Cartoon!

Here is your Saturday Morning Cartoon everyone! Enjoy! <3

Friday my Butt!

Unfortunately, I do not have a book review for you to read today. I will not bother you with the details over exactly why I don't, but suffice it to say that yesterday I had an appointment with my doctor for two reasons, one I'm not saying, and the other was because I have a rather large breast lump and the fact that it's grown from the size of a small pea to the size of a quarter in a week scared me. I've not been myself this whole week, and that has kept me from actually enjoying (or even remembering) anything that I've tried to sit down and read.

Now, onto other goodies! Because I have broken my schedule, I think you all deserve a story that I am entering into our county fair this year. It's a short story, only a couple pages, but it plays a role in one of my possible NaNovel projects (Till Death Do Us Part). It's entitled My Angel, My Son. I wrote it actually two years ago, and it's still one of my favorite pieces. I only ask that you read this if you are capable of doing so without taking a red-pen to it. It's still a wip, and I am not looking for outside sources to edit. So please, leave any red pens, pencils or markets at the figurative door, and enjoy!

A cold, drizzly day marked the beginning of autumn for a sleepy little town nestled on a small island, supporting legions of residents. It was surrounded by other islands, too numerous to count, although this isle was the only one inhabited. If one listened closely, you could hear the wind itself speak the name of this tiny isle. Waelhan. Everything spoke it, if your ear was tuned to hear it. Looking out towards the harbor, waves could be seen breaking upon the beaches with gentle splashing, and boats with their sails furled swaying in the gentle breeze that allowed flocks of birds to gracefully ride the sky's waves above, touching the heavens. This island was glowing with daily beauty; most of the year it was sunny, cheery, and warm. There was an abundance of rolling green hills dotted by farm houses and small patches of forests.

Among the brightly colored buildings of the town, was a cold and forbidding castle-esque place. It was three stories tall, made from gray stone, now fading with age, with only one window on the lowest level. It was framed in a dark mahogany wood panel, with sun-bleached streaks running along the grain of the wood, revealing the buildings age just like the stone it was built with. On the glass, little remnants of a long forgotten sign still clung, like the frothy bubbles left on the side of a mug of a freshly devoured root-beer float. That window gave passersby a view of an unnaturally clean room. Wooden chairs upholstered with white cotton, spotless white carpet, and fresh white and gray striped wallpaper.

Behind a white marble countertop sat a pretty young girl, nearing twenty-four. Her long brunette curls were tucked up into a ponytail with freshly straightened bangs sweeping over the right side of her face, and back behind her ear. She wore a nurses uniform: a white knee-length dress buttoned top to bottom, with a red stripe on the ends of the short sleeves. She was the only real friendly face, and she sat behind that counter from the moment visitors were allowed in until the moment the last person left.

Although someone peering through the window wouldn't be able to see, a middle-aged gray haired woman sat in the corner on one of the chairs, staring at the wallpaper ahead of her. Her hazel eyes zoned off into the distance, seeing nothing, while her wrinkled hands clutched her bright red purse that was nestled on her lap. She didn't enjoy this part of her visit. Waiting for the "okay" to walk past all of the lonely people inside, what she thought to be, cages, with nothing but a chamber pot and a mattress on the floor. Those were the longest hallways she had ever walked down, and yet, it was something she did every month, on the same day, no matter what.

Finally, a doctor garbed in all white, poked his eagle nose through the door frame. The last straggly remnants of his thin white hair refusing to leave or lay flat against his scalp, paired with his beady black eyes, made for a foreboding tower of a man.

"Mrs. Hedgeworth?" He said, breaking her out of her trance, his beady eyes squinting in pain from the dull light that shown through the dusty window. She stood up slowly, as if it hurt her to do this again. It seemed like years had gone by since she last saw him. And yet she knew it had only been a single month. She followed the lanky doctor down the long corridors, past the poor not-so-innocent souls that shouted rude and obnoxious things. As she walked, she noticed for perhaps the thousandth time that time seemed to melt away the farther she walked into the gloomy building. Perhaps it was the absence of windows that kept both sun and time from warming the cold stones around her. Finally, as they reached the third floor, they came to a stop in front of a bolted metal door. The vulture-doctor shoved a key into the lock underneath the doors handle, but before turning it, he turned his beady eyes upon Mrs. Hedgeworth. She took a deep breath, and then nodded her readiness at the doctor. He twisted the key and opened the door to reveal a small, skinny man, who looked hardly a day older than twelve, although he was thirty-seven. His dull blue eyes opened wide as the bright light of the fluorescent bulbs scattered around him. He shook his shaggy mousy-brown hair out from his eyes as he stared up at the fluorescent light edged silloutte of Mrs. Hedgworth.

