It's been the longest of whiles since I did anything with the blog. There are lots of long stories to go along with why I've been radio silent for so long, but I'm very happy to say that I'm back for reals!
So many things happened while my blog was silent, but the real highlight has been Brenda Drake's Pitch Wars! In September, I found my name in the Alternate List and walked around skipping/casually not freaking out (or actually freaking out) because the wonderful, gracious, Zombieland-loving N.K. Traver decided to make me a part of #TeamTallahassee!
Based on Nat's feedback, I started to revise my YA Horror - which was easy some days and something close to the part of the action movie where the heroes destroy a major city while trying to defeat the villain on others. But I wound up adding a lot, like A LOT A LOT to my word count, and my story is so much stronger now because of this contest, Nat's advice, my awesome teammate Marisa's feedback (she got NINE REQUESTS in the contest, by the way, so hell yeah best team ever!!!!), and my CPs, who had to read like 50 billion versions of my story and never complained! You all are awesome, and I <3 you to the end of the universe and back!
But to fully appreciate the beauty of my new first page, I think it would be kind of cool to go back to my first first page of this story. You see, it started two years ago as my NaNoWriMo endeavor. While I managed to win NaNo with this story, it was very much a hot mess of like 53,000 words. It had it's creepy moments, yeah, but it was also really different. It started out following a group of teens who lived in a boarding school - and were also participating in a reality TV show. I wanted to deconstruct reality TV and have ghosts running around, and it...well, like I said, it was a hot mess. The characters were also rehearsing a certain Shakesperean show, which was going to be cool once I figured out how to tie the cameras and fake reality show things in, I swear.
Anyway, the first page of that...
I don’t know what I’m saying. That’s the problem with Shakespeare, I guess. He finds just about every way of saying something without actually saying it.
Oh, God. I’m starting to sound like him. Cam laughs – it’s a high melody – kind of like a bird chirping or something. Huh, there’s a thought – maybe Kate can sing along to Cam’s laughter.
“Miss Thomas!” Our theater teacher’s voice scratches out my name like nails on a chalkboard. Thankfully, we don’t have a chalkboard in the auditorium.
“Yeah, Mrs. Jones?” I ask, squinting into the light. She’s standing off-camera, directly behind the blinding light coming from the top of that stupid recording device. Excellent. I don’t suppose I’ll get used to being watched like this anytime soon.
“Get back to the play, please.”
“Ah, yes, it is the thing,” I mumble. Cam laughs again and I shoot her a look. She shakes her head, swinging her white-blond hair everywhere. She’s so pale and fragile looking that she makes perfect sense as a witch. Me…not so much.
But, whatever, I need this theater credit.
Mrs. Jones drums her long fingernails on her clipboard. “Miss Thomas, if you would start reciting lines from this play, perhaps we wouldn’t have to stop rehearsals every two minutes.”
“Hey, I could’ve been a great Hamlet- ”
Mrs. Jones rolls her eyes and waves a dismissive hand in my face. “Spare us the jokes, Quinn. Just get on with the scene.”
I dramatically hold the script in front of me. Well, it’s not really a script. It’s the Spark Note’s “No Fear Shakespeare” version of Macbeth. Spark Notes totally had the right idea with this “translation anyone can understand” thing. I’m still not sure why we’re using this version – it’s not like Prufrock Prep can’t afford actual Shakespeare scripts.
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So that was a thing that happened. A few months after NaNo, I was still tearing my hair out and trying to make the story work, and it wouldn't cooperate. Then one day I figured out that I had the whole thing wrong. Like way, way wrong. I decided that, while I loved my MC, she wasn't really in the right story. So I took her out of it, away from the prep school drama and the Shakespeare rehearsals, and threw her into the world of Colonial Williamsburg, urban legends, and missing relatives. Oh, and I decided to make it mimic a found-footage movie, because I got it like that.
If I wanted to make it super found footage-y, though, I knew I had to start it with something a little creepy. Though I deliberated for a long time about who should start the story, I ultimately landed on Quinn's cousin, Eli, who disappears along with her friends while hunting an urban legend for a reality TV show.
