tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79707033677995850012024-02-18T21:19:32.613-08:00The Pen and ParchmentA blog about how writing affects me, tips for writers,pieces of my writings, and just things in my life.Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.comBlogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-13518149024337545482015-09-13T04:28:00.000-07:002015-09-13T04:33:46.715-07:00Musings and Mutterings: thoughts on POV... again...<span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing has come slow for me lately. Painfully slow. Like dragging-my-legs-through-a-thigh-deep-tar-pit, slow. Don't ask me why... it just happens to me every once in a while, and I guess this is one of those times.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In an effort to speed things up a bit, I recently reached out to some dear friends of mine for critique. I received some feedback, all varied and different; no one person's feedback was the same. I have learned to take all feedback gratefully but with a grain of salt, and usually I spend some time mauling over the advice in my head and carefully considering it from all angles before using it or discarding it in turn. For some reason this seems to help get the creative juices flowing... again, I have no idea why.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In some recent feedback I received, my reviewer mentioned something that caught my interest, though not, I might mention, for the reasons this reviewer might have hoped. Now, I want to make it clear here and now that this post in not meant to point fingers by any means. In fact, this reviewer's view on writing is one I've seen and read of quite often in the past, but for some reason it struck me odd this last time. I have no idea why. And honestly, while I feel that this is something I should maybe talk about, I can only hope I address it properly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You see, dear readers, I tend to write in a third person, past tense limited POV. This means that, for the most part, I stick to following one character at a time while I write. I don't "jump heads" as is common with the Omniscient POV, and I don't write as if I am the person in the story as I would if I were writing in first person POV. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To be quite clear, Third Person POV is written where all characters are referred to by pronouns such as "he", "she", "him", "her", "they", "them", "it", and so forth. </span><u style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Limited</i></u><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Third Person follows only one person at a time and sticks with that person's character without jumping back and forth into other characters' heads. A lot of people think (as my reviewer did) that this means we can </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">ONLY</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and feel what the MC can... which, for the most part, is true. A lot of people also take this to mean that we can only let the reader notice what the MC notices... again, to a degree, true.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But here's the thing. I write in THIRD person POV... which means I am NOT writing as the MC himself. Instead, I am writing as someone who witnessed the events. The biggest and perhaps the most important difference between Third Person and First Person POV is that I am not playing the actual character. Instead, I'm the "fly on the wall". I am the witness; I'm not actually part of the story but I am the one watching it and taking note. SOOO... While writing in Third Person limited I should only follow one character at a time and avoid head jumping, I can also add in details that perhaps my character might have only taken slight notice of, or might have seen in a quick glance, or might have paid very little attention to at the time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For instance, this sentence here from my current WIP: </span><i style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933336257935px;">Morven raced through the palace's corridors, bare feet slapping the marble floor as his night robes fluttered wild behind him.</i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">My reviewer, with all the best intentions, mentioned that Morven couldn't see his robe fluttering out behind him... therefore it should be left out of the scene.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">My view is that </span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">technically</i><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"> speaking, my character could still </span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">feel </i><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">(and probably hear) </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">the robe fluttering out behind him, because usually a person could feel what their clothes are doing when said person is wearing them... but besides that, it doesn't </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 15.6933336257935px;">necessarily</span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"> matter whether or not Morven could or couldn't feel or see the fluttering robes, because I am the one who is actually telling the story, NOT Morven... and as I am just a watcher and not the character himself, I can still see the fluttering robes whether he can or not... and as the robes are on Morven and thus the story is following his character and not head-jumping to other characters, the fluttering robes are a detail that do not need to be edited out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">Another example perhaps? How about this one: Which should you use? "He paled" or "His cheeks went cold"?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">Well... no, an MC can't </span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">see</i><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"> his cheeks go pale while he might be able to </span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">feel</i><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"> them go cold, its true. So which one of these examples is </span><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">right</i><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"> to use?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">Personally, I say that either of them is right. If you, as the writer, put in that the MC feels his cheeks go cold and the </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 15.6933336257935px;">rhythm</span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"> and flow of the words work with your story, then go for it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">But perhaps you prefer how it sounds to say "His cheeks drained of all color" or even the simpler "He paled"... In my oppinion there is nothing wrong with using this wording for the simple fact that, while your character may not be able to see himself go pale, YOU can. And YOU are the one "telling" the story, not your character... even though he is the one you are telling the story about. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This kind of power should not be taken lightly though and should be used with care. But it CAN be used well. In fact, if you are an avid reader, you've seen it used many many times and probably hardly even noticed it. A good writer knows how to use it to add to the story and not to distract from it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 107%;">Do you get it? I hope that I've done the idea justice. I admit that sometimes my ideas are better expressed through face to face conversations than through blog posts. But I look at it this way: often times in writing, the line between "good" writing and "better" writing is blurred beyond distinction. At those times, the ultimate decision is up to the writer and what he or she feels fits their story best. Yes, of course there are rules to follow, but rules were meant to be broken after all... And many times how the rule is used depends entirely on the writer's personal understanding of the rule. My hope is that my understanding of this particular rule can help others who are struggling with it in their own story. The realization sure helped me loosen up when it came to moving forward in my own WIP. :)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br />HAPPY WRITING ALL! :D </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="apple-converted-space">Nichole</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br /></blockquote>
</div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-89877306271171659792014-10-17T07:41:00.001-07:002014-10-17T07:41:10.128-07:00Writer’s Block: The Truth About My Struggles and Fears<span xmlns=''><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>You know, I've been sitting down the last couple days trying to come up with something together and precise and profound to blog about the writing process. What I keep getting is a good idea and a good start, and a whole lot of rambling afterwards. It's not that I don't know what I want to write... its really that I just don't know how to get it written down in an organized manner.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Come to think of it, this is the same problem I have when I'm working on my novel. I have a good idea and a pretty decent beginning... and then it just starts to feel like I'm rambling and everything is being thrown down on the page in a jumbled mess. And often times because it is a jumbled mess and I feel like it needs to be organized and put in an understandable order, I get what many writers refer to as Writer's Block and can't get my story to move forward at all.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>There are many many writers who will tell you that there is no such thing as Writer's Block; there is only procrastination. These writers will tell you that the only thing you really need to do is sit your butt down in a chair and just start writing. To a certain point this is true, but for anyone who has actually faced the dreaded Writer's Block, we know that it most certainly is real and very very daunting. <br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Another, description that I think is more accurate is, "Writer's Block is only fear." Like many before me, when I first read that saying I totally disagreed with it but now, after taking the time to really analyze what it is that mentally paralyzes me so thoroughly, I think Writer's Block may indeed (at least partially) consist of fear. And I think that each writer's fear is different, resulting in a different form of Writer's Block. Some writers may be afraid of judgment, others actually afraid of success, and some might be afraid of failing, but my fear is different. I don't mind the judgment so much, I certainly hope to succeed in writing, and I'm not really afraid of failing because everyone fails sometimes and if you pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and keep going, that's a type of success in itself. So what other kind of paralyzing fear is there?<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>I had to really think about that. I knew that I had a problem, and I suspected that it came from some deep innate fear that I couldn't overcome easily, but what was it? After mulling the problem over for several hours, I thought I had found the answer. I called it "The fear of going nowhere" and I started writing another blog post about it... but I never finished that post because halfway through it I changed the name of the fear to "The fear of not being sure how to get there" which was perhaps more accurate. This was because it wasn't that my stories were going nowhere: I knew they were going <em>somewhere... </em>I just didn't know how to get my stories from point A to point B.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>But now thinking about it, I realize that getter from point A to point B isn't even the hard part. Sitting down and just typing will eventually fix that problem. And so I think that my Writer's Block consists of a different type of fear entirely. I call it "The fear of not making sense"... or maybe "The fear of rambling". Both of these fears, however, are part of something else, a much deeper, darker, and far more sinister force: "The fear of making a fool of yourself". This fear is NOT to be confused with "The fear of being judged" for though they are similar at first glance, they actually have some very different qualities. For example, people will judge you and your art whether you are smart or foolish, simple or complicated, classy or artistically unique. You can't escape the judgement of other people. Why, most of you have already judged me in some way or other after only reading the first couple paragraphs of this post! People can't help judging other people; it's our nature. But as we subconsciously judge everything around us, we put these judged things into mental categories.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>And THAT is my fear.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>I am not afraid of being judged. I expect you to judge me because I know you will anyway, even without realizing it. My TRUE fear is being judged as a fool or an incompetent despite my very best efforts to come across as the opposite.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Do you know how many times I've rewritten the beginning of my WIP, "Song of the Daystar"?<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Neither do I.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>I lost track somewhere around the 8th rewrite, when I decided to scrap <em>everything </em>in the original draft except for the character names and start completely over from scratch. I became what I like to refer to as "a bloody-penned perfectionist." I LOVE critiques, and do you know why? Because it gives me a chance to see what others think about my novels, and it gives me the opportunity to rip my literary works apart in order to make them better (or at least that's what I tell myself). I've done this so many times with the beginning of SOTD that I am extremely tired of working on it. But here is the kicker; I've sworn to myself that THIS draft really WILL be the last draft, and so I want it to be <em>perfect</em>. You've heard of perfectionist writers before, right? Well, I'm one of them, and at the core of this perfectionism is my need to not be judged as a fool in the literary world. I can't move forward if it's not perfect because that goes against my promise to myself, and I don't want this draft turning out anything like the original story which will never again see the light or day because then I truly WILL be making a fool of myself.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>To some degree this perfectionism with my art is a good thing. It shows that I want it to be the very very best that it can be. However, because my perfectionism is driven by a need to not come across as a fool to my peers, it also terrifies and overwhelms me. And because I am terrified and overwhelmed by it, I procrastinate... which is actually extremely painful and mentally draining because I KNOW I should be writing, but I just can't face my own extremely high expectations for myself. You don't know how painful that can actually be unless you are a writer yourself and have faced the same thing. :P<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Being a perfectionist has other unfortunate side effects too. It's not just that I can't move forward unless I feel the story is perfect… It's also that I can't move forward unless I feel like the story is making sense. You remember what I was talking about earlier? How I mentioned that I decided to call my fear "The Fear of Not Making Sense' or "The Fear of Rambling"? Well, this is where it comes into play. When I first started writing, I was a true Pantster. I wrote without any thought about what was <em>really</em> going to happen next and just let the words and the characters pull me forward on the adventure that was their lives and very existence. I allowed them to show me their worlds with no thought about how the big overall picture was supposed to look. I didn't know how the story was going to end back then, and frankly I didn't care. I was more interested in the pure unadulterated pleasure of discovery and exploration. <br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Now, however, I have had years of study in the art of writing. My art and ability has grown immensely and I understand the mechanics of the art <em>much</em> better than I did back when I only wrote for the <em>feel</em> of writing and the love of words. However, though I still retain a strong, unquenchable passion for wordsmithing, I have lost the free-spirited abandon with which I used to fling myself into the story. I have come to understand that there is actually <em>more</em> to writing a successful novel (in any genre) than just simply <em>writing, </em>and this is where I find myself taking pause<em>.</em> Where before I didn't mind the rambling nature of my story simply because I enjoyed the writing, NOW I see that same rambling nature as confusing and disorganized… a jumbled mess of storylines thrown together in no particular order and ultimately making a mess of the plot. Dialogue that used to seem witty and intelligent to me now feels stilted and choppy; prose and descriptions I once fell in love with for their rhythm and color now feel dull and lack-luster; characters I once felt were believable and emotionally deep now feel shallow and dim-witted. <br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>You see my problem, right?<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>And yes, I admit that part of this has to do with the process of rewriting. Tearing into a first draft can be quite traumatizing and eye-opening. The emotional journey of a writer doing a rewrite is extreme and hard… like being continually pounded by a sledgehammer while fireworks go off in the background; the fireworks may be beautiful, true, but the constant loud booming of the explosions sets your wits completely on end making you a nervous wreck while the continual pounding of the sledgehammer bruises and beats you flatter and flatter onto the concrete.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Yes, rewriting a first draft is quite a terrifying experience. But what if this isn't the first draft of your book? Or even the second, third, or fourth drafts? What if this isn't even the <em>eighth</em> draft??? <br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>I want this story to move forward <em>soooo</em> bad. And not just this story either, but others I have in the making. However, I <em>don't</em> want these stories to end up with good ideas, decent beginnings… and horribly confusing, rambling middles with unsatisfactory endings. This is what I fear will happen, turning me into a total fool. <em>This</em> is what many of my stories consisted of in the past. <br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>How do you fix something you <em>know</em> how to fix, but have almost no experience fixing for yourself???<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Give me someone else's story, and I can find the plot holes, the rambling story lines, the shallow characters and stilted dialogue and tell you <em>exactly</em> how to fix it. No problem! <em><br /> </em></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'> Now shove my own story in my face and watch me turn into a confused and nervous mess. :P<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt'>Do any of you have similar problems? Do any of you struggle internally with the need to feel that your story is – if not perfect – at least not rambling in every which direction? Do any of you struggle with the worry that your story is rambling anyway, despite your best efforts? Please don't feel afraid to comment about it down below. Sometimes it's just good to know that you aren't alone in your struggles. <br /></span></p></span>Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-65942550557420760422014-07-24T14:40:00.001-07:002014-07-24T14:43:36.955-07:00The Truth About Homeschooling: A Response to Ignorance, part 1<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">I just read an article where a man (Matt Walsh, by name) is given what he calls <a href="http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/04/25/behold-the-two-absolutely-worst-arguments-against-homeschooling/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">"The Two Absolutely Worst Arguments Against Homeschooling"</span></a> and defends Homeschooling against them. Reading through the letter that Mr. Walsh received, I recognized two of some of the most predictable and clichéd arguments against Homeschooling and expected an almost ritualistic debunking. As Homeschooling Alumni, I was not disappointed. There was even some sarcastic humor involved. However, I <em>was</em> disappointed that Mr. Walsh failed to point out what I consider to be a few of the biggest flaws in this man's argument. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">In the email Mr. Walsh received, the writer says this:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">1. The flaws in our public school system have to do with PARENTS. Parents send their kids to school and think their job is done, instead of being involved in their child's education. How can the system ever improve if the involved parents pull out and do their own thing? We have a responsibility not just to our own family but to our community. Homeschool parents hurt their communities when they isolate themselves and remove their children from our academic institutions. If we don't help the system, the system will not work.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">While Mr. Walsh goes on to answer this writer's accusations with how he actually doesn't think all public school teachers are the devil, and challenges the writer to come up with some solid research to support his claim (which the writer obviously doesn't do), and says that actually parents SHOULD be making decisions for the wellbeing of their family (whether or not that means homeschooling their children or putting them in a public school environment) and not just making decisions for the community or "the system" as the writer says they should (which I agree with), Mr. Walsh never actually tackles the accusations brought against Homeschooling parents. Instead he goes on to point out the flaws permeating the public system, but to me, attacking an enemy's flaws without setting up a solid defense to protect what the enemy is attacking is not only strategically unwise, but almost childish. Sadly, it is still a common reaction that comes with human nature; sort of a "he hit me so I'm going to hit him back" type thing. And in the moment, with emotions high and the "righteous anger" flowing hot, people often dive right in before seriously thinking about their responses. As a result, people often make fools of themselves. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">(Not that I'm calling Mr. Walsh a fool by any means... in fact, his article was interesting to read and thought provoking. And maybe even a little fun, as I watched the old Anti-Homeschooling arguments get debunked once more. ;) Also, I do not think myself exempt of human nature, and therefore admit to often making a fool of myself while high on emotions and righteous anger.) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">Bear with me here, friends. This writer who is coming AGAINST homeschooling, blames the parents for the public system's failure when he says that they send their kids to school and think their job is done instead of being involved in their child's education. <br /><br />And so follows <em>my</em> corrective response to this obviously ignorant writer. (My response is not meant to be objective of Mr. Walsh's comments, but rather to compliment them.) <br /><br />*****</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">Well, sir, might I point out to you that "being involved in their child's education" is EXACTLY what a homeschooling parent is doing??? And as you undoubtedly know, having worked in "the system" for so long, being involved in any child's education, be it one child or several children, or even 40 of them, is quite the task. Many homeschooling parents end up being stay at home parents while their spouses work to support the family financially. In today's society, this can put a serious strain on family relationships because of the economic situation in America which requires higher and higher income rates in order for families to survive as a unit. Because of the economic situation, many families require both parents to work full time in order to bring in a high enough income to support their spouses and their children. For this reason, you can hardly blame parents with children in the public school system for not being heavily involved in their children's schooling, and I would think you would at least appreciate the efforts and sacrifices that Homeschooling parents are making to be involved in the education and bringing up of their young. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">Besides that, most homeschooling families that I have met have at least 3 children of varying ages all being taught at their own grade-level. In fact, homeschooling has taken the "one-room school house" to a whole new level. Teachers in the public systems may have to worry about the education of 40 kids at a time (which I realize is no small feat, and therefore should be commended), but usually only the middle-school teachers have to worry about teaching 40 kids multiple subjects, and let's face it, these subjects have been toned down to a middle-school level... a level which any teacher is likely to have already mastered. In a public High School, students start taking multiple classes much like they will eventually do in college. Each class is taught by a teacher who has mastered the one subject the class revolves around. Students jump from class to class interacting with different teachers, all of whom teach different singular subjects. It is very likely that some of these teachers may under-appreciate, undervalue, and possibly even extremely dislike certain students, while at the same time favoring others. Also, one cannot assume that all students learn alike. Many public school students think differently and learn differently than other students do. These students may struggle in school, and while some of them are given the help they need and encouraged to do better, other cases are not even realized. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">In a Homeschooling setting, the Homeschooling parent is usually faced with the responsibility of educating at least one, if not three or more children of varying ages, grades, different ways of thinking and learning, and/or possible learning disorders. This parent is responsible for teaching each child all of the subjects in his or her respective grade, which means that each parent must either have mastered all levels of the subjects to be taught, must teach themselves the differing levels of the subjects taught, or must teach their children the differing levels of the subjects taught while also learning the subjects along with them. Yes, this gives the parent a stronger hand in the child's upbringing; it is essentially accomplishing <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>exactly</em></span> what you say parents <em>should</em> be doing, which is taking an active interest in their child's upbringing and education. And while public school teachers get to go home at the end of the day, (perhaps going back to a family of their own with its own problems, but STILL getting a break from the many kids they have to chaperon on a daily basis), Homeschooling parents very rarely get a break from the lovable hooligans that make up the focus of their lives. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">So, dear sir, at least in one respect you are right; you say that homeschooling parents don't care about the system and they don't. Why should a homeschooling parent care about the system? Their main concern at this point in time is the education and the development of their child, and they are seeing to that personally. If, as a parent, your main concern is the welfare, education, and upbringing of your child so that he or she might learn and grow to reach their full potential in being completely themselves while also becoming a respectable, respected and important member of the community and society – and if, in order to obtain these objectives, you decide to take your child's education and upbringing into your own, already too-busy hands – then tell me, why should you make it your business to be concerned with a system that has proven itself over and over again to be rather dysfunctional? To me, this line of thinking makes no sense at all. In fact, in light of all that a homeschooling parent is required to do and give up in order to bring out the best in their child, I would think you should be commending homeschooling parents for their future gift to society, not condemning them for their lack of interest in a system that has incessantly proven itself faulty. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">*****</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br />Later, my dear friends, I will address the second point in the writer's letter to Mr. Walsh. In the meantime, please tell me your thoughts on the matter. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> I would love to hear from you. <br /><br />God Bless, from the proud receiver of a homeschool education,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><br /> </span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;">Nichole White</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;" xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13pt;"> </span> </span><br />