"A... An... Angel?" he whispered in the voice of a frightened child.

Mrs. Hedgeworth smiled compassionately. It was always the same.

"Yes, my child. Angel."

She stepped into the white padded room and embraced the man in the white leather straightjacket that used to be her son.

Construction Update Day!

So last week I told you all about how I kicked butt at Script Frenzy. Of course now, with that over with, and my NaNovel out for it's THIRD round of editing to some ex-professional critiquers, I have very little to do. I've been playing and tweaking the possible stories for the upcoming NaNoWriMo, and creating lots of different cover idea's to actually get me started.

I think, to give you readers something interesting to read, other than weekly updates of "I didn't do anything!", I'll post a new possible NaNovel cover and give you a snippet of the story behind it. If you like the story and/or cover, please comment below! I really want to hear your thoughts on it, good or bad.

The cover here to your left is Running Free, which was inspired by, oddly (maybe even sadly) enough a Dixie Chicks song. It's about a young girl who goes through some very traumatic events: her cousin going to prison for manslaughter, parents divorcing after she discovers her fathers affair and tells her mother; and is constantly bullied by schoolmates. With the stresses of life, she begins to, really, lose her marbles. Her parents toss her into one counselling session after another, and with no help being gained there, they ship her off to the country. Now, as bad as things are, who really wants to leave their home town and everything that's familiar?

Since I'm very bad at revealing too much of a story, I'll stop there. This MC is actually one I've been developing for several years now, and I love her and how she reacts to things. It's probably one of the easiest and hardest stories I would write, should I choose to make it this years NaNovel.

Also this week, before I forget about it, I sat down and wrote out query letters and sent them out to five different publishing agencies, all of them containing several agents. The thing I love about the publishers I chose, is that they share queries. So it really doesn't matter which agent I send my own query too, they share it with the other agents. Especially if it's not their style, they don't just throw it away, they hand it over to the next person. I'm hoping that this will up my chance of getting another agent. The first one I had for my first book... well, I'll just say things didn't work out, we didn't exactly see eye to eye, and I very strongly believe in the author having the last and final say about things concerning the actual story. So that is my week. Now, I must leave to get my home set up for my friends' arrival. Today is our Wii/Tea day! We get together every Wednesday to drink tea, eat cookies, and play Wii together. It's a great way for us to stay in contact in our busy lives, and I look forward to it every week.

Have a wonderful, sunny day and may your cheeks hurt from smiling so much! (From happiness, from happiness...)

Welcome to Monday!

So this morning, I logged onto facebook to see that my friend Jenni had posted the winners for her first give-away of two E-books by Keary Taylor. (Branded and Forsaken). Congrats to the winners!

This being Manic Monday, and the is morning shaping up to be one that even Garfield would have sympathy for me. Now I'm not going to lay down all of my woes and complaints here, because not only is that boring, but I never really liked reading about other peoples problems, especially when there is no end in sight! I will just ask one thing of you, my wonderful followers, that you send me good thoughts/vibes/energy whatever floats your boat. I sure could use all of the luck I'm wished today.

Now that that is over with, I shall amuse you (or at least attempt to) with my Monday Mash-Up. I have yet to get fresh batteries into my camera so I don't have pictures of yesterday to share with you yet, but I can at least try and paint a picture of it.

I told you that Felicity dumped a whole container of green dye onto an egg. I gotta say, it is the coolest egg we made. It looks like an egg shaped piece of green marble! Pretty cool compared to our dinosaur eggs that Chris and I made. I also made a green bean casserole that we took up to my In-Laws for dinner, and it was actually surprised that I had fun. My In-Law's have never been very big fans of me, but the feeling was mutual so it never bothered me. Now that Chris and I have Felicity, and had a very long talk with them, they try really hard to be nice. :) So last night when we went up there, they had hidden a bunch of plastic eggs around the living room, kitchen, and TV room for Felicity to find. After she found the first couple of eggs, she really started getting into it, and had a blast. We would take a couple eggs out of her basket when she wasn't looking and re-hide them. It was so cute to see her run over to one she spotted and point to it gasping in surprise.

