always moving. He never stood still. In all the years I’ve known him – I don’t think he ever stopped to “smell the roses”. Even his kisses were frantic, rushed. Part of me just wanted him to hold me for longer than a second, to press his lips against mine for more than a minute or two. I doubted that would ever happen. Time was always in a hurry and now that I think about it – he had every right to be.
The doctors said that he only had a few more weeks to live. Maybe even less than that. Either way, every second of his short life was important to him. He wanted to see and do everything before he died.

***
“You should just let me drive,” Time muttered, sighing.
“We’ll get there,” I said, biting my lip. It took all I had not to start crying. The tears were there, waiting for their chance to fall, but I refused to give them that chance. Time didn’t need to be mourned while he was still alive. I was going to miss seeing him, his naturally unkempt hair, the connect-the-dot freckles that were scattered across his face, the bottle-glass blue of his eyes. Everything. He was once just the boy next door, the boy who used to eat dirt and chase girls with worms. Now he was so much more than that. He still lived next door but he wasn’t just a boy. He was my boy. I loved him.
I never got a chance to tell him that though. I didn’t know how. I just assumed that love was understood, like you could just look at someone and they would know how you felt. But I couldn’t rely on my eyes to say everything that I wanted Time to know before he died. He might misinterpret what they were trying to say.
I never wanted to be one of those girls. You know the ones that say they can’t live without their boyfriends; the ones who spend every second, minute, hour of the day thinking about them. But I can’t help it. I can’t help but to think about when he’ll die and if someone will be there, holding his hand. I reach over and link our hands together. To my surprise, he doesn’t pull away.
“Time…” I breathed.
“I know,” he said. “I know.”

***
I don’t recognize him anymore.
His lips still feel the same. His eyes are still the same color and shape but there’s something missing. Life. Time is still living and breathing, walking and talking but there is no life in the way that he lives, breathes, walks and talks. Everything about him just seems so: dead. His voice is hollow. His eyes are empty. His steps are slow and calculating. His breath is labored.
“Jamie…” he started.
“Why don’t you kiss me anymore?”
“I’m dying.”
“I know that, Time. But I…”
“I think we should start seeing other people.” He turned his head a little. The wind blew a few strands of hair into his eyes. I wanted to see his eyes.
“I don’t understand.”
When he looked at me again, his eyes were red and cloudy with a chance of rain. It was raining. One by one, teardrops began to trickle down his face. “What is there to understand, Jamie? I won’t be here in a few days. Hell, I might even die tomorrow or in a few minutes. The point is…you don’t need to see me like this. You don’t have to watch me die.”
I shook my head, not believing the words that were coming out of his mouth, even though I felt them in my soul. “I want to watch you live, Time. Don’t you get that?”
For once, in what seemed like forever, Time stood still. “You deserve to be with someone who can live long enough to love you.”
Even though I knew he would try to push me away, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, savoring the smell of his clothes, the smell of him.
“I know,” he whispered. “I know.”

Thanks for reading! <3

i love monday

2011-11-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Not really.

Monday is the worst day of the week.

But since I hardly blog anymore, I thought I'd create a meme to get me posting again. So...here is the first post in "I Love..." Monday. I'm going to post things that I currently love and it would be great if you guys did it too. If you do decide to join me in posting things you love on Monday, just leave the link to your post in the comments.

First off...I must say that I'm really impressed with what I have seen so far. None of the actors fit what I pictured the characters to look like in my head, but that being said I think this is an AMAZING cast of actors/actresses and that the Hunger Games movie is going to be EPIC. Plus, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna = LOVE.

The entire 2006 version of Jane Eyre is on YouTube. This is my favorite JE adaptation yet. I haven't seen the most recent one but Toby Stephens is my Mr. Rochester and he's so...*sigh* If you aren't convinced of his sexiness, please watch the scene I posted above.

THIS is one of the many pictures that inspired the story I've been wanting to write for a long time now. I'm super excited about it and I like being able to write about crop circles and UFOs and creepy stalkerish men. If you want to find out more about BELIEVE...check out my website.

Last on my I Love list is Katy Perry's video for The One That Got Away. I love love LOVE this music video. It's very creative and powerful and it reminds me so much of my wip THINGS LEFT UNSAID. Plus, that guy is really hot...*ahem*

So, that's it for me today. What are you loving on this fine Monday? I really would LOVE to know!

NaNoWriMo Day 6

2011-11-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

I changed my NaNo project.

Why?

Well...I just can't seem to write OUT OF SIGHT. I love the concept and I hope to work on it after November is over...but for now I want to work on something that I have outlined (sorta), something that's a little more in my element (contemporary FTW!)

The whole point of NaNoWriMo is to get 50k words in thirty days. In my case it's going to be twenty-four days, but I have two days of school off so I hope to get caught up.

My new NaNo project is not really a new idea. I've been sitting on it for a while now and I've been scared to write it because it's written from both a male's POV and a girl's. I know enough about both characters to distinguish their voices, but I don't know if I have the male voice down...since I'm not a guy.

Here's a scene I just wrote this morning:

Her skin is intoxicating. I haven’t even had anything to drink tonight and already I am drunk. Off of her. The way she smells, the way she bites her lip when she thinks I’m not looking, the way she smells – warm and sweet like hot cocoa. My fingers ache to pull her close, to dance with her like all the other boys and girls bumping and grinding around us. Yeah, bumping and grinding. That’s what they’re doing. Their bodies have become one on the dance floor. No air stands between them. I want it to be like that with Sadie, but I don’t think she wants it to be like that.
I don’t even think she wants to be at this party.
“You want some punch?” she asks, her honey-brown eyes ensnaring mines in their intensity.
“Um…yeah, sure.”
Without saying another word she turns around and disappears into the crowd. I watch her walk, not to check her out or anything but because the way she moves – shoulders slumped forward, her steps measured – makes her look like she’s out of her element and maybe she is. Rich girls don’t come to parties like this. They don’t hang around with people like this, people like me.
Someone taps me on the shoulder. “Elliot?” Lily’s voice fills my head and suddenly it’s not Sadie’s face that’s clouding my vision, it’s my best friend – the one that I kissed on the roof of my apartment last week, the one who doesn’t answer my calls, the one who looks the other way when we pass each other in the hallway at school, the one who kissed me back.
“Hey,” I say, as she positions herself in front of me her beer sloshing around in her red plastic cup. “What are you doing here?”
It was a stupid question, I know. But what else am I supposed to say to a girl whose lips I now know the blueprint of?

I'll post up a blurb of what STEALING SADIE is about on my NaNo profile. I'm Endless Dawn if you want to add me. Good luck everyone! : )

My NaNo project...

2011-10-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

In a world where no one can hide - Nia Thorne is invisible.

CONCEAL is a software that makes it impossible for anyone to track or see you. It was created by Nia's scientist father for the Underground - an international group of rebels who are hell-bent on dismantling the government. Luke Thorne had been a member of the Underground for years which is why Nia was a bit confused when he came home and told her that: a.) he quit his job and b.) they needed to go into hiding.

Nia has been hiding for a year now.

She doesn't know where her father is and because he has CONCEAL installed in his brain - she can't track him. Now seventeen, Nia must fend for herself. With invisibility on her side, she can rob grocery stores and malls whenever she pleases, sleep in luxury hotels and dine at five-star restaurants. Sometimes she goes to sit in classrooms and other times she sneaks into movie theaters, anything to keep her from thinking about her father.

And then she meets Julian.

He can see her.

He's the first person she's spoken to in a year.

He tells her that he can help her.

She believes him.

Should taboo relationships have happy endings?

2011-10-10T10:58:00.001-07:00

Someone on AW wanted to know if it was okay for a taboo relationship to have a happy ending in a YA book. I have been contemplating my answer for a while now and I have finally come up with an answer:

My current wip Things Left Unsaid features a relationship that might not sit well with some people. It's between my main character who is seventeen and a twenty three year old painter. The story isn't about their relationship and...just so you know...they aren't going to run off into the sunset together and live happily ever after?

Why?

Well, because I just don't think it's the right thing for them.

That's the thing you have to keep in mind when you're working on a project that features a romance that doesn't conform to today's society. If it's important to your characters and to your story for the relationship to have a happy ending, then by all means...let them have their happy ending. If not...then feel free to torture your darlings.

I will say that I do not cringe at stories where there is a significant age difference between the two characters. Let's face it...Edward is old enough to be Bella's great-grandpa. If that doesn't freak you out then teenagers being with someone four or six or even ten years older shouldn't bother you either.

I'm not saying that I condone relationships between minors and adults in real life but I am saying that it should be written about. Not for the sake of shock value or anything like that but because...it's realistic.

People fall in love (or like) everyday despite age difference.

Getting back to my wip.

I have asked myself many times why I couldn't just make Sam (the twenty three year old) my main character's age. Why couldn't he be a boy who sits behind her in class or the boy next door? The answer I ended up with was this: it just wouldn't work for the story if Sam was same age as Claire.

Claire needs someone who understands what she's going through. Her sister committed suicide and she was the one who found her body and because of that...everyone is treating her differently. Then she meets Sam, someone who does understand what it's like to lose a sibling to suicide, someone who doesn't judge her and someone who could possibly be a shoulder to lean on...despite the fact that he's almost six years older than her.

I know some people might not like the age difference in my story even after knowing all of this but...at the end of the day if you're going to write a 'taboo' relationship then...by all means go do it.

That being said...make sure you're writing one for all the right reasons, and not the wrong. If you just want to write one for shock-value, then maybe you shouldn't write the story at all.

The whole purpose of my story is to explore how different people deal with grief and death and dying and...Sam is a character who is more than just his age. He brings so much to the story because he has lived just a little bit longer than Claire and...he has his own emotional baggage and I would hate to destroy that by making him sixteen or seventeen or even eighteen.

Though Sam and Claire do not end up together in my book...it doesn't mean that their aren't happy endings in real life or that there shouldn't be ones in books. Stay With Me by Garret Freymann-Weyr (one of my favorite books) is a story that involves a teenage girl who falls in love with a man nearly twice her age. I say involves because the story is not about a teenage girl who falls in love with a man nearly twice twice her age, just as my story isn't about a girl who falls in like (I won't say it's love) with a man who is six years older than her.

I don't want to make this a really long post so let me just end by saying if you want to write a young adult book that involves a taboo relationship then by all means write one. Just just make sure you're not writing it just for shock-value and know that your story doesn't have to center around the relationship.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I'm really curious about what you guys think.

Are taboo relationships okay in YA books? Should they have happy endings?

Sunday Seven

2011-10-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been good on updating my blog but...I'm going to try to post more often.

1. In case you didn't know...I'm a senior! I never thought my senior year would come, but it's here and even though it's still the beginning of the school year...I am ready to graduate. Sure...I'm a little scared about going out into the "real world" but I'm ready for an adventure. Plus, I already know what I'm going to major and minor in. Creative Writing for my major and Sociology for my minor. I'm so excited!

2. I took my SATs last week. They were easier than I thought they were going to be. There were a few questions that made me go...meh. But I think I did fairly well. The writing section was a piece of cake though...so I hope I get a good score.

3. I'm at a new school this year since my old high school closed. It's hard being in a new school with people I don't know. Some of the kids I went to middle school with go there but we haven't seen each other in three years so it's kind of hard to connect. It would help if I wasn't so shy. I'm more of a listener than a talker. I don't know why especially since my mom is REALLY outgoing. She's the kind of person who can start up a conversation with a complete stranger but I get nervous around people easily...*sighs* Part of me thinks that I'm having a hard time adjusting to my new school because I miss my old one. It was a horrible school but...I knew everyone there. I had nice teachers and even though it wasn't the best school...it was MY school, you know?

4. I made yet another Tumblr: http://ravenamo.tumblr.com/

5. So...I recently started watching Firefly. It was on tv a couple of weeks ago and I watched it and immediately fell in love with it. Firefly is so amazing and...I just don't understand why it had to end so soon. If you have never watched Firefly, I suggest you do so now. Just so you don't have any excuses as to why you're not watching it, you can watch the pilot episode (and a few others) on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb_5nOoAzhA&feature=colike

6. Here's some of the music I've been listening to lately:

7. I started reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. It's a really funny...really inspiring...very heartwrenching read. There are times when I want to laugh and times when I want to breathe in the words. Junior is a wonderful character and if you haven't read this book, please go do so now.

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

RTW: Across the Universe (in three days)

2011-08-31T09:51:00.001-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is blog carnival hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA HIGHWAY.

So I really love science fiction.

I don't read a lot of it but...I love futuristic gadgets and cute bow-tie wearing aliens with amazing blue boxes.

That being said give me anything that has to do with the future and serve it to me w/ a side of romance and I'm sold.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis is an AMAZING book. It has something for everybody. Mystery, a little romance, and two strong main characters that tell a story set hundreds of years later on a ship that will both amaze and scare you.

I don't want to give anything away but GO READ THIS BOOK NOW.

Though I finished this book last month I still can't get it out of my head and I am waiting *impatiently* for the sequel.

Seriously.

Across the Universe will take you on an adventure in three days. That's how long to read this book and it's pretty lengthy.

It will also make you take a look at the world around you. A real, hard look.

But I'm going to stop talking now so you can hurry up and get this book.

What are you waiting for?

here's another small teaser from my wip

2011-08-23T23:44:00.001-07:00

I didn't want to completely erase him out of my life especially since I still had so much to learn about my sister. Denise used to talk about you so much. Though he was clearly speaking English, those words sounded so foreign to me. Not like French or Spanish, those languages were easier to understand than this.

Alex was speaking Pig Latin an old, forgotten and dead language that I just couldn't seem to understand.

Maybe I didn't hear him right.

It just didn't make any sense. Why would Denise talk about me to him?

She didn't even know me.

- from THINGS LEFT UNSAID

first drafts don't equal the end of the world

2011-08-15T13:34:00.001-07:00

It's taken me YEARS to realize that but it's true.

It doesn't.

Early Sunday morning there was a really bad storm that woke me up and so I put on some music and started reading over my wip which I had temporarily trunked at 35.8k words.

I know it's not good to read over your wip before you finish it, but by the time I read from beginning to end...I was crying.

Not because it's a sad book (it is) but because there were good parts among the extremely sucky parts. There were A LOT of sucky parts but the point I'm trying to make is FIRST DRAFTS ARE GONNA SUCK...and they're gonna suck hard.

But forget about sucking.

Just think about all the good things you have. Think about how happy you'll feel once you finish. Think about FINISHING.

First drafts are made to be fixed. There is nobody in the world who has written a solid first draft. And if you happen to know someone who has - direct me to that person please!

But, seriously, don't give up on your novel especially if you love it. And if you need to take a break from it, take a break. Work on something else for a few days, and then come back to your wip with new eyes.

You can do it.

I believe in you.

Happy writing guys! :D

Heartbreak: a poem

2011-08-12T10:23:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've wrote poetry...so I'm a little rusty. But this is for The Merry Sisters of Fate contest where the winner gets three ARCs of books written by the three authors. In case you didn't know, the MSOF are authors Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff.

They post amazing original stories/flash fiction every week, and if you want to be entered into the contest all if you have to do is write something inspired by the painting "The Turret Stairs" by Frederic Burton.

HEARTBREAK

His hands are shackles
And I am their reluctant prisoner
In the shadows he waits to capture me

Susanna
He says my name like a prayer
Though many bow when they see me
His is the only worship that is true

We shouldn't do this
My lips are traitors
They betray the feelings that wage war in my heart, in my soul,
as he buries his lips in the crook of my arm

I have waited long enough, my queen
And so he has
Every night he comes for me
Every night he wairs

On the turret stairs
Where our hearts beats in synchronicity

Run away with me
His voice is filled with an urgency that makes me wish
That I could forsake the throne to follow him
Into the unknown
But I cannot

I have a duty to my kingdom
When one becomes a queen she must forget that she is a woman
She must ignore the passions that shatter her bones and flutter her heart
She must remember, always, who her first love is

You mean to your king?
I turn my face into the wall,
And blush as only sinners do

I love you enough to let you go
So show me the same courtesy,
And love me enough to let me stay
Those aren't the words that I want to say
Those aren't the words that I feel
But they are the words I must say
They are the words I must feel

He is my reluctant warden
He hesitates to let me go
He gives me one last kiss on the palm of my hand
And it is then the lights dim; signaling the end of the show

The audience erupts into cheers
And we take our bows

I wish it didn't have to end this way
His voice cracks; he is close to tears
I look at him
He looks at me
For only a moment
But a moment is all it takes

Me too
I whisper
As his heart breaks.

taking risk

2011-08-12T08:07:00.001-07:00

So...I usually write contemporary.

I like contemporary.

If it's done right, it's magical.

But you know what else I like?

Shows like Doctor Who and The X-Files. Books with kick-ass heroines and high stakes. I am the girliest of girls but that doesn't mean I don't like "getting my hands dirty".

This is exactly what I'm doing with this new project.

Getting my hands dirty.

And you know what, guys?

I'M SCARED OUT OF MY MIND.

This idea is new territory.

It's a mix of dystopian + fantasy + steampunk and...I don't know how I came up with it since I normally write contemporary and I normally don't outline or plot or anything!

There's a lot of worldbuilding I have to do. A LOT of decisions to make.

Guys...when I first thought of Faye (my main character) and her world I honestly didn't think I could do it justice.

I was scared of what would happen if it sucks. I still am scared but...

I like being scared.

I like taking risk.

You never know unless you try right?

So how about you guys? Have you taken any risk with your writing? Or do you like to play it safe?

Happy Friday!

my keyboard is my wand

2011-08-06T06:46:00.001-07:00

I have dreamed of sharing my stories with the world ever since I was a little girl.

I used to write stories about counterfeit pennies and evil meatballs and give them to my family members.

The meatball story was pretty cool because my mom helped me make a book cover using a spaghetti box.

Looking back I can't begin to tell you how much I loved writing stories and drawing pictures to go with them.

Writing is just so magical and I'm sure if you're a writer you don't need me to tell you that.

But I've been writing ever since I was five, wrote my first novel, which I keep hidden in a file that will never again see light, when I was nine.

It was about what most girls who dreamed of faraway lands and wore way too much pink would write about.

There were fairies and witches and demons and knights in shining armor. I even made up back stories for all of my characters and their homelands.

I drew pictures on my computer, pictures that are sadly long gone but I still remember them - I never forget any of my characters. They stay with me everywhere I go.

I don't know why I took to writing the way I did. Almost everyone in my family can draw or paint, like my mom who is a better artist than she gives herself any credit for.

I can draw too but my passion has always been with words. I love the way letters look, the way they sound, how they form together to make words that mean so much more than what they look like on paper.

My mom started me off reading when I was four and I guess that's where all the madness began.

I started to hear voices in my head.

Voices that I heard more louder, clearer than my own. So even at a young age I knew what I was meant to do: write.

I watched the Lifetime movie based on J.K. Rowling's life last night and I cried.

I cried because all she wanted to do was do what she loved to do and people kept telling her it wasn't practical.

I don't like that word. I don't like what it means or how it sounds.

Life is short. It's too short to be practical, to not do what you want to do just because it might not pay the rent.

I don't know what being an adult is yet, but I do know that I'm going to college next year. I'm majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in sociology. I will go to law school and I will always be a writer.

It's in my bones. In the air that I breathe. I couldn't stop writing even if I tried. Honestly - I think I would go mad if I didn't write.

There's just so much wrong with the world and I have the power to escape. I don't claim to be Harry Potter but my keyboard is my wand, my stories are my spells and incantations.

I want to see something I've written on a shelf one day but I can't let that make me forget why I write.

I have to stop thinking of everything I write as THE book or as a book period. These ideas, these voices in my head are mine, they are my heart and soul.

And that is why I write.

I write because I can't live without them.

RTW: What are the five senses again?

2011-08-03T15:22:00.001-07:00

Haha, okay. I'm kidding. I know what they are but when it comes to writing I don't really pay much attention them.

Or if I do, I won't really know until after I give everything a quick read-through.

So...here we go.

I'm going to put my wip THINGS LEFT UNSAID (which is currently on hold) to the test.

If I utilized all five senses at one point in time, then I get an A. If I've only used four, I'll give myself a B and so on and so forth.