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-67779910643238024042014-07-08T01:54:00.000-07:002014-07-08T01:54:01.664-07:00The Winds of ChangeThere has been a lot happening in my life lately: good things, bad things, crazy things... about a week ago my good ol' trusty laptop decided to crash, and then my phone stopped working, and our internet died and... well, needless to say, I've been in crazy mode trying to get <i>something</i> working again. lol! <br />
<br />
The good news is, I <i>did</i> get something working again, and that something is my phone... or, actually, rather than getting it working again, I simply replaced it with a new and improved version. This phone allows me to hook up a universal keyboard via bluetooth and so, with the help of an app that allows me to edit and create microsoft word documents (and, of course, with the assistance of the ever useful dropbox) I am able to access some of my more important and recent documents and continue my writings on my phone. Pretty spiffy, huh? ;)<br />
<br />
But honestly, it's just not the same thing as working from a computer console. *le-sigh* I think my computer can be fixed... I even think I might know how to fix it... the problem is, I don't have the equipment to fix it and so, until I find someone who does (which may be within the next week, if all goes well) I will be doing most everything from my phone. This, of course, means that work on the cover art for Gillian's book must be put on hold... but, not to be deterred, I am looking into a few other options concerning third-party artists. I have one in mind in particular, and I'm SERIOUSLY looking forward to conversing with him on the subject. :D<br />
<br />
With that said, some other interesting things have been going on in my life. I know some of you already know that I lost my job about a month ago, but now I have an interview lined up for tomorrow (or rather, today, since it's already almost 2:30am... I'm too excited to sleep. :p). The job is once more in health care, BUT the good news is it is offering everything I was looking for in a health care based job. Tomorrow is only the first interview, but I'm hoping they are impressed and decide to hire me. Prayers would be appreciated.<br />
<br />
In other news, some interesting winds have been stirring within one of the writing groups I am a member of. One day, in the hopes of getting some advice about a fairytale retelling I am working on, I posted a question on the page, and from that question sprouted a varitable smorgasboard of ideas from my fellow writers... which resulted in this group deciding to create their own Publishing imprint specializing in anthologies. <br />
<br />
The imprint's name? <br />
<br />
Paradigm Shift<br />
(curtesy of my good friend, Andy Poole, who suggested the name for the imprint, even though he originally wanted to use it for a band. :))<br />
<br />
As some of my friends so aptly said upon hearing of these interesting events, "Well... that escelated quickly!"<br />
<br />
Our first anthology won't be released until the end of next year and is to be filled with all sorts of fairytales retold. Some of the ideas the group is coming up with are simply astounding. My friend, Andy, plans on doing a rewrite of Snow White in an historical fantasy setting... with possible vampires. I may be working on a retelling of "The Juniper Tree", a story from the Grimm collection that is rather haunting, to say the least. Other stories to be retold in this anthology include Red Riding Hood, Rumplestiltskin, and The Princess and the Pea, to name just a few. Its a very exciting endevour, and similar to what I had hoped Magpie would become at one time: a group-run project in which many authors come together to not only support one another, but to learnrmore about publishing and to hone their craft.<br />
<br />
Speaking of Magpie, work is moving forward! I've already pretty much given you the low-down on Gillian's book... edits were sent out today, so before long, I'm sure, we will be moving on to formatting. :D The anthology is also coming along, as I was pleasantly surprised the other day to open an obscure folder in dropbox and find ALL of the files I thought were still locked up in my old compaque computer. :) Now granted, with my computer down, while I can still access some of these files, others require different programs to unlock them which I don't have on my phone. BUT, not to be detered, I am going through all the files I can access now, and very soon will be sending out contracts again...<br />
<br />
ON that note, please, please, PLEASE; if you are reading this and have been informed in the past that you were accepted into the Magpie Eclectic Press Anthology, when I send you a contract I need it to be returned to me SIGNED. Electronic copies are fine. You may email them to <a href="mailto:magpie.eclectic.press@gmail.com" target="_blank">magpie.eclectic.press@gmail.com</a>. I say this here, because last time there were some issues with contracts not being returned at all, and unfortunately I cannot do anything with your story as a publisher until I have your permission to do so, which is what the contract is for. So please be sure to return it signed if you get one.<br />
<br />
In other news, I am glad to announce that a very beautiful cover has been created for the Anthology by my good friend, <a href="http://realmofhearts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ryan Paige Howard</a>. Unfortunately it is also locked up very securely in my currently nonfunctional computer, but I hope to be able to retrieve it soon and plan to post it here for everyone to see. :)<br /><br />God bless, my friends! As life moves forward, so must I. Hopefully I will be able to blog more in the near future.<br /><br />Happy writing!<br /><br />Nichole<br />
<br />Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-15961633398931972912014-06-28T22:49:00.000-07:002014-06-28T22:59:45.149-07:00The Balance of Loss and GainFirst, before we even get started, I apologize in advance for any typos I don't catch while writing this. I am typing it up on my phone because my computer crashed earlier today, and trust me, it is no easy task. :p. (And also, there will be spoilers for "How to Train Your Dragon 2" ahead, so if you don't want to find out some key plot points from the movie, you might as well stop reading now.)<br />
<br />
Today I'm going to be talking about consequences (usually resulting in a loss of some kind) within a story. <br />
<br />
So the other day my dad and I went to the movies. We chose to watch "How to Train Your Dragon 2" for obvious reasons, and of course I ended up falling in love with the characters all over again. Hiccup reminds me of my younger brother, how he talks and acts, and generally is as a rule. Astrid is that typical bad-ass female every girl imagines herself to be while reading books about strong, sword wielding, dragon riding females... And then there is Stoik.<br />
<br />
Much like his name suggests, Stoik is very... well, stoic. A steadfast leader, he loves his son but often doesn't know how to react to Hiccup's feelings. His expectations of Hiccup are great but he seems to forget to be a father while trying to balance parenting with being the chief of an entire tribe of Vikings. And then, of course, the writers decided to introduce Hiccup's long-thought-dead mother to this varied cast of eccentric characters.<br />
<br />
When Stoik is re-introduced to the wife he thought had been dead for years, we were allowed to see a side of him we didn't get to before: a tender, softer, more caring side of the loud, proud, and strong leader of Burk that we've known up to this point. We see real regret in him for things he thinks he could have done better, we see longing, we see love, we see joy, and we see passion...<br />
<br />
And then the writers kill him.<br />
<br />
And of course they don't just kill him in battle, oh no! God forbid this character we have grown so close to in such a short time be given a simplistic and general death. No... They kill him off while he is protecting Hiccup from (get this...) Toothless. And not just regular Toothless either, as if this whole scene isn't twisted and heart-rending enough, but Stoik is protecting Hiccup from a Mind-controlled, raging Toothless who wants to kill him.<br />
<br />
Yes, you read that right. Toothless kills Stoik.<br />
<br />
As I watched Hiccup grieve over his father and then, with the help of his friends, see Stoik laid in a boat for his final sail as a Viking Chief, and watch as the characters set the boat to flame, I started thinking about all that Hiccup gained in these movies... And all that he had lost. When he gained his best friend he lost his leg. When he gained his mother, he lost his father. And these weren't just minor losses or obstacles set in his way... These were big, life changing losses that completely set his world on end. <br />
<br />
Suddenly I realized that THAT was the very thing that made me love these movies so much. The loss in these stories was real... You knew that Hiccup would never get his leg or his father back... These were things he was going to have to live out the rest of his life with. These were things that would stay with him and haunt him, even long after he came to terms with them. And these things... These great and deep losses... Were what made the story of this movie really stick with me.<br />
<br />
As I was walking out of the theatre that day, I realized that the reason this stuck with me so fiercely was because that's how it is in real life. The writers of that movie were able to take an element of real life that is so fundamental to reality that it is all too often overlooked in many of the newer movies, and apply it to just one movie, and move audience after audience with it. (This is the same reason why I love the movie "Up"... And why I end up crying every time I watch it. :p )<br />
<br />
And I found myself thinking as I exited that theatre, "if they can do this in movies, then they can do this in books."<br />
<br />
Now, I've read many books that make me cry... I've read scores of them. But what made this experience unique was how the loss was just as strong as what was gained (in my opinion at least... Some of you may argue with me...). It wasn't like in a lot of the Doctor Who episodes I know and love (no matter how heart rending they may be) where one character dies, only to somehow show up later with a whole story about how that could actually work. It wasn't like the books I've read and cried over, like "Where the Red Fern Grows", where the boy's male dog is sliced clean open by a mountain lion and dies, and the girl dog dies of grief out on the male dog's grave...<br />
<br />
This was almost an equal amount of loss and gain... They evened each other out in the end. And I remember thinking if I could only master that one aspect within my own writing, how much more compelling my stories and their characters would be.<br />
<br />
That's something to really think about, too. All stories (all of the good ones at least) have some small elements of reality in them that make them more believable to the readers, and often writers talk about how important it is to really flesh out a character in order to make them relatable. We try to make our characters as realistic as possible but all too often we either avoid having truly heart-breaking things happen to our characters in a realistic manner, or we get carried away with piling on life-changing circumstances and revelations and losses and torture and emotional and physical pain to the point that (while being fun to write and often almost unbearably heart-rendingly enjoyable to read) isn't actually realistic anymore. To this, we speculative fiction writers often say, "but it really doesn't have to be realistic because it is fantasy (or science fiction) after all." Yet I look at "How to Train Your Dragon" and it's sequel, and the one element that really sticks out to me is the one that is perhaps the most realistic in the whole thing... And that element is what MAKES the entire movie, in my mind. Oh what wonders it could unearth if only it were carefully, willingly, and lovingly applied to the world of literacy!<br />
<br />Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-23714738475537703582014-05-19T13:12:00.002-07:002014-05-19T13:12:57.009-07:00"Soul's Gate" by James L. Rubart -- A Review<div class="tr_bq">
Hello friends,<br />
<br />
I haven't posted in a while... not because I didn't want to, but because I haven't had the time! Ah life! Let me tell you people, Adult-hood is WAY over-rated. :P<br />
<br />
But anyway, I have a couple of reviews that I need to post! The first is for an e-book I received from Booksneeze... Oh... I don't even remember how long ago. It may have been a year. I know, I know, that's way too long! But in my defense, I did TRY to read it... I try to read every e-book I own, but I simply prefer paper, hands down. Ok, enough chit-chat... TO THE REVIEW! FORWARD THE BRONCS, AND ALL THAT!</div>
<blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB4S_1vP3m2_mlY9StC1AaFaGo-9r0U-dp9WhU-xw2gNprqv6Pdb6fhpn1GzwV1p0LSq03yF5U3Y-IsXFm1Qgrx44OLGobU9bGDBDNyUH74YuRIsesIhTBtEB9XJ4v0Drb3Yt2bJJNcJr/s1600/Souls-Gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB4S_1vP3m2_mlY9StC1AaFaGo-9r0U-dp9WhU-xw2gNprqv6Pdb6fhpn1GzwV1p0LSq03yF5U3Y-IsXFm1Qgrx44OLGobU9bGDBDNyUH74YuRIsesIhTBtEB9XJ4v0Drb3Yt2bJJNcJr/s1600/Souls-Gate.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a><b>“Every now and then we get a break from reality. A glimpse into the other world that is more real than the reality we live in 99 percent of our days. The Bible is about a world of demons and angels and great evil and even greater glory.”</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b></b>What if you could travel inside another person’s soul? To battle for them. To be part of Jesus healing their deepest wounds. To help set them free to step boldly into their divinely designed future. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Thirty years ago that’s exactly what Reece Roth did. Until tragedy shattered his life and ripped away his future. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Now God has drawn Reece out of the shadows to fulfill a prophecy spoken over him three decades ago. A prophecy about four warriors with the potential to change the world . . . if Reece will face his deepest regret and teach them what he has learned. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
They gather at a secluded and mysterious ranch deep in the mountains of Colorado, where they will learn to see the spiritual world around them with stunning clarity—and how to step into the supernatural. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Their training is only the beginning. The four have a destiny to pursue a freedom even Reece doesn’t fully fathom. But they have an enemy hell-bent on destroying them and he’ll stop at nothing to keep them from their quest for true freedom and the coming battle of souls.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>My Thoughts:</b><br />
When I saw this book on the Booksneeze list and read the description, I thought, "Sure! Why not! I mean, what's not to like about someone learning to spiritually enter and fight for another person's soul?" I excitedly downloaded the e-book and... couldn't get through the first couple of pages before I was bored. So I set the book aside thinking that maybe I could get into it later, or maybe I would just have to write a review explaining how I couldn't get through the first couple of pages and so had to stop. <br />
<br />
Now, fast forward a year later and I still hadn't finished the book... and I just didn't want to pick it up again. This was partially because I didn't have the time, partially because I was worried I would get just as bored as the first time if I tried to force my way through it, and partially because... well, let's face it, e-books just aren't as easy for me to get into as paper-books are. <br />
<br />
But I decided that I absolutely HAD to get through the book somehow, because I NEEDED to write this review! So I looked the book up on Audible, and what do you know! The audio book was on sale at the time, so I bought it and downloaded it and decided to listen to it to and from work. <br />
<br />
Let me just say now, I AM SO GLAD I DID!!!<br />
<br />
This book, for me, was better as an audio book than it was as a regular book. It could be just because someone was reading it to me, but I think it also might have something to do with the fact that as I was listening to it, I could take the time to really think about what was being said. And for me, that was life changing. <br />
<br />
To be honest, I'm not really sure how to describe this book to you. The spiritual warfare involved is very... I want to say "realistic", but I'm not sure how many people would understand or agree with that statement. A lot of the issues that this book addressed in its characters were things I could relate to in my own life, which made it touch me in a way I didn't know a book could. (And for those of you who know me, that's really saying something...) There were a lot of times when I would feel as if God were speaking directly to me through things that were said in the book, and there were several times when I would break down crying because of a revelation that He revealed to me about my own life and my own way of thinking, even though similar things were happening to the characters in the book. <br /><br />All in all, I give this book a 5 out of 5... as an audio book it worked better for me than as an e-book, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, and I learned a lot from it too. I wish that I could be more specific with the review, but I don't think I would do it justice. <br />
<br />Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-75180120664626415022014-01-21T20:19:00.002-08:002014-01-21T23:54:48.397-08:00My Last Year in a Nutshell (otherwise known as "A Very Overdue New Years Post"... with explanations.)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Life has been a rollercoaster ride for me this last
year. So many things have happened… and
really, there are not many of them that I would call “good”. At the beginning of the year my mom dropped a
bombshell on the family and announced that, after 25 years of marriage, she was
divorcing my dad. He hadn’t realized
things were that bad – none of us did – but when the police came to kick him
out of the house, things just went from bad to worse. With the family in shambles and my mom and
dad at odds, I could no longer concentrate on <i>anything.</i> Some of you may
remember I had plans in motion for Magpie Eclectic Press’ first list to be
released in November… and I was a full time student taking a crazy amount of
classes at the local college. My grades
started to decline, and even trying to focus through reading a single article of
research for Magpie – or even trying to read through a short story submission –
became an arduous task. I simply
couldn’t make my brain stay on target anymore; my thoughts kept bouncing back
and forth in my head, always off the topic I needed them to be on, and the
stress levels ratcheted up until I felt like a walking time-bomb just waiting
for something to make me explode. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Still, I tried to keep
things moving forward; kept attending classes, still tried to put in time each
day for Magpie… But things continued to get worse until I was suspended at work
(long, difficult story to explain, mostly having to do with my boss GREATLY
misunderstanding something I did… we later talked about the issue, and he
admitted that what I did was in the right and he had simply not understood the
issue at hand… but for me, the damage was already done) and then one day my computer
(with all of the information I had organized for Magpie Eclectic Press,
including authors and contracts and as of yet unread submissions) died, and my old
faithful van decided to finally give up the ghost. At that point in time, I had to ask my mom
for a ride to school and work (which were both close to an hour away from me)
and though, of course, I still loved my mom (then, as I do now, and as I always will), each day it
became more and more difficult to get in that van with her. We simply couldn’t see eye to eye on the whole
situation at hand, and then one fateful morning after yet another argument on
the way to my classes, we both had enough and my mom kicked me out of the
house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not sure what to do
anymore, I dropped all of my classes but one (which resulted in me owing the
school close to $2,000), moved in with my grandparents until I could find an
apartment I could afford, started looking for a full-time job to replace the
part-time one I had, and started looking for another vehicle. Magpie officially went on the back burner,
because other things became more important for the immediate time being. It was a decision I hated to make, but I had
no choice… It was either put a hold on Magpie, or go half crazy trying to cope
with everything and then end up only doing a half-decent job on projects that <i>should</i> have my full attention. I couldn’t do that to my authors, my company,
or my dream. It would have to wait. I figured I would wait until the start of
2014, then start in on it all again.
Surely by the beginning of the next year, I would be ready to take up
that heavy mantel again and plow forward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To make matters even worse, I was no longer going to church. I honestly couldn’t even make myself go.</span><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
Earlier in the year I’d been burned pretty badly by the church I had been
attending. And to pour lemon juice on
that wound, it wasn’t even <i>just</i> the
church that had burned me, but the pastor and his family who had been friends
to my family for years and years and years, far back into my childhood and long
before they had ever been pastors. After
I was burned, going back to that church was so painful I could barely look
people in the eyes. And going back to
the Mother-Church – that is, the church which had started the church that had
burned me – didn’t help matters. For one
thing, too many people knew why I had left the new church, and for another
thing it all felt like going through motions that no longer meant
anything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So I stopped going
altogether. It was perhaps a bad
decision, but I had visited other churches in the area, and they all felt
“dry”… as if the motions were the only things the Christians of the area knew
anymore, and they just didn’t care. And
I couldn’t make myself care either… not when I felt there was no point in it
anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> I finally did find a place to stay… a friend
of the family offered me the economy apartment in the upstairs of her house for
a price I could actually afford. The
only problem was, I still had no car. I
found one that I thought I could pay for (with a little help) and my grandpa
helped me buy it on a payment plan. For
a happy month I was on my way, moving things back and forth to the new
apartment, driving myself to work and to the one class I still had on my
schedule, and pretty much ignoring the fact that my family was falling apart
around my ears… I was starting a new life on my own. Things were looking up… and then the car
died. Unfortunately for me, I had
purchased a lemon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not to be discouraged,
my grandpa came up with a solution. He
would fix up the old blue Oldsmobile parked in the barn and that could be my
car. He was very persistent, and it took
him a good month of working on it every day (I helped him as much as I could,
but I know so little about cars that all that my help amounted to was handing
him the tools he needed as he asked for them) but he finally got it
moving. It was a wonderful car too. It practically purred when you turned it on,
and honestly, I loved everything about it!
I was so happy, and couldn’t believe that my grandpa would do that for
me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fast forward two weeks,
and I did something really stupid; I decided after 48 hours of no sleep and
with about 3 cans of redbull in me, that I could manage the 10 mile drive to
pick up a friend of mine and go to the local ren-fair. I fell asleep behind the wheel, ran a stop
sign at a T-road, and flew into the deep country ditch on the other side…
hitting the T-sign on the way, of course.
My car was totaled, and I was in pretty bad shape myself. Thankfully for me, the car had a hard metal
frame and body instead of one of those half-plastic and aluminum frames most of
the new cars have. If it weren’t for
that fact, I don’t think I would be alive today. I vowed then that I would never be so stupid
again; driving tired was no longer an option… if I was not fully awake when I
got behind the wheel, I would not drive, end of story. But in being so stupid in the first place, I
had just given up my key to freedom. I
was once more out of a car, and hardly any closer to getting into my apartment
than I had been before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once again I was blown
away by my grandparents’ kindness towards me and my situation. Not only were they still letting me stay at
their house through all of this, but my grandpa decided he would give the whole
car issue one more shot. He still had
one old car sitting out by the barn. It
hadn’t been driven in ages – much longer than the other car, in fact – and it
hadn’t been in wonderful shape when it was parked years before (the only real
issue with the other car had been the break system… this one had had
transmission issues as well as break problems when he had stopped driving it)
but my brave grandpa decided to give it a go.
It took him a long time, at least double the time it took him to fix up
the other car, and of course I was still not much help. Other than aiding him in changing a tire here
and there, I didn’t know anything about the car or what was under that
hood. But he still managed to get it
running again, and after warning me that this was my absolute last chance – he
didn’t have another car if things went bad with this one (and I wouldn’t have
wanted him to try yet again… I felt bad enough about the first car turning out
to be a lemon, and then totaling the second car…) – he handed me the keys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Things started moving
forward again. With the help of my
grandpa and my brothers, I managed to get all of my things moved out to the new
apartment, and my first official day at the new place was September 1rst. However, I still needed a full time job. I could barely afford to live on what I was
making from the other job, and I still felt slightly at odds with my boss
because of what had happened when I was suspended. On top of that, things were starting to
escalate between my parents and their attorneys, and my mom had decided to put
my two youngest sisters in public school.
She and I could still barely hold a conversation together that didn’t
end in an argument and at least one of us bursting into tears, and my
relationship with my dad was not much better off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then, at the end of
October, my brother called me one day with information about a job at a nursing
home over in Metamora Illinois. This
nursing home was looking for CNA’s, and as I am a CNA, he thought it would be a
good opportunity for me. I called them
right away and had an interview before the phone-call was even finished. The interview went well, and I started
working there October 29<sup>th</sup> of last year. This month on the 29<sup>th</sup>, I will
have been there 3 months working a full-time night shift.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanksgiving and
Christmas were both difficult this last year.
Everything was very different from the 26 years’ worth of holidays that
I knew from memory, but with the first of January, I felt like new life came
back to me. This is a new year, with new
opportunities and new possibilities.
This is the year that I will pull myself back together and, with God’s
help, continue forward. I started
attending church with my brother again, a completely new church with new people
whom I had never met. The first day I
walked in there, I felt God move as I haven’t felt in church since I was
15. I knew then that this was a church I
wanted to visit again. That was almost a
month ago, and I keep going back. Never
mind that it’s an hour drive to Bloomington from my new home in Peoria
Illinois, the drive is worth it. And
it’s not like I wasn’t used to the drive before, living out so far in the
country for most of my life and going to church in Peoria… it’s just a
different direction for me. And I love
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All this to say, thank
you everyone for being so patient with me.