When it was time to sit down for dinner, she insisted on having her, rather large, easter basket sitting on her lap at the table, which made it hard for her to eat but all well. She was very proud of all those eggs in her basket, and didn't want anybody to take them away! We discovered that she doesn't like the coconut part of fruit salad, even when it's on marshmallows! We had a blast playing with home-made play-dough while Uncle Mike entertained us by making squishing noises while he showed Felicity how to smash the dough figures back into little round patties. (I have both pictures and video of that!) We walked away from the evening around 9pm, with a very sugared up toddler and Chris and I waddling along behind trying to stay awake long enough to get home. We were all in bed by 9:30, with slightly more screaming from Felicity. And that was our Easter Sunday.

How did you spend your holiday? Did you get all sugared up or go to bed early? I want to know!

Happy Easter!

Good morning/afternoon, and happy easter! This is one of those holidays that I love. Growing up, my family had lots and lots of traditions, but Easter morning had to be one of my favorites. My brother Colin and I would wake up, and immediately start searching for where the mischievous Easter Bunny hid our baskets. Some years were easier than others, but they never failed to disappoint.

As I got older, I began to realize that it was my mom packing and hiding our baskets, but that never made it any less fun. We all had a basket with our name written on it, and there was another bowl full of more candy sitting in the middle of the coffee table. My favorite easter candy was, and actually still is, Peeps. I love those. Can't get enough. So when I would find my basket, it was always stuffed with Peeps, and a couple of other candies that I love. Colin's was always filled with Reece's and chocolate, the candies that he loved back then.

It was such a blast, that when Felicity was born, we decided to carry on that tradition in our own little family. Now, when she was just a couple months old, she couldn't do it, but last year we did and that was a lot of fun. I have to say, Felicity is not a candy child like I am. Every time, she will choose fruit like strawberries or blueberries or even apples over candy. Every single time. So we gave her fruit and a couple lollipops last year and that basket was gone in minutes, candy discarded.

This year, since Easter completely sneaked up on me, we didn't do our egg dying until last night. We didn't have bushels of peeps (cry!), or really any other candy, but it was still a good morning. Felicity helped to dye the eggs, which... While it was fun, she snuck a chair up to the counter and poured an entire bottle of green food dye onto an egg. The most amazing part is, that is the coolest egg we have ever dyed! I love my little messy artist.

So this morning, we got up, cracked open a couple of eggs and taught her how to dip them in salt and eat them. She is a big fan of salt, so we thought she'd like this and we were right! Tried to empty the whole shaker of salt onto her egg... We watched Toy Story 3, read a Peter Cottontail book, and now she is going down for her nap so she won't be cranky tonight when we head over to the In-Laws house for a plastic easter egg hunt.

So HAPPY EASTER! I hope the holiday is so great that it make you feel like dancing. May the chocolate be as plentiful as the blessings, and may the hugs be many!

Cartoon(s)!

Woohoo! Time for Cartoooooons! Alright, even though tomorrow is technically Easter, since I have to dye my eggs today I thought it would be appropriate to post some easter cartoons. Enjoy!

Book Review - 2184

Synopsis: In a future where science has accelerated human evolution, humankind diverges into two separate species: a genetically enhanced "super race" and ordinary humans or Mongrels. Decades of discrimination lead to a brutal war that ends with the super race in full control; the Mongrels, defeated and subservient, secretly yearn for revenge. Both sides are aware, however, that a renewed struggle can ultimately have only one outcome: extinction.Mark Henshaw is a Mongrel living in London. Arrested for an infraction, he's deported to a labor camp, where a dying inmate entrusts him with details of a plot to topple the regime. Now Mark has a choice: keep his life and rejoin the girl he loves – or carry out a plot that could ignite a hellish new war. And with rumors spreading that the government is planning genocide against the Mongrel population, he's running out of time to make up his mind...




Why I Picked This Book: I found this book while browsing the Amazon Kindle store, and the cover first caught my eye. I've never read a dystopia before, and reading the synopsis I thought it would be a good read.


My Thoughts: 2184 starts off strong. When Mark Henshaw, a Mongrel, is arrested for breaking curfew, he's sent to a forced labor camp where surviving a single day is a battle in itself. While he’s there, he’s given information that could potentially bring down the Mods's empire, and after a daring escape (which is very captivating and exciting), Mark and Kahmal travel back to London to try to put the outrageous plan into action.

And that’s where the story dies.