Sound

I could hear some guy or girl (you really couldn't tell) singing I don't like the government/they sell sugar coated lies at lemonade stands/ little boys little girls open up your hands in the background.

Touch

I heard him say "we need to get you out of these clothes before you catch a cold" but I just couldn't stop screaming and he didn't seem to mind because he stayed with me and helped me pull my arms out of my shirt, his rough calloused fingers setting my bare skin on fire.

Taste

"I'm fine," I breathed, though we both knew that I was far from fine. He pushed a bowl of oatmeal towards me - made just the way I liked it with a whole bunch of sugar and cinnamon - only with each spoonful I ate, I felt like I was eating ashes.

Sight

Danny was a tired wave as she sunk down onto my bed, her legs, her arms folding in on each other. Right before my eyes she collapsed.
I've never seen this side of her before.

Smell

Um...yeah.

So I'm going myself a C. My strongest areas are sight and touch and I'm fairly good with sounds.

It seems my like my main character hardly eats which I never really would have picked up if it weren't for today's Road Trip Wednesday prompt.

Also, smells aren't really my cup of tea. I don't really use that sense when I write, which is odd. I'll have to work on that.

Enough about me. How do you use the five senses in your writing? Put your own wips or your favorite book to the test, see what grade you get.

And don't forget to stop by YA HIGHWAY to leave a link to your post in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

2011-08-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer hits stores everywhere 9.27.11. Pre-order your copy here. Download the widget here. Enter to win an Advanced Reader’s Copy here.

what kind of character would be?

2011-07-26T13:12:00.001-07:00

I was reading over what I just wrote, when it dawned on me how different I am from my main character. Though a lot of what goes on in her life was inspired by personal experience, Claire is not like me.

She says what's on her mind, while I tend to keep things to myself.

She acts on impulse, while I have to think things through.

Also, she's not afraid to do crazy things. In one scene she jumps fully clothed into a fountain and I would.never EVER do anything like that.

The point is: writers are not their characters. Though we take bits and pieces of ourselves and put them into our novels, our characters have a life of their own.

And the way I see it, our characters are the people we would like to be but can't be.

So that got me thinking: what kind of character would I be?

Well, let's see.

The type of character I would be is:

* a girl who stays up all night
* a girl who drinks tea to calm her nerves
* a girl who daydreams about other worlds
* a girl who strongly believes that music isn't good unless it's loud
* a girl who is afraid of everything from thunderstorms to being alone
* a girl who likes good movies, and writing down random lines of poetry
* a girl who wants to escape from the confines of her small big town
* a girl who has a Johnny Depp poster in her room

The list can go on and on and on.

But I guess what I'm trying to say is: if you have an idea for a dystopian or a fantasy or (insert genre here) kind of novel and you don't have any idea who your main character is: look deep inside yourself, find out what pieces of your soul you want give to your character(s) and give them life.

There's a character in all of us, you just have to be willing to look for them.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Also, what kind of character would you be? And do you ever incorporate personal experiences into your novel?

Teaser Monday

2011-07-25T18:37:00.001-07:00

So I'm 64 words away from reaching 34k in my wip whose new title is THINGS LEFT UNSAID. Though there will be some plot changes in the next draft the story centers around a girl whose "perfect" sister commits suicide. There's more to the story, but once things get sorted I'll reveal more m'kay? : D

So before I post the teaser, here's the set up:

My main character Claire is seventeen and will be eighteen in a month, she works at her uncle Pierre's restaurant where she meets Sam, a twenty-two year old cook who seems to understand her and all that other good stuff.

I know some people grow weary when there is an age difference, but I don't think I can make Sam any younger without messing with the plot.

Okay, here you go....

I don't feel anything but the thump thump thump of his heart against my chest, the butterfly kisses he lands on my jaw, on my ear, and everywhere that isn't covered by my clothes.

"Sam..." I say his name like a prayer.

He answers it.

"Am I doing anything wrong?" he asked, and I don't know how to answer that seeing as though this is a script I've never read before.

Even though the lines are sketchy, I improvise. "No...it's not that. It's just...I'm..." The words still a virgin are lost on my lips but he understands and then he is pulling away but not completely. His hand is still on my stomach.

The heat of his skin seeps through my shirt.

Sam lies down beside me.

"Forgive me," he breathed. "I should have...I guess I got too carried away."

"No." I turn my head to look at him. He's looking back at me. The world standing is still. "You were perfect. I should have said something...earlier. Maybe next time we..." I stopped talking because there might not be a next time. Sam might not want there to be a next time.

So there you go! The scene before it has a lot more kissing but I'll tease the good stuff some other time. Keep in mind that this is a first draft, so it's little...meh but I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading. :D

why shit needs to hit the fan

2011-07-20T08:24:00.001-07:00

So...whilst eating my morning pie I started thinking about the kind of stories I write.

They're not always happy stories.

They're not always sad ones either.

But no matter what the tone of the project is, something has to go wrong.

I really can't stand stories where the main characters get everything they want without a price.

Sure there are a lot of people in the world who are lucky & live like kings and queens but even they have their own problems to solve, their own mistakes to make and so do our characters.

In order to make our characters more realistic - no matter the genre - we have to let them get bruised a little because life is one big journey and no one truly comes out unscathed.

So yeah...I make my characters go through some things but I always make sure they come out stronger for it in the end.

Hmm...I think I should eat pie more often...

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Saturday Snippet

2011-06-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here's what I have so far of my new project:

I never tell anyone what my real name is.

The guy whose number I still have written on the inside of my favorite jeans thinks my name is Billy, even though I only told him that because the MJ song was playing and he said he wasn't going to leave me alone until he got a name. He didn't specify whose name he wanted, so I gave him the only one that came to mind at the moment. Now he's probably waiting by his phone for a girl named Billy Jean to call only I won't ever call him because I am definitely not his lover.

The doorman thinks my name is Grace (though he always calls me Gracie). Rita, the lady who sells flowers around the corner from my job calls me Lola even though I don't really look like a Lola.

I don't really look like any of the names I tell people. Only my mother insists that I look like a November, which is what my real name is unfortunately.

Now you can kinda understand my reasoning for lying whenever someone asks me what my name is. I mean, I was named after a freakin' month of the year. Not really, but most people would think that.

RTW: The girl I want to be...

2011-03-11T17:03:00.001-08:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA HIGHWAY.

In honor of the release of Kirsten Hubbard's debut novel, Like Mandarin, Wednesday's prompt was to finish this sentence:

I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO BE...

I would give anything to be THAT girl. You know, the one that turns heads, the who has a lot of friends and has a hot boyfriend.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but high school is hell on steroids.

It eats girls like me alive.

I never was popular. I never was a toothpick, either. I was the girl who read entirely too much, and in elementary school I got bullied when I didn't hand over my spelling test.

It makes me sick just thinking about it but...things got better in middle school.

A little.

I mean, there were still popular kids, and the worst of them were girls. They all thought they were better than girls like me, and at the time I thought they were... I mean, they were pretty and smart and good at sports. I, on the other hand, wasn't pretty and though I had a group of people that liked me, I still felt like I didn't belong.

A part of me felt like it was my fault that I didn't fit in and I still feel that way now, in high school.

It's hard.

It's really hard and sometimes I wonder if high school would be any better if I was pretty and popular.

I don't know. I just want to be...I would do ANYTHING to be the girl I see in the mirror every morning, only more confident and brave.

Maybe I don't turn heads and maybe I don't have a boyfriend, but I know that high school isn't forever.

The world is bigger and the people aren't as small- minded as most of the people I go to school with.

I don't want to be anybody else. I shouldn't have to be, but at the end of the day, I would give anything to be the girl who can love herself no matter what anyone else thinks.

I'll be that girl one day.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Saturday Seven

2011-03-05T08:48:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I'll be able to think of seven things that's going on in my life, but I'll give it a shot.

1. So...I'm on a mission. A very important one, if you ask me. I want to be healthy. I don't want to have high blood pressure or diabetes when I get older. That being said I had to make a few lifestyle changes. To make a long story short, I have lost 4.2 pounds. It's not a lot but it does feel great.

2. I started reading The Kite Runner for my AP English class and...wow. I love it! The writing, the voice, everything about the book is just...there are no words. I highly recommend it!

3. I'm taking the SATs next month, which means major studying needs to be done. I am taking the AP exam in May and so...if I disappear for another month or so, know that I'll be drowning in exams. Hopefully I'll make it out alive!

4. I'm going to D.C. in May for a day (wish I could stay longer but meh...) There's a Model UN convention going on, and I'm going with my Human Rights group. I'll tell you guys more about it soon.

5. On April 19, I'm going to be on tv. That is the day (hopefully) Pittsburgh will be declared a Human Rights city. If you're confused as to what that means, I'll do another post about it whenever I can.

6. My school is closing in June, at the end of the school year. It's been open for 100 years and though I can't say it's the best high school in the world, I wish it wasn't closing. Now I have to spend my summer looking for a school to go my senior year.

7. Um...I don't know what to put for seven. Let's see...I'll be seventeen in June. This both scares and excites me!

Enough about me, what's going on with you?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Learning from my mistakes...

2011-02-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

We learn from our mistakes. No matter how torn up we are over not being able to do anything with our first novels, we still can cherish the fact that our first novels taught us something that can make our next trip down the book-writing road a little less bumpy.

FAR FROM HERE is not my first novel. I wrote three before it, and that was when I was nine and imaginative and inexperienced. My third novel was a huge improvement, but I can honestly say that even though I trunked FFH I can still use it to write my next novel, which I'm excited about.

When I wrote FFH, it was a NaNoWriMo project. I didn't really have a steardy plot or outline, I just wrote. It seemed fun at the time, but I ended paying a HUGE price in the end.

With this new project, I'm going to plot, I'm going to outline. I'm not going to do my proper research, and though the first draft will be sucky, I'll be prepared this time when it comes to revisions.

My pantser days are over! I already have the synopsis written. Now I just need to outline, and buy a few more notebooks.

So far I don't have a title, but it is a ghost story. It was inspired by a line in the song Sleeping With Ghosts by Placebo.

It's a great song. I haven't really listened to Placebo in a while, so I was happy when I stumbled across this song.

The idea that soulmates never die sent the wheels in my head, turning.

I even have an idea how I want it to begin:

Birds falling from the sky is never a good sign.

I'll keep y'all updated on my progress.

Have a great day!

Saturday Update

2011-02-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

So...hey guys!

How is everyone?

It's been a while.

I honestly don't intend on abandoning this blog. It's just that ever since my computer broke, updating this blog has been hard. (I'm using my phone to write this, btw.)

Well, anyways, I trunked FAR FROM HERE.

It has been my main wip for a while now, and I just haven't made any progress with it. One day, maybe all the pieces will fall into place and I'll work on it again, but for now it's time for me to move on.

It's time for a new set of characters, a new story, a new adventure.

The only problem is that I have so many ideas for my next project, some contemporary, some not. I could work on a project I already started before, but I don't know. The only thing I know is, I want to have fun writing whatever I decide to work on.

So, enough about me, what are y'all working on? Have you recently trunked a novel? If so, was it a hard decision to make?

I miss you!

2010-12-28T14:25:00.001-08:00

I am writing this post using my phone. My computer broke a long time ago, which is why I haven't been posting as often as I should.

But I miss you guys so much!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Teaser...Sunday?

2010-11-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

I feel like I'm neglecting my blog...and it feels like it's going to be a while until I can write an actual blog post.

To make up for my absence, here's a teaser from something I wrote a week or so ago. It's a project that I hope to continue after my life settles down.

I'll talk about it more someday, but for now...enjoy.

I was lying in a bed of roses when my aunt found me. It took a moment for my eyes to finally unglue themselves, but when I finally got a chance to take in my surroundings I silently rejoiced, glad that I didn't wake up near a dumpster or worse, a storefront. Even so, I'd rather deal with a complete stranger, than my aunt whose glare sent shivers down my aching spine.
"Get up," she growled. "You're ruining my garden."
"I'm..." I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming, as I tried to sit up. This wasn't the first time this has happened, but it was the first time I woke up in excruciating pain. It felt like I got hit by a car or something.
"People are going to be getting up soon. Do you want them to see you like this?" I looked down at myself. Dirt was caked on my skin, along with dried blood and some sort of thick, white gunk. Then there was the fact that I was naked.
My cheeks flushed.
There was a boy who lived next door who always took out the garbage at this time of day. I should know because I watch him through the slits in my blinds every morning wishing I knew his name, wishing that he knew mine.
But right now, he doesn't even know that I exist. I'm just a girl in a room on the third floor.
A part of me wants to pass out from the pain that spiderwebs through my body, as I get to my feet. I can hear my bones rattling, my blood sizzling, the creature inside of me settling. It's growls are no more, and the soft tune that usually plays before I black out, is no more. Now, it's just me and my aunt, who is wrapping a white sheet around my shivering body.
"Next time try to wake up on the porch or better yet in the backyard, where no one can see you."
"Okay." I can't begin to count how many times I have to tell my aunt that I can't control where I wake up at. I can't even control how often I black out or for how long.
It just happens.
My legs wobble, my toes sink into the soil, the skin on the bottom of my feet burns as we move across the pavement, up the porch steps, and into the house.
Safe.
Hidden from the world.
"Thanks," I said, turning toward my aunt who is looking at me with her tawny gray eyes, trying to be her usually stern self, but failing miserably. There is something strange glittering in her eyes, something that can only be called fear or better yet, worry.
My aunt is worried about me.
She has been so since I was dropped on her doorstep.
Homeless, parentless, alive.
"Yeah, sure." Her voice shakes, it quivers. She's scared. I know it. She knows but she won't admit it. "Look, don't just stand there. Go take a shower or something. You smell."
My nostrils flared. I couldn't really figure out the scent, but it did smell really bad, like I was playing in the sewer or something.
I wouldn't be surprised.
Pulling the sheet tighter around my body, I ambled towards the staircase, feeling every step I took, and every breath that left my body.
I would give anything to be a normal girl, one who had friends, one who had a boyfriend that looked just like the boy next door, one who didn't black out only to wake up in strange places.
Normal.

RTW: Crazy, crazy, crazy

2010-11-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a meme hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA Highway. Every Wednesday they post a question that can be answered on everyone's respective blogs.

This week's topic:

"The winds in Washokey make people go crazy."

This is the first sentence of the amazing Kirsten Hubbard's debut novel LIKE MANDARIN which will finally hit the shelves next year. *squee*

If you are dying to figure out why the winds in Washokey make people go crazy, then enter YA HIGHWAY's contest for your chance to win your very own copy of LIKE MANDARIN.

Now it's your turn, write about a time you did something crazy, something that blew your mind, and changed your life forever.

I have never done any life changing, crazy things in my life. Mainly because I'm not a risk-taker.

Nor, am I a person who seeks out adventure.

I don't know why that is, because my mom is always telling me that when she was my age, she used to climb trees, and go running through her backyard chasing lightning bugs and catching them in jars, so that she could watch their lights flicker on and off, on and off, until they went out.

But me, I'm scared of anything.

So, the list of all of the crazy things I've done might not actually be crazy, but they are the closest I have come to trying to it.

1. When I graduated from middle school, I got it into my head that I would audition for a performing arts school for writing - of course. To make a long story short, I didn't end up getting in, but the reason why it's possibly one of the craziest things I have done is because, like I said, I don't take risk. So when I decided to audition for this school, I tried my best to stay optimistic, I tried telling myself that even if I didn't get in it didn't necessarily mean that I wasn't a good writer, it just meant that the school wasn't the right choice for me.

2. I went camping last summer, which is really a shock even to myself because I am not an outdoors person. Well, I would be if bugs didn't like biting me up every time I walk out the door. It was really fun and I met some really nice people who I wouldn't have never met if I didn't take the risk, push aside my own personal fears, and go.

3. NaNoWriMo should be on the top of my list. When I first participated, I didn't know what I was in for, but I will seriously never forget the endless nights, the waking up to go to school tired as hell, the insecurities about my writing, the pain of wanting to edit but not being able to. It was torture. PURE torture. I was going to do it this year, got about 5K in, and realized that now is definitely not a good time for me to get caught up in writing.

So...yeah those might not be crazy, but I still got some time. Maybe I'll go hiking or get on a rollercoaster for the first time...hehe we'll see.

Jane Eyre!

2010-11-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, there has already been so many film adaptations of Jane Eyre. My favorite is the 2006 version with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. If you haven't seen that one, then please find a way to watch it because it's brilliant.

But anyways, there is a new Jane Eyre film coming out, and it's set to be released in the U.S. March 11th. *squeals*

If you don't know this already, Jane Eyre is my favorite novel of all time. A friend of my grandmother gave it to me when I turned eleven, and I guess you can say Jane Eyre was the book that got me to start writing.

I had always wanted to write a contemporary YA version of Jane, and I still do, but if you don't know already one just recently came out.

It's called Jane by April Lindner.

There is giveaway over at Angieville who is giving not one but two copies of the book!

The contest ends November 15th, which is in four days so make sure you enter if you want a chance to read Jane: http://angieville.blogspot.com/2010/11/jane-blog-tour-giveaway.html

Without farther ado, here's the trailer for the upcoming Jane Eyre movie.

Not giving up...

2010-11-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

I am WAY behind in NaNo.

So much so that I every time I log onto my account and look at the wordcounts of all my buddies, I want to cry.

I think the only reasons I'm not doing well are:

1.) I'm super busy. Okay, I know everyone uses this excuse. But really, it's true. I have to work on my graduation project, while doing homework for other classes. Also, since I'm ambassador of my school, I spend most of my time at meetings that last for three hours. On top of that, I am apart of this after school program and this human rights and racial equality program that I'm going to later on today or in two hours.

2.) I don't know my main character. Her personality is always changing and when I started over, I found that she is way different than what I remembered. She has this I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude, and I don't even know where that came from.

3.) This is a rewrite. While I know NaNo is all about sucky first drafts. This is the second draft of my novel, and I don't want it to be too sucky or else I'll just end up back in square one.

4.) I didn't outline. But that's my own fault. I'm lazy. I don't know where to begin when it comes to outlining. I do a lot of thinking about the plot, characters etc. in my head, but when it comes to writing all of it down...no.

So there you have it. Those are the reasons why I'm sucktastic this month. I just want to get my rewrite underway so that I can edit, and (hopefully) send it off to betas in March or earlier than that if I'm lucky.

Plus, I want to query during the summer, so I have a lot to do if I want to make anything happen.

I have Thursday off from school, so I'll hopefully get to do a little more writing.

Hopefully.

Here's another snippet from FAR FROM HERE:

Good girls ask their parents if they can go out. I don't have any parents and Margaret doesn't really give two shits about me, so hopping into a car with a boy on a school night without asking permission doesn't really make me a bad girl.

It just makes me a girl who stopped giving a fuck a long time ago.

"You ready, babe?" Cord asked, as I pulled on my seat belt, his eyes watching my every move. Not in a checking-me-out sort of way, but in a is-there-something-you're-not-telling me sort-of-way that I hated, especially when it was coming from him of all people.

"Yeah, sure," I breathed, meeting his gaze.

"Is there..." he started, and I held up my hand, catching his words, imprisoning them between my fingers.

"I'm fine." This wasn't the truth, but I have gotten so good at telling lies that it didn't really matter anymore.

"Okay," Cord said, releasing me from his icy stare. The car grew silent, as we both focused our attention on the road before us.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-11-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've did one of these.

So as I mentioned before, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo. This will be my third year, and hopefully my third year winning.

I got a late start because just like last year, I was unprepared, and I kept switching projects.

To make a long story short, instead of the post-apocalyptic romance, I'm working on the rewrite of my YA Contemp novel. So much for taking risks, huh?

I don't have a lot done, but here's the beginning.

"Let's do it," Cord said, pulling off his shirt. His tan muscles gleamed in the pale moonlight, and the cool summer breeze that rose up from the river made each strand of his hair dance in front of his faraway eyes.

Liv tugged at the bottom of my shirt.

"Come on, Kenny," she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.

I shook my head. Getting naked in front of a crowd of people who I barely knew was definitely not my thing. It wasn't Liv's either. But whenever she got drunk, which was every time she threw a party, she turned into a completely different person.

NaNo is almost here!

2010-10-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

And I know what my project is going to be.

It's called SUPERNOVA and it's a young adult post-apocalyptic romance.