This last year has been one set of hard knocks after another, and I was
struggling to cope. If I acted childish
and immature at times, it was because I couldn’t stand trying to be an adult
anymore… I needed to unwind. If I
suddenly turned a conversation around to unload my thoughts on you, it was
because I couldn’t think straight anymore and felt like I was going crazy. To my authors – those chosen to be in the
anthology, those still waiting for an answer from Magpie as to the status of
their submissions, and to Gillian Adams who has waited very patiently for word
of the status of her Novella – I apologize for my radio-silence on all things
and anything having to do with Magpie Eclectic Press. I simply couldn’t think about it then, but that
has changed now. With this New Year comes
new hope, for me and for Magpie. With
God’s help and your help this will still become a reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To my close friends who
stuck by me no matter what, seeing me through melt-downs that made me look like
an insane person, talking me through situations I just couldn’t handle by
myself – and to one friend in particular who went the extra mile and helped me
take my mind off things by letting me come over to her house to hang out, and who
also helped me financially in a way I never expected far above and beyond
anything I could imagine or would have ever asked for (you know who you are,
and you are amazing!!!) Thank you. Thank you so much. You can’t know how much it meant to me. Even my family didn’t realize and couldn’t
fathom all that I was going through mentally and by extension physically, and
it was you guys who helped keep me sane. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To my grandparents and
my extended family, thank you. Some of
you don’t really know what’s been going on or how things have all played out,
but your prayers have meant a lot. And again,
to my grandparents who went far above and beyond for me in order to see me on
my feet again, Thank you. I can’t begin
to thank you enough for all of your help and support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a New Year,
folks. A new dawn. I feel like I’ve been through the Valley, dragged
through the mud. Perhaps my situation
hasn’t been as bad as it has been for others, but it has been extremely
difficult nonetheless. Now, though, all
that happened last year is behind me; all the crazy, and all the cruel. I feel like I can breathe again, if only for
a moment. And that feeling has
emboldened me. It’s time to move forward
again.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year, everyone. :D</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="msocomtxt" id="_com_1" language="JavaScript">
<!--[if !supportAnnotations]--></div>
<!--[endif]--></div>
</div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-58297871774158183262013-11-08T00:07:00.003-08:002013-11-08T00:07:56.478-08:00Writing Remnants: Style EpiphanyMany of you reading this are probably wondering why it has taken me so long to post anything. Well, let me tell you... I've been blogging plenty. Or at least I've been working on many different posts, but haven't finished them. They all have good concepts mind; my problem is that I want them all to really <i>mean</i> something. Words are so important, after all, and I want my words to make an impact... not to just float around in cyber space where a few people <i>might</i> read them in their spare time but won't really glean anything from them. So I've been polishing these posts, refining them, working them over as a jeweler might cut and polish a precious stone to bring out its shine and perfection.<br />
<br />
But tonight, I was struck with something so profound to my writings that I simply <i>had</i> to share it. <br />
<br />
Recently I have immersed myself in two separate books -- one, a how-to book on writing titled "Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-This-World Novels and short stories" and joint-written by Orson Scott Card, Phillip Athans, and Jay Lake (and the editors of Writers Digest), and the other is "Ender's Game" written by Orson Scott Card.<br />
<br />
Now, the entire first part of the writing how-to book was written by Orson Scott Card and I found myself absolutely devouring his advise. One thing that stuck the most had to do with the different <i>types</i> of stories, or what he called "The MICE Quotient". To Paraphrase Mr. Card's explanation, there are four major elements which are present in every story: Milieu, Idea, Character, and Event. However, while all of these elements may be present in a story, usually one dominates over the others. <br />
<br />
With this in mind, I started looking through my stories and trying to decide which category they fell under. I found that most of my stories tend to fall under the "Event" category, with strong undercurrents of "Character" in them. The "Event" story, something is wrong with the fabric of the universe or something is out of order; basically, the whole story is based around this event that needs to or does happen. As is said in the book [Chapter 3, page 82]: <br /><br /><i>"This can include the appearance of a monster (Beowulf), the "unnatural" murder of a king by his brother (Hamlet) or a guest by his host (Macbeth), the breaking of an oath (Havelock the Dane), the conquest of a Christian land by the infidel (King Horn), the birth of a child portent who some believe ought to have been born (Dune), or the reappearance of a powerful ancient adversary who is thought to be long dead (The Lord of the Rings). </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Mr. Card goes on to say that almost ALL fantasy and a lot of science fiction tends to use the event story structure. A lot of my stories (though not all of them) tend to revolve around the last option of the above quote... usually there is some powerful adversary that arrives and must be defeated somehow. The structure itself might be predictable, of course, but my hope is that I put a fresh twist on the story that no one else has seen before (of that, we have yet to be sure). <br />
<br />
But see, there is this. Like I said earlier, while almost all of my stories tend to fall into the "Event" category, all of them have strong undercurrents of "Character" in them. As Mr. Card says, the character story is a story about the transformation of a characters role in the communities that matter most to him. He goes on to say that the structure of a Character Story is as simple as any of the others, with the story beginning at the moment when the MC becomes so unhappy, impatient, or angry in his present role that he begins the process of change, and the story ends when the character either settles into a new role (happily or not) or gives up the struggle and remains in the old role (happily or not). He also says that the character's attempt to change doesn't have to be a conscious decision, but instead an inadvertent move or an instinctive seizing of opportunity.<br />
<br />
Now, when I was reading through Mr. Card's explanation of the MICE Quotient, I found myself not only comparing all of my stories with his four categories of story, but also comparing different stories I've read and am reading to see in which category they fall in. One of the books I've been reading (and only just finished, actually... it was excellent... ) was Orson Scott Card's own "Ender's Game". I've been wanting to read the book for a long time, long before I ever learned it was going to be a movie, though I will admit that that was a motivation to get the book read as quickly as possible. And here is something I discovered about Mr. Card's book that was extremely interesting to me specifically because of reading the other writing how-to book: "Ender's Game" is almost entirely a character story. <br /><br />Of course, other readers could have read Ender's story without ever reading "Writing fantasy and Science Fiction", and they probably easily could have told me this. But for me, having read Mr. Card's explanation of that <i>type</i> of story really made me analyze the characters in the book, and not just the characters alone, but also Mr. Card's choices for his characters. I found myself thinking things like, "Who was Ender before, who was he really? What did he become? Why? What drove him there?", but then I would also find myself asking other questions simultaneously along the lines of, "Why did Mr. Card chose that particular situation? What did the character gain from it? What did he loose? How was this instance used to foreshadow events later on in the book? How did this event reflect on an earlier even in the book? How did Mr. Card connect these two events, and how did he make it effect his main character, and the characters around his main character?"<br />
<br />
Yes, this type of analyzing is very much a writing thing. It is very probable that not many readers who are not writers would ever try to analyze the choices of another writer in order to get an idea of how the whole story fit together and why... and they certainly wouldn't do so in their free-time for pleasure. Literature classes try to do something similar to this, and they pick apart works by Shakespeare and other literary geniuses in the hopes that some of the kids will somehow find the information useful, but the truth is that half the kids in those classes don't understand what they are doing or why they have to do it. Most of the time you will notice it is those students who have some deep internal connection with words and writing that understand those classes best. And these are the students that will take the most away with them.<br />
<br />
What sets my books apart from "Ender's Game" is this: <br /><br />"Ender's Game" is all about this little boy who is ultimately trained to become the best battle tactition, strategist, and commander the world has ever seen... and he is trained to become this through a series of high-tech games. To Ender, the games are many things... they are a way of life, they are training, they are school... and yes, they are also just games -- something he is good at, a puzzle, something to figure out, and sometimes fun. From the beginning of the book to the very end, we watch and sees and Ender sees, and feel as he feels. There is, of course, an event that the book is leading up to (the ultimate defeat of the alien buggers who had attacked Earth years and years before and had been driven off) but that is not the true point of the story. The true purpose of this book is not to see how the buggers are defeated. The true purpose of this book is to watch Ender evolve from a little boy of 6 first entering into battle school, into a much more mature boy of 11 who becomes the greatest Star Fleet Commander of all time... and how Ender deals with it. This book is all about its character. If it were all about its event, it would be an entirely different story.<br />
<br />
Taking this into account though, sometimes I wonder if my books aren't actually Character stories after all. Can a story be both a character story and an event story in equal parts? I don't know. I think about "Song of the Daystar" and "Eldrei" and "The Cinder Beast" and all the other books that I have started or plan to start, and I <i>have</i> to wonder, because without their events, these books have no story at all... none. I feel like Ender's Game <i>could</i> have had a different event and the story of Ender would have been similar because of how that book's whole purpose was its character. I don't feel like that with my books. Without there own events -- their exact events -- don't think my stories would not exist, or else they would be completely and totally changed. <br />
<br />
And yet...<br />
<br />
And yet it's hard for me to call my stories simply "Event Stories" when I <i>know</i> how extremely, EXTREMELY important their specific characters with their characters' specific traits, personalities, and evolutions are to them. I have a thing for characters... especially well developed and evolving ones. I want my characters and my events to work hand in hand so thoroughly that the story cannot be itself if one element is given precedence over the other. <br />
<br />
But is this even possible? I want to say it is, but as I start looking back through my library of read books, I begin to wonder... They are all pretty easily categorized as one or the other. <br /><br />Tolkien's LOTR is an Event story. <br />The Inheritance Series is an Event story.<br />Ender's Game is obviously a Character story.<br />
Graceling is a Character story, as is its sequel, Fire.<br />
The Blood of Kings books revolve strictly around an Event... the characters are extremely important to that event but they are not the main story in and of themselves.<br />
Failstate is a character story from beginning to end.<br />
The Wingfeather Saga is an event story.<br />
So is the Auralia strand.<br />And "The Book of Names" and all its sequels<br /><br />The list goes on and on.<br />
<br />Actually, there is <i>one </i>book that I can't decide on. I want to say that "A Cast of Stones" is a character story, but it's hard to tell. The event is important, but wouldn't exist (at least not in the same way) without its main character, and likewise the main character wouldn't become who he is without the event. There is not one without the other -- they are so closely tied, that they are almost, if not completely, one and the same. This is the sort of thing I want to happen with "Song of the Daystar", and I have discovered that it is a difficult balance to create. <br />
<br />
So, while analyzing my own books using the MICE Quotient, I have come to some interesting conclusions about my writing and myself as a writer:<br /><br />1) Yes I am definitely an event writer, but that doesn't always define my stories. I like to take an event and use it in an attempt to develop my characters to such an extent that one cannot exist without the other. Does that automatically make my stories event stories? I really don't know... I guess that's ultimately up to the reader to decide.<br />
<br />
2) This was not always the case. In earlier attempts at novels, a lot of my characters were flat and uninteresting, and the whole story revolved entirely around the event. These first few stories were really not good... They will probably never see the light of day again, at least not without some EXTENSIVE revisions. But then again, writing is a success by trial and error type of art... without doing, one cannot learn.<br />
<br />
3) I would like to someday write several stories using each of the four elements in the MICE Quotient as the main element of a book. Specifically, though, I would like to use the character element. Whereas right now I use an event to develop my characters, I wonder what it would be like to take a character and use him or her to develop an event.<br />
<br />
4) I am honestly quiet terrified and intimidated by the idea of #3. I have several story ideas right now that I could attempt it with, but I'm not sure how to start.<br />
<br />
I suppose I will have to stretch myself. It's hard to grow if you are comfortable where you are. I'm very comfortable right now with the way that I write stories, and so I don't explore the art nearly as much as I used to. Perhaps its time to get uncomfortable again. Perhaps its time to grow. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-46714685252488615782013-10-21T15:07:00.000-07:002013-10-21T15:39:27.795-07:00Writing Remnants: First Person Vs. Third Person <div class="Publishwithline">
<span style="font-size: large;"> I
remember the very first short story I’d ever written… and it wasn’t very
good. I was 12 years old, and it was
sort of a child’s half-hacked interpretation of “Stone Soup”, only it was about
a girl with a big imagination who decided to make soup out of dandelions
because she didn’t have any real ingredients.
She decided that she would pretend the soup was delicious so that she
wouldn’t be hungry anymore, even though the soup didn’t really taste very good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
that’s it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was literally the
entirety of the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was named
(aptly enough) “Dandelion Soup”, and somewhere along the lines of transitioning
between one computer and the next, I lost the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s ok though, because this post isn’t
really about that story or any of my other stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This post is actually about how I WROTE that
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, I wrote that story in
third person point of view… which means that the story itself was about a girl,
and I was telling the story. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To this
day, I cannot tell you why I wrote that story in Third POV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was almost instinctual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d seen it done in so many other books that
I figured that all stories must be written this way, so I wrote mine like that
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I’ve written posts and posts
about POV, and about showing vs. telling, and all other sorts of things that
have to do with writing… but the point of my telling you about my first short
story at the age of 12 is that at the time I didn’t know anything about writing
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">well</i>, so I just wrote… and what came
out was how I thought stories were supposed to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third person felt natural to me.<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I also remember the first
time I read a book that was in First Person POV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was probably 13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story was set in a medieval world and was
about a girl whose father had been killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She learned to fight and ride like a man, and discovered that she had
some royal blood in her from generations past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She wanted to make something more of her life and so she set out to do
just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think her name was Illyn,
but I can’t remember for sure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I DO
remember thinking what a strange book it was though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The person telling the story spoke as if she
was the girl Illyn… but surely the writer wasn’t Illyn, because the book was a
fantasy AND set in the middle ages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was no way the author could have lived that long to write her own
story down in such detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No possible
way!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet I felt as though Illyn
herself had stepped out of her pages and told me her tale with her own lips.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At that
point in time, I still didn’t realize that there was more than one point of
view a person could use to write a story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was absolutely amazed that this author had done something so different
from everything I was used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d
obviously made up the story of Illyn, but had written it as if she were her own
character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to know if other
people had done this type of thing before, so I started researching, and that
was how I was introduced to the idea of different POV’s.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve been thinking about these
events for the past few days now and comparing the experiences to where I am
now in my writing career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remembering
all of this made me wonder: why do writers choose different POV’s to write
their stories in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the pros and
cons of first person vs. third person?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Up until a few months ago,
all of my stories (save one) were written in third person.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I’m comfortable with this type of writing
mainly because I don’t have to be involved in the story to tell it.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I mean, I have to write it, of course, but
writing a story is different from being involved in the story.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">None of the events of the story have actually
happened to me; I took no part in them.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">When you think about it, this is what makes writing in third person seem
rather impersonal at first.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The story
becomes more like a movie than anything else; it still may affect the writer
emotionally, but because the events in the story aren’t actually happening to
author, the writer doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of the
actions.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">For example, if one of my
characters stabs my MC, I may feel intense sympathy for him, but I won’t feel
the actual stab wound… my job is to write down that it happened and how it
feels to the character, not to actually experience it myself.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Because of this, third person pov makes
it easier for me to take in the extra little details that the characters in the
story might not notice at first, or might overlook: the color of the chandelier
or carpeting in one room or another, the strange markings here or there on a
statue, or the reason a secondary character might like to wear a certain type
of coat, even though the MC is completely oblivious to the fact. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can also (on occasion) switch from what’s
happening to one character to what’s happening to another character without it
seeming awkward or confusing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can know
my characters intimately from the get-go if I want to, or learn about them as I
write if I would prefer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for me,
this works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it works for a lot
of famous writers (as well as those who aren’t so famous).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It worked for J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George
R. R. Martin, and J.K. Rowling.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There are two big downsides that
come with writing in third person, though, and they work hand in hand. #1: it’s easier to fall into a “telling”
state when writing in third person, and #2: the writing can seem impersonal at
times (usually because the writer has fallen into a state of “telling” what’s
going on in a story instead of “showing” it.)
I’ve blogged about the art of “showing vs. telling” several times
before, <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://theravenquill.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-feel-like-im-in-kindergarte-again.html" target="_blank">(here)</a> </span>and <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://aspiringendnotes.blogspot.com/2013/01/show-vs-tell-emotional-connection.html" target="_blank">(here)</a></span> so I won’t go into it right
now. However, I will point out that
mastering the technique of “showing” an event in a story instead of “telling”
about an event in a story takes a long time… I still grapple with it, even
though I have a better handle on it than some writers do.<br />
<br />
Interestingly enough,
where Third Person POV has its faults, First Person POV finds its
strengths. Writing in first person is
like writing the story from your own point of view, as if you were the main
character and experiencing all of the events of the story first hand. It’s a lot easier to “show” when writing in
first person, and “telling” isn’t frowned upon nearly as much… in fact, it’s
almost expected. If someone doesn’t know
about another character, of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">course</i>
your MC (or you, by extension) is going to tell his or her captivated audience
what they known about the person. There
is likely to be some physical details mentioned as well as a quick explanation
of the MC’s relationship to and with the other character. Of course, such things are also done in third
person POV, but it takes a lot more work to get them “right”, and they seem so
much more natural when done in first person. <br />
<br />
For example:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">#1: Third Person POV </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“(The king) chuckled at that, but did not
reply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead he continued standing
before the gigantic bay window, arms folded behind his back, looking out on the
sprawling city beyond and completely ignoring his son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, leaning back against the doorframe,
Markayle studied him: the king of Tevaun, his father.[…]<br />
<br />
“For a man past his prime, Markaye’s father still looked and acted young, and
he could be just as infuriating and reckless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His temper when stoked had no equal in the Five Kingdoms, and his rage
burned like dragon flame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet for that,
he was a good king, even Markayle had to admit it… the son the king saw as both
his heart and his deepest disgrace.”</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">V.S.<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">#2:
First Person POV<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He chuckled at that, but did not reply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead he continued standing before the
gigantic bay window, arms folded behind his back, looking out on the sprawling
city beyond and completely ignoring me. And so, leaning back against the
doorframe, I studied him: the king of Tevaun, my father. […]<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">“For a man past his prime, my
father still looked and acted young, and he could be just as infuriating and
reckless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His temper when stoked had no
equal in the Five Kingdoms, and his rage burned like dragon flame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet for that, he was a good king, even I had
to admit… me, the son he saw as both his heart and his deepest disgrace.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">To
me, the difference is clear. In example #1, the second paragraph sounds very
telling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all information that the
MC, Markayle, already knows, but it sounds as if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m</i> the one who is telling the reader about the king, and not as if
Markayle is observing or thinking about these aspects of his father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the type of thing that writers all
over the world try NOT to do when writing in third person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little bit of telling is good, but a lot
can make the story seem dry… more like a text book than a novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I were to fix that excerpt in third person,
I would add bits and pieces of Markayle’s actual thoughts to the scene, as well
as a few of Markayle’s memories to confirm his father’s personality. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">In
example #2, the situation is reversed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With Markayle narrating his own story, the reader understands that the
MC is thinking about his father and their strained relationship, as well as his
father’s personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t seem
nearly so awkward when this type of information is coming through a character’s
thoughts as it does when it appears to be some sort of off-handed info thrown
in by the author to explain something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Notice that the wording is the exact same in both excerpts with the
exception of the point-of-view switch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Example #2 is the original excerpt from my WIP, “The Cinder Beast”.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Another
interesting thing to note about the differences between the two POVs is what
some people might call, “Camera positions”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve read blog posts and books by authors who would swear that writing a
scene for a novel is like positioning the camera just right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To a degree this is so, but the way you
position those “cameras” depends on the point of view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In third person, the camera can pretty much
swing around the room (within reason).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One moment it can be looking at the face of your MC, and the next it can
sneak up behind your secondary character to see what he’s up to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">In
first person POV, the camera is always the eyes of the MC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your character’s eyes
can’t detach themselves from their sockets (unless for some odd reason you give
your character that ability) and so the cameras always have to stay in your
MC’s head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes the emotional
connection with the MC stronger, but often limits the viewing angles of a
scene, as well as what the reader is allowed to know… because, of course, with
first person POV, your reader can only know and see what your character knows
and sees at that point in time. Third Person isn’t always as limited. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There are, of course, other types of POV. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There is </span><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"Third person limited"</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> (which basically means that the pov is limited to only one character... a great example of this is in "A Cast of Stones" by Patrick W. Carr), </span><span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"Third Person multiple"</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> (which is where a writer can switch between which character holds the current POV. This is best done by switching out a scene or chapter... George R. R. Martin has proven himself a master at this POV with his "A song of Ice and Fire" series), and </span><span style="color: #c27ba0; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"Third Person Omnicient"</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> (where the narrator of the story knows EVERYTHING and switches on a whim between characters; the narrator isn't limited by what one character knows, and sort of knows everything at once. The best example of this is in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.) </span><br /><br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">There is also a type of pov known as "Second Person" which is generally only used in instructional writing and rarely in fiction. It is told from the perspective of "you" (meaning, basically, that some one else is telling you how things are, addressing you... or perhaps making you see yourself as the character.) Some good examples of "Second Person" in fiction would be "Bright Lights, Big City" by Jay McInerney, and "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><w:sdt contentlocked="t" id="89512093" sdtgroup="t"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr><w:sdt docpart="6E3817BC539640D7B55A9D03528F2D98" id="89512082" storeitemid="X_49223246-3F90-43D2-BFE7-A15F42F8B825" text="t" title="Post Title" xpath="/ns0:BlogPostInfo/ns0:PostTitle"></w:sdt></span>
</w:sdt>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">So... now
that you’ve had a chance to read about some of my observations on POV, what are
some of yours? Let me know in the comments.
:D<br />
</span>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-86619080833977729872013-09-27T12:57:00.000-07:002013-09-27T13:07:29.352-07:00"Cast of Stones" -- A Review<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFHnISI_Ro5pvJw5mWqDk3SFhCfwOlvdTRGmwTOFZloRo6yvBQdyzK1QU0IPKKvn0wmixH1m9ku36AmnGG-7lWTIPiaH6UZV4S8df638HhLCAJd1-PI2zVX6tTPCzMqhagTE1FludyxxQ/s1600/15781726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFHnISI_Ro5pvJw5mWqDk3SFhCfwOlvdTRGmwTOFZloRo6yvBQdyzK1QU0IPKKvn0wmixH1m9ku36AmnGG-7lWTIPiaH6UZV4S8df638HhLCAJd1-PI2zVX6tTPCzMqhagTE1FludyxxQ/s320/15781726.jpg" width="206" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the backwater village of Callowford, roustabout town drunkard, Errol Stone’s,
life changes with the arrival </span>of a church messenger. Seeking to earn a few coins with which to buy
more of his favorite intoxicating drink, Errol agrees to deliver an urgent
message to the hermit priest living in the hills outside Callowford. However, he soon finds himself being hunted
by deadly assassins. Forced to flee for
his life with the priest and a slightly odd assortment of traveling companions
(all of whom are not what they first seem), Errol soon learns that he’s been
made part of a quest that could change the fate of the kingdom, and that will
almost certainly change his own life.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Protected
for a </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">millennia</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> by the heirs of the first king of Illustra, the kingdom’s
dynasty nears its end and the selection of the new king begins – but in secret
and shadow. Something is seeking to
destroy the only people who are capable of reading the round wood and stone
balls known as “lots” that decide the many important decisions of the kingdom,
including the successor to the throne.
The church is in turmoil, and the ancient order of the Watch is under
duress with its power now being split between its charge and duty to guard the
king and its new orders to serve the church.
As danger mounts, Errol must leave behind the stains and griefs of the
past, learn to fight, and discover who is hunting him and his companions and
how far they will go to stop the reading of the stones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ok,
guys, I’m not going to beat around the bush with this one. This book was EXCELLENT. There was SO much that I loved about it, and
so much that I want to take away from it, not just as food for thought
concerning my own life, but also interesting perceptions into character traits
and humanity that I really, really want to be able to portray in my own
writings. This book made me question
myself and my writings, and on top of that it easily made me feel towards the
characters all that it wanted me to feel without the feeling becoming forced.
I’m telling you, friends, I WANT to be able to write like this. <br />
<br />
Mr. Carr is obviously a master at his craft, and at the art of “showing” us the
story, rather than “telling” it to us.
The story itself flew by and I hardly even realized I was reading
it. I couldn’t put the book down…
honestly, I couldn’t. I stayed up one
night from 9pm to 8 the next morning trying to finish the book. At the time, I hadn’t even realized I’d been
up all night until the sun started shining through my window! The characters in this book are so vividly portrayed,
and not just physically but emotionally, spiritually, and personally. The world is wide, wild, and so realistic it’s
hard to believe it’s not real. And, to
make things even better, we don’t really know who the real villain is of the
story; there’s no one to pin-point all the blame on. With a lot of the bad things happening
throughout the book, we don’t know who is instigating them or where they are
coming from or why. We find all of that
out along with the characters. <br />
<br />
The whole thing is just… it’s so wonderfully portrayed, I’m still in awe even days
later! <br />
<br />
Let’s start with Errol Stone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the beginning of the book, Errol is a drunk.
We know this. We can see it
clearly. Yet while we are given hints to the fact that what caused Errol to
drown his sorrows in an ale barrel happened sometime in his past, the reason
for Errol’s sorrow and his need for the drink are not revealed until later in
the book. Then you have the fact that
Errol is a poor boy, a drunkard, slight of frame and build, and not looked well
upon by almost anyone. The village
priest beats him when he becomes too drunk and throws him in the stocks to
teach him a lesson, but of course all that does is make Errol hate the church
more. After all, what has the church
ever done for him but give him beatings?