One of the best things about this book is that it's multi-layered. Not only does it tell the story of Mark’s capture and escape, but it dives deeply into the nature of gods and men. It explores what it means to be human as well as super-human, and it reaches some very interesting conclusions that I found intriguing. The problem is that all of this theory and philosophy hijacks the story. Pages and pages of lengthy conversations weigh down the action. So much so, that after the prison escape, it seems that Parish is just wasting time until the end. Which I must admit is very well done. The book would have been better  if some of the conversation and needless details (such as the ten pages spent on explaining how a barge was loaded with stuff) were shorter and compressed, to keep the flow of the story moving.

While I really loved reading the initial action scenes of Mark's capture and escape, I found myself drifting off during some of the longer conversations and it was difficult to keep my focus. Another thing that really bothered me was the fact that Parish used american words like flashlight and sidewalk, even though the story is set in London. I've known several people from England, and they say the pavement instead of sidewalk. Just little details like that are things that break my focus and keep me from really engaging in the novel.

My Rating:

I give 2184 2 out of 5 stars, because while I liked the story, the little inconsistancies in language and slow moving story kept me from enjoying it more. 

WiP Wednesday

I am so full of win. This is a win that is so epic, I couldn't find an epic enough picture to show just how epic my win is.

What the heck is going on? You may ask. Well, for those of you that have not been keeping tabs on my Script Frenzy writing stats *tsk tsk!* I have won Script Frenzy. As of yesterday. April 19th, I finished Script Frenzy. Guess how many pages I have? 119. Yep. 119 pages of pure epic awesomeness.

This last week has been full of exhaustion, self-loathing, redbull and monster. But, apparently, also full of pages flying by and my characters writing the story for me. Honestly, I had to go back and read what I had written, because I don't remember what I wrote, and I gotta say, that is pretty epic. I love it when my brain shuts off and the characters guide my fingers across this keyboard and a story evolves. Reading back, it's definitely not what I would have written if my brain had been functioning properly, but hey, it's a story that I am strangely proud to call my own.

Oddly enough, I'm surprised to find that my characters did go all psychotic on the step-mother. I had envisioned her death many many times, because she is just such a... well, a bitch. She turned out meaner than I ever intended, and while in my head I've already casted this play with people I know would fit the parts, and the person I initially casted for the step-mother is actually a very awesome and sweet woman, and is the most amazing actress I've seen, so I knew she could pull off being a little mean. I've seen her be a bitch on stage, and I gotta say, it's scary. So I thought that she'd be great, but with how plain evil this character is, I'm beginning to think that I am going to need some serious depressant pills for her, because I don't think anybody could be this cruel, even in acting.

So that is my WIP. Before I forget, if you haven't checked out my like-able facebook page, I'll give you a cover that I made for a possible 2011 NaNoWriMo project. :)

Monday Ramble

Today is an exciting day for me. Not because I'm actually doing anything, but this is my 75th post here. It doesn't seem like I've written that many posts and the time has just flown by. So while I was debating on which thing to post for today, since I couldn't decide between the first thing I thought about this morning (sleep) and the first thing I read (Jenni's Give-Away), I started poking around my own blog for some of my stats, and that's where I found out that today is 75 posts.

Since the most common give-aways take place around 100 posts, or 100 followers, I thought it would be a great way to celebrate my 100th post. I already have an idea of what to send to the lucky winner, but you will just have to wait until a little later to find out what!

If I did my counting skills properly, my 100th post will take place on the 23rd of May, which awesomely, happens to be another Monday! You know, I'm actually starting to like Monday's now... Sorry Garfield! I will formally announce the giveaway, with a few more details, in a while. I'm thinkin' the 85th post. So for now, tell all your friends to watch my blog for little details! I may just let some things slip between now and then!

Sunny Sunday

AH, my first Sunny Sunday post. I was actually dreading making this post on Friday, because up to that point, I really had very little to be happy about. Friends were fighting and upset, my husband and I were fighting and upset... Even little Felicity was suffering from a bout of the TT's. (Terrible Twos)

But yesterday, I found lots of things to be happy about. Saturday was just plain awesome. My awesome friend Coral and I went to a rummage sale hosted by our local wildlife rehabilitation center, Wolf Hallow. It was all "Make a Donation". I walked away with at least three garbage bags full of stuff (One was full of clothes that I'm donating to the Community Theater), a plastic little play set (with a slide. She loves it already) for the yard for Felicity, and a very nice serving set. I'll have to take some pictures of my scores, I'm very happy. OH! I also bought one of their lemon cakes. I had to. If it's lemon, I want it. Heh.

