Research-y Things: The Tarot Edition

Hello all!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Hopefully I'll start blogging regularly again soon, because I have a fun new YA Horror to gush over. But the gushing will have to wait for now. What I would like to talk about today is book research. Some of us have googled some questionable things in the names of our manuscripts, and I'm not saying I've done that, but...

I've totally done that.

Anyway, when I started writing this ghost story, I knew I wanted Tarot to play some sort of role. I'd been really fascinated with it for a while, but had no idea how to read the cards or what the purpose actually was. So, in the name of actually getting the facts correct in my manuscript, I looked up Tarot card meanings while sitting in an airport. And then I bought a book. And then I might've gotten a reading.

All for research, of course.

So Quinn, my main character, has been doing Tarot reading for years. She's quite good at it, and really dismayed when they visit a psychic who only has a very surface-level grasp of the concept. The psychic in my story is a bit of a wonderful troll, though, so she gives everyone an ominous card or two. The cards could definitely be taken as hints/warnings, but since this psychic really doesn't know what she's doing, they could also be taken as someone trying really hard to be a mystic and failing even harder.

It was a lot of fun to figure out who got what and how their cards relate to the story. I figured I'd share them, since I haven't posted in a while and I just bought a Tarot book today to further my research :)

So, without further ado, my characters and their cards:

Quinn: 
My main character gets The Magician, which suits her ridiculously well. This card is all about being resourceful and being a change agent and using what you have to achieve your goals. My dearest Quinn faces quite a few obstacles, and she uses her awesome skills (and her friends' skills) to make the best of each situation.

My favorite line of hers, though, happens when the psychic reveals her Major card.

“When you say it like that I sound like a magical, talented, cocky asshole.”

Cam:

One of Quinn's best friends, and the one who constantly keeps her in check, Cam's Major card is Strength. Cam can be assertive when she needs to be (usually when she's reigning in her friends' sometimes overly dramatic tendencies), but she's got a lot of heart, and is a very calming presence. Cam isn't afraid to tell it like it is, but she's also a huge fan of giving out hugs.

Leo:

Leo gets The Star because he wants to work in TV. Just kidding, he actually gets The Star because it mainly represents hope. Even though Leo gets pretty badly shaken at the beginning of my story, he holds on to the hope that his friends can solve the mysteries surrounding the infamously haunted White Woods. He's there to ground his friends, and pick them up whenever they're feeling down.

Rav:

Rav's card is probably my favorite, because I love foreshadowing :) My master of disaster gets The Moon is this awesomely ambiguous card that can represent uncertainty and deceit. To say more would give a lot of my story away, but I'll just say that his card is scarily accurate, and that he might want to trust his friends a liiiiiiiiitle bit more!

That's all I've got for now! I'll post four more characters and their cards tomorrow :)

That one time I went on an accidental hiatus...

WOOPS.

Sorry about that. I'll have an actual blog post soon with life updates/information on the Witch City, since that's where I'm living now!!! But the important things, really, are that I'm employed, my job is awesome but keeping me wayyyyyy busy, and I'm still working on my ghost story!

So yeah. More info soon. I miss you all and I'm sorry about my blogging fail for all of August :-/

What's Up Wednesday/Ready. Set. Write! Post # 9

So Alyssa from The Great Noveling Adventure contacted me for an interview!

This was my face when I got the email :P

If you'd like to see how bad at math I am, click riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here!

What I'm reading:

I'm still reading Ellen Oh's PROPHECY :) ASIA BASED HIGH FANTASY NOVELS ARE THE BEST!

What I'm writing:

The Ghost Story is officially at 23K!!! It'll probably get to 25K tonight :)

Here's another excerpt! My MC and her friends are about to figure out what's been waiting for them in a certain safety deposit box...

**************

I feel like a bank robber. I shouldn’t, since we have a key and Cam’s Josh’s sister, but there’s something really weird about going through someone else’s safety deposit box.

“Are you ready?” Cam asks as we all sit in the car outside of the bank. No one answers. “I’m gonna take that as a yes,” she says, switching the ignition off. “Just…just let me do the talking, okay?”