Errol has also made friends with the herb-women that live around his
village, but the church thinks they are evil and have persecuted them for their
art… which, needless to say, doesn’t make Errol’s view of the church any
brighter. The only exception to this is
Pater Martin, the old hermit priest who lives far out of town. The old priest has shown Errol kindness in
the past, and while it doesn’t change Errol’s mind about the church, it does
give him some hope that perhaps not all of the church members are as snobby and
cruel as Antil, the one who beats him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then
one day Errol’s life is changed when a church messenger comes with an urgent
missive for Pater Martin from the capital city of Erinon. Errol agrees to take the message to the
hermit-priest in exchange for a payment he knows will buy him a lot of drinks
in the future. But perhaps Pater Martin
is more important than Errol thought, because why else would Assasins their eerie
whistling arrows be after him and the message he’s supposed to deliver?<br />
<br />
What I liked most about Errol is that fact that he seems very… REAL. Extremely believable. He’s a flawed man, and in the beginning of
the book, he’s perfectly okay with being flawed. His attitude is pretty much, “This who I
am. If you don’t like it, then I don’t
care.” But the reader gets a sense that
deep down Errol is actually very hurt and that he’s even ashamed of who he has
become. He pretends that he doesn’t
care, when in reality he cares SO much that it’s not just the bad memories that
drive him to the drink, but also his shame… the drink makes him numb to all
around him. He doesn’t have to care when
he’s wasted… he’s almost forced to when he’s sober. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> But Errol also has the need to better himself. It comes with his shame. When he’s sober enough to think about it, he
knows he doesn’t want to be what he is.
And when someone finally steps up to help him deal with his problems
instead of pitying him and going along with it, Errol rises above the
expectations of what he has become and proves to himself and everyone else that he can be much
more than just the town drunk. He’s a
hard worker, one who wants to prove himself… one who wants to be the best he
can be. He simply needs someone to
believe in him in order for him to start believing in himself.<br />
<br />
I absolutely LOVE that. I mean, wow… in the book, Errol has reached the bottom. He is the dregs
of humanity. And yes, some strange
things happen to push him on his way, but once he was given the hope he
needed, he quickly became something much more desirable.<br />
<br />
But let’s not just focus on Errol… let’s look at the rest of the book. I have two words for you…<br />
<br />
Church Politics. <br />
<br />
Personally, I was very happy with the show of complicated church politics in
this book… mainly because I’m dealing with church politics in one of my own
books, but still. I love how Carr
alluded to the mystery that (to the general masses) often seems to surround the
church and her politics and leaders. You
have corruption, you have lies, you have left out details that are supposedly
for the greater good but that actually cause more harm than good, you have
different views on theology and context… you have hate and power often competing
with true love and kindness, but then you have pity competing with tough love…
and you have outer-strengths competing with inner weaknesses. Each of the characters involved in the church
obviously have different, often clashing, personalities and interests. The Readers of the church quickly become some
of the most curious people in the story, especially since Errol himself is
supposed to be one, even though he’s way past the age of testing. All of the elements are all just woven
together so well!<br />
<br />
And then to make things even BETTER, this is one of the very few books that
kept me guessing the entire way through it.
It doesn’t happen very often anymore.
I wonder if that’s just part of being an avid reader and a writer myself…
the sense that you know or can guess what’s going to happen next. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
never had that sense with this book.
Throughout the entire thing I felt like there was something I was
missing – something just out of my reach that I knew I would be able to
understand if only I was given that ONE clue that would explain everything to
me. But, you see, I was never actually
given that clue. Events happened, and I
would be struck blindside with them, wondering how I could have missed
foretelling such things. I felt like Carr
had mastered the trick that Doyle used in his Sherlock books. You know how Sherlock always seems to know
what’s going on, but doesn’t reveal much of anything until the end so as to
keep the reader guessing? I felt like
Carr had accomplished something very similar in this book, and let me tell you,
it was DEFINITELY a welcomed change.<br />
<br />
It also made me glad I had taken an interest in the art of combat with pole
arms a few years ago. I won’t go into
the details of that encounter now, but I’ve known for a long time that I
personally prefer the use of a pole arm to that of a sword… and yet not many
fantasy heroes use poles in combat.
Well, Errol does. That was both
surprising and refreshing, and it made me want to up my studies concerning the
use of staves and other such long-reaching weapons in fighting. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
give “A Cast of Stones” 5 out of 5 stars.
A worthy, fast paced read that is both informative and fun. This was one book I put down after turning
the last page and said, “Now <i>that</i> was
worth every penny I spent on it”. (which is really saying something, especially
when I spent almost $20.00 on it. Lol!) Seriously…
go find the book and read it. You won’t
be sorry you did. ^_^<br />
<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-74129871086810067392013-08-17T15:01:00.000-07:002013-08-17T15:24:30.315-07:00Writing is My Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Vo9XA5LFR-dfgx-6c4_lujfVycttod2WKOmcAVyh7sGt7zlCzlSkFRpYcQANSvt-mQofHUOi6OwUmNyH3krgrZlxDqASyF6RHOAnDANf9NnJTmZiV6Il5JKorQhrIntRX2Mpqvs8Xt2Y/s1600/bleed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Vo9XA5LFR-dfgx-6c4_lujfVycttod2WKOmcAVyh7sGt7zlCzlSkFRpYcQANSvt-mQofHUOi6OwUmNyH3krgrZlxDqASyF6RHOAnDANf9NnJTmZiV6Il5JKorQhrIntRX2Mpqvs8Xt2Y/s1600/bleed.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Today when I woke up, I decided to get on Facebook for a few minutes and check my notifications. I'm part of several writing groups on there that I try to keep tabs on and contribute to on occasion. In one of these groups, I came across the post of a girl who was frustrated with the fact that there are so many people out there all too ready and willing to bash Writing as a career choice. <br />
<br />
I know how this girl feels. I go through the same thing. Many writer's do. And I guess I understand (to some degree at least) why so many people don't see it as what they like to call a "real" job. <br />
<br />
It's because writing is different. Upon first glance, it seems really laid back. You go into a coffee shop, look around, and perhaps there are a dozen or so writers sitting at a table not far from you, sipping their coffee leisurely and typing away on their laptop keyboards. Writing doesn't LOOK hard... at least upon first glance. In fact, a lot of people think that it's something that almost anyone can do... sit at a keyboard and type. How perfectly simple, right? <br />
<br />
Most people don't categorize writing as a "real" job (forget about all the script writers of every movie or TV show you've ever watched, every newspaper article you've ever read, or every book you've ever bought at a bookstore). Most people think "a real job" has something to do with hard physical labor -- after all, a lot of jobs require this. Usually there's a time slot in which you have to go to work and clock in, stay at work to work, and then clock out of work to go home. At some jobs there are offices and computers. A lot of the time, though, people define a "real" job as working for somebody else who pays you money in the form of a salary or hourly wage. <br />
<br />
Of course there are a few successful entrepreneurs out there. Have you ever watched the show, "Shark Tank" where small business owners from all over the states come in to talk to these big corporate managers (referred to as "sharks") and try to get them interested in their little company? These little business guys don't come in without some pretty impressive numbers/statistics and past success stories to show. They've made it on their own so far, and now they are ready to take their companies further, and they are willing to offer shares in the company for the help and money they need to succeed. <br />
<br />
But, you know how it goes, right? Those successful little business men and women are the exceptions. Surely writers don't fall under that category, right? After all, writers are only sitting down at a keyboard and typing... and typing... and typing. Anyone can do that. It doesn't pay money... what's the point? Writers just need to go find real jobs where they work for someone else, doing someone else' dirty work, and getting paid minimum wage for all of their hard labor. That's just how life goes.<br />
<br />
Well, maybe so. Maybe writers do need another job on the side to keep them floating in between paychecks, or while they are trying to get their career off the ground. Currently I have another job on the side, and I'm looking for a second... I'm not going to bash what other people refer to as "real" jobs. But that does NOT mean that writing is by any means "easy" or "not a real job" or "not a true career". <br />
<br />
Why? <br />
<br />
Because there's this: If writing isn't a real job and publishing can be termed as "just a hobby", how in the world did all of the books we have today come into existence? Why do so many people know how to read? And why is reading so important in today's society?<br />
<br />
I have personally come to this conclusion. Many people don't think of writing as a "job" or "carreer" because <b>#1)</b> they don't understand it, <b>#2)</b> they have never tried it themselves, and <b>#3)</b> even if they have tried it before, they weren't really serious about it. <br />
<br />
The serious writers know better. Writing is not something that you can just "pick up and go" with. If you are serious about making it in the writing world, the first and foremost thing you have to do is write without complaint and without exception. Write everything you can think of at any moment that you have to spare. Even while you're working on other projects, keep thinking about writing and what you are going to write next. And keep writing no matter what... even when you are tired. Even when you have no ideas. Even when you are sick and just want to curl up in a ball and not talk to anyone. YOU HAVE TO WRITE.<br />
<br />
Though writing looks easy, it's actually not. Writing, like painting, may seem like play at first -- there are all these pretty colors and inspirations floating through the air! Type them out as fast as you can and hope that it turns into something extraordinary! But what happens when the inspiration goes away, and you have a deadline coming up, and you HAVE to finish writing this ONE particular scene that you absolutely have no idea what to do with? What happens when you've finished a rough draft and go back and realize that most of what you've written is crap and wouldn't make it in the marketing world of today, but you still think it's a good story and you know someone will want to read it so you start to re-write? What happens when you have a finished manuscript in your hands and the only way the public is going to see if is either if you start querying large companies to look at your work or take matters into your own hands and do the whole thing yourself which costs lots of time and money and energy and work??? <br />
<br />
The 2 biggest things I've noticed that serious writers have on their side are their determination and their ability to think. In fact, thinking is one of our strongest assets... because you don't have a story if you can't think of one, and you'll never finish writing that difficult scene if you don't think of a way to solve your problem. Speculative Fiction writers are known for creating entire WORLDS and races and new species and rules that all have to work together seamlessly in order for the story to make sense. And you have to have characters that feel and sound like real people, and act that way too. All of the aspects in a story have to work together like clockwork, even when something bad happens... You can't break the rules you make for the story, you can't have people breaking character, and even the unbelievable things have to have a sense of believability about them. Doing and creating all of this does not require ONLY writing (though that is probably the biggest part of it); it also requires lots and lots of researching and studying every aspect of the writing process in order to more fully understand how to write WELL, and not just write <i>something.</i> (yes, there is a difference).<br />
<br />
And as far as determination goes, I've seen so many writers who have been beset by doubters and who have heard over and over that they should forget writing as a career... that it is only a hobby, and that they may never find success. In fact, I've had people like this in my life too. But I've watched these writers rise above the condemnation of the masses, and succeed where no one said they could. It's not such an unheard of story. In fact, it grows more common every day. Just look up Amanda Hocking or Joe Konrath if you don't believe me. Just look up any of the authors that you enjoy reading. Writers are proving to the world that they are important, and that it doesn't matter what the doubters and naysayers claim, they can succeed.<br />
<br />
There is one more thing that comes with serious writing. It's a sense of being <i>compelled</i> almost to the point of insanity to sit down and ink words onto paper in the form of a story or tale. Serious writers know this feeling, and they will tell how it haunts them every hour of every day of their lives. For us, writing is not just a passion... it's a drive. We simply cannot possibly comprehend a world where we could not sit down for however short a time to write out the stories burbling up inside of us. We would explode if we were forced to pen them in. Writers have to pour their hearts, minds, and souls into their writings -- they have to give it EVERYTHING they have, or the work simply isn't good enough. Writers know this. It's why we so vehemently stand behind quotes like, "There is nothing to writing; all you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." This is true. It's so true. Serious writers <i>bleed</i> their entire lives into their work, and it frustrates us when others look at our pain-bought triumphs yet can't see the amount of effort and hard work it took to create them. How can people <i>not see</i> the scars we've procured, not notice the pain in our eyes, or the way we have changed while writing something? People enjoy reading the products of our sleepless nights spent in a typing frenzy when they can simply pick the books off a shelf and go buy them... and yet somehow to them writing is not a REAL job.<br />
<br />
Well, for heaven's sake, why not?!? If you love something enough, and are passionate about it enough, and enjoy it, and are driven to it enough, why can't you learn to make money from it too??? Because personally, I think that if more people decided to choose a path in college that they are apt to enjoy instead of one they think will make them money fast, people would discover that it is possible to make a living off of something that makes you happy, and employers would be more happy with their employees' performances. <br />
<br />
In many ways, writing is much more REAL than people can imagine. It is much harder than people can possibly comprehend. It consumes those who follow it as a career choice, and yes, it is possible to become successful at it. Because writing is far more than just a job, or a career choice, and it's much much more than just a hobby... it's a way of life.Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-2343771253399513042013-08-08T18:25:00.002-07:002013-08-17T15:26:09.420-07:00A Call to Worship: Following the LeaderOk, picture this with me now.<br />
<br />
It's early Sunday morning, and if your family is anything like mine, you're rushing around trying to get ready for church. Mom is in the bathroom curling her hair and putting on make-up, Dad is rummaging through the bedroom, Brother is grumpy because he had to get up early, Sister is primping for her boyfriend, and the youngest Sister is complaining about having to take a bath and crying over getting her hair combed. You are probably trying to find that one shirt or pair of dress pants that of course are not in your closet or dresser drawers when you need them, and your good shoes are missing. You reach for your second best pair and hope no one at church will notice the scuffs. Everything is hectic rushing and running, and ALL so you can get to church (which is an hour's drive away) in time for the Worship Service.<br />
<br />
When you get to church, everyone meets and greets, talks and laughs, smiles, shakes hands, hugs, and drinks coffee before filing into the sanctuary and either sitting or standing (according to preference) to listen to music. Sometimes you even sing along if you know the words. The person who is on stage "leading" is strumming away at the guitar (or playing the piano) looking about as scared as a deer in the headlights, while the back-up vocalist to the leader's side is rocking out on their mic, totally oblivious to everything around them including the tune and the beat of the song. The kids in the front row are already bored and the girls are playing with dolls while the boys are causing trouble among themselves. The Youth Group are standing where they always do, but only half of the teens are pretending to pay attention or care, and the other half are busy sneaking glances at that one cute guy or girl over in the corner with the confident air and the popular clothes that they have a crush on. A few of them are visiting. Parents all around the room are mouthing the words to the songs, or have their eyes closed as if in prayer though in reality they are mentally going through a checklist of all that has to be done that afternoon and on into the week. And some of the old men in the back are already dozing off. It's a typical Sunday morning.<br />
<br />
Now tell me friends, what is wrong with this picture? Have you figured it out yet? Have you noticed the lack of interest, the distracted glances, and disrespectful whispers? Where is the reverence? The passion? The fire?<br />
<br />
My friends, this is NOT how a Worship Service should be.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm not saying that every church is like this. In fact, I feel rather blessed to have a home church where this particular scenario is not the usual case. But lately I've had the chance to visit a few other churches around my area, and let me tell you, I don't like what I've been seeing. It's not that there aren't people who love God with all their hearts IN these churches... there are! And I know some of them. But my question is, why is this happening in the church in the first place?<br />
<br />
And I have come to a conclusion. It's the Worship Leaders.<br />
<br />
I'm not trying to condemn Worship Leaders here; I am one, after all (or rather, I have been, and I'm still on a worship team). But there is something in the position title that I think a lot of people overlook.
<br />
<br />
Worship Leaders are supposed to be <i>leaders</i>. They aren't just the first ones to sing or the loudest ones... they are supposed to <i>lead</i> a congregation in worship. And believe me when I say, it’s not an easy task. Worship leaders have a lot on their shoulders… they’re not just up on stage to perform; they are up there to bring a body of very different people together in unity in celebration and praise for the Lord most high, and to prepare hearts and minds for the sermon about to be spoken. Worship leading isn’t just singing in front of people; it’s a constant state of prayer where you are not only reaching out with your heart and soul to the congregation and to God, but you are also preparing yourself. You are looking deep inside yourself for your flaws and you are praying for the strength to overcome them.
<br />
<br />
And worshiping leading doesn’t just happen on Sunday.<br />
<br />
When my church first started, all of the members of the worship team would get an email early in the week that would give us the songs we would sing on Sunday so that we could practice. Then, early Sunday morning, we would get together to practice before the actual sermon. This worked for a while, but it was confusing… Sometimes people would show up late on Sunday morning for practice, and sometimes the songs wouldn’t “fit” the mood of the sermon or the word that someone had been given, etc…
After a while, our team decided to try a different tactic. Throughout the week we would each pray about what songs should be in the service on Sunday in order to best prepare people’s hearts for the sermon and for God speaking. On Friday, the whole team would meet and talk to the pastor about the sermon he felt compelled to give that week. (I usually went early to play guitar and sing.) Then we would write down a list of the songs we had prayed about, pray over the list together, and choose the ones that fit best. After that, we’d go practice in the sanctuary. On Sunday morning, then, we’d do a run-through and have intersession and prayer after practice until people started coming into the church and it was time to start. And not surprisingly, the worship in the services after we started this routine improved not only in the leaders and the musicians up on stage, but also in the congregation.<br />
<br />
The point of all that was to show that worship leading is not just a one day thing; it should be happening all week every week behind the scenes, as well as Sunday morning on stage. There are a lot of people who go to church on Sunday just so they can say that they go to church, but Worship Leaders can’t be like that; it’s not just a performance, it’s a way of life. Worship Leaders are called to lead in praising the lord, not just singing. Singing is a gift, but worship is a calling. We must fashion ourselves to be as David was, dancing and singing in front of the lord so hard that people looked at him and called him a fool… but David said, “I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.”<br />
<br />
Worship Leaders! We have to put away our fear of being made a fool in the eyes of the people. That fear is what makes us performers, but not worshipers. True worship comes from the heart, and it is oblivious to fear or worry or care… it is sweet abandonment in the assured knowledge of God’s love and grace for his people and all that he wants for us and all that he has already done. We must humble ourselves and prepare ourselves before God long before we get up to sing and play, because whether you like it or not, people are following our examples. Without God, we are nothing but performers, but with God we are worshipers.<br />
<br />
So this is a challenge to any of you out there reading this. Even if you are not on stage playing an instrument or singing into a microphone on Sunday morning, be a worship leader in your church. Even if you feel you have no musical gift, be a worship leader. For this is the reality; God has called us all to worship, and making a joyful noise before Him does not have to be strictly musical. Worship God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and others will follow your example. And if all the body of Christ lifts their voice in true and heartfelt praise to God, just think of what a beautiful noise Heaven will be filled with!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
**** </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
1 Chronicles 16:23-31 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"
</i></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-20618377023362598682013-07-16T16:37:00.003-07:002013-08-17T15:26:39.078-07:00My Top Ten Writing QuirksHello Bloggy friends! ^_^ Today I decided to lighten the mood a bit and just sort of "go with the flow". I have a couple of other posts in the making, but they're taking longer than I'd like and I wanted a break, so I decided to write down the top 10 quirks I have as a writer. I got the idea from an interview with Anne Elizabeth Stengl over here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rinasreading.blogspot.com/2013/07/dragonwitch-release-day-blog-tour-anne.html">http://rinasreading.blogspot.com/2013/07/dragonwitch-release-day-blog-tour-anne.html</a>. <br />
<br />
It seemed like such a neat idea, I decided to do one of my own. And you might notice, that some of our quirks are similar, but that's not on purpose... its just the truth of it. :)<br />
<br />
So here we go in no real order whatsoever. :)<br />
<br />
<b>1) No music or noise around.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I don't know why, but I've never been able to listen to music as I write. I think it's because I have to hear the words I'm putting down on paper in my head as I type them. Sometimes I can listen to soft music in the background, but usually they have to be strictly instrumental and the language cannot be in English or I get distracted by listening to the lyrics. I <i>have</i> actually created a play-list for two of my stories in my media player, but I don't listen to them as I type; instead I listen to them as I'm doing other things to sort of help me keep in mind the mood of my story and what it is about. But I've never been able to give my stories or my characters songs of their own... it just doesn't work.<br />
<br />
Also, if there is other noise around or things happening around me, unless I'm left alone and completely zone out (which doesn't happen often) I simply can't concentrate. I've tried, but it so rarely actually works, that half the time I just don't write if there's any noise around.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>2) I write best when I'm supposed to be doing something else.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This is sort of a dirty little secret of mine. *blush* I think it's the procrastinator in me. But if there's something else I'm supposed to be doing, I'll often leave my lap-top open on a table or counter-top nearby so that I can write something down quick if it comes to me suddenly. I've found that a lot of my favorite stuff has come to me while in the middle of doing the dishes or folding laundry or something like that. I used to do this with a pen and notebook, but over the years it became harder for me to write out actual scenes long-hand. Ideas are fine, but not scenes. I don't know why. Besides, its easier not to smudge the writing with dish-hands when you use a computer instead of paper. :)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>3) Standing up while typing helps ideas flow.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This one is tied with #2. I like to sit down and type, of course, but I've found that there's something about standing up to type that just makes the ideas come better. I'm not sure if the standing helps with focus or what... it just seems to work. I'm hoping that once I get moved out and have a new writing area designated and decorated to my liking, I'll be able to focus better while sitting <i>down.</i> lol!<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>4) Brainstorm out loud</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I do this a lot. Especially while I'm working on something else. Or driving. I'll talk and mutter to myself about ideas, sometimes even speaking out a scene sentence by sentence as it comes to me. I even pace sometimes while muttering. Then I'll pause to go and write down what I just said. For a while I started carrying around a pocket voice recorder to help me with this... I still do this, but the words never come as easy when I'm trying to record them. Instead, I use the recorder to try and talk through issues I'm having with my stories. I don't dictate scenes into the recorder... instead I sort of have a one-way interview with myself about the different aspects of the story and how it all works together and what's supposed to happen and what isn't happening... that sort of thing. Any ideas I have while recording, I can then play back and listen to later to use in my stories. :)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>5) Journal instead of Outlining</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I used to say I was a Pantster through and through. I don't think that's quite as true anymore. I no-longer just sit down and write everything as it comes to me... instead, I sit and jot down plot points and ideas and thoughts and character names and so forth. I make notes of important parts of the story, but I try to leave things relatively vague so that the story has room to tell itself. Then, as I'm writing the story through, if I come to a block or need help with a scene or a character, I journal about it. It's sort of like how I record one-way interviews with myself, only this time I actually write the stuff out. It does look sort of like diary entries... and they usually start out something like, "Ok, I just had a really cool idea... what if..." or like "Ugh! I'm having trouble with so-and-so... he just won't do what he's supposed to!..." And yeah, I end up fighting with my characters a lot this way, but I also have found that I work through the story problems much better when I can sort of ramble about them to myself or to someone else, whether it's on paper or recorded.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>6) I almost never write an actual scene long-hand... <i>almost</i> never.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Very true. I'm not sure when it happened, but sometime over the past 10 years or so, I've lost the ability to think in the terms of a "scene" when I'm writing long hand. I can journal, I can write poetry... sometimes I can write blog-posts or parts of short stories, but only very rarely can I actually get myself to write an actual scene from one of my stories long-hand. I don't know why. Sometimes I force myself to do it, just to see if I can get the creative juices flowing (and every once in a great while, doing this helps me break through a block), but a lot of the time the scenes just seem shallow and no where near as good as the idea itself. Besides, I can type almost as fast as I can think, and that's a big help when it comes to writing scenes for my books.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>7) I absolutely WILL NOT skip ahead</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Also very true. I just can't force myself to skip ahead and write a scene out of order. Instead, I add comments to my documents and write notes out in notebooks to remind me of future scene ideas. If I get stuck in a scene, I'll sit and stare at my document for hours, days, even weeks on end trying to figure out what's going on and why I can't seem to move forward, but I won't write a scene before its time. <br />