Which means my first page looked like this:
This is the part where they disappear.
June 21, 2013 (Summer Solstice)
8:00 PM
Outside of Williamsburg, VA
Battery Level: 89%
We shouldn’t be here. Despite all the signs, and how much we want to help, going into the White Woods this close to sunset is a stupid idea.
“When’s it supposed to get dark again?” Josh asks. If he’s joking, I’m gonna punch him.
“Not for a few more hours. It’s the longest day of the year, remember?” Alanna stands behind me, leaning on my shoulder as she stares into the camera’s display screen. She’s wearing her usual overly floral perfume – which is kind of ridiculous, since cryptids don’t really care how she smells. Well, that Wendigo in Oregon kind of did, but that was the only time. If it even was a Wendigo. I still think it was an overzealous bear.
But Alanna didn’t become a Wendigo-meal, or a bear-meal, so I guess it worked out.
She laughs as she moves next to me, keeping her eyes on Josh. “I think you’re gaining weight, Banks.”
Josh sticks his tongue out at us as Jira laughs. “I think she’s right,” Jira says, poking him in the shoulder. “Maybe you should stop eating so many cheeseburgers.”
“As fun as it is to point out Josh’s obsession with Big Macs,” I say, panning the camera across the open field. “We’ve still got a lot of ground to cover before the sun goes down.”
Josh laughs, walking over and clapping me on the shoulder. “Eliza, you need to stop worrying. Cameramen are supposed to be fearless, remember?”
The camera’s light mysteriously shines right in his face. Josh’s hands go up in front of his eyes as he staggers back.
“What the hell was that for, Chen?”
I shrug. “I’m a camerawoman, not a cameraman.”
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Which is all right, I suppose. It stayed like that for a little while...until PitchWars made me re-evaluate my life choices. After much toil and trouble (see what I did there?) I wound up submitting that and thennnnnnnnn the work began! Fast forward two months, and my first page now looks like this:
This is the part where they disappear.
The Wailing Wanderer
Season 2, Episode 1
Day 6
Cameraperson: Eliza Chen
June 21, 2013 (Summer Solstice)
8:00 PM
Outside of Williamsburg, VA
Battery Level: 89%
We shouldn’t be here. Despite all the signs, and how much we want to help, going into the White Woods this close to sunset is a stupid idea.
Josh throws an overly dramatic hand on his forehead. “Can we speed this up? I’m too pretty to risk being stuck in these woods for forever.”
Oh, good. If he keeps this up, I’ll punch him right where that embroidered eagle sits on his preppy polo. I swear, if we get trapped in these woods because we listened to someone who marks time by when the next J. Crew sale’s about to go down, instead of all the warnings – well. Let’s just say there aren’t enough words in the English language that can describe what I’ll do to him.
“It won’t get dark for a few more hours. It’s the longest day of the year, remember?” Alanna stands behind me, leaning on my shoulder as she stares into the camera’s display screen.
She’s wearing her usual floral perfume – which is kind of ridiculous, since cryptids don’t really care how she smells. Well, that Wendigo in Oregon did, but that was the only time. If it even was a Wendigo. I still think it was an overzealous bear.
But Alanna didn’t become a WendigoMeal™, or a BearMeal™, so I guess it worked out.
She laughs as she moves next to me. “Either the camera really does add ten pounds, or Josh needs to lay off the cheeseburgers.” She tosses her dark hair back, waiting for whatever smartass comment he’ll shoot her way.
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It's been really cool to see how much this book has changed over the past two years, and I'm really excited about what it's become. Although there have been times where I've cursed it's name, it's turned out to be better than I ever thought it would be, and there really isn't a good way to express how happy I am with it!
I've learned a lot, and am really grateful for being chosen and having such an awesome opportunity! I snagged quite a few requests, and I will now and forever Snoopy Dance around my apartment because my ghost/Japanese demon/Tarot Card/authentic Colonial Williamsburg story is pretty kick-ass...and slightly terrifying ;D
And now I'm on to the next story while I wait. It's also going to be a YA Horror, so get ready :D
Until next time!
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