Beautiful People- Author edition

 

 

Hi! It's time for Beautiful People again, and this month it's all about me!!

*ahem* I mean us.

The authors.

Anyway, these questions are amazing so I'm going to get right to them. 

How many years have you been writing? 

Literally, since I was in kindergarten. They weren't good stories, but I wrote lots of them. 

When did you officially consider yourself a ‘writer’?

About when I was 13, even though the stories I wrote at that age aren't allowed to see the light of day. 

 

 

How/why did you start writing?

Well, when I was little it was for two reasons. A) I either wanted a story to end different than it did, or I wanted a sequel, so I would write it how I wanted. 

B) I loved to read and I had so many ideas of my own that I wanted to get out. 

What’s your favorite part of writing? 

When it finally fits. Whatever I'm working on finally clicks and the characters are real and I don't have to force the plot anymore. I also am

Thrilled with story boarding. 

 

What’s your biggest writing struggle?

Staying off Pinterest. And fleshing out plots. Characters are easy, but plots trip me all the time. Oh! And research. Blasted stuff. 

 

Do you write best at night or day?

I do most of my writing in the evening when I'm not busy, but I don't know if it's my best. I can think better in the evening. 

What does your writing space look like? (Feel free to show us pictures!)

Generally, it looks like my living room, but if I want to retreat, I go here-

 

 

How long does it typically take you to write a complete draft?

I don't know...most of my stories have taken a year at least. One took like four years. But I've done them in a month too...I'm going to say it takes me a year to write the first draft. 

How many projects do you work on at once?

I've had as many as six, and as few as one, but I typically have at least two going. 

Do you prefer writing happy endings, sad ones, or somewhere in between?

In between. I don't want to be a complete beast to whatever readers I have, but completely happy endings don't seem real to me. 

List a few authors who’ve influenced your writing journey.

Louis L'amoure, Christopher Paolini, and Hilda Stahl influenced my writing style. Jill Williamson and Stephanie Morrill influenced my writing development. 

 

 

Do you let people read your writing? Why or why not?

Yes. Certain people. If I trust them, I want their feedback. Or someone to fangirl with me. 

What’s your ultimate writing goal or dream?

To be published by a company big enough that I can walk into the local bookstore and see my book on the shelf. 

If you didn’t write, what would you want to do?

Ranch. 

Do you have a book you'd like to write one day but don’t feel you’re ready to attempt it yet? 

I have a pirate one I'd like to write, but I'm trying to iron out the morality part of it. We'll see.  There's a few others that deal with touchy subjects that I'm a little leary of too. 

Which story has your heart and won't let go?

My first real length story, the Eiders of Carstindad. It's not even read worthy, but I love the characters. 

 

 

There you have it!

Throw Back Thursday

Hi guys!

I had an idea the other day, and I'm going to try something new on the blog.
On Thursdays I'm going to do a throw back. I have hoards of my old stories, and I thought it might be fun to post snippets from the stories that came from the same year. I'm curious how my writing style has developed. My spelling has drastically improved, but I'm seeing that some of my preferences in characters have changed as well, but some haven't.
This is just an experiment, and I guess I'll see how you guys like it before I commit to it. It probably wont go on forever, as I only have so many stories, but I should be able to keep it up for a month or better if it turns out good.

*I kept the grammar and all that the same, but I did correct the spelling to save me and you great pain.

2003 (I'd be age 7)

Once upon a time there was a kingdom and there was a dragon. It was destroying the forest so the king sent his bravest knights, Sir Red and Sir Blue, to go to the dragons lair where they slayed the dragon. When they got back they were given red and blue medals, and lived happily ever after. The end.

Don't laugh at me. I have some stories from when I was younger, but my mom has them stuffed away in a file somewhere, so I'll have to do some hunting for them. This is the earliest one I have in my bedroom. I ripped it out of my old Elmo journal ^_^ From this (incredibly) short story, we can gather that I liked fantasy (Hey! I HAVE wrote a story with a dragon in it. I'll have to remember that on next years Appreciate A Dragon Day), and that I had no clue of romance. Otherwise the knights would have been given the Princess' hands in marriage or something like that. I also had no idea for description, or original names.

These all came from 2007. I would have been eleven years old.

Brett Johnson

As the boy topped the hill he stopped to rest his horse. It had been a long day. Nobody knew where he came from or who he was. All they knew was that he went from town to town, stayed a while, then moved on.

Life on the prairie

Lauren was only two years older than Susan, and yet she acted so grown up. Susan didn’t think she could ever act as grownup as Lauren when she turned thirteen.

Mary Ann and the Baby

When Mary woke up she was exhausted.