<br />
I think this has to do with figuring out the story. You can't write something if you don't know it... if my story won't move forward, then something must be wrong somewhere, and I should go back and find out what it is and fix it before moving on. That will help the flow too. :)<br />
<br />
<b>8) I have a list of novels I go to when I need help with a scene</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
My bookshelves are stacked with all kinds of books, but I have one section in particular that I keep close to the front for easy access. I use the books in this section to help me when I run into problems with certain scenes. Some of the books have pencil markings in the margins that mark notes and wording and character or scene development that I admire. (I don't like writing in books too often, so when I do, I use a light pencil so it's easily erased.) Just the other day I used some of these books... I was having trouble with a scene where my character was thrown into a dungeon, and I was drawing a blank as to what a good dungeon scene might look like. So I went over, pulled a few of these books down, and flipped through them... I read several chapters of dungeon scenes and made notes in a notebook I had beside me, and when I was done, I had a pretty good idea of how I was going to finish the dungeon scene in my own story. :D<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>9) I am most active in writing at night</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I wake up at night... sort of "come alive". No, I'm not a vampire, but I definitely get more alert as the sun goes down. I'll sit up and write or read or do some other sort of activity until I start getting drowsy around 2 or 3am, and sometimes I'll just read until I fall asleep with the book lying on my face, or type until I doze off with my head on the keyboard. I'm not sure why this is, but I definitely write more productively late at night.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>10) I like making up new creatures and cultures</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm all for using the original mythological creatures and so forth... the fairies, the elves and dwarves and goblins and so forth... (In fact, in several of my books I'm sticking with the fae people and not trying to get to elaborate with my own made up stuff) but I really do like to make up my own. :) <br />
<br />
Some of my own creations are similar to the originals with different traits or personality types that the originals never had... like in one of my stories, I have some elvish looking creatures called the Kirri who are actually more like dwarves personality wise... they are tall and slender, graceful and fair, but they live underground in their mines in the mountains, and their love is for stone and earth and precious metals and (for some reason that I never understood, but still knew to be true) water. Especially running water.<br />
<br />
Then you have the creatures that are totally made up from the get-go... like the Swarns in "Eldrei", or the Corvi in "Song of the Daystar". There's just something that I find completely and utterly <i>fun</i> about creating a creature and culture that has never been used or seen before. <br />
<br />
<br />
So there ya have it. My top 10 writing quirks. What are some of your writing quirks? Are some of them similar to mine or are they totally different? Why not blog about it. If you leave a link to your post in the comments, I'd be interested to check them out. ^_^Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-44163605609827841782013-06-28T18:18:00.001-07:002013-08-17T15:25:33.548-07:00The Writing Fairies Have Come Back! :D Hello friends! :)<br />
<br />
I've been gone a long time. A lot of things have happened. A lot still is happening. Last weekend was probably one of the most eventful and crazy times of my life. I was supposed to go to the ren-faire here in central Illinois, and I had been working to finish two dresses, one for me and one for a friend. I stayed up all night the night before to finish, and was so proud of my work! But then, as I was driving to pick up one of my friends for the fair, I fell asleep behind the wheel, woke up too late to stop in time, ran a stop sign, jumped a curb, and flew into the ditch. No other cars were involved, thank God! But I was pretty banged up afterward, and now I'm in need of a car yet again (the one I had apparently can't be fixed... I'm still hoping, but things don't look too wonderful for it). Also, the EMT's had to cut my ren-dress a bit as I was being taken to the hospital, so now I have to fix that too. lol! Oh the troubles of life! I'm just very thankful to be alive!<br />
<br />
Also, I'm moving! That's something exciting at least. Lots of interesting stuff to go through and pack, and at least half of it I forgot that I owned. lol! I'm moving an hour away to Peoria Illinois, where I will be staying with an older lady and her family. I've known her for most of my life, and feel really comfortable and safe staying there. She has an economy apartment on the second floor of her house which I will be renting, and she's pretty much letting me have full reign on decorating. I can't WAIT to post pictures of how it will look once everything is in it's place! It will be absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! :D<br />
<br />
In other news, MY WRITING FAIRIES HAVE COME BACK!!! It's been a long time since they've visited me, and my books have shown the strain. But now, I've written almost 3k extra words in SOTD in the last two weeks alone (which may not seem like a lot to anyone else, but which is a definite improvement from the dead standstill the book was at before), AND I've started brainstorming and outlining for a possible 20k novella to be entered in a contest come the end of December. I'm thinking the novella will probably be my Nano piece this year. It's the first year since 2009 that I'll be working on a brand new story during Nanowrimo, and not trying to add words to SOTD. I think the new writing project will be rather refreshing, and good practice. My writing has been rusty lately and awkward, and this may be just what I need to get back to where I used to be when it came to working on my novel. :)<br />
<br />
I thought maybe it would be nice to post a little bit about this new writing endeavor here on the blog. It's been absolutely AGES since I've tried to write anything new. I hope I can remember how to do it. lol!<br />
<br />
The requirement for the contest is that the piece be a new take on the Cinderella fairy-tale. I've always wanted to rewrite a fairy-tale! I have plans to one day rewrite the story of the six swans, or maybe the story of the Snow Queen, but I haven't gotten that far yet. However, I saw this contest as an opportunity to flex my skills and see what I could come up with. :)<br />
<br />
My entry will be titled, "The Cinder-Beast". It's going to mix elements of "Cinderella" and "Beauty and the Beast," and there will be a few other twists as well. Here's a quick summary of what I'm working on so far.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Prince Markayle is the very last of the royal line of Aendor, heir to the throne of Tevaun, and a fugitve. Forced to flee for his life from the evil dragon that has overrun his kingdom, Markayle is now known as the Cinder-Beast because of the Dragon's curse which renders anything he touches to fall away in cinders. Along with this curse comes another: three long pale scars from dragon claws which completely disfigure the right side of his face and make him look like a monster. The only reason he survived the encounter was because the fae took pity on him and healed his wounds. Now, gifted with enchanted gloves that guard objects from his touch and a mask that hides his disfigurements from others, Markayle has set out on a journey to find a way to break his curse, banish the dragon from his kingdom, and reclaim his throne.<br />
<br />
Marcella is a servant in the palace of Emroin. Her job is to serve the princess Anaiya, but when Anaiya is kidnapped by an evil dragon from the north, suspicions are cast on Marcella and she is tried and banished. Forced to wander the forests of Emroin alone, Marcella comes across a strange man in a mask and gloves. He calls himself Kayle, and doesn't talk much. He will not say why he wears his mask, and he will not take off his gloves. He is searching for someone... a woman whom he was told could cure a mortal ailment he possesses which he gained from a dragon. In him, Marcella finds her hope, and they set out to rescue Anaiya together.<br />
<br />
But Kayle isn't everything Marcella thinks he is...<br />
<br />
Niether is Anaiya,<br />
<br />
And there's a secret about Marcella that she herself doesn't even know.<br />
<br />
Only the Fae have all the answers, and they want their Changeling back.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
So there you have it! That's the working blurb for my new project, "The Cinder-Beast". Please let me know what you think. I'm having a lot of fun working on figuring out all the little details for it. One of these days I'll have to find pictures of the characters to post. I want to start working on a map too at some point. I almost forgot how much fun new writing projects can be. :DStar-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-79887575615157645092013-06-11T00:25:00.001-07:002013-06-11T00:36:45.423-07:00"Merlin's Blade" by Robert Treskillard -- A Review<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello my blog friends! I know I haven't posted in basically forever, and I apologize for that. Since School got out (and even before that) a lot of stuff has happened and I haven't had a lot of extra time. No excuse, I know... I wish I could write something every day, or at least once a week, but sometimes life just steps in the way and everything starts coming apart at the seams. That's kind of how it's been lately. No worries though! I will be posting more soon! I have a plethora of new ideas to blog about, and some pretty exciting happenings that are making my life a bit more than just interesting of late. :) I'll tell you all about it soon. ^_^</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PYyPd2pyKuFebTsMkD69tVh7UyS07JpjIbDsSXiG4DV_ntY0kxhe7g-dx_w9aIUSOyl0gjX96SoYt19clTeOQDV39maUfLnNLH3kRX_inQnwocVzrk47ua8xRH4GlyXOIhULczXDqwQG/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PYyPd2pyKuFebTsMkD69tVh7UyS07JpjIbDsSXiG4DV_ntY0kxhe7g-dx_w9aIUSOyl0gjX96SoYt19clTeOQDV39maUfLnNLH3kRX_inQnwocVzrk47ua8xRH4GlyXOIhULczXDqwQG/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PYyPd2pyKuFebTsMkD69tVh7UyS07JpjIbDsSXiG4DV_ntY0kxhe7g-dx_w9aIUSOyl0gjX96SoYt19clTeOQDV39maUfLnNLH3kRX_inQnwocVzrk47ua8xRH4GlyXOIhULczXDqwQG/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the meantime, however, I have a couple of Book Reviews to post! :) They were both supposed to be posted last week, but as some of you undoubtedly know, Illinois has been swamped with bad weather lately, mostly in the form of unstoppable rains for weeks on end. The fields have pretty much become swamp land, and the poor farmers are probably going to have to replant. Some of them haven't even started planting yet because everything was too wet and muddy to do so... and the grass is getting overwhelmingly tall as well. During the storms, there were power surges all over the place, and my internet wasn't working properly... it would come on and then suddenly turn off, and I was terribly worried about it and my computer during the whole thing. I still got on occasionally, but every time I tried to put of the two reviews, the page would go offline, so I finally gave up and waited until the sun came out again. lol! This review here was supposed to be a part of the CSFF Blog Tour, so there will be links at the bottom that lead to all the other blogs that decided to participate in the "Merlin's Blade" tour. You should check them out! :D</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And now to begin.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When a meteorite crashes near a small village in fifth-century Britain, it brings with it a mysterious black stone that bewitches anyone who comes in contact with its glow---a power the druids hope to use to destroy King Uthur's kingdom, as well as the </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">new </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Christian faith. The only person who seems immune is a young,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">shy, half-blind swordsmith's son named Merlin.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PYyPd2pyKuFebTsMkD69tVh7UyS07JpjIbDsSXiG4DV_ntY0kxhe7g-dx_w9aIUSOyl0gjX96SoYt19clTeOQDV39maUfLnNLH3kRX_inQnwocVzrk47ua8xRH4GlyXOIhULczXDqwQG/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PYyPd2pyKuFebTsMkD69tVh7UyS07JpjIbDsSXiG4DV_ntY0kxhe7g-dx_w9aIUSOyl0gjX96SoYt19clTeOQDV39maUfLnNLH3kRX_inQnwocVzrk47ua8xRH4GlyXOIhULczXDqwQG/s1600/images.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As his family, village, and even the young Arthur, are placed in danger, Merlin must face his fears and his blindness to take hold of the role God o<nobr>rdained</nobr> for him. But when he is surrounded by adversaries, armed only by a sword he helped forge, how will he save the girl he cherishes and rid Britain of this deadly evil ... without losing his life? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My Thoughts:</b><br /><br />This... </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Let me just say, this book was excellent. And I do not say that lightly. Robert has a way with words that just make them seem to float off the page and become flesh and blood. This book read very real to me... not just because of the flow of words, but also because of the detailed research that was put into it. Every aspect of the story, from the area of Bosventor, to the traditions of the Druids, to the process of forging a sword read and (more importantly) <i>felt</i> real. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Something else I liked about this book: it's told from Merlin's point of view. Now, I am a lover of all things Arthurian, and as a rule, I love the character of Merlin. So little is known about him! He has so much potential within the story realm that writers tend to love him. However, until now I've never seen a book done where Merlin was a follower of Christ accept for in D. Barkley Briggs' "The legends of Karac Tor". Yet Merlin's Blade even goes a step farther than that... because in Mr. Treskillard's book, not only is Merlin a follower of Christ, but he is also a young man around the age of 16 and 17 and has the same troubles that young men have -- like, for instance, impressing the young ladies. And as if that weren't enough trouble to begin with, <i>this</i> version of Merlin is also half blind.<br /><br />Things start going crazy in Merlin's home town of Bosventor when some mysterious druids show up toting along an ominous stone. Merlin can't see the stone, but he can feel that there's something evil about it... and as the story progresses, we learn that Merlin's blindness -- his greatest weakness -- is also the only thing that is keeping him from becoming memorized with the power that the stone possesses. As the rest of Merlin's town falls under the spell of the strange stone with the blue fire, Merlin starts to realize that the power of the stone corrupts through sight... and as he's half blind, he is the <i>only</i> one in his entire village that can stand strong against it. And he really is the only one, because even the monks are susceptible to the stone's power.<br /><br />Merlin alone is immune.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Of course, if those were the only problems Merlin had to face down in this book, the book would be exciting enough! But oh no... of course there are more! Merlin finds out that the leader of the druids is actually his step mother's father, and he also discovers that his father is being held under some kind of spell put on him by his step mother to wield control over him. Then you have Natalenya... the beautiful daughter of the magister. Merlin can't stop thinking about her, but she's in trouble along with everyone else in the village because she stands between her greedy father and the wealth that the stone promises.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
And then there are the wolves.<br /><br />When Merlin was young, he tried to save his little half sister from a hungry wolf pack. His reward was the loss of his sight and an eternally scarred face. That was <i>years</i> ago, but now the wolves are back, and they are more intent than ever to fill their maws with Merlin's blood. <br /><br />Between all of that, and the visions that Merlin has started to have out of nowhere, he really has his hands full... and that's only <i>before</i> Uther Pendragon and his family show up with baby Arthur in tow. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I loved this story from beginning to end. :) And I was lucky, because not only have I just recently read the newly published version of the book, but I was also one of the few privileged readers who were allowed to read through the book while it was still in the revision stage. I loved it then too, and consider myself extremely fortunate, especially since a few of my more favored scenes scenes have been revamped and edited out.<br /><br />And then, wouldn't you believe it! I got the surprise of my life when I got to the end of the published version of the book and saw my name in the acknowledgements! Robert, if you are reading this, just know that you made my day! Shoot! You made my whole week!!! :D I never expected that, and let me just say, it is such an honor to know you and your family. God does work in the most amazing and mysterious ways. ^_^<br /><br />This is a HIGHLY recommended read at the top of my list with five out of five stars. :)<br /><br />If you would like to purchase a copy for yourself, please go here:<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Merlins-Blade-Merlin-Spiral-The/dp/0310735076/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370507245&sr=8-1&keywords=merlins+blade">http://www.amazon.com/Merlins-Blade-Merlin-Spiral-The/dp/0310735076/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370507245&sr=8-1&keywords=merlins+blade</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The author's blog:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.epictales.org/blog/<wbr></wbr>robertblog.php</span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Merlin's Blade Tour Participants:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://heavenwardreviews.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Noah Arsenault</span></a><br />
<a href="http://rbclibrary.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Beckie Burnham</span></a><br />
<a href="http://keananbrand.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Keanan Brand</span></a><br />
<a href="http://jeffchapmanwriter.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Jeff Chapman</span></a><br />
<a href="http://pineneedlesandpapertrails.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Laure Covert</span></a><br />
<a href="http://paulinecreeden.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Pauline Creeden</span></a><br />
<a href="http://myrdan.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Emma or Audrey Engel</span></a><br />
<a href="http://projectinga.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> April Erwin</span></a><br />
<a href="http://vicsmediaroom.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Victor Gentile</span></a><br />
<a href="http://realmofhearts.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Ryan Heart</span></a><br />
<a href="http://fantasythyme.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Timothy Hicks</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.spoiledfortheordinary.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Jason Joyner</span></a><br />
<a href="http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Carol Keen</span></a><br />
<a href="http://krystinekercher.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Krystine Kercher</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.shannonmcdermott.com/?page_id=189"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Shannon McDermott</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.bloomingwithbooks.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Meagan @ Blooming with Books</span></a><br />
<a href="http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Rebecca LuElla Miller</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.bookwomanjoan.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Joan Nienhuis</span></a><br />
<a href="http://dadscancooktoo.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nathan Reimer</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.chawnaschroeder.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Chawna Schroeder</span></a><br />
<a href="http://reviewsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Kathleen Smith</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.jojosutiscorner.wordpress.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Jojo Sutis</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Robert Treskillard</span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://stevetrower.com/blog/"> Steve Trower</a>
<a href="http://christian-fantasy-book-reviews.com/blog/"> Phyllis Wheeler</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.shanewerlinger.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Shane Werlinger</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.theravenquill.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nichole White</span></a>Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-53477418980828254932013-03-18T11:41:00.000-07:002013-03-18T11:41:17.261-07:00Review on "The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank BeddorHello friends. :D I haven't blogged in a good long while, and for that I am sorry. Quite honestly, I haven't had the time for it, nor have I been inspired enough to do much writing in general. It's a sad state I'm in, and I'm trying to get through it. Prayer is always welcome. ^_^ For other things too, not just my writing life.<br />
<br />
But anyway, today I actually got up enough gumption to write a book review! Yay for me!!! I posted the review on Goodreads, but decided to post it here too, since I think it is a relatively good review and I haven't posted anything in so long. lol!<br />
<br />
So here it is! My review on the book "The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor.<br />
<br />
<u><b>The Looking Glass Wars</b></u> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ramascreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Looking-Glass-Wars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://ramascreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Looking-Glass-Wars.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A new twist on Alice in Wonderland... What if the story behind Alice and her Wonderland was actually real? What if all of that had actually happened, but NOT in the way the original author said it had? <br />
<br />
In this charming/exciting/action-packed book by Frank Beddor, Alyss Heart is the young Princess of Wonderland. When her parents are killed by her Aunt Redd who wants to rule Wonderland through the use of black imagination, Alyss escapes with her trusted bodyguard and the leader of the Millinery, Hatter Madigan, through the Pool of Tears. She lands in 1800's London, separated from Hatter Madigan and all alone, and there she is taken in by the Liddels and adopted as their daughter. But the Liddels do not believe her story of being the heir to the throne in a fantastical world where the strength of a person's imagination grants them power beyond reckoning. Alyss' only consolation is in a chaplain who takes pity on the young girl and listens to her stories. But Alyss never counted on him not believing her, and she never thought he would write a book about her story and get all of the facts so very, very WRONG. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, her Aunt Redd is still looking for her, and has sent her best assassin, The Cat, to find and dispose of her. However, Madigan finds her first and they manage to escape back into the world of Wonderland, only to find that the wonderful place that had once been her parent's kingdom is now falling to ruins and the people are in shambles. Alyss must learn to master her very powerful gift of Imagination with very little guidance, and she must master it quickly. For only she can stand up against her Aunt Redd... Only she can take back the throne of Wonderland and restore things to how they used to be... how they were always meant to be.<br />
<br />
My thoughts: Pros...<br />
<br />
The story in and of itself was very exciting. I loved the action packed scenes, and Frank Beddor managed to bring the characters to life in a way I had never imagined. Hatter Madigan is, of course, my favorite character. ^_^ I mean, who DOESN'T like the idea of a Bad-ass Mad Hatter??? Madigan had every type of weapon you could think of (and plenty that you couldn't even imagine... ;D) and he was very good at his job. Alyss' character started out as being rather annoying in my eyes, but soon became likeable enough that I found myself rooting for her. :) The twist on the Cheshire Cat was at first disconcerting, as I honestly LIKE the Cheshire Cat better as a good guy, but I soon got used to the idea and found myself sitting on the edge of my seat during fighting scenes that involved the strange shape shifting, nine-life granted feline assassin. <br />
<br />
And the imagination! In this book, rather than using "black magic" and "White Magic", Beddor uses "Black Imagination" and "White Imagination" which I liked a whole lot better. Beddor plays up the idea that there is no limit to imagination... but it is how imagination is used that makes all the difference. As a writer myself, this idea connected with me in a way that few other stories have, and it made me rethink several ideas for my own books as well. :D<br />
<br />
My Thoughts: Cons...<br />
<br />
For me, the writing in this book felt rather stinted, and while the plot and story in and of itself was intriguing and unique, there were quite a few places where I felt like the story was sort of "lagging"... falling behind or not living up to its potential. The story is written in an all Omniscient view that (on a very few occasions) speaks directly to the readers. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I have seen it done well in the past. However, it took a while for me to get used to it, and that took away from the story's experience. Perhaps my biggest problem was the amount of time it took me to warm up to the main character, Alyss Heart. At first I didn't like her at all... in fact, I found her Aunt Redd to be much more interesting than Alyss herself. This, for me, was definitely an issue. It's better for me if I end up liking the main character right away rather than having to "warm up" to them. I should at least be interested in them... but I found that I didn't much care for Alyss Heart at all until later in the book.<br />
<br />
I give this book 3 out of five stars because I believe that the pros and the cons pretty much balance themselves out. While the plot and unique twists of the book definitely make it well worth reading, the stinted writing and my contempt for the spoiled, rich, tantrum throwing young Alyss make me hesitate to add more stars than I already have. Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-19914626644576373342013-01-30T11:37:00.000-08:002013-01-30T11:53:18.702-08:00Well... I did it... I got brave... :D<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well... I got brave today. :D I actually did something I've
never done before... something I never even considered doing until about 6
months ago...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am OFFICIALLY self publishing a book of my poetry through
createspace... :D</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Part of this project is an experiment in manuscript
formatting for print. Granted, I'm <i>not</i> actually planning to use Createspace's
services for Magpie Eclectic Press books -- I have another printer in mind for
that, and I'm very excited about it all! (Seriously, these guys are awesome!)
But I figured that Createspace would be a quick and simple way for me to
test my formatting skills for a paperback book... I would need to do it sooner
or later anyway. Which leads me in to the second reason I have for going
through with this... I have a sincere desire to have my poems compiled
someplace other than bits and scraps of paper strewn all across my room.
