Progress!

Right, so I've managed to get a bit of writing time in during this long weekend! YAY! I'm really excited to get back to making things up, and got a few research books today that I'll have to pour through to get my world-building stuff right! I'm basing a lot of my high-fantasy off of ancient China and Japan, and I really can't wait to incorporate both of those cultures into the world my characters are trying to figure out.

I made it to 17K today, and am really hoping to get to 20K by the end of the week! I also have a lot of things to beta (sorry, CPs, for being the worst writing friend on the planet these past few months) and a ton of pubbed things to read! I think one of the reasons I went on a mostly-accidental writing hiatus is that I had a difficult time finding balance between a time-consuming, but pretty rewarding job, giving my brain time to rest each day after said job, and whatever other curveballs life decided to throw my way. But I've got a semester of experience behind me now, and I'm totally ready to do this thing!

So, in honor of me actually posting more than one thing on this blog in a month, and me getting back to writing, here's an excerpt of the YA high-fantasy I'm working on (shameless plug? Maybe...)

Be on the lookout for more posts this week! (HINT: One will probably be about Frozen, and only 60% of them will be as self-serving as this one haha)

 

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I used to be afraid of thunder. It doesn’t make a lot of sense now, of course. Lightning was the more logical thing to be scared of. It was flashy, unpredictable, could kill you if it hit you – but I couldn’t find it in me to be frightened when it struck. It’s not like I thought lightning was beautiful, or divine, or fascinating. Lightning just was, and I didn’t care that it existed.

Thunder, however, was terrifying. It was loud, and invisible, and could wrap around you, completely engulfing you, if you let it.

I thought I’d grown out of my fear, but as I stood in the middle of the field, waiting for my opponent to come out of his hiding place, it was like standing in the middle of a million storms. I was six again, and afraid, so afraid, that the thunder was coming to get me. Never mind that the thunder was only the cheering crowd. It wasn’t even troubling that, for the most part, they weren’t cheering for me.



And now I'm back...from outer space!

By "outer space" I totally mean whatever long-term-accidental hiatus happened these last few months. Well, it's been more than a few months, but I don't think that's the point.

So hello! It's been a long, long time and I'm really very sorry that I've been so M.I.A. I'm hoping that'll be over soon as I'm finally learning how to balance my big-kid job with actually having a life outside of said job. And part of that outside life is getting back to writing! I think my break from everything writing-related was nice, because I remembered why I started to come up with stories and characters in the first place.

This past year has been quite the roller coaster and I think I lost sight of a lot of things that are important to me. Thankfully life has a way of smacking you in the face and reminding you about what matters most.

So.

I'm going to focus a bit more on the two stories I've started. One is a YA High Fantasy that has a pretty epic unreliable narrator and will require an Ocean's 11-esque amount of planning, if you catch my drift. ;D

The other is...hmm, how do I describe this? I suppose it's a YA Contemp with quite a bit of magical realism. I'll just leave the first page at the bottom of this post and let you draw your own conclusions about what's happening (10 points to your Hogwarts House if you get it right!).

2014 has been a challenging year so far, but it's also let me learn a lot about myself. I can't wait to see what else happens, and to tackle this undoubtedly eventful year with some awesome people (and hey, if you're reading this, you count as one of them!).

Happy 2014, y'all! Let's do this thing!

First page time what what?!?

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I’ve gotta be dead.  Or in hell.  That’s the only reasonable explanation for why I’m listening to this perpetual blonde stereotype drone on and on about how her Dad started her stupid pill addiction.

Well, I guess that’s not fair.  Her addiction isn’t stupid.  She is.

If I have to sit through five more minutes of, “My Dad was a psycho, he locked me up in the attic, and the only other thing in there was an exercise bike,” I swear, I’m gonna set this whole place on fire.

So what if I actually end up in Juvie this time?  It’ll be a whole lot better than this pathetic excuse for a school.  And this damn “sharing group.”

The blonde nightmare bites her lower lip again, shaking in her seat.  “And I didn’t have anything else to do, so most of the day I just used the exercise bike.  And, it’s like, no matter how fast I pedaled, I just couldn’t get away—”

“Because those bikes are stationary,” I spit out. 

“Mal,” our bottle-of-sunshine group therapist chides, “you’ll have your turn in a few moments.  Right now it’s Rory’s time.”

Rory, Little Miss Exercise Bike herself, gives me what might be her version of a death glare.  I slide farther down into my chair.  “Sorry, princess.  Go ahead,” I say, while mimicking a very strange sit-bow.

Ms. Therapist shoots me a look, but I’m not apologizing for calling Rory a princess.  She sure as hell acts like one all the time.



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...