NaNo is all about taking a risk. Since this is my third year doing it, I think it's time I step out of my safe-zone, and do something that I haven't done before.

So what if I don't win. I just want a novel I can be proud of, one I can send off to betas with a smile on my face.

I wasn't sure about the genre. I'm calling it post-apocalyptic only because 1.) it sounds nice and 2.) it's the end of the world.

Mostly all of the stories I write contain some type of romance - preferably a love triangle.

In this project my main character, Haven, falls in love with two brothers who are undeniably sexy and I can not wait to write about them.

Now...it's time to put together a play list, outline, and make character profiles.

Then I have homework that I should have started weeks ago. *ahem*

Introducing: THE NEAR WITCH

2010-10-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

There are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget

And if you want to go ahead and pre-order your own copy of The Near Witch you can!

It's on Amazon!

I'M GOING TO CHICAGO!

2010-10-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll admit, it's more of an "educational" trip than a vacation, but still...it's CHICAGO.

I don't know much about the city, but I'm having fun looking at all the pictures of the skyline and the buildings and I think the one I chose to use in this post is extremely gorgeous.

*squeals*

I'm not looking forward to the bus ride down there, but I think once I actually get to the city, once I breathe in the windy air, and look at all the skyscrapers, and take in all the people, I'll explode.

I am only going to be there for two days, which in my opinion, is not enough time to explore. But hopefully, I'll get to take some cool pictures, and maybe a get a spark of inspiration from the change of scenery because I am desperately in need of a change of scenery.

I don't know if anyone got a chance to read my rant about school I posted last month, but just to sum everything up, my school is closing next year.

My senior year.

I can't even begin to explain how much it hurts to have to graduate from another school, but basically the school that the kids from my school have to go to is going to be a single gender school.

It's a big building so they're putting two separate schools in there. One is going to be an all girl's school, the other is going to be an all boy's school.

I am an ambassador for my school, along with sixteen other girls, which means we get to travel to different cities Chicago being the first, with single gender schools.

The school we plan on visiting is the Young Women's Leadership Charter School.

I'm not really for all-girl schools because for one, some teenage girls are annoying, and having guys around helps balance out the annoying, snobby girl ratio. *ahem* I know since I'm a girl I should be for an all-girl school, but truthfully I just like boys too much, and spending the whole day with girls would kill me. You hear me. KILL ME.

Anyways, that's the reason why I'm going.

But we do get ONE DAY to look around the city.

Not only that, but once we get back home, we don't have to go to school if we don't want to. We get passes to stay home, and... OMG this is going to be awesome.

SO SO AWESOME.

Chicago, here I come.

RTW: My little paradise...

2010-10-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a meme that was started by the lovely ladies over at YA HIGHWAY. Every Wednesday they present a question, and invite bloggers to answer this question on their respective blogs.

Today's Topic

You're packing for a month on a deserted island. What, as a reader and writer, must be in your backpack?

I have been camping in the middle of nowhere. I have been to a "beach" in Florida. I'm really a city girl, but if by chance I should ever get to visit a deserted island for a month.

I would bring:

A notebook (or two, or three, or four)
My iPod
Some books (If I can't fit all of the ones I want to take with me in my bookbag, then I'll just carry them in my arms. I don't mind.)
Food to last me a month
Water
A portable tent
A blanket (just in case there's a breeze)
Really awesome sunglasses
A pack of sparkly pink pens with the feathers on the top.
A camera so I can take pictures of anything amazing I see. I mean, you never know. Hot mermen could really exist.

So, yeah, as a writer, a deserted island would be my ideal getaway. I like peace and quiet when I write. Correction - the only thing I like to hear when I'm writing is my music. If someone is talking to me, or standing over me, I can't really concentrate.

Last but not least, I would take all of my writer-buddies over at AW. I know they can't all fit in my bookbag, but...there's no harm in trying right?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-09-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

As of now, this is the beginning of my novel Lost & Found.

I could taste the night on my tongue. The acrid smoke, as fire licked at pieces of wood. The bittersweet scent of beer, as it was passed from mouth to mouth.
This was the usual flavor of Olivia Chang's parties.
She only threw them when her parents weren't around, and lately they have been going on a lot of business trips, so once their cars pull out of the driveway, she dials a few numbers, and in less than an hour, music, booze, and bonfires fill her backyard along with a lot of people from school whose names I don't even really know or care to know.
The dock is the only place where people aren't smoking, drinking, dancing, doing whatever, so I step off of the porch, and make my way over to the lonely wooden slab.
Before all of the drinking and the partying, Liv's place used to be my getaway. Out here, surrounded by the mountains and the open sky, I felt like I was in another world, one that was so much more beautiful, so much unlike my own.
There weren't any plates being launched at my head, no drunken insults, no beer bottles, no cigarette butts, no pervy men who liked to stare at my chest. It was just me and Liv and sometimes Cord, who over the past three years, has traded in his bifocal glasses for contacts and a sex-drive bigger than Texas.
It's colder near the lake. I pull my sweater closed, and stand there looking out into the sky, at the white-gold peaks of the mountain range. They look close enough for me to touch, but you could walk for miles and miles and still not reach them.
Who knew a small town could feel so big?
The legs of the dock wobble, as I sit down, and dangle my legs over the side. I can feel the water licking at my toes. It's cold and wet and for a moment, I wish that it would pull me under, let me sink down to the bottom where kisses were stolen, and childhood trinkets were lost.

What do you think?

Why I think adults should just shut the BLEEP up...

2010-09-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

I read a book where the main character had sex with a guy she really really liked, and because this main character had sex, I'm going to go have sex with the guy I really really like.

The word "fuck" was mentioned in said book like a gagillion times, so now I use it, and I even know what it means because of this book.

To tell you the truth, I shouldn't know about these types of things because I'm only sixteen and the only things I should be reading are school books and Bibles.

Young Adult novels, especially ones that drop the f-bomb should be censored and sex should be something so taboo that no one should talk about it, no one should HAVE it, even though we all are the products of SEX.

Yes, that three letter word is the one word one man has a serious problem with.

Before I link you to one of the most absurd articles I have read in a long time, let me tell you a little something about the world.

IT'S NOT THE SAME AS IT WAS YEARS AND YEARS AGO.

Teens have evolved, and even though some of us do drugs, disobey our parents, and have unprotected sex, at least we aren't as CLUELESS as the teenagers back then.

I hate how adults want to criticize today's youth, when they forget where these sex-crazed, devils came from. YES, they came from YOU.

Don't try to point the finger at Young Adult authors just because they are writing about LIFE and what really goes on because YOU as adults are afraid of letting your children know about what's going on around them.

Just because I read a book about a girl having sex with a guy doesn't mean I'm going to go out and do it myself because I know about sex, and I know about all of the dangers of having unprotected sex.

I KNOW.

Parents, teachers, all of you adults out there, let me tell it to you straight.

We aren't going to be teenagers forever.

You're not going to be able to dictate what we know and what we don't know forever.

Now, I wouldn't condone letting a seven year old watch The Clockwork Orange, but know that one day that seven year old is going to watch it (because I watched it when I was fourteen) whether you like it or not.

You can stop them from watching TV, but then when they go to school, they're going to learn about sex and rape and abuse and pick up a few curse words, if not from what they read, then from what the other kids say, because not all parents are uptight and overprotective like you are.

Now, if you're reading this, you might ask what started this whole rant.

I follow Sarah Ockler on twitter, and I happened across her tweet where she posted a link to this absurd article I was talking about: Scroggins: Filthy books demeaning to Republic education

"For example, my review of the eighth-grade sex education curriculum revealed that children at the middle school are being introduced to concepts such as homosexuality, oral sex, anal sex and specific instructions on how to use a condom and have sex. Sex education curriculum in the fourth grade includes topics on reproduction. Is this what parents and taxpayers in this community want their children exposed to in school?"

Why not have kids exposed to sex in a learning environment?

I had Sex Education when I was in eighth grade, when I was in tenth grade, and I'm taking another Sex Ed class now in my junior year of high school.

Just because I know about sex and condoms doesn't mean I'm going out and having sex. But it's nice to know that when I do have sex for the first time I know a little more than my mom told me about, which isn't a bad thing.

Then this man had the nerve, the audacity, to mention Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read that book in ninth grade. It was apart of the curriculum in English, and I'll admit that at first I didn't like it, because who likes assigned reading? But later on in the year, I read it on my own, and I began to like the book, and feel for the main character who was RAPED.

Rape happens in today's world, unfortunately. It's not going STOP happening just because Speak and other books like it are banned from English classes or school libraries.

Many people could relate to Anderson's novel, and that's one of the things I love about Young Adult novels. People, no matter who they are, can relate to them.

"The cheer squad also gets their group-rate abortions at prom time. As the main character in the book is alone with a boy who is touching her female parts..."

OH FOR THE LOVE OF PETE.

FEMALE PARTS?

WTF?

It's called a "vagina". Seriously, I should know, I actually have one and if this guy can't even use the word "vagina" then he seriously has problems.

HUGE problems.

Maybe he never had a girlfriend or maybe he never had sex. He's probably just some lonely lonely man who is afraid of girls and their "female parts".

PUH-LEASE.

"In this book, drunken teens also end up on the beach, where they use their condoms to have sex."

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM USING CONDOMS?

Twenty Boy Summer and Speak are excellent novels and I don't think this man read either of them. He probably just skimmed because Twenty Boy Summer isn't about sex and condoms. It's about a girl and her best friend grieving over a boy they both loved, in different ways.

And if he has a problem with that, then you know what, forget him.

He and all the other people like him need to shut the BLEEP up because I'm a teenager and I'm going to read whatever the BLEEP I want.

You can BLEEP out all of the "inappropriate" stuff but it only goes to show that YOU'RE uncomfortable, and not me.

Step into the 21st century.

Battle of the Betas

2010-09-16T13:12:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! Today on the blog I am beta reading Alicia Gregoire's first page of her urban fantasy, Phoenix Rising for Battle of the Betas an event where eight readers, me included, read one page of someone's WIP and give an honest critique.

This is only the second round, but I'm really excited to apart of this, and I hope my critique is helpful to Alicia.

Here is the original page:

20 Years Ago

Ianos studied the chimera pride that roamed the foothills outside Timmons for months in search of the runt. With a pair of large males and several females, it took him longer than he wanted, but once discovered, he kept his eye on it. In a final attempt of self-preservation, they abandoned it weeks ago. Each day it grew weaker, languishing without the companionship of the pride. On the fourteenth day, Ianos executed his oh so easy plan.
Armed with nothing other than his knowledge of spells, he made his final trek to the foothills. He was much closer than he’d been in his previous visits to the chimera grounds and never seen anything like the beast before. It lay in the sun, with only one head awake, but not alert. The lion head mewled, mourning its fate. Its paper lantern thin wings stretched on the ground while the dragon and goat heads slept.
It was awing.
The lion head despondently watched Ianos’ approach but roared to awaken the other two heads when Ianos crossed some unknown border. The beast rose to its full height, stretched its wings wide, and bellowed—all three heads created a cacophony of rage.
Ianos snarled and crouched, ready to strike. Electricity spurted from his palms towards the chimera. It dodged at the last second and ran head-on towards the sorcerer. He ran into a cave to his right; he’d have better luck surviving the fight if he was able to corner the animal. The beast skidded, turned, and charged again. Ianos leapt onto its back. He held tightly onto the lion’s neck scruff and struggled to pull a lasso out of his jeans.

My notes are in purple:

Ianos studied the chimera pride that roamed the foothills outside Timmons for months in search of the runt.

To be honest, this first sentence didn't really reel me in. For one, it was too wordy. This was one of the sentences in your excerpt that had my tongue tied. So, I would suggest breaking this up into two sentences just so that it flows a little better, and the reader doesn't get confused.

I'll admit that I didn't know what a chimera was, until I Googled it. A chimera is, according to Wikipedia a "monstrous fire-breathing creature", which is really cool because this comes from Gerek mythology and I can already sense that your urban fantasy will be different from all of the others out there.

With a pair of large males and several females, it took him longer than he wanted, but once discovered, he kept his eye on it.

This sentence could be a bit more clear. I don't like that you're using "it" because I'm assuming that you're talking about this "runt" but I'm not really sure. So far, I can't see the scene in my head, and I don't know anything about Ianos, except that he's been studying in Timmons for months.

I have read a lot of books, and I have found that most novels written in first person rely on voice to hook the reader, whereas books written in third person rely on setting and style to hook the reader. But I haven't gotten a taste of the setting yet. I know that Ianos is in Timmons, but I want to see this place. What's it like?

The most important advice I will give you is to set the stage right off the bat, using a lot of imagery, and a mixture of short and long sentences, otherwise you'll lose your reader.

In a final attempt of self-preservation, they abandoned it weeks ago. Each day it grew weaker, languishing without the companionship of the pride.

Again with the word "it".

On the fourteenth day, Ianos executed his oh so easy plan.

I'm not sure what his "oh so easy plan" is, so I'm going to read on to find out.

Armed with nothing other than his knowledge of spells, he made his final trek to the foothills.

My first impression of Ianos was that he was some sort of scientist or adventurer, but then I read "other than his knowledge of spells" and started to wonder what and who exactly is Ianos. You don't really establish that in the beginning, and I think that it's really important that you do, because I assume Ianos is an important character.

He was much closer than he’d been in his previous visits to the chimera grounds and never seen anything like the beast before. It lay in the sun, with only one head awake, but not alert. The lion head mewled, mourning its fate. Its paper lantern thin wings stretched on the ground while the dragon and goat heads slept.

This is your cue. Describe the beasts a little more, I get that they have three heads, and that their wings are "paper lantern thin" but is there anything else you can tell us about them. What color are they? Is one of them breathing fire? If so, describe the fire. Like I said, third person relies on the setting and the descriptions. You have a lot of opportunities to weave in imagery and make it a little more "colorful".

It was awing.

Hmm. Maybe you can reword this sentence. I would say something like "The sight of the chimeras made their mouths fall open in awe." Or something to that effect, because I don't see how something can be "awing" it can be "awe-inspiring" but not awing.

The lion head despondently watched Ianos’ approach but roared to awaken the other two heads when Ianos crossed some unknown border. The beast rose to its full height, stretched its wings wide, and bellowed—all three heads created a cacophony of rage.
Ianos snarled and crouched, ready to strike. Electricity spurted from his palms towards the chimera. It dodged at the last second and ran head-on towards the sorcerer. He ran into a cave to his right; he’d have better luck surviving the fight if he was able to corner the animal. The beast skidded, turned, and charged again. Ianos leapt onto its back. He held tightly onto the lion’s neck scruff and struggled to pull a lasso out of his jeans.

WOW... so a lot is going on here. Let's break this down:

The lion head despondently watched Ianos’ approach but roared to awaken the other two heads when Ianos crossed some unknown border.

Again, you have so many opportunities to use imagery to your advantage. This is urban fantasy, imagery is a great asset to this genre, so instead of telling us that the "lion head despondently watched Ianos approach..." show us.

The beast rose to its full height, stretched its wings wide, and bellowed—all three heads created a cacophony of rage.

I'm not sure a "cacophony of rage" is the right choice of words. This is a creature with three heads, we're talking about. What exactly does a "cacophony of rage" coming from them sound like?

Ianos snarled and crouched, ready to strike. Electricity spurted from his palms towards the chimera.

Okay, who in the world is this Ianos guy? He really does have a lot of surprises up his sleeves. I mean, he has a "knowledge of spells" and now he's getting ready to take on a creature who is possibly bigger than him with ELECTRICITY SPURTING FROM HIS PALMS?

Again, who is Ianos?

It dodged at the last second and ran head-on towards the sorcerer.

OKAY...so Ianos is a sorcerer.

He ran into a cave to his right; he’d have better luck surviving the fight if he was able to corner the animal.

It feels like this cave just magically appeared. Where are they exactly? I mean, I know that this is Timmons, but what's it like? I know it's in the mountains, but there are caves....hmm. I can't really picture it in my head.

The beast skidded, turned, and charged again. Ianos leapt onto its back. He held tightly onto the lion’s neck scruff and struggled to pull a lasso out of his jeans.

Okay, Ianos is wearing jeans and he has a lasso. I know that this is urban fantasy, so I am assuming that this story takes place in the modern times, but in the beginning it had this other-worldly feel to it. Like, I thought this took place back in Ancient Greek, and I would honestly be surprised if this actually takes place in, let's say, present-day New York.

I know I already rambled on for a long time, but I just want to give you a quick overview of all of my notes.

1. Use a mixture of short and long sentences. When writing in third person, one thing you want to focus on, is the flow of your sentences. You don't want them to be too wordy, or too vague.

2. Imagery. It's vital. Make sure you weave enough of it into the story to keep your reader intrigued and to hold their attention.

3. Establish your main character. I didn't really know who Ianos was ( I still don't) but it wasn't until later on that I discovered that he was a sorcerer. I would mention that a little earlier, and then work from there.

4. The uses of "they" and "it" made everything impossibly confusing. You want to make sure that you're clear, and be more specific, especially since you're writing in third person.

Thanks for contributing your first page Alicia! I really hope that this wasn't a bunch of nonsense, and that I actually did help out. This is a good skeleton, and I think that with a little more skin and flesh, this could be an amazing first page.

Here is the list of the other betas:

Kate Hart
Meredith Primeau
Windy Aphayrath
Sarah Enni
Corrine Jackson

Lost & Found - book trailer

2010-09-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

I was playing around on this website called Animoto, and I found out that they're giving away free codes to make full-length videos, that you usually have to pay for. So I decided to use my code to make a book trailer for my novel, Lost & Found.

I still have to tweak a few things, but how is it for my first trailer?

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

What's in your Duff kit?

2010-09-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA Highway.

This week's question: What's in your DUFF kit?

Super amazing author Kody Keplinger's book The Duff was released yesterday and if you haven't got your copy yet, I suggest you leave my blog now and go to your nearest book store, because it's definitely worth reading.

To celebrate the release of such a fab novel, for today's Road Trip Wednesday we're going to put together our own Duff kits.

I LOVE Emilia's definition.

DUFF Kit n. A collection of fun, comfy items to be used during a relaxing night alone or with friends; this collection entails zero pressure to be the prettiest, smartest or funniest person in the room. I was feeling like a disgrace to Earth, but then I broke out my DUFF kit, and it was AWESOME. (Yay!)

Okay, so here's mine:

1. OMG. Who doesn't like a nice vanilla bean frappucino with a shot of mocha on a nice hot day or any day....

I want to live in Starbuck's. That is seriously like a writer's paradise. I don't care how many carbs are in a frappucino. They're good, and I love them so that is that.

2. Shoes? Those are so overrated.

I am seriously not a fan of shoes. Not that I don't wear them because duh I have to, but I'll have to say that socks by themselves are way more comfortable than any shoe. Especially when it's like super hot outside. But, I do love a nice pair of bunny slippers.
(See, that dog knows what I'm talking about.)

3. Johnny Depp is just...there are no words

I used to dream of marrying this man. I know he's like thirty years older than me, but I LOVE him. He's an amazing actor, possibly one of the best male actors out there, hands down. Who cares about Taylor Lautner and Zac Efron? Hmm...I can't possibly pick a favorite out of the many JD movies I've seen, but I have to say that I really really like the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Chocolat, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Sleepy Hollow, and Edward Scissorhands.

4. Entenmann's Devils Food Donuts

These are the kind of donuts you would sell your soul for, seriously. When I have an unbelievably horrible day, I just eat two of these and all my worries are washed away with every sweet, chocolatey bite. I don't even care that it's ridiculously high in calories. Chocolate = A girl's best friend. Unless, you're the kind of girl who freaks out if you eat any carbs.

5. Pajama pants & T-Shirt

This is my ideal comfortable outfit. Even though I like to wear jewelry and fitted tees and fashionable outfits, I really veg out in pajama pants and a T-shirt when I get home.

So that's my Duff kit. What's yours?

Two For Tuesday

2010-09-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

What is it? Post two of anything: book reviews, pictures, quotes, poems, songs, videos, rants, shout outs, whatever floats your boat. Just connect them somehow. That's it. (via Kate)

Today: I decided that I am going to participate in NaNoWriMo. This will be my third year doing it, which is pretty exciting. Lost & Found started off as a nano-project, and so I hope that this one will turn into something more because I really like the idea.