Notebooks are nice enough, but not when they are falling apart, and not
when you have two or three (or more) poems in each one. Then it just gets
confusing. And besides, I have family members I would love to give copies
too. :D My uncle Jesse and
aunt Geinnie for one, and my aunt Phyllis, and aunt Ruth and
uncle Robert. They are my mom's mom's (my grandma's) siblings and live in
Northern Indiana, so I don't get to see them a lot (though they are all
awesome!) And a lot of my dad's family live up there too. :D<br />
<br />
But here's the deal; truth be told, I never thought I would actually go through
with it. The poems in this book were never really meant to be seen. I
mean, I think they are good enough to be seen (well, I did write
them, so of course I would think that!) But truly... they were just bits and
pieces of creative overflow leaked onto paper and stashed in an old
file cabinet... and desk drawer, and book case, and anywhere else I saw
fit to stash them. :P </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
However, NOW all that's changed. NOW the compilation will be available on
Amazon for kindle and in paperback... just in case anyone else is interested,
ya know. ^_^ It's not ready to order yet; I still have to pour over the proof
copy and double check for errors. But hopefully it will be ready soon!<br />
<br />
And I'm still trying to get used to the thought. *draws in deep breath*<br />
<br />
Now, this project is a bit different than other projects I've taken on and
other books I've worked with. When I self published "Blue
Moon", it was only in ebook formats. With "Blue Moon",
anyone could download the story straight to their digital reader in no time
flat. Plus, "Blue Moon" wasn't really long enough to be put
into print format... But with this book, it's actually going to be <i>physical</i>...
sitting in my <i>hands</i>. Working with the books for Magpie is different
too; sure I'm excited about them, and yes they are amazing! But for the
most part, they aren't my own writing... this is completely different.
And even though it's poetry and not a novel, or even an anthology of short
stories, this thought is intriguing to me... that I will be able to hold it in
my hands and read it like I would one of my favorite poet's books...<br />
<br />
This book is called "Remembering Innocence". And here is a little bit
about it:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(from the back cover): </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I’m writing this to help you understand exactly what
it is this collection of poems represents, both <i>to</i> me and <i>of</i> me... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It wasn’t until I started college in 09 that I began
to understand just how blind I was to the darkness that permeates the world.
Oh, there are still wonderful and amazing places and people and events all
around this great blue sphere that the human race calls home, but there is also
sadness and pain, darkness and regret, hurt and lies, etc… Now that I see all
of that, I simply can’t unsee it… the images and the realization of what the
world truly is has now been ingrained in my personality, and to some degree I
feel as if my true, pure innocence has been lost. My naivety has been swept
back, like the white veil that hides a bride’s face, and I am forced to view
the world for what it really is. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is some pain I’ve felt at the realization of this
loss. Nothing devastating, of course, but sometimes it feels like there is an
empty void in my chest where my innocence once held residence. Now in my early
adult years, these poems are reminders of that lost part of me, sweet memories
and thoughts transcribed in notebooks years ago when a fit of inspiration took
me by surprise and wrought wonders on blank paper. My childhood innocence
forged these memories, and now they remind me that the world can still be
beautiful..."</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yeah, that pretty much sums it up. That's what
these poems are to me... little pieces of innocence from my past that have been
preserved, even though my life has changed so much and become something more.
My naivety -- my childhood -- is poured into this compilation.
It's all there... and I'll soon be able to hold all of it in one place
with my own two hands!!! :D The excitement mounds!!! ^_^
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-2340345499880674692013-01-16T16:59:00.001-08:002013-01-16T16:59:22.666-08:00New Blog Post at "Aspiring Endnotes": Show Vs. Tell -- The Emotional Connection<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Just wrote a new blog post on "Show vs. tell". I've written on the subject before (almost two years ago to the day), but this time is <i>slightly</i> different. ;) Come check it out, and leave a comment if you feel like it! I love to hear about what readers think of my posts. ^_^<br /></span><a href="http://aspiringendnotes.blogspot.com/2013/01/show-vs-tell-emotional-connection.html" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>aspiringendnotes.blogspot.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>2013/01/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>show-vs-tell-emotional-connecti<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>on.html</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><br />Nichole<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" />Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-60740436191570036602013-01-01T10:42:00.002-08:002013-01-01T11:19:00.249-08:00"The New Recruit" by Jill Williamson -- a reviewHello friends!<br />
<br />
Well, it's the first of the year and I thought it would be good to start this year off with a review. My list of "to-read" books has grown, as has my list of "to-review" books, and I have simply fallen behind! But I foresee good things for this year. The 1rst day of 2013... positively anything could happen! Since school's gotten out (and even though life has been crazy-hectic-weird in the last few weeks) I have read several books and have started work on SOTD again, even though my writing life had previously been stuck for months on end. I consider that a sign of good things to come. :D<br />
<br />
So here is my review! :)<br />
<br />
"The New Recruit"<br />
The Mission League<br />
Mission #1: Moscow<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6W1-vfyQLmtgvkJUxwO8Uibxr4DFkuQj-OEfyDcvEFZ-cqH7b_M7MgiJn5eXbVh5z4GrYEhWEz4tGt2xdmqmL1YpnwtGd4PeSq3fAROwPRrJKUrP_GZgGujPBn_b-F-5aWEkokjwuWga/s1600/NewRecruit1-662x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6W1-vfyQLmtgvkJUxwO8Uibxr4DFkuQj-OEfyDcvEFZ-cqH7b_M7MgiJn5eXbVh5z4GrYEhWEz4tGt2xdmqmL1YpnwtGd4PeSq3fAROwPRrJKUrP_GZgGujPBn_b-F-5aWEkokjwuWga/s320/NewRecruit1-662x1024.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
Forced to choose between military school and a Christian spy organization, skeptic Spencer Garmond signs on with the Bible geeks. But before he even boards the plane for Moscow, Spencer realizes this is no mere Bible club.<br />
<br />
These guys mean business.<br />
<br />
Stumbling onto a case involving a gang of homeless boys, a chilling tattoo, and the always beautiful Anya Vseveloda, Spencer struggles to find the faith needed to save the Mission League from enemy infiltration.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My Thoughts:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Pros:</b><br />
This book, for me, was intriguing from the get-go. I wasn't sure at first what I would think of it... I love speculative fiction of ALL kinds, but there is a special place in my heart for anything Fantasy, and sometimes I find myself getting skeptical of other types of fiction. I should know by now to put that skepticism aside. lol! And I was reminded that I should do this more often as I read through Jill's book.<br />
<br />
"The New Recruit" is a mission report, told mostly through the eyes of Mission League agent-in-training, Spencer Garmond. Spencer is a non-Christian, basketball-loving, wannabe tough-guy who lives with his Grandma and goes to a Christian school only because he's made to. He doesn't buy into any of the lovey-dovey faith and prayer stuff that a lot of the other kids at his school believe in. No, Spencer believes he's one of the few at his school who actually "get's" the real world and what's happening in it. But when Spencer gets himself into yet <i>another</i> fight after school, his Grandma gives him an ultimatum: join "the Mission League", an organization of Bible-loving churcher missionaries who "pretend" they're all spies ... or go to military school. <br />
<br />
The last thing Spencer wants to do is go to Military school... not if he has any chance of upping his basketball game and preparing to play college ball. Spencer decides to join the League, if only to get his Grandma off his case, but he soon finds out that the kids in the Mission League aren't nearly as soft as he thought they were. In fact, this organization means business. And not only does Spencer soon realize this, but he also learns that his long-lost parents were in the League as well... and so was his Grandma. <br />
<br />
When Spencer joins the team for a training trip to Moscow Russia, he accidentally stumbles across a case involving the ever stunning Anya Vseveloda, a girl that he's been having strange dreams about for years. Spencer has never believed in spiritual warfare, or in the prophetic meanings of dreams, but he can't deny the fact that there's something weird going on with Anya. First of all, how could he possibly dream about someone he's never seen before? And second, why does Anya sometimes speak perfect English and other times choose to use a broken Russian accent? And why does he get the cold-creepiest whenever he looks her in the eyes? Strange too, is the tattoo that Anya wears on her arm - a maze in the shape of a yo-yo with a star in the middle. Spencer's new Russian friend, Pasha, shares the same tattoo. It looks cool, but there's some chilling mystery behind the symbol, and as the story progresses, Spencer begins to find it harder and harder to deny that there just might be something behind all this faith and prayer stuff after all... and that demons just <i>might</i> be real too.<br />
<br />
I loved the voice of this story. It's told in first person, but I felt that the character stayed true to his nature. Knowing that the author herself is a christian, I figure it must have been a bit difficult to write from the POV of a <i>very</i> skeptical non-believing 15 year-old boy... especially using a modern day setting. Spencer never slipped out of character, but the reader could feel the change of heart and mind as the story progressed... it almost felt as if I was learning and realizing things right along with Spencer, not as if I was watching him learn it all for himself. Jill was able to hit on a lot of the questions that young teens have these days concerning Christianity, and she also addressed the different approaches that some Christians take in evangelizing. My two favorite examples have to do with the characters Arianna and Gabe. <br />
<br />
Arianna had a tendency to be pushy and preachy, always in Spencer's face about the fact that he was a non-believer. She was only trying to help, but she didn't know how to go about it properly, and as Spencer said to her at one point: "Arianna, you can't make me your clone. The more you try to, the more I want to push you off the balcony. Just be my friend. If you can't do that without nagging me every second, I don't want to be yours."<br />
<br />
The way Spencer explained it to her is probably the best I've heard it put in ages. Of course she was only trying to help him, but nobody likes to be pushed around and told how wrong they are all the time because they don't believe the same as somebody else. That's partially why politics get so bad these days. ;) If Arianna had just tried to be Spencer's friend before she tried to push him into a "religion", he might not have fought so hard against her urging.<br />
<br />
Gabe, on the other hand, became Spencer's friend first... best friend, actually; almost like a brother. In fact, Gabe considered Spencer to be like his brother. Yes, Gabe made mistakes several times, and some of his actions were misunderstood by Spencer which brought about problems, but ultimately Gabe's goal was first to become a friend, and then to let their friendship do the evangelizing I don't even know for sure if Gabe realized that this was his approach. However, as the story progressed, it was Gabe's walk with Christ and the peace and security Gabe found in that walk that Spencer first started to think about. He considered the other members of the team too, but Gabe's example was more prominent. And it was Gabe's example that Spencer decided to follow when he went to talk his Russian friend, Pasha, into leaving his life on the streets and returning to his family.<br />
<br />
At the end of the story, Spencer is still a non-Christian who loves basketball, but we can see the change that has been worked in him by joining the Mission League. Though Spencer is still skeptical, he's starting to understand that there is definitely more to the "religion" of Christianity than he ever thought. In fact, he's starting to see beyond the tag of "religion" to understand that Christianity is actually a "relationship". Though he's still unsure of himself and what the whole Christian-thing is really about, he makes the decision to start researching some of the stuff he's been told about in his Bible (the one his Grandma made him keep)... and perhaps church isn't such a terrible idea after all. There's definitely something behind all the talk about prayer, because without the intercessors at the Mission League, he's pretty sure he would be dead or something worse with all that he's been through in Moscow... and then there's the thought of demons. He never really believed in them before, but after his dealings with Anya, his perception definitely changes. With the end of the book comes the promise of more adventures with the Mission League in which readers can hope to watch Spencer's perspective on Christianity evolve and develop while readers also enjoy high-action and suspense. :D<br />
<br />
<b>Cons:</b><br />
I make it a point in most of my reviews not to harp on grammatical errors and typos. After all, all books have typos and I don't like putting down a good story for something insignificant. "The New Recruit" is most <i>definately</i> a good story -- even a GREAT one -- but at this moment in time, it is also chock-full of typos. Not necessarily in the dialogue -- a lot of the dialogue, especially once the Mission League entered Moscow -- was written in such a way that readers would hear a Russian accent as they worked their way through the book. Most of the typos I found were out of dialogue, in the meat of the story itself. These included accidentally miss-spelled words, missing words, a name spelled one way here and another way there, and even at one point the use of a character name before we were actually introduced to the character. <br />
<br />
The typos, however, are my only real con. The rest of the book was pretty well done, so I hope that my mention of this doesn't turn anyone away from this read. It's definitely worth reading. The story itself is excellent. :D<br />
<br />
<b>Other Notes:</b><br />
I've noted that in other reviews of this book, readers (especially male readers) were slightly perturbed with the idea that Spencer seemed to "hit on" every girl in the story. This is something I didn't actually understand. As I was reading the story, I noted that Spencer made a note of each of the girls in his group, and that he had an attraction towards only two of them... Beth and Isabel. Most of the time he was annoyed with Arianna and tried not to be associated with her as much as possible, why Jensina just sort of lingered in the background. He found Isabel to be extremely attractive, looks-wise, while he found himself drawn to Beth not only for the fact that she was pretty, but also because she was strong and athletic in ways that he also wished to be. At one point in the story he noted that a Russian deaf girl, Svetlana, was extremely beautiful, but he admitted to himself that nothing would probably ever come of his attraction to her.<br />
<br />
Now, I know that many of the male readers had made notes of these interactions in an unfavorable way when they wrote their reviews, but as an older sister with brothers in Spencer's age-range, I can honestly say that this actually happens more often than even boys may realize. With Spencer being a non-Christian, he didn't quite have the morals that the other Christian boys had in his group, and so looking at girls like this was less shameful to him than it might have seemed to be to, say, Gabe or one of the other male agents-in-training. My brother interacts with pretty girls his age in much the same way, even though I know for a fact that he doesn't realize that anyone else notices... especially the pretty girls he's trying to "woe". (It's actually kind of funny, I think... watching him try like that. ;D) <br />
<br />
So all in all, I didn't find anything wrong with the way Spencer acted around the females his own age in the Mission League. They may not have shared his outlook on things, or even realized that he was thinking of him in a romantic way at all. (I know I have a tendency to be blind to those sort of things, and only realize that "oh hey! That boy seemed interested in me..." <i>after</i> my sister tells me so later.).<br />
<br />
Just thought I'd mention it. :D<br />
<br />
I received this book for Christmas, and was so glad that I did! For those of you wondering, yes, that map of Moscow in the middle of the book is one that I did. :) It was a lot of fun, but difficult too, as I had never tried to create a map based on an actual city before. I'm used to doing more Fantasy-map type stuff. ;D<br />
<br />
I was not required to write a good review for this book, but I definitely give it 4 out of 5 stars. It's a book worth reading, so if you haven't yet, you should totally look into it! :D<br />
<br />
Until next time my friends, God bless, Happy writing, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :D<br />
<br />
Nichole WhiteStar-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-89606981724117209912012-11-28T19:41:00.000-08:002012-11-28T19:41:01.444-08:00Life Threw Down the Gauntlet (Subtitled: I’m going insane!)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]-->Just in case you didn’t
get the reference behind the title of this post, to “throw down the gauntlet”
isn’t like the saying, to “throw in the towel”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They sound similar but mean totally different things.<br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br />
To throw down the gauntlet is actually a way to issue a challenge, and the
action (as well as the phrase) originated in medieval times as a choice way for
knights and lords (etc…) to challenge each other.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
To throw in the towel
means to give up.<br />
<br />
For me, life threw down the gauntlet, and after picking up the challenge, I
sometimes wish I could throw in the towel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But of course I’m too stubborn and determined to do that. :P</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY
LATELY I FEEL LIKE I COULD FACEPLANT ON CONCRETE AND NOT EVEN FEEL THE PAIN BECAUSE I'M SO TIRED AND GOING MAD!!!!
:D<br />
<br />
If you thought this blog post was going to be some great informational thing,
you were wrong… this is me rambling and typing stream of consciousness as fast
as I can in order to maintain my sanity… because if I don’t do this, my sanity
will fly out the window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s already threatening to do just that and
I’ve done everything short of physically chaining it to my leg in order to keep
it under control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
That, and I’m currently
running on 1 ½ hours of sleep. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>:P<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Music Theory 1 composition was due this
morning, and of course I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">would</i> decide
to get creative, don’t ya know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
started work on the composition weeks ago, but it’s really difficult to be
creative and stay within a series of rather strict rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t break any of them without getting
marked down, so you really have to be kept on your toes… Yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This is what my
composition <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sounds</i> like:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F69228190&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I would show you pictures
of the composition, but I had to hand in the original to my teacher…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>luckily for me I still have the rough draft…
which is exactly the same as the “nice-n-neat” version, only sloppy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately I don’t have a camera to take a
picture of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put the notes of the
composition into my computer’s dictation software after theory this morning and
saved it as a PDF and a WAVE file… but I’m not at my computer right now so my
access to pictures is non-existent. :P<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The WAVE file only works because I downloaded it earlier to Soundcloud.