We all get out of the car without saying anything else. After everything that happened last night, I don’t think any of us got a lot of sleep. My hand still stings from that whole blood ritual thing, and Leo hasn’t spoken to any of us.

He’s been so quiet. I don’t know what to do to help him.

Jeff nudges me, trying to smile. “You look like you came out of a horror movie.”

“Yeah, and you look like a beauty queen.”

**************

(Attainable!) Goal is 40K by the end of August!!!

What else I've been up to:

I GOT A JOB!!! I'll be moving to Salem, Massachusetts very soon and will have lots of updates, especially around Halloween (they celebrate Halloween the WHOLE month of October!)

What inspires me right now:

GHOSTS.

In honor of my new job, WITCHES.

Pretty much anything creepy.

Happy Writing!

:P

What's Up Wednesday/Ready. Set. Write Post #8!

Soooooo I didn't do one of these last week.

This is still one of my favorite GIFs. And maybe also my punishment for not posting last week.
This will haunt me in my nightmares tonight.

What I'm reading:

I'm bringing Ellen Oh's PROPHECY with me during my travels :) I'm quite excited to read an Asia-based high fantasy!!!

What I'm writing:

The Ghost Story is officially at 22K!!! I had massive writers block for a couple of weeks, but I think it's broken now, so YAY! Here's an excerpt (this still takes place in the cemetery, shortly after the last excerpt I posted)!

**************

Cam makes it to the circle of candles and bloodied dirt first. “What the hell are you doing? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

My face warms as I put my cut-open hand behind my back. “I, uh, left it in the car-”

“What’re you thinking? Why’d you leave it in the car?” Her eyes dart around from Tal, to the candles, to the knife that Tal didn’t bother hiding. Damnit. Here we go. “And show me your hand.”

I don’t move. “I-”

“You will show me your hand right now, Quinn Thomas!”

My shoulders sink in as I hold out my cut hand. Leo skids to a stop in time to see it, and Jeff, who’s never been able to control how he runs, smacks into him. They barrel into the ground, cursing.

I’d laugh, but Cam’s face is enough to make sure I never feel the need to be happy again.

“You.” She points at Tal. “You did this to her.”

Tal shrugs. Props to her for not wilting under Cam’s death-glare. “It needed to be done. I was hoping the rest of you would join us before we got started.”

“Before what got started?” Leo asks, brushing himself off.

Tal smiles. “Our conversation with dead people.”

**************

New goal is maybeeeeeeee 40K by the end of August? I think I can do that!!!

What else I've been up to:

MOAR job interviews. That's...that's pretty much it haha

;_;

What inspires me right now:

GHOSTS.

I'm actually in Salem, Massachusetts right now, so I'd be remiss to leave out witches/witch trails :)

And...my sad playlist, surprisingly...

Happy Writing!

:P

Me Vs. Summer Movies: The Conjuring

Hello all!

So..."The Conjuring" happened. Twice. In case you didn't see my tweets about it, I absolutely LOVE this movie. It's a beautifully shot horror movie, hits all the scare beats perfectly, and is just full of win.

Like, a lot of win.

I was ridiculously excited when I learned about the movie! During my freshman year of college, Lorraine Warren came to my campus and spoke (it was on my birthday, which made it even better, really), and it was an amazingly intense experience. Whether one believes in the paranormal or not, some of the footage they showed and voice recordings they played were downright chilling (there's one of a supposed Civil War soldier that made me involuntarily cry). It was also pretty cool that, during a lecture in "The Conjuring," they recreated one of the actual videos of a supposed exorcism that I saw during Lorraine's lecture at my university!

I disclose this because I already had a bit of a bias going in to the movie. BUT I'm quite glad that it not only met but exceeded my expectations :D

With that person disclaimer out of the way, here's my breakdown of why I love this movie! 

First and foremost, THIS MOVIE PASSES THE BECHDEL TEST. It's the second movie this summer I've seen that passes the test. I'm just gonna let that thought sit there for a bit. The only two movies to pass the Bechdel Test so far were "The Heat" (a wonderful female buddy cop comedy) and "The Conjuring" (an excellent haunted house movie).