My next awesome score was with books. Since I've decided to do a weekly review of a book here on DM, having books to read is sort of a requirement. I bought two on my kindle, which is one that I am reading right now, and after we hauled our rummage sale bags to our homes, we went back into town and parked. After walking around, we headed over to Sweet Retreat and had lunch. After stuffing ourselves full to the brim of delicious food, (Apparently neither of us had had breakfast...), we walked up to Serendipity, our local used book shop. After wandering around in there for roughly half hour, we both came out with some fantastic reads.

We then walked back to her car, and headed over to her place to make our friend and her roommate, Gemma, feel better. She is sick and has been unable to even keep simple things, like water, in her stomach. So we hung around there and chatted for a bit, then Coral and I left to go back to our "Purse Party". Now, for those of you who don't know what that is, it's where a bunch of people (mostly women and young women) come to buy new purses. They are designer bags for WAY cheap. They also sell wallets, keychains, sunglasses, and clutches. My sister-in-law was supposed to be there to, but we never saw her. But, we each found a purse and wallet that we LOVE. I'll take a picture of that too. Because Gemma is sick, she couldn't come with us, so Coral and I decided to get her a wallet. We split the cost, and I'm really glad I did because Gemma loves it.

I also have a very cool bit of sunshine for this morning. I got a text at 4am. Usually, that would just make me want to smack whoever it was trying to talk to me. Here's the kicker. I looked at my phone, and it was a very long number that I didn't recognize, so I opened the text and it was from Jacquelynn! My best friend in the whole wide world (literally. She lives in Australia.)! So I sent a text back, without thinking, then looked at my little clock I have on my desktop that tells me what time it is for her. 2 am. Oops! I shoulda waited two more hours! :)

So all in all, yesterday was fantastic. Today I'm hoping continues that trend, because I am going over to my cousins job-site to help build her hours again. Yahoo!

Cartoon

Apologies for not having a morning cartoon ready you you, but I woke up late, and was running behind on meeting a friend of mine for a girls day out. So without further ado, here is your cartoon!

Review - Not What She Seems by Victorine Lieske

It is technically still review Friday!

Synopsis (From Amazon)
 When billionaire Steven Ashton couldn't stand his high society social life anymore, he left the stress of New York on a vacation for his soul. The need to meet real down to earth people lead him to a small Nebraska town he remembered visiting as a child. He didn't want to lie about who he was, but he couldn't exactly tell them the truth. Emily could have easily fallen in love with Steven, under different circumstances, but her past was catching up with her and she needed a new life. If the authorities found out about her, she could lose the one thing that meant everything, her four year old son.

I downloaded this book to my kindle this morning around 10am, and I literally could not put it down. Well, I had to since I had to go to the bank and the store for shopping, but after that, I picked it right back up and kept reading.
This book is roughly 67k words, which very much impresses me because there is so much story packed into this little novel. From Chapter One I was in love with Steven and his quirky self, even if I was jealous of him and his 6.2 billion dollars. As a character, he is very well thought out, a very "human" character. I mean, reading about him, it's easy to picture a real person acting and talking the way he does. Some characters don't have that, and I was very happy that he did.

Emily is the co-MC. She is a little less human to me, but I just feel that the reason for that is because Lieske doesn't spend as much time with her as she does with Steven. She has a four year old son, Connor, who is so adorable, but there are very few times where it's actually believable that he's four and not fourteen. I've babysat a lot of four year olds, and they certainly don't act like an adult. At least, not the ones I've ever watched. Anyway.

I downloaded this for a couple of reasons. The cover grabbed me, I just can't turn away from a book with a knife on the cover without checking it out first. Once I read the little synopsis, I was intrigued. I love reading suspense because they're just one of those spine-tingling genre's that grab you. I had honestly never heard of a romantic suspense, and was further intrigued. How can romance be suspenseful? After reading this book, I definitely give props to Lieske. I did start to groan, however, when another man was introduced to the story. I thought, oh bullocks. A love triangle. And then, it didn't happen. There was no love, at least the lustful love, between Emily and Richard, the other man. So I relaxed a bit. Lo and behold, here comes another man into the scene! Cue groaning. Vincent. I don't know why I hate that name, but I do, and I must say, I wasn't a fan of the character either. But, gratefully, no real love triangle here. There are lingering high-school feelings, but nothing that jeopardizes Emily's growing love for Steven (or vice versa).