^_^<br />
<br />
Let’s see… what else is happening in my life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oh… that Nano thing I tried??? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EPIC FAIL!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yeah, I probably wrote about 10 words and then life just decided to run
me over with a proverbial bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much
for that idea…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have homework due
tomorrow that I am currently avoiding (but will not be able to avoid for much
longer if I want to pass my classes this semester).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also have voice juries next Friday (not
this Friday, thank the Lord!) and need to finish memorizing my German
piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THE FINISH LINE IS
IN SIGHT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JUST TWO MORE WEEKS… TWO MORE
WEEKS…<br />
<br />
My “NEED TO READ” list of books has grown, of course… one of my classes this
semester is speed reading, so that’s helped a little as far as chipping away
into the living and ever growing pile of literature taking over my room…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but it’s barely dented the thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have book reviews that I need to post and I
just haven’t had a chance to write them… I mean, sure, taking five minutes out
of my time to type up something stupid and rambling like this blog post is
nothing, but sitting down to write out a thought provoking and truthful book
review is another thing entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I’m
going to write about the book, I should do it justice… </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
What I’m doing now – this
thing, right now, that I am doing at my computer – is not justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not even “just nice”… it might be “just”,
but even that is pushing it. Lol! :P<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Books deserve better than the half-crazed ramblings of a lunatic, and if
I were not a lunatic at the moment, I would give them the better… but I don’t
have it right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lost it and I can’t
seem to find it, so they are just going to have to do without until I remember
where I put the darned thing. :P<br />
<br />
There are other things going on in my life – big things!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things I want to shout to the world and let
everyone know about because I am so, SO excited about them!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But similar to how books deserve better than
my mad murmurings, I’m not going to talk about those things on here just yet… I
need to be looking, sounding, and feeling better (and preferably more professional)
before that happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the news will come soon!<br />
<br />
And let’s see… what else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, I picked
up on the commissions I’ve been behind on… over Thanksgiving break I started
working on them again, but school started again Monday and so they’ve once more
been put to the side .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>:P<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JUST TWO MORE WEEKS!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m more than ready to finish up these
commissions and send them off – I know that the authors who have hired me for
them are ready for me to do that as well – but my concentration is split in so
many different directions right now, with finals coming up and trying to make
sure that I actually pass my classes (which is looking scarily unpredictable
right now), and there’s also been the big things that I want to tell you about
but won’t… anyway, there has been so much going on (mostly with school, though)
that I simply can’t balance it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
those of you who commissioned me for art, I know I’ve said this before, but
please bear with me: IT WILL GET DONE!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
It will… I swear it will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I have to be able to think straight first…
:P<br />
<br />
And the Hobbit is coming out DEC. 14… The HOBBIT…. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>THE</u></i> HOBBIT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think
the publicists might have planned that simply to see how much more crazy I
could handle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seriously, they were like “Oh,
she’s already almost insane… let’s see what might happen if we prepare
something for her that she will absolutely freak out over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her stress levels can’t get THAT much higher.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lol!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t know, I don’t know… all I know is that I’m totally stoked for the release
and I hope to make it to a midnight showing… I really, really want to go to a
midnight showing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s going to be
epicness, I’m sure!<br />
<br />
Is there anything else, now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have I
vented enough?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I’ve said a lot,
but is that everything???<br />
<br />
Well, there IS more, but I’m actually starting to feel better for having done
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I might even feel better
enough for me to stop typing now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
least my hands aren’t balled up in fists around chunks of my hair anymore, and
I think my breathing may have evened out some… this is quite therapeutic! <br />
<br />
Anyway, I will stop boring you, my friends, with my crazy talk now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and
I hope you will have an amazing Christmas to go with it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully things will clear up in my life
much sooner than I’m expecting them to (that would be wonderful!) and I’ll be
able to join the blogging world, a complete human being once more, and not some
half brain-dead zombie from the academic underworld. :P<br />
<br />
Farewell!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God bless you all, and happy
writing!<br />
<br />
Nichole</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-21853993561912189582012-11-07T14:17:00.002-08:002012-11-07T14:33:29.892-08:00NanoLand a Week Late<br />
Hello friends!<br />
<br />
I haven't blogged since September, and yes, that is probably the longest I have ever gone without posting to this blog You may wonder WHY I have been gone for so very long, and the answer is... well, mostly school. It's been crazy. Free time has been practically non-existent, and when it is existent it's dedicated mostly to homework. With that in mind, you are now probably thinking that I must be crazy to try and tackle Nanowrimo in the middle of everything else. You would be right... but that is not stopping me!<br />
<br />
Now, technically, I'm not doing Nanowrimo the "right" way this year. Instead of starting with a brand new novel that I've never worked on before, I'm following Wayne Thomas Batson's lead and working on the re-re-rewrite of Song of the Daystar. And instead of starting the story at the very beginning, I'm starting at the second chapter... and I'm starting today.<br />
<br />
Yeah... *sigh* Nano has officially been going for 8 days now, and I am going to start today... tonight, actually. Probably at home... if I can find somewhere quiet to work. :P My starting word count is 9,212. I've been stuck on Chapter 2 now for MONTHS and it just hasn't been moving forward... so now I'm going to see if I can jump into Nano late and actually get something DONE. If I actually make it to 50k I'll be lucky, and extremely happy, but I'm personally going to be aiming MUCH lower... I would like to hit 20k or 30k new words by the end of the month. With my writing life going as slow as it has been, I don't think that's too much to ask.<br />
<br />
And so, in honor of this crazy but satisfying decision, here's an excerpt from the rewrite of SOTD. Only one person has seen any of this rewrite before... so here goes nothing. *gulps* Feel free to tell me what you think of it. ^_^<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prologue</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Breaking</div>
<br />
<i>36 Súlor, 1394 AB</i><br />
<br />
The wind smelled of death, change, and fear… but mostly fear.<br />
<br />
Djar’zla inhaled deep, gazing out from the cliffside past the desolation of the Hoarfrost Mountains to the southern horizon and the lands that lay beyond. The winds came from that direction, thick, wretched, and filled with the cloying scent of pain. They swirled about him, tugging at the ancient tatters of his frayed dark robes, snagging the long, thin strands of black hair still left on his balding pate. High above the bite of the jagged peaks, a cloud of great black Corvus wheeled in droves and cawed out a single, solemn word: <i>“Doom!”</i><br />
<br />
The corners of Djar’zla’s mouth twisted upward in a vicious grin as he drew in another deep breath. So… the <i>Ealyone</i> were suffering. Dark satisfaction welled in his chest. They would pay dearly for their crimes against him, and their blood would slake the earth. It had been ages since he last felt the wind or saw the real sky turn grey with predawn light; ages since he beheld the mighty peaks of the Hoarfrost or heard the roar of the great waterfall gushing out into the river called Hoara’s Rush. For centuries he had lain bound in darkness deep under the wastelands of the world, forced into a slumber of nightmares and death by the words and the blood of the Ealyone’s kings. Their anguish now could hardly count as penance for his misery, but their grief brought with it a penchant both bitter and sweet. Bitter because it was a sharp reminder of what he had once been and was no longer; and sweet because it meant that they were in torment – they were breaking. <br />
<br />
Djar’zla said the word once, tasting every syllable – every letter – as it dripped off his tongue. Breaking. Oh, the Ealyone were such fragile things! Dust and water, mud and rain. If you dropped them hard enough, they cracked open like a porcelain vase, and once broken inside their minds were malleable as a lump of clay. <br />
<br />
They called themselves <i>human</i> now. It was a new word, a curious word – one Djar’zla had never heard before and he rolled it around on his tongue weighing its merit. No doubt the word had been invented by one of their learned men… what were they called? <i>Scholars?</i> Djar’zla chuckled. They were such funny little creatures, the Ealyone, calling themselves one thing or another, as if that would make any real difference. Their minds were just as fragile now as they’d been two thousand years ago. Soon they’d have no more use for petty words; he would make sure of it.<br />
<br />
Looking to the skies, Djar’zla barked a command to the Corvus overhead – <i>“Nrythkai!”</i> – and one of the larger birds wheeled away from the rest to land at its master’s feet. Once come of a noble race, the creature now before him looked little more than a reanimated carcass, albeit a vicious one. Large black wings wrapped around its body, rank and oily. Feathers – matted, frayed, and falling out in clumps – clung to skin that barely covered the bird’s skeletal structure. Dagger-sharp teeth jutted out of its beak at odd angles, and long, scaled legs stretched down to razor talons that clicked ominously against the stone. <br />
<br />
But the eyes… the eyes were the most revolting, the most unnerving. A masterpiece so flawed in its making, even Djar’zla could not stare at them for long. Irises of deep red, dark as a thick pool of blood, almost black; and pupils – each a narrow slit like those of a snake or a cat – glazed over by clouded, lifeless grey, as if the mists shrouding the serrated peaks of the Hoarfrost had seeped in and couldn’t find their way out again. <br />
<br />
The bird shifted uneasily before him, sensing its master’s dark mood. It feared what might become of it should Djar’zla prove aggressive. Djar’zla closed his eyes as the bird’s dread washed over him. He always knew the emotions and thoughts of his creations, could sense them like a snake tastes the air. Fear was always strongest, followed closely by hate. He cared little for the latter; what did it matter if his creations hated him, so long as they obeyed him? But fear… <br />
<br />
<i>Such a fitting emotion,</i> Djar’zla thought, allowing the sweet sensation to engulf him. The bird’s terror was like sugar on his tongue. He smiled down at it, satisfied. <i>Fear is a worthy gift to give one who holds the power of life and death in his palms.</i><br />
<br />
When he addressed the bird at last, he made no attempt to hide his loathing. His own creation or not, the bird was disgusting. “Gather your strongest flyers,” he said. “I want to know the truth behind the rumors on the wind. Find out why the Ealyone suffer – discover their torments – and report the cause back to me. It may be we can use this to our advantage.”<br />
<br />
The Corvus cocked its head and gurgled something in its throat – a long, unintelligible line of syllables locked together in some form of attempted communication. A question?<br />
<br />
Djar’zla sneered. “I don’t care,” he growled. “Stealth is of no consequence in this. Let them see you and cower in fear, but be swift. The time for action draws near, and you will not make me miss such an opportunity because of indolence!” He lashed out with his foot, catching the bird in its ribs. Squawking and scrabbling, the creature scuttled backward, flapping great dark wings until it lifted from the precipice and soared back to its brethren circling above.<br />
<br />
Djar’zla watched the skies until a group of the giant black birds separated themselves from the rest of the flock and turned south. Inwardly, he seethed. It was a ridiculous paradox that he was forced to rely on them for news of the southern realms; that he, the mighty Djar’zla, had fallen to such depths. Of course the creatures couldn’t understand what he meant when he spoke to them; they were too dumb for that. They could make out words – maybe a few syllables – but the true meanings behind those words escaped them. It was only their bond to him – the bond between creator and created – that allowed him absolute control and access to their mental pathways. They were pathetic. Absolutely revolting. Dark, defiled, and crippled creatures with no true will and with minds twisted beyond any point of return. They were the imperfect works of his dark genius, purveyors of his misery, and now his only cracked and fogged up window to the outside world.<br />
<br />
The irony was not lost on him.<br />
<br />
Scowling, he turned away and faced the mountain of his bondage. In its side gaped the sinister mouth of a cave, a fissure torn from the very fabric of the mountain’s stone and left to bleed its poison on the world. Jagged pieces of rock hung from the fissure’s top and jutted from its bottom, like the bared fangs of a Baldhoara Beast preparing to attack. From deep within the darkness of the mountain’s open maw, a sound of groaning – of strong wind – rose up and was spewed out from the giant orifice in a puff of air.<br />
<br />
The mountain breathed.<br />
<br />
Djar’zla stepped forward as the breeze from the cave brushed the dark strands of hair away from his face. The corners of his lips twisted up in a grin. With one last look at the pale morning sky, he squared his shoulders and marched straight into the blackness of the mountain’s waiting jaws. And the mountain swallowed him.<br />
<br />
Djar’zla needed no light to tread the path that wound from the cave’s mouth deep into the bowels of the earth. He had walked it many times since his waking. With one hand placed on the cold stone wall as a guide, he plunged deeper and deeper into the void, turning corners and skirting obstacles with ease. Here he ducked the lintel of a tunnel entrance; there he skirted a fall of rocks that had tumbled down in the dark to seal the mouth of a cavern or passageway. <br />
<br />
There were many ancient riddles, many dark and sacred mysteries that lay hidden in the deep places of this mountain – his mountain. Centuries of knowledge stored up, far beyond the grasp of mortal minds. Miles and miles underground, the fissure that was the gate into the world’s core stretched out and became giant caverns and catacombs – mausoleums threaded with crystal and precious metals; chambers where wild and strange beasts roamed, where the dark miasmic juices of the world conjoined, and where evil breathed as a living entity.<br />
<br />
The Ealyone had forgotten it, were forbidden to enter it; it was a place no living mortal man had ever willingly set eyes upon, and for centuries uncounted, it had been his prison, secluded and abandoned in the range of the Hoarfrost – a fitting crypt in which to bury what once had been known as truth. While he’d slept, the mountain’s belly had been his bondage, but now that he was awake again, it became his sanctuary, his unbreachable fortress. It was here, within the bowels of the earth’s dark catacombs that the makings of his retribution took on flesh.<br />
<br />
Djar’zla turned one last corner and stepped into the familiar giant cavern – his destination. Unlike the other chambers of the underground world, this one had torches lit and burning in sconces spaced along the walls. In the center of the room, a long flat pedestal of glassy black stone rose out of the floor and burned with the reflected light of the torch flames. Djar’zla knew that pedestal intimately; every minute pock and every invisible mar. During the years of his bondage it had been his bier, shackles of its living stone binding him to its surface. Even in the nightmares, the pedestal had been present, a constant reminder of his captivity – a constant reason to hate.<br />
<br />
But now there was a new figure on the pedestal. A weak one – a <i>female</i>. The silhouettes of bones poked through the milk-white skin of the Ealyone’s bare torso, and a film of fevered sweat covered her body in a glossy sheen that left damp patches on the thin linen coverings around her waist and upper chest. Clumps of lank dark hair that once had been long, thick, and attached to the creature’s head, now lay around her like a beast’s shed coat. The shackles of stone that had held Djar’zla captive circled the new occupant’s wrists, ankles, and neck, securing her to the pedestal’s surface. The creature didn’t fight against them. Couldn’t. Her eyes were closed. When she breathed, a terrible rattling sound rumbled in her chest – the sound of a living being about to die.<br />
<br />
A cruel smile lifted the corners of Djar’zla’s lips. Oh, how ironic for her! She could never have dreamed the consequences of traveling through the Hoarfrost by herself, could never have known what her mere presence would accomplish. After all, so many years had passed since his binding that the story of it was now only legend and myth – a fireside tale to frighten children and awaken bravery in young men’s hearts. It was because of her that he was lifted from the tangle of enchanted nightmares and brought back into the waking world, and he was forever grateful; she had walked into the mountains of her own free will, and in so doing had secured her doom. <br />
<br />
Cupping his hands behind his back like a schoolmaster about to give a lecture, Djar’zla stalked forward and addressed the pedestal’s captive. “It is now begun. The line of the Old Kings is failing, and soon the curse laid upon me will be broken. All thanks to you, my queen – my brave little champion.” He laughed, the echo resounding through the cavern, growing longer as it bounced off the walls. The woman on the pedestal never opened her eyes, but Djar’zla detected a catch in her breath. She was awake, however hard she tried to pretend she wasn’t, and he knew that his words cut deep. “It is now only a matter of time,” he continued, “and we have plenty of that. The one good mark left upon me from the curse – I have learned patience well.” <br />
<br />
This time she did open her eyes, but their dark brown color had faded from years of ill treatment, the pupils misting over as the whites grew bloodshot from gazing into darkness. She stared at the ceiling, never even tried to look at him. It was this stubbornness that annoyed him most, for whenever she spoke, her words were directed at him, but she never once, in all her years underground, acknowledged his existence with her eyes. <br />
<br />
“Your words have no substance,” she croaked. “Whatever daemon you are and however powerful you may be, these mountains still hold you captive. They are your chains. Or why else are you still here?”<br />
<br />
“To gloat,” he offered. “To rub your folly in your face. It does my soul no end of good to watch yours break in pieces.”<br />
<br />
She drew in another ragged breath. Soon the effort of speech would drain her body of strength, but he admired her audacity. It would be fun to watch her finally fall apart in the end.<br />
<br />
“My soul is not broken,” she managed at last, “Only my body.”<br />
<br />
“Your body may be all that’s needed to break your soul. Pain is a powerful persuader, and the mind will often betray the heart. You will break eventually, my queen. Your kind always does.” <br />
<br />
The woman’s chest shuddered and spasmed as she drew in her next breath, forcing her words through clenched teeth. “What you seek cannot be found in this cavern, Djar’zla. Beware. The blood of the Old Kings is far from ending. Your reign will fall.”<br />
<br />
And there she went again, speaking like a curséd <i>Sibyl</i>!<br />
<br />
Djar’zla scowled, the torch lights turning a venomous green with his mood. “I don’t care for your riddles, witch,” he hissed at her. “Your tongue is more problems than it’s worth.” <br />
<br />
A dry, croaking laugh exploded from her throat. “Riddles?” she gasped. “Riddles!” And her laugh broke into a rattling cough. <br />
<br />
Striding up to the pedestal, Djar’zla placed his palms flat onto the black stone and leaned forward until his face was directly over hers. She closed her eyes again.<br />
<br />
“What do you know?” he hissed into her face. “You are keeping something from me. I recognize the curse of Sibyl. I know your type. Tell me what it is you see, or I will force it from you.”<br />
<br />
Her lips pursed into a tight line. She did not reply.<br />
<br />
“Then so be it.” <br />
<br />
Slowly, without emotion, Djar’zla let the power from his core seep into the stone. A scream ripped from the woman’s throat as her body arced in pain. Blue electricity sizzled over her arms and thighs, wrapped itself around her torso. The few clumps of hair left on her head burned to a cinder and fell to the pedestal’s surface in ashes. It took so little effort to torment her, so little energy, that he felt it a shame to cut the ordeal short, yet he needed her alive. She was the key to his freedom, after all; he had yet to find the lock, but once it was found, he still needed the key.<br />
<br />
Cutting the flow of power, he watched her body sink back to the pedestal’s surface, a charred and blistered, unconscious mess. She was strong, admittedly, but he could see her breaking. She was Ealyone, after all – dust and water, nothing more. They always broke in the end. <br />
<br />
At the cavern’s entrance, he turned back to survey the room one last time. Each torch that fell under his stare sputtered and went out until only one still burned. Before he extinguished it, he let his gaze linger over the emaciated body of the woman. “You are wrong,” he whispered to her. “The old king is dead, and his son is young and reckless. The winds speak of torment and betrayal in the southern realms. My reign is only just begun; mountains will fall before it ends.” <br />
<br />
And as he turned and left the room, the last torch sputtered out, plunging the woman into darkness.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-88771719086334025752012-09-12T18:24:00.000-07:002012-09-12T18:24:29.441-07:00A few quick updates. :DHello my friends! :)<br />
<br />
Some of you may remember that a few months ago I <a href="http://theravenquill.blogspot.com/2012/06/updates-at-last-d.html" target="_blank">posted about a new blog</a> I had started, called "Aspiring Endnotes", in order to talk about publishing - publishing advice, articles, things I've learned along the way - in a way that didn't make me constantly feel like I was blaring self-promotion all over this blog. Here's an excerpt from that post:<br />
<br />
<i>Some of you are probably wondering why I would set up a separate blog for that, when I could just post everything here at the P&P. But the truth is, every time I posted something about Magpie Eclectic here, I felt like I was self-promoting – advertising. That’s not really the purpose of the P&P, so I thought I would set up a separate blog for that sort of stuff… for talking about publishing through the eyes of one who is learning how to become a publisher. This blog here (the P&P) is for my personal journey as a writer… the Aspiring Endnotes blog is for my personal journey as a publisher. I’ve found that I look at the world of writing and publishing through different eyes, depending on which subject I’m working on, and which role I take on as I’m working on it (writer, or publisher). So I feel like it’s just better to have my two views on the subjects separated... to keep them from getting mixed up. </i>:)<br />
<br />
Well, today I officially opened my "Aspiring Endnotes" blog with an article about writing query letters. If you are curious about it, you can find the article <a href="http://aspiringendnotes.blogspot.com/2012/09/cracking-query.html" style="text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">here</a>. In this article, I talk about some things I've learned through research and trial and error while working on my own query letters, and I also talk about several issues I've come across while reading query letters and acquisitions from authors who have submitted to Magpie Eclectic Press. I hope this article is helpful to you. :)<br />
<br />
Please note, however, that this blog is not currently the blog linked to through the Magpie Eclectic Press website. However, I'm working to get that changed. ^_^<br />
<br />
Thank you everyone! Happy writing, and God bless,<br />
<br />
Nichole White<br />
<br />
<br />
Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-8112067055093218992012-09-10T18:46:00.002-07:002012-09-10T19:10:32.046-07:00"Sneak" by Evan Angler -- A Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoa5mxoSlf8112dWqdcQYnMIEXkwsiUj23oTp68U7BhxaxCZXadYZ-f-qVYwiY0BXHHkeiWFChN-j1hE3HFWRHaGULuk1qNLa-xrmhCBRjSnm8871xW5g8KKXUeT-mQ6OhJo7XvUTBRN9/s1600/Sneak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoa5mxoSlf8112dWqdcQYnMIEXkwsiUj23oTp68U7BhxaxCZXadYZ-f-qVYwiY0BXHHkeiWFChN-j1hE3HFWRHaGULuk1qNLa-xrmhCBRjSnm8871xW5g8KKXUeT-mQ6OhJo7XvUTBRN9/s320/Sneak.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><b>In a future United States under the power of a charismatic leader, everyone gets the Mark at age thirteen. The Mark lets citizen shop, go to school, and even get medical care—but without it, you are on your own. Few refuse to get the Mark. Those who do . . . disappear.</b><br />
<br />
Logan Langly went in to get his Mark, but he backed out at the last minute. Now he’s on the run from government agents who will stop at nothing to capture him. But Logan is on a mission to find and save his sister, Lily, who disappeared five years ago on her thirteenth birthday, the day she was supposed to receive her Mark.<br />
<br />
Logan and his friends, a group of dissenters called the Dust, discover a vast network of the Unmarked, who help them travel safely to the capital city where Lily is imprisoned. Along the way, the Dust receives some startling information from the Markless community, opening their eyes to the message of Christianity and warning that humanity is now entering the End of Days.<br />
<br />
When the Dust finally arrives in the capital, it seems that all their careful planning is useless against a government that will do anything to bend its citizens to its will. Can the gentle words Logan has found in a tattered, banned Bible really stand against the most powerful military the world has ever known? Can Logan even sacrifice his own freedom, choosing to act through faith alone?<br />
<br />
*****<br />
<br />
My thoughts:<br />
<br />
First of all, before you read my review on "Sneak", you might want to read my review on "Swipe" <a href="http://theravenquill.blogspot.com/2012/06/team-novel-teen-book-tour-swipe-by-evan.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Quite honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to pick up this book after reading the first one... the first book was intriguing and interesting, but for me it was slow to get into and easy to put down. However, I decided to pick up this book anyway because the first book did show promise. I was happy that I did decide to read "Sneak" because I wasn't disappointed. Personally, I enjoyed "Sneak" more than I enjoyed "Swipe". "Sneak" wasn't like my experience with the first book. Instead, I found "Sneak" to be instantly engaging from the beginning. I was drawn in and held there through the entire story, and ended up finishing the book in a day and a half. :D<br />
<br />
Our character, Logan, is slowly growing into his new role as a member of the Dust... but he's not the only one. His friend, Erin, is also learning and growing; she's discovered some things about the Mark and DOME's other experiments having to do with the Global Peace Treaty that have put much of the population in serious danger... and this information is so secretive that no one else knows about it, even though it is slowly killing them.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, the Dust are going to the Capitol in order to find Logan's sister, Lily, who disappeared after her Mark ceremony five years earlier. To do that, they've acquired help from The River, which isn't actually a river at all but a group of unmarked people (and a few sympathetic marked people too) working together to help other unmarked people find resources and get around the country. Sort of like the Underground Railroad around the time of the civil war. I really liked this turn of events... while there seemed to be less gadgetry in this book, the unmarked also showed more creativity. For example, in the style of the Underground Railroad, the people in The River used special signs to help travelers and other unmarked find their way. There are signs for leaders, safe-houses, supplies, rides, and even danger, and the signs are not always what or where you expect them to me, which helps to keep The River hidden (even if it is known about) from the marked population and DOME. The unmarked also show their creativity in how they build make-shift radios, have set up their own society under the very nose of the marked population, etc... so, less gadgetry, but just as interesting.<br />
<br />
There was also a twist at the end of the story... I'm still not sure how that twist effects the rest of the story yet, but I'm looking forward to reading the next book and finding out. :D There were other things in the story that I found predictable... I'll admit to having anticipated the twist at the end before it happened, but I did not predict how the twist was delivered. And besides, I suspect that this is partially because I read A LOT of books in similar genres, and write in these genres myself.<br />
<br />
All in all, I liked this book better than the last one. It was faster paced, and for me, definitely more engaging. So for this book, I'm going to promote it by a star from my last review, and give "Sneak" 4 stars out of five. I definitely look forward to picking up the next book in the series. :D<br />
<br />
<br />
For those who are interested, here's an intriguing article from the author concerning music:<br />
<br />
<b>Evan Angler’s Infinite Playlist:</b><br />
<br />
Music, I think, is an important pillar of the creative mind. And as an author, it’s an equally important part of any book. It doesn’t matter what the writing is about, and it doesn’t matter what the story is; writing is music. Our words have rhythms and cadence, our sentences make melodic lines. There are fast sections, slow sections, loud paragraphs, quiet paragraphs. Good writing, for me, lights up my brain much like good music does.<br />
<br />