Second, this movie was great because at one point a lady in the theater legitimately jumped out of her seat, screaming. She ran out of the theater, still screaming, and the movie hadn't even reached its highest level of scary yet. I had no idea that people actually jumped out of seats like that in real life (when I get scared I tend to slide down my seat, and usually end up on the floor). I think any movie that can evoke that kind of response from someone is doing something right (and she was fine, she came back and watched the rest of the movie).

Third, the movie reinforced the idea that imaginations really are our worst enemies. "Jaws" is one of my favorite movies, and the whole reason it works/scared so many people is because Bruce (the shark) isn't revealed for a good part of the movie. I know this was because Bruce wasn't working for most of the shoot, but it's hard to imagine that movie being so scary if the shark was shown from the start. Likewise, "The Conjuring" works best when it's not showing us what's messing with the family.

The shots of the antagonistic force inside the house are scary (and there's a bit involving that force and another creepy thing that made me actually fall on the floor). BUT there's a part where one of the daughters is just staring into the darkness, claiming to see something, and all the audience can see is, well, darkness. That was one of the worst parts for me, as my mind ran through a dozen different scenarios, and none of them were bright and sunshine-y. Our imaginations are awesome things, and are even better if we can tap into that dark part and turn it against ourselves.

This movie works because the director understands what makes something as innocuous as a broken clock terrifying, and all of the actors are also awesome at selling this intense, well-rounded 1970s haunted house story. I'm gad this was already greenlit for a sequel, because it certainly deserves it! I look forward to watching the next ghost hunting adventure with the Warrens. In the meantime, I might go see "The Conjuring" for a third time.

Even if I won't be able to fully leave my imagination at home...

It's just a bunch of hocus pocus!

Hello everyone!

I haven't written a blog post in a while, so I figured I'd try to fix that a little bit. We'll see how this goes, though. Also, here ye be warned. Les Mis GIFs galore because I'm me.

I don't know why this is relevant, I just think it is. Maybe it's how I feel?

Anyway, I'm almost at 19K in my ghost story, which makes me really really happy! Erm, because writing about people dying and tragic ghost stories are the kind of feel good puppies and rainbow stuff that I fill my life with. 

In all fairness, I did listen to Les Mis for like five months straight so I guess my "happiness meter" is a little off.

So, the ghost story. Early reports are that it's creepy, which is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge plus for me because it means that I've actually figured out how to...be creepy.

Yeah, it's mostly by doing this a lot...

Since I'm still in the drafting process, I can't give too much away, BUT I can talk about what it was before this draft (which, hey, it's the point! I figured out the point of this post!!!).

I will never not get tired of this GIF.

Before the current draft, my story was an around 60K product of NaNoWriMo. It still had most of the same characters, and it took place at a boarding school that had a rather sinister reputation. Macbeth played a big role in my story, and my main character was cast as one of the witches. She also made a lot of Hamlet references, just to mess with her drama teacher.

There were a lot of subplots, a character who was kind of like a high-functioning zombie, ghostly dreams, things getting written in blood, and a few fun sequences that might get adjusted and put into my newer version. I was super pumped during NaNo because I thought this story was awesome and that it would be super legit when I was done with it. And I'd totally planned on finishing my first draft in December.

Which obviously didn't happen, since Les Mis sort of took over my life.

When I went back to the draft of my ghost story, I knew it was a bit of a hot mess. And I was determined to fix said hot mess. I'd come up with a new angle and was really excited because this angle meant that I'd have to revise, but not a significant amount. So I started the story a chapter earlier with my new angle, and refused to acknowledge that something was off about it.

I sent it to a very trusty CP and...she said something was off. So then I sat there, staring at this story that had come so far, and I...didn't know what to do.

This was my face as I tried to figure out what went wrong.

I came to the conclusion that the whole thing just didn't work. Which is probably the worst feeling in the world, when I'm 60K into something and I love my characters and the concept and the whole thing just isn't clicking into place.

The book I'd written before the ghost story had happened so easily that I was really confused when this wouldn't work. No matter how many times I tried, it wasn't happening. Not being able to fix my story was terrifying, disheartening, and basically had me feeling like this:

STORY WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING???