Mary Ann and the best Christmas

The December winds blew cold as Mary Ann Coleman trudged up the path to the house from the chicken shed with a basket of eggs. She walked through the door of the little cabin and took a deep breath of the sweet smelling air. She took off her boots, and heavy wool coat and hung it on a peg. She sat the eggs on the table and sat down. Her ma Elizabeth was making eggs and bacon for breakfast. Her pa Luke was tending the fire in the wood stove. Her two younger sisters were playing with their rag dolls. Jenny was six and a little shy, Lucy was seven and wanted to be a grownup. Mary’s older sister Clara was fifteen and worried about the way she looked all the time. Mary didn’t know why. The way she looked at it, you brush your hair and it just gets tangly again.

Wow. That was painful. From these snippets we can gather that I had begun to grasp some idea of description. Apparently though, I thought that 11 year olds were a lot older than they really are. All of these characters are 11 (like I was), but I can't think of a single eleven year old who could roam around the wild west and get hired and have a high old time like Brett did. I still share Mary's feelings for tangled hair, and waking up exhausted. I can also tell you that I was reading The Sadie Rose book series at that time, and that Mary Ann was almost a direct rip off of that story. Mary Ann would be better spelled plagiarism.

Well, that's all I have for the 2007 era! Let me know what you think of this idea :)

Check In

 

 

I think it's time for a check in. It's almost mid January. 

Want to know how my list of resolutions is coming along?

I got a laptop, and I'm loving it.

 

I've been doing a read through of Out of Darkness and marking everything that catches my attention, and working on researching the location and details of gangs and such. It's tedious but going well. I shudder to think I released the story into the hands of people though. It was not ready. 

 

I've read my bible every day except for one Sunday morning and two days where I was down with the nasty flu.

 

I've been eating healthier, and I'm seeing some results. 

 

I've been working away on my two stories and they're coming along alright. 

 

I found I can write all of my cursive letters except I can't remember q and I'm too lazy to look it up. How often do you use q anyway? It's not pretty cursive, but it's not as bad as I remember it.

 

Got some supplies for Bekah's wedding gift (actually my mom got them, but I approved them)

I'm thrilled with the progress I'm making, and I'm really hoping I can keep it up.

 How about you? How are your goals and resolutions coming?

The Art of Characters

 

Hi guys! guess what? a new linkup is here from Stori Tori. It is partially for artists who like to draw their characters, (we're supposed to provide four pieces of art that remind us of the character) but since all of my boy characters end up looking like girls, and I can hardly draw a girl, I'll just furnish you with four pictures that remind me of my character. The topic for this set of questions is the protagonist.

  

Since I'm editing Out of Darkness I'm going to use its main character, Cannon.

 

 

 

1.) What does your character's eye, skin, and hair color tell about him/her?

Hmm, well he has blue eyes and that gives him that heartthrob vibe, his skin tells me he is Caucasian, and his hair color (black) says edgy. And you know, tall dark and handsome. 

2.) What does your character's hairstyle tell about him/her?

That he's messy and kind of punk. He likes it longer, and tousled looking. 

3.) What does your character's default outfit tell about him/her?

He's a total boy. A bit of a punk, thug type kid. He usually wears dark colors, skulls, leather jacket, etc. 

 

4.) Does he/she have an object(s) he/she carries around a lot?

He carries his phone all the time. A gun for half the book. Probably his wallet. 

5.) Does he/she have any particular scars or birthmarks?

He has a scar on his cheek from getting hit with a metal pipe when he was a kid. 

6.) Does he/she have any piercings or tattoos?

Nope. 

7.) How does he/she carry themselves? Shoulders back? Eye contact? Eyes down? Slumped shoulders?

He carries himself confidently. He makes eye contact most of the time, stands up straight, walks purposefully. 

8.) What is his/her default expression? Smiling? Frowning? Solemn?

He's probably smirking. 

9.) Does he/she wear make-up or face paint?

No, he does not. 

10.) Does his/her physical appearance change at any time? For example: If they have a power do their eyes glow or hair turn blue?

Nope. He looks the same at all times, unless Jeremy drags him to church. Then he might comb his hair and wear a button up shirt. 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I'm super excited about this new linkup since A Novel Idea has been discontinued :(

 

AADD

Assemble Minions!!

I just found out that yesterday was Appreciate A Dragon Day (AADD)! This was started by Donita K. Paul, whose writing I have yet to read, but I refuse to miss a chance to yap about dragons.  Since holidays always bleed into the weekend that follows them, I am claiming today as my dragon appreciation day.

I love dragons. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to them, several pictures and posters of them all over the wall, and I love to read about them. They are just so amazing.

So, without further ado, here is me showing my appreciation for dragons.

My Favorite Dragon Books:

Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Eldest- by Christopher Paolini

 

This series is amazing. If you haven't read it, you should. The dragons in it are amazing, not to mention Murtagh and the other characters. There are even whole chapters wrote from the dragons' perspectives!

 

The Dragons of Starlight: Starlighter, Warrior, Diviner, Liberatr- Bryan Davis

 

 

I haven't finished this series yet, but I've read the first two and I'm in love with them. The dragons are completely different than most dragons, but in a good way. And the characters are to die for.