It's going to be a YA retelling of Hansel and Gretel. I'm thinking of calling it BREAD CRUMBS for now. So...the two things I'm going to share with you today have to do with this new project, that I am going to start outlining very soon.

I am slowly falling in love with Death Cab For Cutie, and once I heard this song I knew that it had to be on the BREAD CRUMBS soundtrack.

Don't you just love love LOVE this picture? I *squealed* when I happened across it. This will definitely be a scene in the book.

There are no words...

2010-09-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day back to school.

I walked out of the house with a smile on my face, even though I missed lazing about at home, I was eager to see my friends, and eager to start off my junior year. Because, guys, I'm OFFICIALLY A JUNIOR.

But, to give you guys a little background, I go to an inner-city school. Which, if you're not familiar with the term, means that I go to a school where there are security guards and metal detectors and drugs and fights and because of this, it's not really an ideal school, but it is a school nonetheless.

I believe in many things, but I strongly believe in education. Sure I may whine about having a butt-load of homework. Sure I may whine about how I hate getting up in the morning, but that doesn't mean that I hate school in general.

I love school and because I believe in education, I also believe that even the worst of schools deserve a chance.

High school is your last chance. After that, it's time to face the music. That's what everyone is always telling me, other young people my age. It's a universal law: knowledge is power, and then I think about the many countries out there whose kids don't have a chance at receiving an education, I think about how blessed I am for being born in one of the greatest nation's in the world. Even though we have had our ups and downs, America is supposed to be the land of the free. It's supposed to be the land of opportunities and possibilities and then there is the American Dream:

The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history. While historically traced to the New World mystique — especially the availability of low-cost land for farm ownership — the ethos today simply indicates the ability, through participation in the society and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. According to the dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers. (Wikipedia)

So, yeah, even the American Dream requires for every child to receive a good education and a career, but let's face it, you can't land a good job, if you don't make those four years in high school count, and get accepted into a good college.

You must be thinking "What's the point of all this?" Well, let me finish telling you about my day.

I was so happy to finally be rid of my 10th grade status that I literally skipped to school, but once I actually stepped inside, my smile turned into a frown, and then from there, I started to get angrier and angrier.

Why?

Half of my school is off limits. This is not essentially why I was angry, but it's part of it. There are walls and padlocked doors to keep us from getting to the other side, and once I saw them, reality set in.

They are closing my school, guys.

I have sent letters to the superintendent, a lot of people in my school did. I have spoken to the local paper, but the article was never written. I have ranted and raved and parents of my fellow students have been in the news, talking about how this is not right.

Because it isn't right. There are a lot of people who disagree with me, but a lot of these people are American and they claim to believe in education and this so called American Dream, that clearly states that every child is eligible to receive a GOOD education.

But, how are children supposed to learn when they are closing schools down?

In my hometown, the city is divided up into four categories: the West End, the East End, the Northside and the Southside. I live in the East End, and you want to know something?

After they close down my school, there is going to be only one high school in my area.

Do you want to know what they want to do to my school once they close it? Well, they want to put another school in there, one that I couldn't even get into even if I wanted to, because there's a waiting list that started years ago, and these kids who will roam of the halls of my school, the one I have been at for almost three years, have parents who are rich, and they are not inner-city kids.

And do you know what else sucks? We don't even get a choose what school we want to go too.

It's either the one school that's left on the East End or another, which is on the other side of town. They say they will pay for transportation but...do you know what's so freaking funny about this whole thing?

The reason why they are using our school for this new school, is because the drop-out rate is high in my school and they think the building should be used for people who want to learn.

There are about 300-400 students attending my school, which is the norm for a lot of the schools in my area, or was, I should say, because they recently sold another high school building to a hospital, because the hospital needed more office space.

I SWEAR TO GOODNESS. It's like...this town doesn't even care about education. They are spending money building new hotels, and new gyms and new this, and new that when they can't put a penny into our education...which really pisses me off, and I don't want to just sit here and take it.

I won't, but what the hell can I do? I've tried to talk to the Superintendent but he doesn't give two shits about anything, nor does he know anything about anything. He's making these blind decisions, when he doesn't really know why the kids in my school are doing poorly, and it's not everyone...it's just a chunk of the student body, and that holds true in any school, no matter who attends it, inner-city or rich kids.

I'm a straight A student. I was one way before I went to middle school, and there are lot of kids at me at my school, but the school board doesn't want to see that, they just want to kick us out of our school...and it hurts so much, because I've come to like my school. I love the teachers, even though the students get on my nerves some times, I've had some great memories there, and to know that they're going to be washed away....I just...

And I'm not even going to have a prom. They're closing the school after the end of next year, and I graduate in 2012, which means I have ONE more year of high school left...but I don't even get to spend it with my friends, I have to go to a new school, one that is located in a bad area and bad is seriously an understatement.

People get shot just by walking down the street, in that neighborhood and they want to send us there?

And you know what the funny thing about that is? The school board knows that. That is why they wouldn't dare send those rich, non inner-city kids to that school. It's a bad neighborhood and they wouldn't want any of them getting shot up...but when it comes to us....who cares?

I'm sorry if this was just a whole bunch of ranting, but I had to let off some steam.

Two For Tuesday

2010-08-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

What is it? Post two of anything: book reviews, pictures, quotes, poems, songs, videos, rants, shout outs, whatever floats your boat. Just connect them somehow. That's it. (via Kate)

Today: I'm five pages into the rewrite of Lost & Found. Yesterday, I decided that I needed to stop doubting myself and actually start writing, so that's exactly what I did. So to celebrate that here's two songs from the soundtrack for my novel.

When I first heard this song I literally squealed because it fits the plot and the title SO perfectly.

I just recently discovered Pixie Lott. OMG. Isn't her voice amazing? I am also a huge fan of Kings of Leon, and when I heard this...wow. But, yeah, I think her version of the song fits the book.

So there you go.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

I JUST FINISHED MOCKINGJAY....

2010-08-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

This is what my face looks like at the moment:

I honestly don't know what to think about the ending, considering the fact that I really though I knew for sure how it was going to end, but that is what I enjoyed most about this series, it wasn't predictable.

Most authors "lose their characters" when they write a series, and sometimes because of that, the reader knows what's going to happen, but Miss Collins kept Katniss's character true throughout all three books, and not only has she grown up, but she has become a three dimensional character, as well.

Mockingjay, in my opinion, was A LOT darker than the other two novels. Mainly because we got to see a little bit more inside Katniss's head whereas in the other two it was all about the Hunger Games and surviving and what not.

It got a little confusing at times, but it wasn't too confusing that you couldn't follow the plot. I thought, the writing, as usual, was brilliant, and we were introduced to new characters, as well as old ones.

Gale was in this book more than he has ever been in the series, which I had hoped, because Peeta had too much showtime in the first two books. The love triangle angle of this series was explored a little more, and I would like to say that I wasn't surprised to find out who Katniss ended up with...but I can't because as I was reading, I started to have doubts. I started saying to myself "No, she can't end up with him..." or "She has to kill him."

And it was just a rollercoaster ride, because I wanted to know who the hell she was going to end up with! I know that really isn't that important, but I just needed to know... THE SUSPENSE WAS KILLING ME.

There were some cute scenes. People who've read it? Am I the only one who thought the Finnick in his underwear scene was cute! OMG...Finnick. That was a shocker there.

I just can't begin to explain to those who haven't read Mockingjay yet...how complex this book was. Like I said, it was way darker, but you could tell the events that took place weren't for shock value, they made sense and stayed true to plot and.... I am so in love Suzanne Collins, because she wrote a series that had so many awesome qualities, and the characters were real, the writing was brilliant, the plot was original, and okay okay...the only thing I have to complain about is the names. I mean, come on, PEETA. Then all of those Roman/Greek names were KILLING me.

I was all like: "What the f**k?"

But I will forgive Miss Collins. Though some of those names were utterly atrocious...and one thing I couldn't get over was Tigris. If you read the book...somebody just tell me what the HELL WAS WRONG WITH TIGRIS. That woman freaked me out. OMG.

There were moments when I had to put the book down because it was getting to be too much to take in...not in a bad way...but Collins really went out with bang.

The state Katniss was in in the last few chapters...was wow. I don't blame her for the way she acted, and what she did, but... like I said on Facebook, if they make all three of these books into a movie they better get a DAMN good actress to play Katniss, because she doesn't need to be portrayed by some Disney wannabe.

Katniss is complex, she's kickass, and she's strong.

Mockingjay was definitely worth the wait, and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did.

Friday Five

2010-08-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

1. I bought Florence + The Machine's CD Lungs and I can't stop playing it because every song is so unique, and different and I think the longer I listen to it, the more inspired I become.

2. I'm reading Mockingjay right now and I have the choice of rushing through it and finding out how the hell this AMAZING series is going to end, or I could savor it for just a little while longer. The second choice is exactly what I'm doing now because I don't want it to end. I loved reading about Katniss and the Hunger Games, and I'm going to miss the characters and even though I have to constantly fight the urge to read the last page, I'm not going to do it.

3. I decided that I'm actually going to start plotting/outlining the rewrite of Lost & Found because right now I am at a dead end, and I don't want to give up on this project because I love the characters and the plot too much. So, the next time I go to the store, I'm going to get me a new notebook, decorate the cover, and buy some notecards so that I can start planning out the chapters. I don't know if this will work or not, but there's no harm in trying, right?

4. I would like to start doing VLOGS. I have a digital camera, and though I don't really know how to use it (because the instructions are confusing) I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later. I did actually figure out how to use the video feature on the camera, but I don't know how to set it so that it's longer than a minute *scratches head*

Hehe, and you can hardly hear me but I'm saying "Hi, my name is Raven...." And then smiling like an idiot.

5. Lastly, I started working on an idea that I found in my pile of SNIs. You can read more about it under my BOOKS page but it's called Blood Red Lipstick On Your Collar and that is seriously like the longest title I have ever thought of and though I declared that I write YA Contemporary, I couldn't help myself! I needed a story with ghost and demons and other dark creatures of the night. Sometimes, it's good to take a break from reality. *nods* Tis true.

So, what's going on with you guys?

Teaser Tuesday (Right, like anyone will actually read this.)

2010-08-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

I know everyone is either on their way out to buy Mockingjay, getting ready to go get Mockingjay, or are reading Mockingjay. So, you might not have time to read my tease, but it is Tuesday, so here you go.

I haven't been working on any of WIPs. I just figured I need a break from them for a couple of days, and I started writing a short story. It was inspired by the song Heavy In Your Arms by Florence + The Machine and I really like it.

It's only a first draft so....

In the last rays of sunlight, she could see a boy standing underneath a tree, something was watching him, it's bright bright eyes shone in the coming darkness, and Marie wanted to scream, she wanted to tell the boy to run, but before she could open her lips, the creature that had been lurking in the shadows, stepped into the light, revealing every sharp fang that glittered in his mouth.
Marie clutched the cross that hung from her neck, and cried silently out to a god, she wasn't sure existed in a land where creatures came in the night, stealing children from their mothers, leaving bloody pawprints in their wake.
The boy, with his dark hair, his ashen skin, his slits for eyes, opened his mouth, to speak, but nothing came out. This creature, this wolf sat back, and howled at the approaching moon, and then it's golden eyes rest on the boy, who was slowly inching towards the animal.
"Stop!" Marie screamed, her voice sounding new to her ears, like she had stolen it from someone braver, someone stronger than her. "Stop!"
But the boy didn't stop. He just turned his head every-so-slightly and gave her a look that she will never forget, a look that was as gold as the one of the wolve's. His lips formed around words that she couldn't hear, and before she could ask him what he was saying, the boy was snatched away, into the darkness, and that's when she heard it.
The growling, the snarling, the closing of death all around her. They were hungry, so hungry. Their jaws snapped, their fangs reached out towards her, thirsting for a taste of her blood, wanting to feel her beating heart, stop beating, as her flesh passed through their lips.
Still clutching her cross, she prayed to God, hoping that he existed in this strange land, and then her life ended.
Or so she had thought.
The Sandman was standing before her when she pulled out of her memory. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, knowing that a man like him didn't have feelings, or even a heart to feel.
"I would like to ask one thing of you before I die," Marie breathed.
"What?" he asked, and this time his voice wasn't rough or sickly sweet, it was just one syllable, one lonely sound that trembled in her ears.
"Let me die having a good dream." Tears started to fall down her cheeks once more. Heavy. So heavy. "Don't let the wolves take me."

DO YOU WANNA WIN A COPY OF THE DUFF? (Well, of course you do.)

2010-08-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

HERE'S THE DEAL

G0 over to Kody's blog and enter the contest RIGHT NOW. If you don't win, don't worry because she is having TWO more contest where you get a chance to win a copy of THE DUFF (which I have been anticipating since forever.)

Link.

Okay, the reason why I want to read THE DUFF is because not only have I been waiting to read it for a long time, but I love the history behind the story, and I love that Bianca isn't perfect or a size two and she knows this, and she's not ashamed of it.

I also adore Kody's writing and I remember MDW/FNWing with her on AW and though I never read a snip from THE DUFF I have gotten a chance to read snips from her other project, which had a love interest that I really really liked. She had told me that Wes was way HOTTER than that particular LI, so I really want to find that out for myself...and I can't wait til September.

I SERIOUSLY NEED TO READ THIS BOOK, LIKE, NOW.

Peeta vs. Gale

2010-08-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

Everyone is picking sides.

In case you don't already know, I'm Team Gale. (See the badge in my sidebar)

Peeta, is sweet, don't get me wrong, but he's too sweet, he's too perfect, and though he makes bread, and says things that make you say "Aw..."

I don't buy it.

I'm not saying that I don't believe that Peeta loves Katniss, but I believe that their relationship was forced, whereas, Katniss and Gale have history.

And history is important.

I mean, he calls her Catnip, he hunts with her, he cares about her family, and because of the world they live in I think Gale is more capable than Peeta. He's stronger, he has this masculine, passionate feel to him that makes me swoon.

Though he didn't have too much show in the Hunger Games, Catching Fire really sealed the deal for me.

Sure he may be whiny at times, sure he make be harsh, and stoic at times but Gale actually cares about what Katniss wants, he actually knows what Katniss wants, and if they ended up together the plot-line would be more believable because Peeta and Katniss just met each other. Before the Hunger Games, Peeta didn't pay any mind to Katniss, and I just think because they were under life and death circumstances, Peeta and Katniss fell "in love".

And to point something else out: Katniss actually does like Gale. She may even love him.

So, yeah, I'm Team Gale all the way.

Why I Love Markus Zusak or... (The Book Thief review)

2010-08-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

I don't love Markus Zusak just because he has an amazing smile (I mean, seriously, look at HIM) or because he has a dreamy accent. No, I love him because he is an AMAZING writer, and because I just finished reading one of the best books EVER.

The Book Thief is not just a story about Nazi Germany or even book thievery, as the title might suggest, but it is also about learning to find the beauty in a world that is far from being beautiful.

In the beginning of the book, Liesel Meminger, the heroine of the story, starts off as a little girl who doesn't understand much. She can't read, she can't write, and on the way to a house on Himmel Street she loses not only her mother, but her brother [SPOILERS...] who dies on the train.

One of the things that I loved about this book is that the author gives the reader a chance to see the character grow. Liesel started off as young and naive, but as she began to understand the world she lived in, Hitler's Germany, and the crime her parents committed, she grows not only mentally but emotionally. She transforms into this strong, young girl who knows that she has many obstacles in her way, but she is determined not to let them stop her.

I enjoyed reading The Book Thief because of Zusak's breathtaking prose. Every simile, every metaphor that I came across made me swoon because he used words that I would never have thought to use to describe the sky when someone dies or even the sky itself.

Did I mention that this book was not told by Liesel Meminger? You would think that because she is the heroine of the story, she would be the one dragging you through the emotional rollercoaster that was The Book Thief, but she is not.

I was actually quite surprised when I found out that Death, himself, was narrating the story, and it made it even more interesting because through his point-of-view the reader was able to
understand more about Germany in the time of
Hitler's reign.

There were so many great characters in this book that I can't really say that I didn't like any of them because they were so well-developed and they all had their owns stories to tell and they all played their own part in Liesel's story and... I think two of my favorite characters, besides Liesel and Death, would be Rudy and Max.

Rudy is Liesel's friend, and though their relationship is far from romantic, the love between them is genuine and refreshing. Their antics, their adventures are what kept me turning the pages, and Rudy. He will forever have a special place in my heart, because.... I don't want to give it away, but he's just sweet and strong and he's really passionate.

Then there is Max.... [SPOILERS] he is a Jewish man who lives in Liesel's basement. He was a wonderful touch to the story, because when he entered the reader was reminded that this is Nazi Germany and though Liesel and her foster parents are nice people, nice people pay the consequences for simple acts of kindness everyday, especially during this time.

You were punished for aiding a Jew, and so Max being in their house was a risk, but I'm glad he came along because him and Liesel have so much in common and....

I'm not going to spoil anything else just GO READ THIS BOOK NOW. I swear to you, that it will make you laugh, make you cry, make you think, make you smile.

It will haunt you.

"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant."

- Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)

(You see why I'm in love with him, right?)

Character Interview: Lowell Fitzgerald

2010-08-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to blog today. I just wrote a query (my first one EVER) for an idea that I haven't even started yet, which might change soon because it's a really sexy, scandalous story with a little bit of mystery thrown into the mix.

But then my characters started screaming at me.

It really is hard when a lot of people are screaming at you. Inside of your head. So, last night, I started yelling back at them. Telling them that if they were a bit more cooperative maybe just MAYBE I could tell their story, and then everyone would be happy.

Then I threw in a few tears, just so they would feel bad for making me cry.

Next thing I know, Low, comes up to me, gives me a hug, and starts rambling on about how he thinks character interviews would help me get into the story, so to speak.

I'm always up for trying new things, so I agreed, and here we are:

Low: You're not going to cry on me again today, are you?

Me: No. *blushes* I'm sorry about your shirt.

Low: *shrugs* You could just write me another one.

Me: Okay so... Low, for my readers who might not know who you are, could you tell them a little about yourself?

Low: No problem. Well, I grew up in New York City with a big crazy Irish family. My grandfather was a musician, and when I was younger, he would pull me onto his lap, and sing songs to me. I didn't think playing an instrument and singing was very boyish, so I really never took an interest to it, until after my grandfather died. *looks down*

Me: I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. But is that the reason why you sing and write songs now? To keep his memory alive.

Low: Partly, yeah. I really took up playing the guitar to get on Kip's nerve. He used to say I wasn't good at playing, and would leave the room whenever I took Gwendolyn out.

Me: *giggle snorts* Gwendolyn?

Low: Yep, that's my baby. In fact, I have her with me today.

Me: Maybe you can play a song later. So, are you and Kip close?

Low: Not really, but our relationship has always been strange. Brothers are supposed to have each other's back, but growing up, Kip and I always fought. All fists, no words. He was bigger than me, so I always got beat up...but yeah, it's always been awkward between me and my brother.

Me: Did you know that Kip was bipolar?

Low: My parents never talked to me about Kip's condition. It was a hush, hush thing in my household. But I always knew that something was wrong with him. Just didn't think he was bipolar.

Me: Were you afraid of him?

Low: Not in the sense that everyone thinks. My father, when he was still around, taught me not to fear anyone who used their fist to settle problems. *smirks* So, basically he was telling me not to fear him. That bastard....but no. I didn't. I just pitied him, and my pity for my brother, was what scared me the most.

Me: Your father beat physically abused your mother?

Low: Oh yeah. When I was five, I had to call 911 because my dad was going through one of his episodes, and.... I don't really want to talk about. Sorry.

Me: No, it's okay. I don't want to talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable.

Low: *smiles softly* I have a question for you.

Me: Fire away.

Low: How did you even come up with me?

Me: Well, you just appeared in my head one day, almost a year ago, and I knew that I needed to give you a story. You are probably one of the most interesting characters I have ever met.

Low: You're just saying that.

Me: I'm not. I'm really not...those songs that you write. Wow. I find myself singing them from time to time.

Low: You act like I write them all by myself. You're the genius behind all of the lyrics. You ever think about doing it professionally?

Me: I think about doing a lot of things professionally, but dreams aren't about thoughts, they are about actions.