And that's when I realized that I had to change my whole book to make it work. I got a bit scared again, because I'd written so much and I'd have to start fresh. I was attached to certain things from this first draft, and I knew I'd lose a lot of it by taking it in a new direction.

So then I did this for a while:

On my own. Writing a ghost storyyyyyyyy.

But then something awesome happened. Everything clicked into place. The characters I loved actually felt like they belonged in this new story. The concept I'd wanted to incorporate from the beginning WORKED. My story WORKED. And it was really through something as simple as changing the setting and the circumstances surrounding a major plot point/the story's concept. It was the book I'd wanted all along, but had no idea how to find in November. It was my ghost story. I'd finally found my ghost story.

I was surprised, too.

So now I'm happy to report that I have full confidence in my tale of ghostiness. I know the plot twists, and how I want to make everything happen, and if I could publicly gush about the concept, I would, because I love it and it's everything I ever wanted to write. 

I suppose the point of all this, if there was one, is that I wouldn't have a story I was completely in love with if I hadn't realized that I didn't love the first version of it. The lesson I learned here is that, when it comes to my own stories, I really should trust my gut. Otherwise, I won't be happy and the whole thing will wind up being one hot mess.

Okay, I think I'm done rambling! YAY for figuring stories out! And YAY for facing the fact that sometimes there are stories that cannot be --- because there are better ones waiting to happen :)

Yeah I'm using this GIF twice in one post.
One might say I have a heart full of love for it.

**GIFs from tumblr!

What's Up Wednesday/Ready. Set. Write Post #6!

I'm writing this a full day in advance!!!

I'm learning!!!

WHY is this one of my favorite GIFs now?

What I'm reading:

I'M BETA READING THINGS AND READING GHOST STORIES SET IN VIRGINIA FOR RESEARCH THINGS. I'VE NO IDEA WHY THIS IS CAPS LOCKED. OH WELL.

What I'm writing:

The Ghost Story is officially at 15K!!! WOO! I still can't say a lot about it, because the whole concept is quite spoilery, but here's an excerpt! My MC, Quinn, is meeting with another character in a cemetery. There may or may not be a nod to something in their conversation 

;D

Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

**************

The moonlight barely peeks through clouds that definitely weren’t there a minute ago. This whole place is surrounded by woods, which might be awesome during the day, but by lamplight it’s less awesome. And yeah, lamplight. There aren’t legitimate light poles in this cemetery. Maybe they took a leaf out of Colonial Williamsburg’s book and wanted to be “authentic.” An owl hoots somewhere in the distance, and everything in this place is so silent that the sound of its' flight tears through the air. That’s a shame. That owl was the only other living thing in this place.

“You’re on time,” Tal’s voice makes me jump ---right into a gravestone. Pain arches across the back of my legs, but it doesn’t stop me from glaring at her.

“And you’re late.”

“Only by a minute.”

“You also made me run into something for the second time today.”

“That’s your fault, not mine.” Her eyes drift down to my camera bag. “What’s the matter, not recording any of this?”

“How do you know I haven’t rigged a camera up in that tree?” I point behind me. “Gives everyone a perfect view of you in case you try anything.”

She laughs. “It’s a clever lie, but I’ve been here for an hour now. You haven’t done anything save for pace back and forth and sing ‘On My Own,’ over and over.”

“What? It’s a solid song from an awesome musical.”

“Yes, but did you have to sing it twenty times?”

“Was it that bad?”

“No, you have a pretty good voice, actually.”

“Aww, thanks. You know, we did Les Mis last spring, and I didn’t get picked for Éponine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I was so pissed. I mean, I ended up getting Madame Thenardier’s part, so close enough, I guess, but-” I laugh, stopping the derailing train that was our conversation. “But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Can you please tell me why I’m in this creepy-ass cemetery after sundown?”

**************

New goal is maybeeeeeeee 25K by the end of July? I think I can do that!!!

What else I've been up to:

MOAR job interviews. That's...that's pretty much it haha

;_;

What inspires me right now:

GHOSTS.

Other creepy things.

Marathons of "Destination Truth" :D

MS MR's "Bones"

Macbeth.

Happy Writing!

:P