This relationship, of course, goes both ways. If writing informs music, then it stands to reason that music must also inform writing. Certainly, I’ve found this in my own experience. With my first book, SWIPE, I wrote almost everything either in the dark, or on the run, in the motion of electrobuses and boxcars, with my hood up and my oversized headphones on. For some of that time, indeed, my focus demanded quiet. But for much of my writing and drafting and thinking, I was immersed in a blanket of music. Loud music. And I found that its genre dictated the writing’s tone. With SWIPE, my musical selections often gravitated toward electroclash, a genre I didn’t even know existed until I found myself craving it for the underscore of SWIPE’s scenes. Often, I’d play the music so loud that I needed to stuff my ears with tissue paper, because I liked the feel of the heavy beats hitting my brain, pushing me forward, relentless, unforgiving…. The gritty, electronic timbre of the music just seemed to belong with the tech-filled but flawed world of the American Union, and the energy conveyed by that music–both in the faster and in the more somber selections–captured for me the sense of foreboding, anxiety, excitement and, ultimately, determination that Logan feels over the course of his journey.<br />
<br />
SNEAK, on the other hand, called for a very different sort of sound. In trying to capture the setting and mood of the Unmarked River, I often found myself gravitating toward pre-Unity bluegrass and folk music, another genre that had never captured my attention–until I the writing called for it. The acoustic guitars, the banjos, the fiddles, the harmonies…in many ways, SNEAK is about the loneliness and uncertainty of venturing out on one’s own, of a search for simplicity and truth. In a world of high-tech stakes, the Dust’s journey through much of SNEAK is practically of a different era. Horse rides, hiking, camp fires, radios…after the events of SWIPE, Logan is truly an outcast, and there’s just no place for him in the more modern world of the American Union. What better way to capture that then with the oldest traditions of music that American history has to offer? Bluegrass and folk, there’s nothing else like it.<br />
<br />
The third book in the Swipe Series has yet another soundtrack altogether. I can’t wait for you to hear it, and to discover all that its soundscape implies. But that is a story for another day, and that is a playlist for another time….<br />
So if you’ll excuse me, I have some headphones I need to find…<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's the book link to Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1400318424/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=wwwteenageaut-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1400318424&adid=0B5A7A9AGDN4BNMZW7MZ" target="_blank">"Sneak" by Evan Angler</a><br />
<br />
And for those of you who would like to read more reviews on this book, here are the links to the other blogs posting reviews on this tour:<br />
<br />
ADD Librarian • <a href="http://addlibrarian.wordpress.com/">http://addlibrarian.wordpress.com/</a><br />
<br />
Blooming with Books • <a href="http://www.bloomingwithbooks.webs.com/">http://www.bloomingwithbooks.webs.com/</a><br />
<br />
The Book Fae • <a href="http://www.thebookfae.wordpress.com/">http://www.thebookfae.wordpress.com/</a><br />
<br />
Book Nook 4 You • <a href="http://booknook4you.blogspot.com/">http://booknook4you.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Bookworm Reading • <a href="http://bookwormreading.blogspot.com/">http://bookwormreading.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Christian Book Review Blog • <a href="http://christianbookreviewblog.blogspot.com/">http://christianbookreviewblog.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Heavenward Reviews • <a href="http://noahsreads.blogspot.com/">http://noahsreads.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Jill Williamson • <a href="http://www.jillwilliamson.com/?p=8624">http://www.jillwilliamson.com/?p=8624</a><br />
<br />
Labor Not in Vain • <a href="http://labornotinvain.blogspot.com/">http://labornotinvain.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
The Maniacal Bookworm • <a href="http://themaniacalbookworm.blogspot.com/">http://themaniacalbookworm.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Oh, Restless Bird • <a href="http://www.ohrestlessbird.com/">http://www.ohrestlessbird.com/</a><br />
<br />
The Pen and Parchment • <a href="http://theravenquill.blogspot.com/">http://theravenquill.blogspot.com</a><br />
<br />
Reviews by Jane • <a href="http://www.reviewsbyjane.blogspot.com/">http://www.reviewsbyjane.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Shadow Writer World • <a href="http://shadowwriterworld.blogspot.com/">http://shadowwriterworld.blogspot.com/</a>Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-9367200393757344152012-09-05T11:00:00.005-07:002012-09-05T14:37:43.684-07:00The Dragon and the Crow -- A book reviewWow... it has now been over a month since I have blogged anything. :P That is a bit ridiculous... But with school, and work, and everything, life has gotten a bit crazy lately so I had to take a step back and breathe... lol! :)<br />
<br />
So, over a month ago, I mentioned that I had several book reviews coming up that I hoped to be posting. Here is the first one.<br />
<br />
A couple of months ago, I was perusing through a book forum I had found online, and I came across a thread that allowed authors to post about their published books and offer copies for review. I immediately started to browse… (do note that in this particular instance, my use of the words “perusing” and “browsing” mean different things… ;D) I soon came across a couple of books that caught my interest and, curious about them, I clicked through to their amazon page. Of course, I read the samples provided. Good writing! I was definitely intrigued. The best part was, on the forums, the authors were offering to send physical copies of the books to reviews, rather than just offering e-copies.<br />
<br />
That was enough. I definitely wanted to read further, so I emailed the authors and asked if they would like to send me a copy of their books in exchange for reviews on my blog and on amazon. They said yes. SCORE! Especially since both authors were from overseas… one from Australia, and the other from the U.K.<br />
<br />
The first book came in the mail about two weeks later. It was from the Australian author, and it was called “The Dragon and the Crow”. Interesting title and nice book cover. There were some things in the blurb I wasn’t sure about, but I decided to read it anyway and see what it was all about – besides, I had agreed to read it, and so far it had captured my interested. So, to start this review, here is a picture of the cover, and from there I’m going to launch straight into my review… and we’ll see if I can’t explain things in a way that others can understand. Lol!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyi_w4GIConrwSYErrv7ZokMFtpqqsHORaig3ybSXCT-PBB5IMcGbw2-PRQG2zPS85ymYRYDdFPnf938CHfzd1vzKCecQ_Co4yQM7gnfjK-GbqGoRiKgaFRd899ocxg0Ul56UyKgqJ4SH/s1600/dragon-crow038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyi_w4GIConrwSYErrv7ZokMFtpqqsHORaig3ybSXCT-PBB5IMcGbw2-PRQG2zPS85ymYRYDdFPnf938CHfzd1vzKCecQ_Co4yQM7gnfjK-GbqGoRiKgaFRd899ocxg0Ul56UyKgqJ4SH/s400/dragon-crow038.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><br />
<br />
And here's the book trailer... it's quite good. :D<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a8-SasyoLbM" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
****<br />
<b>My Thoughts:</b><br />
<br />
Ok, to begin, this is probably going to be one of the more complete reviews that I’ve ever written. I’m going to start with the complexity of the story through the characterization of the characters involved.<br />
<br />
The first person that I’m going to address is Brin. He’s the main character in the book and his problem is one relatively unique (in my own opinion) from other fantasy stories that I’ve read. You see, Brin is the only magicless person in a world where everyone can not only use magic, but does use magic every day. However, Brin can’t even work the simple magics that turn on the house lights or work the oven, and that’s sure no picnic in a place where everyone is expected to be able to use such simple things. Life is hard for a kid with no true magical abilities, but what Brin can’t possibly begin to understand is that he is actually the key to winning an ancient war the whole world never realized was being waged. <br />
<br />
You see, in Brin’s world, there is a story of how an ancient champion first defeated the dragons and the elves and the dwarves, and made it so that humans would be able to use magic as much as the ancient races. In the process, however, the stars were wiped from the sky. Now, in Brin’s time when everyone can use magic equally (accept for Brin himself, of course), there are rebels rising up that blame the king and his line for the loss of the stars. They call the king a tyrant, and in the book they follow a woman who believes in a prophesy that says that it will be a magicless boy that will defeat the tyrant, bring back the stars, and save the ancient races from dying out all together. The king has named this woman a witch and has convinced everyone else that she is such, and is very dangerous to the peace of the kingdom. The fact that the woman is dangerous is not even a question… but evil?<br />
<br />
Until we near the end of the book, we don’t know much about the woman who is the king’s enemy. She is known throughout most of the book simply as “the Witch”. Nearer the end of the book, however, we actually get to meet her, at which point in time she and her followers try to explain things to our main character, Brin. Their explanation is that “The Witch” is not that at all, but the legitimate daughter of one of the first kings of the land – so technically, she’s actually a princess. How she manages to live so long is a long and complicated story that I won’t go into at the moment, but what is important to know about her is that the king’s wife died, and he married another woman who bore him a son. The King’s second wife was, I believe (following true fairy-tale style) an actual witch who wanted her son to take over the throne, instead of the rightful heir who was the king’s first-born daughter, and so she sought to kill the king’s daughter. The princess was taken into hiding by one of the old king’s advisors, and protected, but the witch-queen’s son ended up taking over the throne… and he was, in fact, the king that ruled in Brin’s time, hundreds of years later… but again, that’s a long story. As “the witch/princess” explains to Brin, her true aim is to throw down the tyrant king who stole her father’s throne from her, and to restore “magic” back to its proper state in the world.<br />
<br />
The reason I decided to explain all that, is that you can start to get a feeling for the complexity of these characters and their backgrounds. The character of “the witch” in this story, is not what she seems to be… nor indeed, not what most of the people in the story think her to be. While the king, who at the beginning of the book is seen as a savior-type person, protecting the human race from the ancient races and distributing magic evenly throughout the people of the kingdom, turns out to actually be the villain… a usurper who is ultimately evil at the core but very cunning about hiding it. All the king actually wants is the power that comes with controlling the source of magic throughout the realm, and he is willing to do almost anything to get and keep that power, even going so far as to deceive his own sons in order to have them willingly work for him in his plans to destroy the “witch”. Brin comes into the story because neither the king’s plans, nor the witch/princess’ plans will succeed without the aid of a child who has no magic… and Brin is the only child like that in the world.<br />
<br />
Then, of course, as we dig deeper and deeper into the complexities of this story, we have The Hen. His name is actually Henry, but he insists on being called The Hen. The Hen is a man who used to be a rebel on the side of the witch, but who since went bad and decided that, rather than further either the witch/princess’ side of the battle, or the king’s side of the battle, it would be better if he were to just take everything over himself. The book actually opens with an appearance of The Hen, but surprisingly enough, we don’t see a whole lot of him throughout the book… that, however, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t play an important role (as is found out nearer the end of the book… I’m not going to spoil the surprise if you decide to read it.)<br />
<br />
What I found to be most intriguing throughout the book were the character interactions and deceptions. For instance, you have the King and Brin. The king obviously has ulterior motives that are not in Brin’s best interest, and yet Brin has been taught all his life that the king is a good guy… a savior type person. The king, of course, makes no attempt to disillusion Brin, especially since it is in the king’s best interest to use Brin to the boy’s own destruction so long as the outcome of that destruction is the king winning the war and gaining the power that he wants.<br />
<br />
Then you have the King and the Witch. The king has told all of the people of the land that the witch is evil – and because of this, the people believe his deception that he is actually the good guy. So, from the beginning, the witch (who apparently is not a witch or evil) is seen and thought of as evil until later in the story. Even the book blurb says that she's evil... that she wants chaos and the king's head on a stake. But is she really like that, or is there something more???<br />
<br />
Then we have Brin and the Witch. It starts to get really complicated when we later are actually introduced to the witch through Brin’s point of view. I still haven’t figured out entirely if she is supposed to be good or bad, or what… or if she’s just using Brin to her own gain, even as the king is using him. By the time I got to that point in the book, the knowledge that I had gleaned about her was so scrambled and torn between what Brin used to know and what he was learning, that it was difficult to decide where the woman was actually supposed to fit. Good? Evil? Somewhere in between?<br />
<br />
I'll give the author this: he sure does know how to make complicated characters. :D<br />
<br />
Then you have Henry and Brin. Henry seems to be the real villain of the story in the beginning, but as the story unfolded, I began to wonder what part in the story he really had to play. He originally captured Brin because he was going to use Brin to somehow release the sleeping Dragon King… which, of course, terrified Brin out of his wits. But it was never made clear how the Hen’s actions actually affected the overall plot… although I assume that might be made more clear in future books.<br />
<br />
And then, of course, we have Henry and the Witch. Henry was originally another magicless boy who the king had seduced and tried to use, and who the witch supposedly saved. He had become the witch’s apprentice, yet apparently something went terribly wrong. Somehow, Henry went bad and decided to take his own side in the war… he wanted to wipe out both the witch and the king, and to set himself up as king instead. <br />
<br />
Now, couple this information with what you know of the History of the world. You soon learn that you can’t trust what you know of the history, because both sides have a story, and both sides think they are right. What most citizen's learn of the history of the world is from the king's point of view... but is the king's point of view the RIGHT point of view? That’s one thing that Brin starts to question when he meets the witch… how much of the history that he learned as a younger boy is actually true, and how much is deception? The whole idea of it becomes warped and confusing. However, one thing that I felt was very consistent in the book was the fact that we never really learned much about the history of the world to begin with. What we do learn of the history of the world is minimal, and later our ideas of the truth behind those stories becomes distorted... which actually works towards the author's plans, in my opinion, because as we watch the sides of good and evil flip, it is easier for the author to change the stories that make up the history of the world; in essence, if the original history isn't so complicated, it's not nearly as complicating to change it for someone else's point of view. :) But I will admit that it got a little confusing. Even Brin starts getting confused, when he finds out that either side of the story could possibly be true in the eyes of the one telling it... and that all depends on who the teller is.<br />
<br />
Did I mention at the beginning of this review that this story was complex? Yeah, well, I meant it. *whew!*<br />
<br />
Now, I’m sure you are wondering what my true, personal opinion of this story actually is. So here goes. <br />
<br />
The read was interesting but not overly so. I usually read several chapters at a time, curious to see what would happen next, but the material was so… “dense” (for lack of a better word)… so full of details and plot turns and character workings and world building that it was hard for me to read more than a little bit at a time. When taken in small measures, I found I could process the information a lot better if I would just put the book down and think through what I had read. There was action, of course, but it wasn’t really fast-paced action and, when coupled with the information infused within the whole story, it made the story a bit of a slower read for me. I had to wait and let things “sink in” before I could start reading it again. For that reason, I found that I could put the book down for several days, and then, when I picked it up again, I would read a few chapters and have to set it down once more in order to process everything. All in all, a pretty good read.<br />
<br />
And now, do I have any other thoughts on the matter? Why yes… yes I do. As you have probably been able to tell from my review this far, I thought that – as a fantasy story in and of itself – this book was actually quite good. Technically speaking, there was not a whole lot for me to pick on. <br />
<br />
However, coming from the perspective of a Christian reader, I did have some personal issues with the story that made me feel slightly uncomfortable...<br />
<br />
1) The frequent use of the word “witch” was a big red flag for me. Even though everything ended up not being how it originally seemed to be, the word itself just bothered me... even though, yes, I knew it was going to be in the book. The term became even more confusing when the lady who had been called a “witch” for most of the book, was suddenly (supposedly) not actually a witch at all but one of the good guys, and when the king was suddenly revealed to be evil – confusing. Good for plot, perhaps, but confusing. It was the cause of a lot of grey area… what was evil, what was not, who was who…? You get the idea.<br />
<br />
2) Though I admired the author’s thoughts on turning the tables with magic being a much more common entity in a fantasy story, rather than it being a gift or special power or some such thing only bestowed upon a few, what really worried me was the way that the magic was invoked.<br />
<br />
When I think of magic, I think of the Chronicles of Narnia and Aslan; in my books, “magic” is often referred to as something else – a supernatural gift, if you will, bestowed on a person by God (or whoever my God-character is). I’m very careful with how it is portrayed and how it works when I write things like that into my own stories… and quite frankly, I’m really not the biggest fan of stories that use magic by way of spells and other such incantations and chantings. I will admit to having a few such books that I enjoy (*sniff* Tamora Pierce is awesome... just sayin'...) but most of the time I just don't read that stuff. <br />
<br />
Still, I will admit that I like the idea of an ancient commanding language – such things, in my mind, are feasible, since words are so important to God; after all, God spoke and the world was. But the thought of chanting or saying something in verse or some other form of a spell in order to invoke magic of a person’s own free will… that isn’t right in my mind. Only God has control of such things, and He needs no spells, chantings, or incantations to work His wonders… if He grants a person a “Gift” or a means by which to work a miracle, that’s not magic… it’s supernatural, and it’s from God.<br />
<br />
I also wasn’t sure how I felt about “magic” being so extremely common that EVERYONE could use it. It may just be a preference of mine, but I don’t really like the thought of it being so… so ordinary. Cool idea, though... but then again, my thoughts in this particular instance are just personal opinion. :D<br />
<br />
So basically, the story in and of itself – simply as a fantasy story without trying to go any deeper than that – seemed well thought out and put together, and it proved intriguing to me as well. It seems that the author definitely had some good thoughts here, and he worked hard to put the world of his story together in a complicated and complex pattern, in order to make it seem more realistic. Ultimately, I would say it is a good story, in a general sense – thought provoking, intriguing, and a fun romp. And the ending REALLY put a new spin on things... makes you curious about how the story continues. I'm not going to give spoilers about that here... if you are truly interested, you'll just have to find out for yourself. ;)<br />
<br />
However, as a Christian reader, I feel that there were many aspects of the story that pricked at my consciousness and spirit in places. For that, I feel that I must warn other Christian readers… especially young Christian readers… that they should be careful about picking up this book UNLESS they are ok with this type of a read and what it entails. Just my own little disclaimer there. <br />
<br />
Still, I can’t help but admire this author’s world building skills and his creativity with producing an intricate and complicated plot, not to mention intricate and complicated characters. For those I will give him credit - lots of it. :D <br />
<br />
For the other… well, there’s not much I can do about that. Sorry.<br />
<br />
On a much lighter note, the author made the map for the story himself, and from one artist to another, I must say I think it looks quite awesome. ^_^ He definitely gets two thumbs up for that. :D<br />
<br />
Signed with a flourish,<br />
Nichole White<br />
<br />
<br />
(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book from the author and was not required to write a positive review.)Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970703367799585001.post-62052300060278104942012-07-31T14:03:00.001-07:002012-08-09T10:04:11.887-07:00Writing "Christian" without writing "CHRISTIAN!!!": Symbolism and the Christian Walk<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hello bloggy friends,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First of all, if I know anything, you are probably wondering what I mean by that title. We'll get there, I promise. :)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> As some of you have probably noticed, right now there is a big subject going around the blogosphere that has really brought up arguments on writing “Christian Fiction”… the topic has been known mainly as “Why Christian Fiction Doesn’t Work”, and as it is, I’ve already written two blog posts on the subject myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> What I find most interesting about this subject is how controversial it is. One person believes one thing, another person believes another thing, and everyone wants their side of the story to be heard so they all start debating the point. No outright fights, of course… we are all too civilized for that. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> But every one of us, me included, has entered the debate at one point or another to try and make a statement on our beliefs concerning the subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Now, let me make something crystal clear: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ENTERING THIS DEBATE!!! In fact, I find it admirable. I see nothing wrong with writers – especially Christian writers – defending their writing and their belief systems. And besides, this blog post was not written to be condescending, or to point fingers. What was stated above was merely an interesting observation I had made that I wished to point out. :D<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> With that said, however, I would like to continue the discussion going on here at the P&P on why I think “Christian Fiction”, as it is being defined in today’s world, doesn’t work… or actually, why it often isn’t working now. This isn’t a discussion about why it <i>never</i> works, because goodness knows, I’ve read some pretty AWESOME books in the Christian Speculative Genres, and I don't plan to stop reading those genres anytime soon… but then again, I’ve also read some pretty uninteresting and mediocre books in those genres as well. And that’s when you have to stop and ask yourself <i>why</i> those books aren’t working? Why are they falling flat?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> First of all, one must ask oneself, what exactly is Christian Fiction? The way we often define it in today’s world, Christian Fiction is fiction being written from a Christian World View. Ok, ok... I get that, no problem. For many writers, this means that Christian elements should be obvious – sometimes blatantly so (sometimes even right smack up in your face) – within the writing and story itself. It is my experience that in some cases, Christian writers try to make their writing </span></span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">appear</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Christian with the use of prayer within the story, a single creator entity that usually represents God, belief systems similar to modern day Christianity, and even the use of a sacrificial someone that usually represents Christ... symbols within the story </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">referring</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> towards the Christian belief.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Now, there is nothing wrong with the use of these symbolic elements. Where we go wrong, I believe, is when we start to believe that the use of these elements alone is what makes a book “Christian”. But the truth of the matter is that these symbolic elements, when placed in a story without conviction and the leading of the Holy Spirit, don’t reveal truth, but cloud it instead. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> For instance, prayer alone, without conviction, is useless… it’s like repeating random words over and over again, but never meaning them, or perhaps never even knowing what it is you’re saying. Even Christianity itself is meaningless without the conviction of what it stands for and what we believe in – truly believe in – as Christ’s followers. The truth behind what we stand for, what we believe, and what that in itself represents, is what gives purpose to the word.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> I mean, no one can try to <i>force</i> God into a story. God was not meant to be shoved in a box, or into a story… He can’t be controlled just because someone wants him to be. And Just because the symbolism is used, doesn’t mean that the truth is evident, or that it’s even <i>there</i>. Without the conviction and passion for Christ that <i>should</i> be evident in such symbolism because of the conviction in the story’s writer, the whole story will fall flat. It’s as simple as that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The real truth of the matter is that it all comes down to a person’s walk with Christ. As Christians, our love for God and His Truth <i>should</i> be evident in everything we write, and not just because we use symbols that are pertinent to the Christian faith. It <i>should</i> be that even if we took those symbols out of our stories completely – even if our stories were never stamped with a “Christian” label, and even if we weren't even <i>trying</i> to write the book from a Christian perspective – elements of Christ would still be evident to our readers, and witness to the fact that we are Lovers and Followers of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Yes, I said even if those symbols were taken out of our stories <i>completely</i>. I meant it too.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> If an artist’s walk with God is strong, it will be visible in her painting no matter what that painting is. If a singer’s walk with God is strong, it will be heard in her song and her choice of songs. And if a writer’s walk with God is strong, it will be read in her stories... with or without the symbolism that is so visible in so many Christian Fiction stories of today.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> One of my favorite quotes ever on this subject was written by C.S. Lewis. He said, “What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christian’s on other subjects – with their Christianity <i>latent.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> You might think this is an interesting quote coming from the man who basically wrote the <i>definition</i> on what modern Christian Speculative Fiction is. After all, he is most famous for his creation of The Chronicles of Narnia, children’s fantasy books that not only took over the market when they were first released in the 1950’s, but that are continuing to do so now.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> However, I want you to take a moment and think about the Chronicles of Narnia. Oh, Lewis used the symbolism… or at least some of it. But in truth, his books never seemed to scream at the reader, <i>“I am Christian fantasy! I have an important Christian message that you must listen to!”</i> as I’ve seen other books under the Christian Fantasy label do. They aren’t blatant about their message. In fact, I only remember two points in the book that actually referenced prayer at all – the first in <i>The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</i> when Lucy called to Aslan while they were lost in Dark Island, and the second in <i>The Last Battle</i> when Tirrian called out to Aslan to send him Narnia’s Helpers from beyond the end of the world. And those instances only lasted a few seconds. And the two biggest symbolic events referencing Christianity within the entire series are when Alsan sacrificed himself for Edmund’s sake in <i>The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe</i>, and in <i>The Last Battle</i> when the world ended.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> In truth, many kids don’t even pay attention to the symbolism to begin with – at least not the first time around. They read Lewis’ books because they are <i>fun</i> to read, never mind the fact that the author wrote them from a Christian perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> No. C.S. Lewis originally wrote his books as a fairy tale, and the symbolism just sort of fell into place. I read once in an article by Douglass Gresham, Lewis’ step son, that Lewis wasn’t even aware of Aslan’s presence in the story until the great lion just showed up; apparently Lewis had been dreaming about lions a lot at the time, and from those dreams sprung the figure of Aslan. And, as some of you might care to recall, Lewis’ books weren’t originally labeled as Christian Speculative Fiction, and that wasn’t necessarily their original market either.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> For that matter, Tolkien’s famous trilogy, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, was never actually meant to be allegorical from the author’s own confession. And yet just <i>look</i> at all the Christian symbolism within his books! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The choices within the story don’t have to be cut-and-dried. The symbolism doesn’t have to be blatant. It never had to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The truth is that it shouldn’t matter what the story is, or how it is written, or what it is labeled as. If the author’s walk with Christ is where it should be, the story itself will witness to the reader. If the author’s walk with Christ is where it should be, the symbolism will fall into place unintentionally as it is inspired by God and the Holy Spirit, and not because the writer feels the need to use symbolism in order to get his or her point across. If the story is inspired and led by God, then it won’t fall flat, the symbolism won’t feel forced, and God won’t be shoved into a box simply so that the story can be labeled “Christian”. It won’t matter if the book is in the Christian market or in the Secular market, because if the story is truly inspired by God, it will witness to its readers of the author’s walk with Christ and the Truth of God’s love without being blatant and without the aid of a Christian label… much as Lewis’ and Tolkien’s books did.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Because when we are walking straight with God, we don’t have to be intentional or right… we simply have to write. God does the rest. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Just a heads up to you guys, I'm working on another post on the subject of World Building and Character Choices within Christian Spec-fic. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Hope to see you there!)</span></div>Star-Dreamerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14298850366884374226noreply@blogger.com8