Low: I could understand that. Back in New York, before my mom moved us all the way out to Thomas, I used to play at this cafe for a couple bucks. Could have kept doing it, but then I...stopped.

Me: Why?

Low: Because I didn't want music to become all about money and fame. That's where people lose their minds. I sing and play the guitar for my grandfather. Not because I want get a record deal, and make millions.

Me: *shakes head* I really can't understand why Kendall doesn't like you.

Low: *frowns* You wrote her.

Me: Well, it's not like I control everything you guys do. Kendall is a free spirit. She knows what she wants and...

Low: You saw the bruises right?

Me: *looks down* I did.

Low: She wants Kip and he's not going to do anything but bring her pain. He's just like my father.

Me: Kip isn't a bad person. Believe me, I know.

Low: Yeah, right. Whatever.

Me: So... What would you change about yourself if you could?

Low: I love too deeply. When I care for someone, I don't stop caring about them, and if you ask me, that's like committing suicide.

Me: Um...What makes you happy now?

Low: *pushes up sleeves* You see all of these? *points to the words* This, right here. This is what makes me happy. I love writing songs and letting them seep into my skin.

Me: I just have to ask you this, but do you like being called Low?

Low: Well, I certainly don't like to be called Lowell. Low doesn't sound anything like my name, and whenever I tell people that Low is my name, they give me this strange look, but oh well.

Me: I like that you don't care what other people think. But it looks like you have a lot of secrets, what is it that you've never told anyone?

Low: *leans forward and smiles* It wouldn't be a secret anymore if I told you.

Me: Okay, this is the last question, and then I promise you I will let you go. What do you want?

Low: I... I want everything life has to offer. Love, happiness, pain, joy. Everything. Just hand it to my in a jar and I'll keep them like fireflies. *takes out pen* That would make a great song....

Me: *giggles* You are so cute. But thanks for coming up with this idea. It was fun talking to you.

Low: It was fun talking to you. Oh, and about that song? *picks up Gwendolyn*

Thanks for reading!

How Do I Beta?

2010-08-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

I just read Kathleen's entry in the Battle of the Betas and event where five writers/experienced betas critique the same page (via Sarah Enni)

If you haven't already, go check them out:

Beta-ing to me is all about giving your opinion on someone's writing in a positive and constructive manner.

You might think that everyone can do it, well they can, but there is such a thing as good Betas, and bad Betas. I'm not going to put myself in either category but I will say that I am a Motherly Beta.

By that, I mean I am nurturing. I try my best to be honest, without being harsh, and if I see something I don't like I explain to the writer why I don't like it and what I think they can do to fix it.

Good Betas don't just say things like: Oh I don't really think this opening sentence works or I don't like the personality of your main character. Good Betas explain why they don't like the opening sentence and why they don't like the personality of your main character.

If the writer understands the whys of your opinions/criticism it would help them to identify what they need to fix in their novel and how they are going to fix it.

And all of this can be done in a nice, well-mannered way.

Telling someone that their writing sucks and that you think the novel is horrible isn't going to get the writer anywhere and it certainly isn't going to get you as a Beta reader anywhere.

From my short-lived life as a Beta reader, I have learned that what you say is just as important as how you beta-read. Meaning, that you can't give off a negative vibe, because writing a book is a hard enough job as it is, and there are nicer ways in getting something across, than saying suck and horrible.

I trust that those of us who beta-read and write are aware of that, but just in case you happen to beta-reading for the first time, and you happen to read this post, know that there is a way to be constructive and firm without using harsh words.

So, when I beta, I try to be constructive, I try to be firm, I try not to be biased, because often times when people agree to beta-read someone's novel they *know* the person and like them and are afraid of being *harsh*

But, like I said, I'm the Motherly Beta, though I love you, I also care about your novel reaching it's full potential, and if I have to be constructive, and bare-boned for that to happen, then so be it.

ANALYZING CHAPTER ONE

Chapter One is the most important chapter in the entire book, in my opinion. Here is your chance to establish the hook, your characters. Here is your chance to make your reader comfortable with your main character and your additional characters and hopefully, here is your chance to reel in agents who request partials and fulls.

So, yeah, Chapter One is really important.

I spend a lot more time on this chapter then any other one. I give it a good two or three read-overs making sure I have nothing to add, and when it comes to note-taking I usually put them in brackets and make the font color red, just so my words stand out, when the writer looks over them.

There were a few occasions when the person I was beta-ing for had good first lines, a good voice, a good grip on their plot, until I got to the middle of the book. And that's where my next topic comes in.

2. STARTING OUT STRONG, THEN GOING ALL WRONG

Personally, when reading, I start out very weak (because beginnings aren't my strong-suit) and hopefully in the end, I come out strong. I am always envious of writers who can start off strong. It makes the story so much more enjoyable, but it also makes the places that are weak obvious.

I try to point those areas as best as I can, because you don't want an agent to request a full or a partial, start off strong, grab their attention, and then all-of-a-sudden lose it because you lost your grip on your main character/plot etc.

I read every book like I actually picked it up at Borders or something. Therefore, I start reading having high expectations, and with that attitude, I'm able to determine what I honestly think should be changed, and what I honestly think the reader should to, because that's what constructive criticism is all about it. It's about being honest, and honesty is key to a healthy relationship between you and whomever you are beta-ing for.

They should feel like they can ask you anything, and if you say that their story starts out strong, but gets weaker towards the middle, then they should be able to ask you for help, and ask you to explain your critique a little bit more.

3. YOUR MIND WILL BE BLOWN

As a writer, I know that some people go through three or four drafts before they send their baby off to betas, therefore they probably put blood, sweat and tears, into their project, and from personal experience, that is when the writing really jumps off the page.

I can't begin to explain how many times my jaw-dropped because I read a passage so amazing that it just blew my mind, or maybe the character's said something outrageously funny or the plot just took a turn that I didn't expect, and I loved it.

So, what I'm trying to tell you is this, when you're beta-reading don't just point out the things that need some worked on, point out the things you like, because writers (I should know) love to hear about what they're doing write. It helps them stay confident. It helps them believe that they can polish up their novel.

4. QUESTIONS

It's important to ask what the writer wants you to point out, in general. Often times, they have insecurities but they forget to mention to say things like: Oh, I think my main character is weak. Do you think he/she is? or Oh, I don't like the climax? Do you think it works well with the story or should fix it?

Personally, I love asking questions, just so I can be able to add in additional notes when I send in my full-critique, but that might just be me.

5. GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, AND THINGS WE HAVE LONG SENSE FORGOTTEN ABOUT

I am horrible when it comes to pointing out tense-changes, grammatical errors, and what not. So, I make sure I mention that to whomever I'm beta-ing for just so they know that they'll need to find someone else who can focus on that area, better than I can.

It's okay to not be good in one or two aspects of beta-reading. Just let the writer know that something isn't your stronghold and they'll work out something.

Again, I am no expert on beta-reading. But that was a gist of how I beta-read. I don't know if I do a good job or a bad job, but I hope I am of some help to the writer.

Now, it's your turn. How do you beta-read?

realizing your writerly dreams

2010-08-17T21:56:00.001-07:00

It has always been my dream to see one of my books on shelves for everyone to read, not because I want to be famous, but because I am a storyteller and I believe that stories are meant to be shared with the world.

But everyday I don't write, everyday I fall out-of-love with my WIP, is another uncertainty to add to the list.

Am I a good writer?

Am I cut out for the business?

Is this really what I want?

Because writing doesn't get easier just because you have an agent.

I need to know that I am ready for this, before I start jumping on the query-bandwagon.

Maybe in the next couple of years or so, I will have grown as a writer, I will be more committed than I am now, but if there is anything that I have learned it's this: There is no hurry.

Sure it would be nice to have an agent. Sure it would be nice to put I am repped by.... on the top of my blog, sure it would be nice to write a blog post about HOW I GOT MY AGENT. Man, I'm telling you, if that happens sometime in my life, then I will be the happiest person alive, but I am still young. I have my whole life ahead of me, and I can't stress myself out just because I am not agented or published or whatever.

I obviously still have a lot to learn and I know this. That is why I'm going to put my dream on hold, because dreaming is useless, if you're going in blind.

Meaning, I want to learn a little more about the publishing world, before I decide HEY I WANT TO QUERY and HEY I WANT AN AGENT and HEY I WANT TO BE A FULL-TIME WRITER.

Plus, I need to be willing to work hard. To stay committed, to NOT GIVE UP, because I am telling you nine times out of ten, I am more likely to trunk a project than to keep working on it unless people yell and scream at me to keep trying.

I also noticed that people who have critique groups and support from friends and family are less likely to give up, and they don't suffer from TSS. (This Sucks Syndrome)

I have a lot of lovely lovely online writerly friends, but in real life my family doesn't support my writing, my mom doesn't really take my writing seriously, my friends don't like to read so they really don't care for writing, and sometimes it gets really hard not being able to talk about characters and plot holes with people, and other things that us writers talk about.

Knowledge, support, commitment. All of these things play a HUGE part in realizing your dream, and achieving it.

It's after one o'clock in the morning and I should be sleep, but this was one of things on my mind.

So... thoughts?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

Here goes the rough opening to my new project WE ARE NOT ENEMIES.

THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE!!

You guys are amazing and I'll be sure to update everyone when I reach new milestones with this project, considering that this isn't my main project right now, that might be rare, but we'll see.

Again, thanks for taking the time to read this! I still have a few more teasers to get to, so don't take yours down just yet.

<3

WE ARE NOT ENEMIES

2010-08-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

I started something new.

It's not a main project are anything, because I'm still rewriting LOST & FOUND, but whenever I need a break from rewriting, I'm going to work on WE ARE NOT ENEMIES.

I don't want to give too much away but it's about a boy whose cop-father is killed by a member of a gang, leaving Scott Perkins (my main character) to take care of his broken mother, and his gay step-brother Jeremy, while trying to control his anger.

He later befriends Jonathon Reese, a boy who hates anyone who isn't like him, and a few other people who are in a club where hate is the national anthem.

There is more to the story, but I'll talk about it more when I finish the first two chapters.

Here's a little snip from the prologue:

"Don't say a word," Reese muttered, as the police officer stood in front of us staring at the bloody shoe that was sticking out of the river bank and the bloody boy that was sitting beside it.
Alive.
Very much alive.

Anyone else working on any side projects?

Rewrites + Tease + Music

2010-08-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

I am STILL trying.

I refuse to give up on this novel, even though it is being really really REALLY impossible. There is just so much to do. I have to fix plot holes, tighten up character arcs, make Kendall more real and not the whiny baby she was in the first draft. I mean, as I was reading over the first draft, I began to realize that Kendall wasn't the way I pictured her. The way I wanted her to be.

So character makeovers are at the TOP of the list.

Damn - by the time I finish this novel, I mean REALLY finish it. I'm going to be an old lady. Hopefully that's not the case, but maybe JUST maybe I'll finish this first draft before the year is over.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. :D

Okay, since I missed Teaser Tuesday last week, I'm going to post my teaser early because I have to go to work tomorrow and I won't have time to post until I get home from work.

This is the NEWEST beginning of Lost & Found. At first, I loved it, then I hated it, then I loved it, and you get the picture. So before I push the backspace button I'm going to let you guys read it, and tell me if it: A) Hooked you B) Made sense and C) Read well.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. And I will try to get to everyone's teasers. Ever since I started working, things have been really hectic, but this is my last week at my summer job, so next Tuesday, I will definitely be able to get to more teasers.
Ooh and sense it is technically Music Monday here is a song from the Lost & Found soundtrack that I absolutely adore.

********** SNIP *********

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your Monday. :D

Things That Bother Me About YA

2010-08-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

I love young adult fiction.

It's hard to explain why - wait no it's not. I love YA because there are so many sub-genres, so many great books in the genre, so many amazing authors, and being a young adult, as well as a writer of young adult fiction it really is rewarding in many ways.

So yeah, I am a die-hard fan of YA.

But that doesn't mean there aren't things that bother me about the genre, as well as the industry, and what not.

For one, what is up with these female leads these days? I know I rant about this a lot from time to time, but come ON. Females are strong, we can hold our own, and not all of us fall prey to a guy just because they are gorgeous and stoic and (insert cliche description here). Okay, I'll admit there are A LOT of shallow girls out there but when it comes to romance, a real girl wants a guy who actually respects her, and in a relationship the two should play equal roles.

Often in books, the female lead is giving up everything to be with the 'guy of their dreams' while the guy himself, gives up nothing, which really really bothers me because that's not how a relationship should be. I know I'm not a relationship guru or anything, but everyone knows that's how it's supposed to work.

Real girls don't fall head over heels for some guy who has only one good quality, which is their good looks. In some YA books, mostly ones of the paranormal variety, the leads speak constantly of how good-looking the love interest is, and it really makes you wonder. Why does the love interest have to be hot and smexy?

As most of you may know, I am a huge fan of Jane Eyre, both the book and the 2006 movie. I had read the book before I had seen the movie, and while reading I already had a good mental picture of Mr. Rochester. He wasn't handsome, but it was the things that he did and said that made me fall head over heals in love with him.

Looks, I find, are not important when you fall in love. It depends on how fast your heart beats when that special someone is near, it's how often they enter your thoughts, it's how they make you feel, how they don't make you feel, it's how they treat you, and at the end of the day, their face, their outer appearance doesn't matter because you love them, and love is blind.

Or at least it's supposed to be.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where beauty is shoved down our throats.

In order to be beautiful you had to have perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect figures, perfect everything and NO ONE IS PERFECT.

So characters shouldn't be perfect.

I love book covers. They are what pull me in, make me want to see what's inside.

But in case you haven't noticed - there is no diversity in YA. Okay, okay, there is but you have to go on a hunt in bookstores just to find a YA book with a model on the front who isn't white.

I really don't care what color the character is because I was raised to appreciate everyone no matter what they looked like, but still - can we see some diversity on YA bookshelves?

I also can't stand how plain some of these main characters are. I mean, talk about boring. There are some authors like, Courtney Summers, Melina Marchetta etc. who come up with female leads, as well as characters who have great dynamics and are not two dimensional, but three dimensional because they JUMP off of the page.

And notice that I keep saying female characters - WHERE THE HELL ARE THE MALE LEADS?
I want to read more YA fiction where there are male main characters. That's why I tip my hat to writers such as Hannah Moskowitz and John Green because they do a great job of writing male voices.

Maybe this is not something to be annoyed about because maybe people just aren't writing books with male MC's. YEAH RIGHT. I know there are writers out there who are trying to query books with male leads, or maybe they are on sub but still.... I know that they're out there and for some reason they're not being grabbed up.

Which leads me to another issue I have with YA, some authors of the genre are afraid to stray far from the norm or in other words, they are afraid to be different, take risks. I mean, how many vampire/werewolf/angel novels do you see on YA bookshelves.

I don't know about you but I see a lot.

As I said before, there are many writers out there who are trying to pitch their books that stray from the norm, and for some reason they are not getting any attention.

ONE MORE THING and then I promise I am finished with this. Where are the PARENTS? You know, the people who gave birth to these young adults (well, you know what I mean).

They are pretty much non-existent in the YA world.

And instead of just complaining about all of these issues, I am doing my best to address them in my novels, and make sure that I don't fall into the habit of the norm.

So yeah, what bothers you about YA?

Come on, guys, I know you have a few things that really REALLY annoy you.

Seriously, just because you find a few faults in an awesome genre such as YA, doesn't mean that you dislike it, it just means that you agree that there needs to be a few changes, like everything in life.

So, come on.

Spill.

Looking forward to reading and answering comments. :D

Teaser Tuesday

2010-07-27T04:32:00.001-07:00

I just wrote this, so it's pretty rough.

But it's a random scene from Lost & Found.

I'll try to get to everyone's when I get home from work.

Enjoy.

***

"Maybe we can rob somebody," he sung, eyes closed, fingers strumming the chords of his acoustic guitar effortlessly, like he's been doing it since the beginning of time. I feel my cheeks flush, the longer I watch him.

This is a private moment, I can tell by the way his lips pull at the corner, the way his voice melts over the words that is pouring out of his mouth, the way he rocks side to side to the melody of his own music.

"Show them how we feel." He plucks a few more strings, and I think about walking away, leaving before he opens his eyes and finds me standing in his doorway.

But I couldn't move. His music paralyzed me. "If we're really nobody, then maybe we're not real." He began tapping his foot, stumping out another beat. It sounded like a drum, only it was softer, fainter, it made the next line in his song soar through my ears, and into my heart.

"Baby, won't you take my hand. I'll lead you out of this place." Low slid his hand down the guitar, making me shiver, because he touched it the way he would if he was making love to somebody. Not like I knew that from personal experience, but he was gentle in that way. The word hurt and pain weren't in his vocabulary, only he was hurting me as he played his song, as the words sunk in.

It was about me and him, leaving, escaping. He wanted me to run away wit him, he wanted me to take his hand, and go to the edges of the universe, with him. He loved me, only I didn't love him.

My eyes burned as tears began to gnaw at them.

"We can be together forever," he whispered. "We'll leave this human race." On that last note, his eyes opened, and as always, they found me, picking me out of the darkness with their intensity. His eyes were like a muddy ocean, I drowned in them, because his words left me so lost, so angry, so sad that I didn't know what to do anymore.

"Kendall," he breathed, and my bones thawed. I backed away from the doorway, away from him. "Kendall."

Query

2010-07-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

So, I am a HUGE Maroon 5 fan.

And I am in love with their latest song Misery.

It's really catchy, and the video is funny. Poor Adam!

But anyways, I started thinking about querying and writing and agents and I thought "Hey let me write this song from a writer's perspective." So that is exactly what I did.

This is song is nowhere near perfect, and I haven't queried a day in my life, so basically the song is just for fun, so enjoy.

Oh and here's the original lyrics for Misery.

Verse 1

Oh yeah
Oh yeah
So scared of messing up
Making mistakes that I can't mend
And I wrote two hundred drafts
That I know I won't ever send
It's bad enough that it sucks
Worse than the WIP
I'd rather curl up
Then write this damn query
So let me be
Let me trunk this story

Chorus

I can't write this query
Isn't there anybody
Who can write it for me
Oh yeah!
Why won't the agents answer me?
There silence is slowly killing me
This book really got me mad
It really got me mad
Is it really that bad
Is it really that bad

Verse 2

Your painful rejection, and how
it makes me want to whine
The way it feels so much
like a sign
Not that I don't care about it
It's just, I really don't know
It's not what I'm querying,
It's what I didn't show
So let me be
Let me trunk this story

Chorus

I can't write this query
Isn't there anybody
Who can write it for me
Oh yeah!
Why won't the agents answer me?
There silence is slowly killing me
This book really got me mad
It really got me mad
Is it really that bad
Is it really that bad

Verse 3

You say the story is not for you
Dear agent, how you make me blue
You keep me wide awake and
Waiting for inspiration
I'm fighting a war I'm gonna lose
So far away from finishing
That I'm getting closer
to trunking

Why can't I write this damn query, yeah
Why won't you represent me, represent me, yeah
Why can't I write this damn query, yeah
Why won't you represent me, represent me, yeah

Chorus

I can't write this query
Isn't there anybody
Who can write it for me
Oh yeah!
Why won't the agents answer me?
There silence is slowly killing me
This book really got me mad
It really got me mad
Is it really that bad
Is it really that bad

RTW: My Greatest Posts

2010-07-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA Highway. Every Wednesday they present a question, that readers are invited to answer on their own respective blogs.

This week's topic:

Give us a link to the best blog post(s) you've ever written!

I know I am not the best blogger in the world.

I hardly post, but I do have a few good ones up that I am sorta proud of.

If you haven't read them, then I guess now's your chance. :D

RECIPE FOR A YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE

This post is one of the recent ones I've done. It was supposed to be really goofy and sarcastic, and basically it's a light rant about the paranormal romance scene in YA. I'm not attacking any books in particular, just the overall genre, and the trends I've been noticing.

ONCE UPON A TIME

Mostly all of my great post, come from Road Trip Wednesday. Really, they come up with the best topics. But anyways, this post is about why and when I started writing.

BEING BEAUTIFUL

This post was inspired by Kristin Otts who started a meme where people post a picture of themselves, and talk about beauty means to them, and I really liked that idea, as well as my post, because it came straight from the heart, and I didn't know I felt that way about beauty, and about myself, so take what you may from it.