 

 

My Favorite Fictional Dragons:

 

Thorn and Sapphira from The Inheritance cycle (the red and blue ones on the covers)

Thorn is such a tortured little (giant) guy, and Sapphira has so much sass.

 

Smaug from The Hobbit

He was terrifying. And I can use his line now.

 

Eustace from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

He made a much better dragon than a boy.

 

 

Favorite Dragon Pictures and Quotes:

 

 

Favorite Bible verses about dragons:

 

Isaiah 13:22

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

 

Job 30:29

I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

.....I have something to admit guys....I've never wrote a dragon in any of my stories. *ashamed*

I do plan for there to be mention of them in RP Fantasy, but I have no actual dragons playing roles in any of my stories. Oh well. I still love them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Idea

Hi all!

So I got an idea for a story the other day.

And I will not let myself actually write it yet, because I am working on Running Crazy, and RP Fantasy still, and I'm trying really hard to get them done- But that doesn't mean I can't make a Pinterest board and a book video.

Let me back up a little before I dump the whole load of self made fangirl paraphernalia on you.

See, I watched this video here and discovered the song Hey Brother by Avicii. And I loved it.
And I thought it would really fit my Dynamic Duo story.

But then I was sitting in the tractor waiting for Dad to get the feed wagon filled, and it hit me.
Twins. Identical twins. Identical, royal twins. Based off that song.

(don't tell me they can't be identical twins, because they are the exact same actor)

Here is the summary of the idea, thus far titled Hey Brother. I do not have character names picked out yet, so please forgive me.

Set in a medieval, identical twins are born to the king and queen. One of them is a grand total of six minutes older than the other, so he is set to inherit the throne. He resents this though, and when he is thirteen he runs away and no one is able to find him. To cover up the embarrassment and potential catastrophe that would come with their son and crown prince running away, the king and queen ask their remaining son to pretend to be his brother,  fully expecting the crown prince to come to his senses and return.
But he doesn't come back. Six years go by, and though they still keep his abandonment a secret, they exhaust every avenue they have to find him, but he manages to evade them all.
The remaining prince is still juggling both lives, attending some gatherings as himself, and others as his brother. Fulfilling his brother's duties as a suitor to a foreign princess, while avoiding all other females on his own. Political unrest between the country and its neighbors builds when the King falls deathly ill. The prince is faced with a decision to become his brother for good, or find a way to fake his death and go back to being just himself. He stalls this decision as long as possible because he loves the girl his brother was betrothed to marry, but he is wary of taking it any farther because he doesn't want to commit to being his brother for the rest of his life. While on a trip to meet with some ambassadors, he stumbles upon a man who looks just like him.
Being reunited with his brother is a tense thing at best, and there are a lot of hard feelings between the two. He decides to stall any revelations when his brother announces that he knows of a spy in the king's court, and a assassination and conquest plan underway. The two brothers agree to join forces to find who is behind these plans, and save the kingdom.

Here is  the video. It was too big to load on here, but tell me if it doesn't work.

There are a lot of things I need to figure out more, but that sums it up. As for the video, I couldn't get very good quality picture on some of the parts, because I don't have a way to save music videos, deleted scenes, and movie trailers, onto my computer like I did with the Eragon movie, so excuse the blurriness and poor filming on my part for some of it. It is the first book video I have ever made and I like it a lot, since it was just for fun.

 

Have a great day!

The Maze Runner Movie Review

Well, I managed to keep it a secret till Christmas day.

Minion 1 got The Maze Runner movie.

So this is my review of it.

First off.

Do not watch it with your grandma and parents.

They will not understand.

When you try and explain the book to them, they still will not understand.

Okay?

Moving on.

This movie. I liked it. I did not love it.

As a movie, it was good. Compared to the book, it was not.

I know the movies are never as good as the book, but when I have adaptions like Hunger Games and Divergent to look to, this one fell way short.

There were lots of things that were different from the book. Most of them didn't really change the plot any, but they certainly irritated readers like Minion 1 and I. Several of them seem like they will be huge problems for the later movies though. I could be wrong. Maybe they'll figure out how to make it fit, but I don't know how.
I'm sort of curious why James Dashner loved it so much. The man was like obsessed with it. Oh well.

If you can get past book nerd problems, it was a good movie. They took a complex story and it made sense in movie form. The actors did good at being their characters. Chuck was amazing. I didn't quite picture Newt that scrubby and Minho that Asian, but they still pulled it off very well. Newt wasn't as brilliantly sarcastic, but that's okay.

For content, there was a lot of cussing. I didn't count, but there was way more cussing than there was in the book. mostly D and H words, but there were some bigger ones like SOB. So, red flag on that front. That was the only downfall as far as content goes.

It's definitely not a lousy movie. I've already watched it twice since Christmas.

If you liked the books, it's worth the time to watch the movie.