BULLYING

Ah...this was a very emotional post, namely because I am a victim of being verbally bullied and it just made me feel sick to know that people still belittle others to the point where they commit suicide. I cried while writing that post, so it's not really great, but it meant something to me, and I hope that it meant something to the people that read it.

YOU AND ME CAN WRITE A BAD ROMANCE

I seriously had a girl-crush on Lady Gaga, but that is not what this post is about. It's about romance in YA, and how I think it needs a HUGE makeover, because some of the relationships in these YA books are not love...they're lust and infatuation which are completely different from love and romance. But I totally, got the idea from Choco, which goes to show that none of the blogs I write, are my ideas. *ahem*

GIRLS CAN KICK BUTT TOO

This title is pretty self-explanatory.

So there you have it.

You get funny (hopefully... I try to be funny, but it never works out for me) and serious all rolled into one blog.

Do you have any particular post that you are proud of?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-07-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

I am rewriting.

Or at least I am trying to.

Here is a snip of what I have gotten done so far.

It's pretty self-explanatory, I hope.

***

"Hey babe," Cord whispered in my ear. Water seeped through my shirt, as he pulled me into him.

"You're getting me wet," I murmured, which made him laugh. His chest felt like an engine against my back. Of course he would find that funny. He always heard double meanings in words, especially when he was drunk.

"I could do more than that," he said, spinning me around, so that I was nose to nose with him. Brown hair dripped into his sparkling eyes, and a smirk pulled up the corners of his lips. He pressed them against mine, forcing them apart, slipping his tongue inside, making my head feel like it was on a carousel.

I pressed my hands against his chest, and pushed him away, not really wanting to make-out because every time we did, he always wanted to take it to the next level, and we weren't going there tonight. We weren't going there ever.

Procrastinating is actually like being productive....

2010-07-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Tis true.

Nowadays, I'm trying not to stress myself out with writing, because it's supposed to fun and exciting and if I obsess over word counts then I will never get anything done.

So I'm taking it easy.

No new projects.

The said fantasy project that I will occasionally tweet about is my "breather WIP". Meaning, I won't take it as seriously as I have with my other projects, especially since I haven't written fantasy in a long long long time.

That being said, no new projects.

I have to say it a third time so my brain can comprehend: NO NEW PROJECTS.

Seriously, guys. I have been getting ideas out the wazoo and it's really hard to keep up with all the characters that stop by.

So...right now I'm procrastinating.

In the good way, because there is a good way to procrastinate.

I'm finding music for both of my main projects, and looking up pictures that I think go with the plot lines.

I found one for my urban fantasy novel, Charmed, that I thought would make a great cover.

While making the cover, I started talking to Eden (my MC) and her love interest/protector Constantin about their relationship and I learned a lot of things that could help the plot.

And yesterday, I made a playlist for Lost & Found that I listen to whenever I feel the urge to rewrite and it helps me churn the words out.

So there you have it.

The truth is out.

I procrastinate.

But I know a lot of writers do it too, so I don't feel so bad.

Question: How does "procrastinating" help your WIP/ writing process?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-07-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

This blog feels so empty.

Wasn't going to blog, but I feel guilty so here goes a tease from the fantasy novel that has been plaguing my mind.

It's an experiment so YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

***

The village was lit up like the night sky, lights twinkling, putting the stars to shame. An assembly of colors danced across Sera's vision, as she sipped her cup of tea. It's sweet taste wasn't enough to calm the butterflies that gnawed at her insides.

Sirens wailed in the distance, signaling not only the end of the war, but the approach of the entire army. She could see the soldiers marching towards the gates of the kingdom, their torches raised high in victory.

Though it was hard to tell how many there were, she wouldn't have been surprised if all of the men who went out to war had come back, alive.

"They're in good hands," she thought, sure that the mug would shatter into a million pieces underneath her fingertips. Her grip had tightened, and all the hope she had felt for the soldiers, had been abandoned, because if her brother wasn't amongst them, then there was no reason to be happy.

Sera still couldn't get over the fact that the king picked a seventeen year old to command an entire army, but he had, which brought both grief and pride to Sera's family. Grief because they didn't know if Nevir was going to return home or if he was going to be seriously injured. Pride because it wasn't a secret that he was the finest fighter in the kingdom. Not only could he wield a sword, but he had the ability to predict his opponent's next move, even before they got a chance to strike.

Sera was certain that no man could bring down her brother. Even the king - who atoned for his short stature with thick bands of muscle that wrapped around his arms, and legs - was no match for him.

Taking another sip of her tea, she tried her best to keep thinking he is alive, he is alive, he is alive, not wanting to accept the possibility that he might be dead.

Saturday Snippet

2010-07-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Because it's Saturday and because I feel like sharing, here is the beginning of something I just started. I find it funny how I get ideas right around the time I have to start editing.

***

Music blasting, bodies moving, hands feeling. Long, bony fingers exploring every inch of my body. Lips nibbling my ear, sending chills down my spine.

"Jason," I slurred, grabbing a hold of his shirt. He takes it the wrong way, and pushes me deeper into the couch. I hate his lips. I hate how they feel on my skin. So sloppy, so wet.

They crash against mine.

I close my eyes.

No fireworks there. No fireworks ever.

He lets me come up for air. It's now or never.

"Jason."

"Wha..."

I wrinkle my nose. His breath reeks. It smells worse than my dog's poop, and believe me when I say that I would rather press my face into a pile of Spot's shit, then be here, kissing the biggest ass of all time.

I still can't believe I went out with him.

"Get the fuck off of me." My words are like puzzle pieces scattered across the floor, even so, Jason gets the big picture.

He pulls away, "Come on, babe."

"I'm not your babe, Jay. Now get the fuck away from me."

"You never used to be like this."

People were always saying that to me. My mom, my dad, my best friends, and sometimes, when I wasn't drunk enough, high enough I would look in the mirror and say it to myself. So it wasn't like I didn't know I was different.

I just didn't want to accept it.

A huge smile lights up Jason's face, making his eyes even more electrifying then they already are. "Your point is?"

"My point is that you used to be fun, Sky. Skinny dipping in neighbors' pools, making-out in the backseat of my car, staying out all night drinking and partying, doing whatever, now you're..."

"Different? Yeah, I know."

"I just want to know why, babe. I mean, you used to like making out with me," he said, poking my nose.

"Don't touch me." I smack his hand away, and he starts to laugh. It's a wonder that one of his many girlfriends never told him that he was in need of a tic-tac, or better yet, a toothbrush.

I reach for my purse, hoping that I have some mints on hand, but I come up empty. Leaning over, I scan the floor, hoping my knock-off Coach purse was beside my feet, but nothing is there.

Oh, shit. My fucking purse is gone. My fucking keys were in that purse, which means I can't go home unless I find it. Even so, someone would have to drive me, and I doubt anyone would be able to considering the fact that everyone here is drunk out of their minds.

Fuck.

"You okay?" Jason asked, and I glare at him, because if he hadn't came to bother me, I would remember where my purse was at.

"No, I'm not."

The Recipe for Lost & Found

2010-07-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did the recipe for a YA Paranormal Romance, and it looks like I got a few takers. Hopefully (if you write one) your PR will turn out to be a hit, and agents will eat it up and someday your little book will be on the NYT list. Okay, I stop.

But on a serious note, I have been thinking about my own WIP a lot. I was reading it yesterday, and I just started fangirling over it, because even though there are A LOT of plot holes and scenes that really don't make sense, there are scenes that are beautiful and wonderful and...yeah.

There were just some paragraphs I couldn't believe I wrote, and well this novel wouldn't been written if I didn't extract inspiration from all over.

So, without farther ado, here is the

RECIPE FOR LOST & FOUND

1 book by Sarah Dessen (preferably Dreamland)
1 outrageously good movie (yes, I'm talking about The Clockwork Orange)
A gaggle of bands + singers from across the pond
Three (technically two) love interest
A main character who is not your average Bella Swan
A small paranormal element

1. Dreamland was an amazing book. I read it a long time ago, but even now it still sticks with me. When I came up with the idea for Lost & Found, I used the relationship between Caitlin and Rogerson to mold Kipling and Kendall's relationship. Rogerson deals drugs, and abuses Caitlin just like Kip does, but I feel that the abuse in L&F is way more intense than it was in Dreamland. While reading that book, I kept thinking that this can't be all an abused girlfriend goes through, and I wanted to explore this 'abuse' a little bit more in my novel, and that is exactly what I did.

It was hard writing those angry, tense scenes between Kip and Ken because they aren't even in a romantic relationship, though Ken really wants to be in one despite the fact that he abuses her. I know I talk a lot about how I think there should be more strong female leads in YA, and I know that you might be thinking "WTF, why does she love a boy who abuses her?" Well, even though Ken is a lot stronger than her aunt who had raised her, I wanted Ken to be clueless when it came to dealing with boys, because she has no males in her life, and the relationship she has seen first-hand is the one between her aunt and her verbally-abusive boyfriend, Ray. Throughout the story, Ken changes, and with change comes her strength, the realization that she shouldn't take mess from any man.

2. The Clockwork Orange is one of those movies that really made my eyes sore, in a good and bad way. Not only was it very explicit and crazy and weird, but it made the creative juices in my head flow. Um, Lost & Found is a book about teenagers who are neglected by the adults in their lives, they are teens who feel like they should be able to take what they want, when they want it. Basically, if they could do so, they would run the world. That is how Kip feels, and because of that mentality, The Clockwork Orange is his favorite movie. (Okay, I know that's not essentially what that movie is about, but if you dig deep into it, you'll find some sense of morality.)

3. Music is essential to any novel I write. It's essential to this novel because Low (one of the said three love interests) is a singer and songwriter. I love American bands and singers, but musical acts like Coldplay, The Script, Richard Ashcroft, Adele, Keane, and a whole lot more make something in my heart fly. Their voices, the lyrics, especially the lyrics, are beautiful and they just fit.

4. Ah, how I LOVE love interest. They make the world go round. There are three in mine, but tis is a lie, because Kip isn't a LI, technically, even though Ken has this weird crush on him. Though, I'll admit Kip can be a real charmer when he wants to. Um, but the other two candidates for Ken's heart is Low, who is sweet and caring and everything she doesn't like a.k.a Lowell Fitzgerald a.k.a Kip's little brother, and Ellis Vega, the sexy *fans self* hot painter who thinks that Ken is {SPOILERS}. More on that later. But the three male leads in this story are pretty sexy, and I had nothing to do with that. They just knocked on my door one day with their smoldering eyes and said "Put us in your novel" and I was all like "Why should I do that?" and they were all like "Because we want you to write us" and they said that in such a smexxy way that I couldn't resist.

5. Kendall isn't like any character I have ever read about before. She just showed up one day, and I've been with her ever since. Lost & Found is really her story, and she is the one telling it. I am just her devote vessel in which she uses to get the words out. I love how she starts off being "lost" not in the sense that she physically can't find her way but emotionally she doesn't know who she is or what she wants. Towards the middle of the book, she catches a glimpse of the person she has to be in order to survive, and to save a girl who isn't meant to be "lost" It is when she realizes that she can be strong, that she is essentially found, hence the title of the book.

If you read this entire post, then here are some virtual cookies.

Now you know what my novel is about.

There's a lot more to it, but here's where I got the inspiration, and now that I'm rewriting it, I hope the next draft will be better than the last.

Now it's your turn: What's the recipe for your novel?

Recipe for a YA Paranormal Romance

2010-07-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

RECIPE FOR A YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE

1 main character (preferably female)
2 love interests of the paranormal persuasion
1 (0r more) quirky best friend(s)
A whole bunch of cliches
A zillion soppy-love scenes with a side of sexual tension
1 cliffhanger ending

1. Once you have your main character (assuming that she's a girl) make sure that she is every bit of a cliche. Make her weak, vulnerable, clingy, nice, sweet, happy, make her self-conscience, make her so naive that it hurts.

2. After you complete the first step, insert two love interest (assuming that they are of the paranormal persuasion) make sure that one really really wants your main character, but he stays away from her because he thinks he is a.) too dangerous and because he is b.) trying to save her precious precious life. As for the other love interest, make sure he has an ulterior motive, and make sure that he and the first love interest hate each other because this will make your book even more alluring and perfect and A-MAZING.

3. Please DO NOT forget the quirky best friend. Even though your perfect book may revolve around the main character and her two beaus, you don't want everyone else to know that. So add in as many unique, crazy, quirky friends you want, because it isn't a perfect book if you don't have any random characters in it, right?

4. Cliches are perfect for YA novels because everyone LOVES them. They are all the rage in the YA world. Trust me.

5. Sexual tension is an important ingredient. It's vital to a story where two guys are fighting over one ordinary, plain-jane. But you know what else is vital? Infatuation. Yeah, don't even worry about making the love mean something. When I mentioned cliches, one of the most important cliches that you will ever use is the 'love at first sight' one. Yeah, a lot of writers use that so go ahead and throw that in there.

6. CONGRATULATIONS. You are THIS close to finishing your YA novel. You have gotten past the climax, but you haven't figured out who your MC is going to choose. That's okay, because that's what cliffhangers are for. With a cliffhanger at the end of your book, you have the right to write another book so your readers will be on the edge of their seats WAITING for more.

RTW: The best book I've read this month is...

2010-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA Highway. Every Wednesday, they post a topic, and they invite people to answer the question on their respective blogs.

Today's topic is:

What was the best book you read in June?

This is a very tough decision to make because I have read a lot this month.

Okay, here we go:

I picked up this book because I had been hearing so many great things about it. But when I read the first few pages, I wasn't exactly hooked, but I was really intrigued. I liked the sparse writing style Miss McMann seemed to have and the fact that Janie can see other people's dreams, well, I don't know about you, but I think that is beyond AWESOME. As I got to know Janie, and her relationship with the other characters, especially the one she has with Cabel, who I adore, I began to like her, and before I knew it I was finished with the book, and begging for more.

Fade, in my opinion, was way better than Wake. It explored Janie and Cabel's relationship a little bit more, and I won't give anything away but it was really really REALLY intense. The writing style is almost the same as it was in Wake, if not better, and honestly Fade sent shivers down my spine. I finished it last night, and I can't stop thinking about it.

Another book that I felt was really good that I read this month was Stolen by Lucy Christopher. If you haven't read this book, then I suggest you go borrow it from the library, or go out to your nearest bookstore and buy it because it was a stunning read. Really gripping.
The first page took my breath away with the descriptions and it was interesting to read a book where I really didn't hate Ty a.k.a Gem's kidnapper. He treated her kindly and he seemed sweet, though a little crazy, and it was sad how it ended, but the descriptions, the writing style, the story in and of itself was an amazing read. Also, isn't that cover simply gorgeous?

Revisions, rewrites, and other things...

2010-06-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

I am my own worst critic.

I am nit-picky about everything, which is why I decided to start from scratch.

No, I won't throw all of what I had written so far, because getting rid of almost 40,000 words is just insane. That is like....I can't even think of a witty comparison at the moment, but that's just insane, and I would be insane if I do that.

There are a lot of ideas floating around in my head. I know where I want the story to go. I know where I want my characters to go, I just don't know how to start everything off, because as I have mentioned millions of times, I am horrible at writing beginnings.

That has to be my weak spot when it comes to writing. I am trying to remedy my problem by reading a lot of books, seeing how other writers start off their books, take notes. Write down what I like about the beginning, and try to see if I can use the same techniques that they used to to construct my beginning.

So, yeah, writing a book is not easy. It can be fun and rewarding at times but there are moments when you feel like ripping your hair out. That is how I felt when I was reading over what I have written so far of Lost & Found.

I am not going to lie to you. There are a lot of plot holes, a lot of unnecessary scenes, words etc. The characters don't have enough chemistry, and really everything is just all over the place. Basically it's going to take me a really really really long time to finish editing and writing and polishing up this novel. But it is worth it because I love the characters, I love their motives, I love their relationships, even if they are a bit rocky.

I love that this is the first novel that I have written in years. Well, the first novel that I have written that has more than 20k. Right now I think I'm up to 40k. Give or take a couple thousand. But anyways, this book is worth it.

I just need to really sit down and think things through. I need to focus on strengthening the plot, because this is a very plot-driven novel.

So I have a lot on my plate.

I'm going to start taking notes tonight, and hopefully I can work out trying to write yet another beginning.

In the mean time, I have other ideas. Ones that may remain just that: Ideas.

But I really want to write a murder mystery.

I can't tell you how much I loved Nancy Drew when I was younger. I never really read the books, but I have almost all of the computer games, and it was fun solving mysteries, finding the bad guy etc. I even have a Nancy Drew fanfic saved on my computer, but that is a story for another day.

Of course this said murder mystery would be YA and of course it will have romance in it, because I don't write stories without love.

It needs to be thought about a little more, but I will keep you guys updated if I decide to write this idea.

We shall see.

So, where are you at with your writing? Is there anything that you learned about your novel when you read it over?

RTW: Fudge My Life

2010-06-23T06:26:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival hosted by the lovely ladies over at YA Highway. Every week they ask a reading or writing related question that they invite everyone to answer on their own blog.

This Week's Topic:

If your favorite fictional characters submitted to FMyLife, what would they write?

My district just got wiped off the map. FML.

~ Katniss (The Hunger Games)

I have a fan club that is full of people who hate me. FML.

~ Regina (Some Girls Are)

I just gave birth to an alien. FML.

~ Bella (Twilight)

I'm having an out-of-body experience. FML.

~ Mia (If I Stay)

There are zombies everywhere. FML.

~ Mary (The Forest of Hands and Teeth)

Nobody believes me when I say that I'm the bad guy. FML.

~ Edward (Twilight)

My brother is allergic to everything, even me. FML.

~ Jonah (Break)

My name is Peeta. FML.

~ Peeta (The Hunger Games)

There's a snake in my boot. FML.

~ Woody (Toy Story)

Teaser Tuesday

2010-06-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

I am posting my teaser a bit early because I probably might not get to post it tomorrow. Um, well, this is from Lost & Found, the novel I am currently editing. The first half of chapter one is giving me problems, so I think I'm going to just skip it for now and focus on revising the second half of chapter one. Does anyone else edit out of order?

Well, anyways, this is still only the second draft, so it's not perfect.

Enjoy.

***

The tears that I have been holding back, slip down my cheeks, and I quickly wipe them away, not wanting to give him another reason to touch me, hold me, treat me like a child.
That is when we hear it.
The crash. Pris.
I moved down the aisle, hoping to get a closer look. Low followed close behind, as always. But I couldn't think about him. I had to think about watching for my cue. I had to think about running, running, running, until my legs gave out.
Pris was laying on the ground, flipping like a fish out of water. Her eyes rolled back, the whites pointed to the ceiling.
She was having a seizure. I wasn't sure if that was what happened when someone went into epileptic shock, but the clerk was buying it. His face was painted with concern. Real, genuine concern.
Sold.
"Are you okay?" he asked, moving from behind the counter. It was a stupid question to ask, but his heart was in the right place.
Too bad ours wasn't.
"I'm going to call ambulance." The clerk assured Pris, his eyes wide. He ran behind the counter and pulled the cordless off the wall. As he dialed the numbers, Pris winked. That was the signal. She even did it twice, to make sure I didn't miss it.
"Come on," Low whispered, his breath tickling the back of my neck. He slipped his hand into mine, and squeezed. This time I didn't pull away. A part of me knew that I needed his touch. I needed his nearness, because without it I would fall apart. I squeezed back, and then his lips were above my ear once more, kissing the little piece of skin there. "Ken, come on. You can do it."
In my peripheral vision, I could see Pris, lying on the ground, quivering and quaking like a restless wave.
I gulped.
The paramedics wouldn't be the only ones to show up.
Low seemed to realize this too, because he nudged me towards the door.
"Run," he said, firmly.
"But Lowell..." I started.
"Run," Low shouted.
I ran.

See What I See

2010-06-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

Pictures speak a thousand words.

They are meant to inspire us, and to say the words we can't say.

In today's post I am going to post pictures that make me think of Lost & Found, because I want you to see what I see when I write/edit this novel.

Also, this idea wasn't mine. I was reading Steph Bowe's latest post and her pictures were so beautiful, that I caved and decided to find some of my own.

So here they are:

(I don't own any of these pictures. They were taken from We Heart It)

Fake Cover

2010-06-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

The lost get found
- Luke 15:4

This was the inspiration for the new title of Mirror, Mirror. I really didn't like the repetition of the word 'mirror' and though mirrors play a part in the novel, it wasn't what the book was essentially about.

To celebrate my decision to start editing this novel again, I made a fake cover that I might use for my Proof copy, because I have to use the free code I won from NaNoWriMo before June is over.

I have a lot of work to do, and I really don't remember how to work CreateSpace because I haven't been on in a while. But I'm sure I'll figure everything out.

Wish me luck!

I love this man...

2010-06-18T16:44:00.001-07:00

If you don't know who Richard Ashcroft is, then shame on you. Seriously. This man is genius. Pure genius. His voice is amazing, his songs are amazing, and sorry if I'm using amazing way too many times, but it's the truth.

He is brilliant.

But yeah, I've been listening to him all day. This is mainly because I am in the editing mood, and when I edit, I like to listen to music.

Because Mr. Ashcroft is on my novel's playlist, I decided to put together some of my favorite songs by him, and play them on repeat until I got sick of listening to him. Which I don't think will ever happen because like I said, he's brilliant.

I mean, guys. Read his lyrics. Inhale them, ingest them. Love them.

They are so freaking beautiful.

If you read his lyrics, you will know why he inspires me, and why I listen to him whenever I feel like writing.

Also, this song is... (I really want to say amazing, but I won't so just watch the video, listen to the song and enjoy the rest of your Friday)

RTW: Once upon a time...

2010-06-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival started by the lovely ladies over at YA HIGHWAY.

Today's question is: When and why did you start writing?

I started writing because of my mom.

She wanted me, her only child, to live outside of the box. When I was little, she would tell me that I could be anything that I wanted to be. She would tell me that life is more than just what I saw, and that the key to success was hidden in-between the lines of a good book.

So when I was four she signed us both up for a book club, where we read a new book every week. By the time I was five, I could read and understand words other kids my age, couldn't.

It was funny because whenever my mom would talk to other adults, she would spell out the words instead of saying them because I knew what she was talking about.

But I have always loved words.

I didn't realize that until I turned seven, when I started seeing a psychiatrist.

I had just met my father and my extended family for the first time, and I really didn't know how to handle all of that at a young age, especially since my father wasn't the man who I thought he would be. Instead, he was less than a man, and because I was so young, and because I understood so much, I had to go see a psychiatrist to help sort out my feelings.

The psychiatrist made me draw pictures, but eventually I started writing out what I thought in the form of poetry. As time passed, I started writing short stories and books and I let my English teachers read them, and they would ask for copies and when I was in third grade, I won five-hundred dollars for a essay I wrote about what the Statue of Liberty meant to me.

Writing has always been a way to cope with my feelings. Instead of crying, I would open up a notebook and start jotting down ideas.

I don't know if I have any of my old stuff anymore, but I remember obsessing over the characters, staying up all night clanking away at the keyboard.

I want to be a lot of things in life, but I am a writer first, forever and always.

What else would I do with all the voices swarming around in my head?

Tuesday in Twos

2010-06-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

This is a rendition of Two for Tuesday, a meme started by Kate Hart.

CONTEST

Sumayyah is hosting another awesome contest, where the winners get a book cover for their own manuscript, a blog header, and a soundtrack cover. Cool right? Click here for more details.

Karla is also having a contest where the prizes include artwork for your book/blog. She is also giving away books, and all you have to do is participate in her scavenger hunt. Click here for more details.

BOOKS

Teach Me by R. A. Nelson - I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, and though a lot of people might cringe at a story where the love interest is at least twenty years older than the main character, I didn't. Especially since the book was well-written, and the emotions, the problems that arose from this 'forbidden' relationship made me want more and more and more. I couldn't put this book down. It was just that good. Nine's voice was so vivid and loud and real that it was a shocker to find out that a man wrote this book, because really, you couldn't even tell. This book wasn't just about a romance between a student and her teacher, or a teenage girl and a man, but it was about forgiveness. It was about what obsession could do to you and the people you loved. Teach Me was an amazing book, and if you haven't read it, go but it now.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers - I was already blown away by Cracked Up to Be, but when I opened up SGA and started reading, I had to put it down a couple of times. Not because it bad, because it was far from that, it was one of the best books I've read thus far, but I had to keep putting it down, because Regina's voice tore me apart. The things she had been through, her relationship with Michael, it just made me feel some type of way, and there were moments when I cried because the story felt so real, and it just made me fall more in love with Courtney Summers' writing style, her books, her characters. There was a bit more romance in SGA than there was in CUtB, but trust me when I say that this book was brilliant, amazing, and just...WOW. I have a feeling all of Miss Summers books are going to be like that.

LIFE

Tomorrow is my last day of school, and in 2.5 months I will officially be a junior, which means I have two more years left of high school or one considering how you look at it.

I went camping over the weekend, and surprisingly had a great time. Met some new people, hiked, sat around a campfire, slept in a cabin, ate smores, made mountain pies, and did a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn't think I would have fun doing. It was so peaceful out in the middle of nowhere, and oh my goodness, the lake, the trees, the fresh air, the stars, all of it was just so beautiful, and perfect. I hope I get to go again next year.

And that is all for my Tuesday in Twos, hopefully next week I'll have something to tease from, especially since I won't be in school. Have a great day everyone!

Teaser Tuesday

2010-06-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a snip from my newest project, Cross the Line. It's a bit rough, so....

** SNIP **

Teaser Tuesday

2010-06-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

I am home FINALLY. But I already posted this in the YA Blogroll thread because I thought I wouldn't be home in a time to post it on my blog, but it's still early-ish so I'm taking off of AW and posting it here. For those of you who repped me: THANK YOU!

** SNIP **

My muse is on vacation...

2010-05-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

I CAN'T WRITE.

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I can't find inspiration anywhere. Music doesn't help. Spending time out with friends doesn't help. I have tried everything, but for some reason I just can't write.

So I have concluded that my muse is on vacation, and seriously guys, it sucks. Every writer probably goes through this once or twice or forty times in their writing career, but my goodness, how long is it supposed to last?!

For four weeks, I haven't been able to write. FOUR WEEKS. Every day that passes that I don't write, makes me feel so...down. If that is even the right word to describe it.

The root of my problem is that I have so many WIPs and I don't know which one to focus on. To make matters worse, each of my WIPs are a different genre. One is contemporary ( Lost & Found), another is an urban fantasy (Charmed), a dystopian (As the World Burns) and a science fiction novel (Stars That Fall)

Which one to pick?

Sometimes I wish I could just stick with one idea. Work on it without stopping, and without getting an SNI. Because even if I do try to ignore the shiny new idea, I always end up working on it, because I am not strong. I am weak, and easily persuaded by new characters, who are just so darn persuasive, and UGH.

If anybody has been in the same predicament as me, please, please, PLEASE tell me how you got out of it and what you did to get your muse back from the ridiculously long vacation it has been taking.

Oh and since it is Music Monday, here is the song that I have been addicted to for quite a long time now.

Update!

2010-05-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, I have a confession to make. It explains why I haven't been blogging lately, but I have been doing a bit of traveling.

Not the usual get-in-the-car or hop-on-a-plane type of traveling, but the kind of traveling that can only done in a big blue box.

Yeah. You heard me right. I have been traveling in a blue box called the TARDIS, with a man I barely know, but he's just so fascinating and he takes me to different planets and we encounter so many different kind of aliens - and, um, I wish this could be my excuse for not blogging in a while.

But it's not.

The truth is that I've been watching Doctor Who, beta-reading, and doing ungodly amounts of homework. All year my teachers didn't give me any homework, now that we have less than two months left, they're piling work on us.

*grumbles*

I finished reading Vee's beautiful, heart-wrenching novel an hour or so ago, and I can't stop thinking about it. Her prose, her style is just brilliant. She's just brilliant and if you don't already know, her novel The Colors of Sky is out on submission. I wish her the best of luck, and CONGRATULATIONS.

Um, as for me, I have been thinking about reviving my contemporary novel, Mirror, Mirror. I don't want to give up on it, so I sat down and thought about what I could do to make this novel better, in a way, and I think I know how to do that now, so we'll see.

There might not be any teasers from me in a while, but I will try to read everyone's when Tuesday comes around.

Since it's Saturday, and I do want to make up for my absence on this blog, here is a snippet from the first draft of Mirror, Mirror. It's one of my favorite scenes between Low & Kendall, mainly because it's so tense, and a lot of things are revealed. Keep in mind that it's from the first draft, so it is pretty rough. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

"You don't think I noticed?" Low breathed, his voice thick. "You were obsessed with Kip. Even when he hit you..." He shook his head again, not understanding, not believing.

"He never hit me," I murmured.

His voice was low, but I could still feel it's sharp edges. "Stop lying to yourself. I seen the bruises on your face, on your legs. I seen them. Kip may say that we are invisible, but those will never be invisible to me. They're all I see when I look at you."

"Get out." I said, firmly. Tears were forming in my eyes, threatening to fall.

"No."

I knew he wasn't going to leave so I didn't make him go. Seconds, minutes, a whole entire lifetime passed before the fire that was burning started to extinguish, leaving behind tiny, minuscule embers in it's wake.

"Pris is pregnant." We were lying down now, looking up at the ceiling. I tried to keep myself from touching him, but I could feel my body slowly sticking to his. We were like magnetic forces.

He was trying to hurt me.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

I didn't want to ask. "Who's the father?"

"You know who it is."

In spite of myself, I rest my head on Low's shoulder and he smoothed the hair on my head.

"Why didn't he love me as much as he loved Pris?"

"Because Kip is a blind man. He doesn't know what he's missing, until it's gone."

The tears started to fall.

"I still want to run away with you. I want to take you someplace where you don't have to remember."

"It's not easy to forget," I breathed.

Being Beautiful

2010-05-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to be beautiful.

I always wanted to be a size eight.

I always wanted to have perfect skin.

I always wanted to turn heads, to have boys notice me, and to be like so many of the popular girls in my school. Skinny, perfect. Beautiful.

Everyone has their own definition of beautiful.

Nowadays, beauty is when you have long hair and perfectly clear, light skin. Beauty is when you have straight teeth and skinny forms.

No matter how much I want to fit everyone's definition of beauty, I don't. I'm not perfect. I'm not skinny. Therefore, I'm not beautiful.

I felt that way for years, and it only got worse, as I became a teenager. Right now, I'm at a point in my life where I'm not worried about what others think of me. I just smile and make the best of things, even though I'm not a size two or drop-dead gorgeous.

I will admit that I cry a lot, because I can't be the kind of girl people think is attractive. And there was a time when I wanted to change myself because of how people used to make me feel, but then I realized something rather important.

Changing to please someone else is never good.

I have to want to change for myself, and for myself only.

I have to learn to embrace all my flaws, even though it's easier said than done.

I have to appreciate what God has given me, and try to see the beauty within. Because we are all beautiful people. We prove that in the way that we act, and in the words that we speak.

To me, beauty isn't about how you look on the outside, it's how you look on the inside. Because physical beauty will diminish with time. No one is perfect.

So, really, the definition of beauty that everyone seems to share nowadays is flawed.

All that really matters is how much you love yourself, and if you think you are beautiful, then you are. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

(This post was inspired by Kristin Otts. You should go read it, and join the movement.)

Teaser Tuesday

2010-05-04T03:46:00.000-07:00

This is from As the World Burns. I'm starting two new projects, so I might have something new to post next week.

I was leaning up against a tree, counting lightning bugs, when I felt another presence. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"What you did back there was very brave." My muscles relaxed, when I realized that it was just the Ranger.

Just a Ranger, I thought. Rangers were dangerous people. They were trained to kill, trained to show no mercy. I should be scared of him. I should be terrified, but I wasn't.

I turned to meet his dark gaze.

"I did what I had to do," I said, not knowing what else to say. The truth seemed like the easiest answer, because it was true. I did need to do this. Seth was my best friend, and I would get shot a million times to save his life, and to save mine. It wasn't courage that led me to stand in between the mouth of the gun and Seth, it was selfishness. I was only thinking of myself and how I would feel if my best friend was no longer in this world, if he was lying on the ground with blood spilling out of him. I had seen too much death and blood for one night, so if he was going to die, so was I.

But the point of it all, was this. I didn't die. Instead, I was standing here conversing with the Ranger who saved my life.

"Why did you do it?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Why did I do what?"

"Why did you stand between me and the line of fire? Your partner was going to kill us, so why didn't you let him?"

I expected for the Ranger to shrug, to not answer me at all, but I should have known that this boy was different. In fact, I did know. It was just too hard to believe, that someone with this job, a job that required for one to kill, to destroy, to show no mercy - could be real, human.

In Which I Talk About Doctor Who

2010-05-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

The first episode of Doctor Who that I ever watched and loved was Blink. I was just skipping through the channels and I saw that DW was on and so I decided to watch it, and I was immediately blown away by the Weeping Angels and David Tennant portrayed a very lovable character.

Sadly, I wasn't able to watch any more episodes after that because once school starts, I really don't have time to watch TV, either because I have so much homework or I'm just so tired, that watching TV is the last thing on my list.

But a lot of people on AW rave about Doctor Who, so I knew that I had to try to watch the show to see what all the craze was about. So, I watched the final two episodes of Doctor Who with David Tennant and was severely confused.

The confusion didn't last long because not too long after those last two episodes, the new season of Doctor Who with a brand new Doctor began, and I finally got around to watching it last night.

I watched all three episodes in one sitting. Of course, I had to go to sleep, but I woke up extra early so that I could finish watching it before I went off to school.

All day my head has been in the clouds. I mean, I can't stop thinking about that show. It's just really THAT awesome.

I was a bit freaked out about the giant-eye spaceship thingy in the first episode, but then there's the TARDIS (which I really want to travel in. Amy is so lucky!) and Smilers and the UK is floating on a FREAKING STAR WHALE and then there's that CRACK. If you watch the show, you know which crack I'm talking about.

It's been in every episode so far, and I keep wondering at what it means, because it's EVERYWHERE. I really can't wait to figure out what it is.

So, in case you haven't figured it out, I am in love with Doctor Who. Not just the show, but it's characters. Especially the Doctor himself. Because I didn't watch the David Tennant Doctor, I have to say that Matt Smith is a really really really good Doctor. He's funny, charming, brilliant, amazing and he's gorgeous. *sighs dreamily*

I know I'm not a full-fledged fan yet, but I certainly feel that DW is going to be how I spend my Saturdays.

Ooh and let's not forget Amy Pond. I love how Doctor meets her as a little girl at first, gets in the TARDIS and comes back when she's all grown up. I love how kick-ass she is, and how fierce she is. It's about time we see a good strong female character.

I could go on and on and on about how much I am liking Doctor Who, but I will stop here because I have homework to do and I want to write.

Big Spring Giveaway!

2010-05-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

Steph Su is throwing yet another great giveaway in celebration of Spring. There are a lot of awesome books up for grabs so get over there and enter NOW:

Clicky.

Teaser Tuesday On a Non-Tuesday

2010-04-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

I am posting my teaser a bit early because I don't know if I'll be able to post anything tomorrow, since I'll be in school. But this is from my dystopian novel, which is almost at 4k. *squees*

I'm still working out a bit of the world-building and taking a lot of notes, but I'm just letting the characters take over for now, just to see where they're going to take me and I have a feeling that I might actually finish this WIP.

NOTE: This is very rough, so beware. Oh, and it contains some bad language. o.O

"Been drinking again, Mr. Gaston?"

"It's none of your business what I do in my own home," Abel growled, taking another step forward. A bottle fell from his hand, and crashed to the ground, shattering into a million pieces. "This, however, is my business. I am the one who makes the decisions around here."

"I understand that you were chosen to handle the village's affairs, but in your current state you can not lead these people." Mr. Hairston took his gaze off of Abel and looked into the eyes of all us. "I, however, am sober enough to think rationally."

"Rationally my ass," Abel slurred. "You expect us to go to a country that will spit at our feet, and put their noses up at us." He threw his head back and laughed. It was a cool and bitter sound. "And you call yourself thinking rationally? You bastard, your rational thinking will get us killed!"

Just then, a tall slender woman came up to stand beside Mr. Hairston. She had long, flowing black hair and deep, tan skin. Kara, I think her name was.

"Either way we will be killed." She looked towards Bertha. "Would you rather die like this, like an animal or would you rather die showing that son-of-a..."

Her words were swallowed whole by gunshots. We were all too wrapped up in the events of tonight, that we didn't hear the two Rangers approaching us, armed and ready to fire.

I could see them now. One had a torch in their hands, and was swinging it wildly, while the other one had a gun.

Everyone had stopped talking by now. Inch by inch, people started to slowly move back, until the Ranger with the gun, sent another round into the air, and yelled for everyone to stop moving.

"You know the rules!" he shouted, his face glistening with sweat.

"But..." I heard someone say, but they stopped talking, as soon as the Rangers moved closer.

"This woman is a fine example of what will happen when you good-for-nothings break the rules." This time it was the one with the torch speaking. His voice was less harsh, as if he didn't really mean what he said.

The other Ranger nodded in agreement, his eyes burning. "Yeah, you'd think you all would learn from the bitch's mistakes, but here you all are."

Seth growled, and I looked up at him, only to find that his eyes were as fiery as the torch. He was staring at the Rangers, ignoring the fact they could kill him in one breath, ignoring the fact that they would have a good night's rest after they killed him, and I wouldn't. I would go to bed, only to wake up screaming from a vicious nightmare, that he wouldn't be able to save me from, because he would be dead. I didn't say all this though. I just squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"Don't," I said, and then his eyes were on me, burning holes through my face.

"They have no right to talk to us like that. To talk about her like that."

"I know, I know."

He shook his head. "No, you don't."

"Okay, maybe I don't. But I know what it feels like to lose someone. What you're feeling now, is what I felt like when my father died. I wanted to hurt somebody, but I stayed calm because I knew I had a family I needed to take care of. Other people who needed me. Seth..." I felt his fingers leave mine, but before I could grab a hold of them again, he was moving towards the body, and kneeling down beside it. His sand colored hair fell into his eyes, as he reached for her hand. He didn't care that he was getting blood on his pants, on his skin. He didn't care that everyone was probably staring at him like he had just lost his mind.

"Boy, get back to where you were. Now!"

"I have a right to pray," Seth said, firmly. "So let me pray."

This made the Ranger very angry. I watched as his features caught on fire. In the seconds it took for him to raise the gun, I didn't think, I just moved. I didn't care if I got shot. I didn't care about anything at that moment, except for Seth. So I positioned myself directly in front of him, because if I was going to lose him, I was going to lose myself as well.

Dystopian? Really?

2010-04-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

So, I am writing a dystopian novel. Yes, the girl who doesn't really have a favorite genre, is writing a novel in a genre that she really doesn't know about. The only thing she does know is that she has a story that needs to be told, and so she's telling it.

About three weeks ago, I had a dream about fire and the end of the world, and though it was a scary dream, I found a story inside of it. So I took down a few notes, and I decided to give writing this story a try.

At first I really really liked it. I thought the characters were great. The premise was awesome and I was so in love with the idea, that I just wanted to jump in and write it. But then I realized something about my premise: It wasn't going to work out.

I just had this gut feeling that it wasn't going to work out, so instead of giving up, I thought about it some more until I came up with something infinitely better.

I don't have an official title but I've been calling this WIP As the World Burns for the longest and it's about losing faith, finding it, fighting a war that may end the world and finding love as the world burns.

My main character, Maggie, has a very strong voice and I love her for that. I'm already a good 2k into the story, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it one day.

If you want to read the first half of the first chapter, click here. It's been changed around since then, but the idea is still pretty much the same.

Civil Twilight is my Muse. I've been listening to a lot of their music while writing because it's so beautiful and it just makes me feel like writing and getting the words out.

What are you guys working on? And what singer/band is helping you get the words out?

Teaser Tuesday

2010-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today has been a really busy day. I wasn't planning on posting a teaser of anything today, but this blog is looking a bit empty, so I'm just going to post the newest beginning of my dystopian novel. Yeah, I started over. Only because the many beginnings I had before, just weren't going to work out in the end. I could feel it.

This might be one of the last teasers I post from this novel, considering the fact that I still need to do a lot of research, and I'm hoping to start working on my YA contemporary novel soon.

So, without farther ado, here is my teaser:

*SNIPPETY SNIP*

Bullying

2010-04-13T18:07:00.001-07:00

As writers, we know that words are beautiful. They form sentences that can describe the color of the sky or a girl's first kiss. They can make someone smile or they can make someone harm themselves.

Words are powerful. Forget the saying "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me." No. Don't believe any of that. Words are like bullets, they make you bleed from the inside out.

Believe me, I know.

I wasn't popular in elementary school. I was the girl who hardly spoke, who let the other kids copy off of my paper, because I thought it would make them like me, but they never did like me. They would tease me for being smart, for being a geek, for not being like them.

As I got older, the people changed, but the words didn't.

I used to cry because people said things about me that I didn't like. They made me feel like I was worthless, and I used to ask myself "Why?"

Why do I get treated this way?

Is it because of the way I look or dress or act or feel. My friends would say that they were just jealous, and I knew that wasn't it, because who could ever be jealous of me?

I was never beat up or anything but verbal abuse is just as bad as physical. It hurts your mind, it makes you feel...I don't know how to explain it, but it just makes you feel like nothing.

Like I said, words are powerful, and you just need to be careful about how you use them, because you never know how it might affect that person.

Lucky for me, I had people who cared about me, and after I got done crying, my friends would make me feel better, but a lot of people don't have that. They walk around with a lot of pent up emotions that are let out in the wrong ways.

Some people bully other people. Some people steal or do drugs or commit suicide.

They commit suicide. A lot of people who are bullied take their lives, because they think they are not loved or liked. They think they aren't important. They feel like knives are being shoved into their chest, and they just want to curl up into ball and disappear forever. Of course they can never do that, so they look for help in the form of a gun or a knife or a noose.

Sometimes they harm the ones who are hurting them, but other times they harm themselves.

If you happen to read this post, I want you to do something for me.

Don't ignore it.

Take a stand for the ones who are afraid to.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-04-05T16:43:00.001-07:00

I am posting my teaser a little bit early because I might not get a chance to post it tomorrow. This is from my YA Dystopian As the World Burns and just to let you know, I just wrote it ten minutes ago, so it is really really rough.

It was one of those scenes that I had to get down so I wouldn't forget it. Enjoy.

*SNIPPPETY SNIP*

In Which I Write A Blog About Stuff

2010-04-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

Guys, I have to say it, but this blog title is EPIC. I usually hate my blog post titles, but this one is made of win. Okay, okay. Maybe it isn't but my Spring break was. Sorta kinda.

I finished The Hunger Games recently and it was amazing. I can't even begin to explain to you how much I loved it. You see, I was going to do a review on it as soon as I finished it, but I changed my mind because I think the whole world knows how amazing that book is. If you don't know, then go read the book. Now. Borrow it from a friend, check it out from the library or buy it. Whatever works for you. Just read the dang old book, okay? I promise you won't be disappointed.

Another thing I did a couple of days ago, was start writing my own dystopian novel. I have had this idea in my head for a long long time and I'm finally getting the chance to write it. I don't really know how many words I have now but it's called As the World Burns and that is a pretty long title and it might change one day but that is what my Wordpad document is titled. I won't give you a full summary yet but it's about people who live underground and radiation poisoning and death and journeys across the unknown and as always, there is a love triangle. My characters even suffer from WNS (Weird Name Syndrome). But don't blame me, blame Suzanne Collins.

Ooh and I went to go see Clash of the Titans yesterday with my friends. There was a lot of cheesy moments, but the effects were so freaking awesome and I have a thing for Greek mythology so I really liked it. I don't think COTT is one of those movies you would want to buy when it comes out, just go see it at the movie theaters.

Also, I am reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth right now. I really wanted to read The Dead-Tossed Waves, but I figured I should start off with the first book even though I know that both of these books aren't really connected in any way. Or at least I think they're not. But I'm enjoying it so far. It's moving pretty slow, but hopefully something will happen soon.

Okay, that is all for me right now guys. I am going to go back to reading and writing and doing my homework because I go back to school on Monday, which sucks because I enjoyed being lazy.

Um, I'm still changing around my blog layout. I installed IntenseDebate and it got rid of all of my comments. I still have them, but they aren't showing up on the blog, so I have to see if I can fix that.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Edit: I forgot to add that I made a new email account the other day, because my main one is unbelievably cluttered. But if you would like to guest blog or if you want me to interview you or if you just want to email me here is my new email address: raven.ashley187@yahoo.com.

testing testing testing

2010-04-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

I installed IntenseDebate on my blog, and I just want to make sure I did it right, because I am not really good at installing things. So, here we go.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-03-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a teaser Tuesday in what seems like forever, and I have been writing, but everything I have written so far sucks. Every time I read over it, I don't know, I cringe.

But I keep having dreams about people living underground, and toxic waste, and adventures into the unknown. Dreams that I can't stop thinking about, even when I wake up.

Krista has decided to write a dystopian and she has persuaded me to give writing mine a try. I don't know anything about dystopian. I have read the Uglies series (would be considered dystopian or utopian?) The Giver, parts of Gathering Blue, and most recently The Hunger Games, but that's it. So please bare with me as you read this attempt of my first dystopian novel called As the World Burns.

I wake up to screams. Loud, blood-curdling screams that rattle my bones. It takes me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon I am able to make out the sleeping bags that are gathered around me. All of them are empty. Usually, I am able to hear when someone wakes up, but this time, I slept soundly. There were no nightmares about death or dying. It was just me and an endless twilight.

I pulled my arms out from under the covers, and shivered. The air was surprisingly cold. It made me want to wrap up in all the sleeping bags and go back to sleep for another hour, another day. But I had my early morning chores to do, and whoever was screaming wasn't going to stop long enough for me to get some more rest.

Reaching up, I grabbed a hold of the lantern, and took the cap off. A bright light filled the room, spraying the walls a faint orange. None of the other lanterns were in the room I noticed, as I scrambled to my feet. They were gone just like the other girls who slept in this room with me.

This was strange. I was the early riser in the group. Everyone else cried and moaned when the waking bell rang, and for some reason it didn't ring this morning. If it had, I didn't hear it. Which didn't make sense because the the waking bell was impossible to drown out. Just like these screams, they were loud and obnoxious and went on for what seemed like forever.

I moved over towards the table, where a basin filled with water was left, and set the lantern down beside it. Pushing up the sleeves of my pajama shirt, I dipped one of my fingers in. The water was still warm, which meant that it was heated up not too long ago. I was washing the sleep out of my eyes, when I realized what was going on. Today was the day. I don't how I could have forgotten about it, because everyone has been talking about it for days.

Celia was giving birth.

This wasn't the first time a girl in Under had a baby, but it was the first time in a long time that the baby made it through the nine months.

Captivating Thursday

2010-03-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

Captivating Thursday is a meme hosted by Choco over at In Which A Girl Reads. Her blog is amazing, so if you haven't checked it out yet, do so now. But Captivating Thursday is all about finding beautiful things and bringing them together in one post. It could be a picture, a poem, a video, a quote or anything you see that makes your heart flutter.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will."

~ Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

"Everyone gets lost at one point. It's how they find themselves that counts."

~ Raven Ashley, Mirror, Mirror

I shall forget you presently, my dear,
So make the most of this, your little day,
Your little month, your little half a year,
Ere I forget, or die, or move away,
And we are done forever; by and by
I shall forget you, as I said, but now,
If you entreat me with your loveliest lie
I will protest you with my favorite vow.
I would indeed that love were longer-lived,
And vows were not so brittle as they are,
But so it is, and nature has contrived
To struggle on without a break thus far, --
Whether or not we find what we are seeking
Is idle, biologically speaking.

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, I Shall Forget

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant."

~ Jane Austen, Persuasion

you and me can write a bad romance

2010-03-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

First off, Lady Gaga rocks.

Second off, I totally stole this idea from Choco, who wrote an extremely awesome post, that would pawn mine any day. So you should, like, go read it. Now. Clicky.

Third off, I'm not even going to go into what I think about today's YA romances. Because seriously. Some of the romances out there are ridiculous. A lot of them out there are crazy good, but there are a handful of them that just makes you want to throw the book across the room.

But I won't get into that. Especially since not too long ago (four years to be exact) I thought that stalker-ish, sparkly, dark, brooding vampires were the ideal love interest. But I have seen the light, and though I am not an expert, I do know what kind of romance that I like to read.

If you are reading this post, and you happen to have love triangle, square, circle, whatever, then pay close attention. Please.

Because I'm only going to say this once.

Romance has nothing to do with how drop-dead gorgeous the girl is or how smexy the guy is. Romance has nothing to do with steamy kissing scenes or the cheesy promises like I'll wait for you or You are my life.

If you have that stuff in your novel, then TAKE IT OUT NOW.

Some people go for that type of stuff, but a lot of people don't. When I read a young adult novel with romance elements, I want to feel it. I want it to be real. I want it to make me cry, make me smile, not make me gag because the words are too glittery or the love interest is too perfect.

No, no, no.

Love is about the words left unsaid. It's about the arguments, the heartbreak, the differences that are later resolved. Before you can truly love someone you have to know them. Forget all that love at first sight stuff.

People, this is the twenty first century. I'm not putting the love-at-first-sight method down, but come on. We all know that that is not how it works in real life.

In real life.

Think about it.

Have you ever been in a relationship where the girl or guy: a) stalked you b) treated you like dirt or c) wanted to kill you.

Anyone?

Okay I know a lot of girls/guys who have been in a B type of relationship, but if you have been in an A or C type of relationship, then there is something wrong with you.

In order for a young adult romance to be good, it has to be believable. It has to feel like it could happen, you know?

Don't just throw together some pretty promises and a few kiss scenes and call it a day. Because those steamy moments when your characters lock lips or say I love you, don't mean a thing if they don't have chemistry.

You have to work for love. It's not handed to you on a silver platter.

I like the type of romances that have layers. You know, where there are reasons why you 'love' this person. Not just the usual: because he or she is gorgeous/sexy.

Whatever.

If there is no chemistry, then there is no romance. If you do have a romance, where the characters are just two big cliches, then I feel sorry for you, because people are getting tired of reading those type of novels.

That is all I'm going to say on the subject. Disagree with me if you'd like, but know that I do think that romance in YA needs to change.

Book Review: FALLEN by Lauren Kate

2010-03-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Summary

Luce must spend her senior year at reform school after her boyfriend dies in a mysterious fire. She suspects that the dark shadows that have tormented her all her life had something to do with it. When she meets supernaturally gorgeous Daniel, she feels a familiar longing, making her believe they have met before. Although Cam is clearly interested in her, Luce only wants Daniel, who runs both hot and cold. He tries to keep Luce at a distance, telling her that the truth would kill her as it has many times before.

Review

I won't say that Fallen was a perfect book, because it wasn't. There were flaws. And when I say there were flaws, I mean that there were a lot of them.

The intro to this book, though not hooking, was so well-written, that I knew I had to read on. Only when I got to the first chapter, I found out that the characters in the intro were not the same as the ones in the first chapter.

Instead, we our introduced to a girl named Luce, who is at a reform school for a reason she doesn't like to talk to about, to anyone. The story starts off a bit slow, but the characters are interesting enough to hold your attention. One of those characters being Arriane, a seemingly crazy girl, who shows Luce the ropes of Sword & Cross.

Things don't seem to pick up until we meet Daniel, a boy who doesn't know Luce from Eve, and yet he flips her off, when she happens to catch his gaze.

Fallen was, I'll admit, a well-written novel. The descriptions were rich and vivid, but some characters and their relationships with others weren't as developed as they should have been.

There is a love triangle in this book.

If you don't know this by now, I love love triangles. I live for them, and I try to have a few of them in my novels, if it fits. But anyways, in my opinion, Miss Kate, did not do a good job with forming Luce's relationships with two seemingly gorgeous guys. Daniel, a boy who could care less about her, and Cam, a boy who likes her but whom she doesn't return the affection.

As I said, Daniel didn't care about her, sometimes he treated her like dirt, and yet she continued to like him. I mean COME ON. If a guy, treated me half as bad as Daniel treated her, I would not be attracted to him anymore.

And the author tried to explain that by saying that Luce felt like she knew him from somewhere. Forget that. Daniel didn't make sense as a love interest at first, and Cam, well I liked him. He seemed like a genuine bad boy, but he was also a little bit too nice for me, and after a while, I kinda figured out that he wasn't as nice as he appeared to be.

Some of the characters in this book were just THAT predictable.

All in all, Fallen was an okay book. There were a lot of flaws, and even though this book was well-written, it lacked in all the other areas. I will say that there was a good amount of romance, and that there were some scenes that took my breath away.

The minor characters, like Luce's parents could have been more concrete, because they were a little bland, and remember I said that Sword & Cross was a reform school? Well, it didn't feel like it. Sure there were the rules and regulations, but it didn't seem like there were other kids in the school, because Luce only ever talked about a certain group of people.

I liked the way the book ended, but the scenes before the ending were corny and rushed and you could really tell that it was planned out, but not executed as strong it should have been.

I give Fallen a 5/10 because it was a good read, but it just wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.

Girls Can Kick Butt Too

2010-03-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

I've been noticing a trend in YA books.

Some girl characters, I am not saying any names, are weak. They depend fully on their love interest, and they can't stand to live one moment without them, because they are their life, and they would die if anything happened to them...and blah blah blah.

Goodness.

Girls are not like that in real life.

We are strong. We can hold our own, and if a dragon or two comes our way, we can slay it, with or without a hot guy on our arm.

It's the twenty-first century, people. The age of the damsel-in-distress is long gone.

Let the girl save the guy for once.

Hmm. Dude-in-distress. That has a certain ring to it, don't you think?

Authors I Appreciate

2010-03-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

I really have been living under a rock, guys. I seriously did not know it was Author Appreciation week, and honestly, I have been waiting a long time for this kind of event, because authors rock. They are the people who make you fall head over heals for boys who you wish were real. They make you believe in things that others may not believe in. They make you laugh, cry, and squeal.

Authors are superheroes, and they deserve to be commended for their work. This is going to be a really long post, because I have A LOT of authors to appreciate.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE

I was eleven when my Aunt Mary handed me a copy of Jane Eyre. Ever since then, I have read the book at least one hundred times. The cover is falling off, and the pages are frayed, but Jane Eyre is possibly one of my favorite books, of all time.

I can honestly say that Miss Bronte was the woman who made me consider writing seriously. After reading Jane Eyre, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I knew I wanted to create characters that stuck with you, even after you finished the book.

Jane stuck with me even after I finished the last sentence. She was a character that I identified with, because she wasn't pretty or glamorous or blond or perfect, she was just a young woman, who was smart and timid and she seemed so real to me.

I haven't had a chance to read any more of Miss Bronte's work, but I wouldn't be surprised if all of them were just as great as Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte made me see that flaws are beautiful, and that characters who have them, are better than those that don't.

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

I have a huge literary crush on this man. I checked out a book of short stories written by him from the library, and I have been in love ever since.

The way he uses words, wow, it just blows me away. He makes them seem so beautiful, and he paints the pictures vividly in your head. Wow, wow, wow.

A lot of people say that they don't like his writer, but my goodness, this man could write. You can taste the Jazz Age in everything he wrote.

And not only is he an amazing writer, but he has some of the best quotes known to man. I could tell he was a very wise young man, and if you haven't read anything by Mr. Fitzgerald, go find something by him, to find out what I'm talking about, because I can't explain to you in enough words, why I love and appreciate him.

SARAH DESSEN

I really hadn't read a lot of YA Contemporary. Two summers ago, I picked up This Lullaby, and I fell in love with her characters, especially Dexter, who was fun and quirky and just so cute. I have read all of Miss Dessen's books except for two and I have loved every single one of them.

It amazes me how someone can write a story that has nothing to do with vampires or witches or ghost and yet, make it seem so magical.

HANNAH MOSKOWITZ

This girl is bad-ass. Seriously. She finished a novel in six days. Most importantly, she finished a novel in six days that was really kick-ass. Break was one of the best novels of 2009, in my opinion. I read it from cover to cover, and I am telling you, that book kept me up at night, because the way Jonah kept breaking things, the way his life was breaking all around him, just, I don't know, scared me.

And though it doesn't take a lot to scare me, I appreciate Hannah for showing the world that teens CAN write, and they can write pretty damn good stuff.

COURTNEY SUMMERS

I really want to be her. The way she writes is awesome. Short sentences that are really powerful and main characters that are so real you can touch them. Parker was a bitch, but she was a lovable, understandable bitch. Cracked Up To Be blew me away in more ways than one. I was crying at the end, and I appreciate Miss Summers because she wrote this book, and I still have to read Some Girls Are, but I know this woman is going to take the world by storm with her punch-in-the-face characters and novels that leave you speechless.

MAGGIE STIEFVATER

She has such a beautiful poetic way of writing, and not only is she a wonderful writer, but she can paint and play music. Really, that's so awesome. I appreciate her for the way she incorporates all of that into the novels that she writes. I also appreciate her for making Sam, who is sweet and cute and he writes songs, ohmigosh. Okay, okay. I'm calm. And lets not forget James, the sexy main character of Ballad. Thank you so much, Miss Stiefvater.

Other authors I appreciate are Melina Marchetta, who wrote Jellicoe Road, a novel I fangirl over constantly. Joan Lowery Nixon, a woman who wrote a lot of great thrillers and mysteries. Cassandra Clare, who wrote a series that had me on the edge of my seat. It was kick-ass and awesome and I can tell I'm going to be everything she writes, and last but not least, I appreciate Richelle Mead who created Rose, a girl who is not a damsel-in-distress.

There are probably a lot of other authors to appreciate, but I am tired, and I really need to get some sleep so that I don't be crabby in the morning.

Massive Book Giveaway

2010-03-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

To celebrate her blogs 1st birthday, Steph Bowe is giving away a lot books and swag, including bookmarks and a hole bunch of cool stuff.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty
Blue Plate Special by Michelle Kwansey
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
World Shaker by Richard Harland
Exposure by Mal Peet
Sprout by Dale Peck
Panama by Shelby Hiatt

Those are the books that you can win and she's also giving out critiques, so if you want a chance at winning all these prizes, go enter. NOW.

Linkage

RTW: Happy St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T18:08:00.001-07:00

So I forgot that today was St. Patrick's Day. Really, it wasn't my fault. I thought it was on Saturday, because that was when the parade was, which doesn't make since. But to all those Irish and to those who just like this day HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival created by the lovely ladies over at YA Highway. Today, in honor of St. Patty's day we are writing limericks about our favorite book or WIP(s).

SHATTERED

a girl with sorrow in her soul
goes to a town far away from Bristol
where death is all around
and where a boy that was once lost, is found
along with a dark secret, that threatens to be told

JELLICOE ROAD

Taylor ran away with a Cadet
A boy she can never forget
They are in the middle of a territory war
One that makes them want each other more
And then their lips met

So, the first one is for my newest WIP that I am plotting and writing and finding music for. The second one, of course, is from one of my favorite novels. If you haven't read Jellicoe Road, then I suggest you go find it and read it now, because it is A-MAZING. I know I said that before when I reviewed the book, but it's true. Okay, that's all for me today, folks.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-03-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Technically it's not Tuesday, but I'm not going to have time to post this tomorrow. This teaser is from SHATTERED, which you could read more about here.

"Wes is in town." I couldn't breathe. The air inside the car was growing thinner and thinner. My lungs were crashing into each other, and I felt like I was on a carousel, because there were a million thoughts spinning around in my head.
"What did you just say?" I tried to search my mother's eyes, but they were glued to the road. "What did you just say, mom?" The blood drained from my face, and I could feel my nails biting into my palms. I winced slightly at the pain, but it was nothing compared to what I was feeling right now.
"I saw his mother at the grocery store the other day. They moved into the old Windsor house. You know the one..." she started.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I looked at her. I really looked at her. There were creases in her lightly tanned forehead, and her raven-black hair was streaked with silver. She looked tired. As if, like me, she was carrying the world on her shoulders. Considering how I have been acting these past couple of years, I would believe her if she said she did.