The one thing I truly loved about this book, is the fact that there is always another twist around the corner. You finally figure out who is the one holding the smoking gun, and then WHAM! There pops up another element that puts the metaphorical gun in someone else's hands. I love that.

Now for the part that just gets to me. The ending. Total let down. I was shocked, truly, at the real murderer and was as involved in the story as I was at the beginning, but then it just... ends. And that's sad, because I was ready to move on to the next part of the story. You know, Emily and Steven get married, live in the gorgeous Victorian home...all the stuff that should be at the end of every romance book. I was looking for the Happy Ending, and it just wasn't there. It was a happy ending, but very sudden and rushed, like Lieske was pressed for time in finishing it up. Even with that though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to others who are interested in spending a couple hours with their fingers glued to a book.

Book Review - Eli by Bill Myers

Synopsis (From Back Cover):
                A fiery car crash hurls TV jounalist Conrad Davis into another world exactly like our except for one detail - Jesus Christ did not come 2,000 years ago, but today.
Starting with angels heralding a birth in the back of a motel laundry room, the skeptical Davis watches the gospel unfold in today's society as a Messiah in T-shirt and blue jeans heals, raises people from the dead, and speaks such startling truths that he captures the heart of a nation.
But that young man's actions and his criticism of the religious establishment earn him enemies and ruthless as they are powerful.
An intense and through-provoking novel, Eli strips away religious tradition to present Jesus fresh and unvarnished. With gripping immediacy, Bill Myers weaves a story whose truth will refresh your faith.

Review:
            What if Jesus hadn't been born two thousand years ago? What if his ministry began now? What type of people would be his followers? Who would be his enemies?
These are the initial questions that come into your mind when you first pick up this book, along with doubts that it will actually portray the biblical story or be "loosely based on truth" like a lot of modern books and movies have begun doing.
Before I really dive into this particular review, I need to say that I don't read religious books often, because I find that a lot of them make me really angry. Not because I'm in denial about what I horrible person I am, or that I'm a bad follower of Christ. They generally make me angry because they are hypocritical pieces of paper. When you actually read what a religious author is writing, so many things are contradictory and, honestly, stupid. But I am happy to say, that I don't find Bill Myers fits into that group. I was very hesitant to read this book, I'll admit.
In my opinion, Myers does a nice job of taking two completely different stories and weaving them together so it reads smoothly. In the first chapters, I was a little put off because everything was so fast paced and so much information was thrown at me it was hard to keep track of just exactly who was who and what the heck was happening. I gotta say, that was difficult to get through, but once you get passed the initial shell shock, it's much easier to absorb.
My favorite character in this is probably Julia. She is Conrad Davis's estranged daughter who comes to visit him in the hospital after his crash. Not out of love for him, you actually find out very quickly and bluntly that she hates him, but because he gave her power of attorney, and she is coming to the hospital to see for herself if she needs to pull the plug. I connected with Julia on several levels, and that is honestly the one thing that really drew me into the book. Her struggle to remove herself from her feelings, especially concerning her father, hits home for me, and I found it refreshing to come across "side-characters" that have internal struggles instead of only the main characters.
I was very happy to see that the "Jesus" of this book was not a Hey-Zeus. His name is Eli Shepherd (His last name did earn a groan from me though). For those of you who may not know, Eli is actually a Hebrew name which means "high". In the Bible, Eli was a priest and a judge who brought up the prophet Samuel, so I found that particular name choice interesting. Myers took the basic understanding most people have of the Biblical Jesus and transformed him into a realistic, modern guy come to save us all.

Overall, I would rate this book at 4 stars. There were a couple inconsistancies in the writing that bothered me, but that is the only real complaint I have with Eli.

First Ever Pitch Contest

So after stalking Jenni's blog, I saw that she had a new post to a pitch contest. I've really got nothing to lose by entering, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm very proud of my work and I really want to share it with people, despite my overwhelmingly common fear of failure and rejection. So wishes of good luck all around to those who enter. Keep your fingers crossed! (Except those of you in Script Frenzy. Keep typing!!)

Update

There's good news, and there's bad news. Since most people start off with the bad news, I will start with that. I have no more ideas. I have no idea what to write now, and I'm terrified. I don't know what else I'm going to do, and I'm afraid that I won't finish this challenge.

Good news? I HAVE 50 FREAKIN' PAGES! I have hit halfway! And it's only the 13th!! I'm so happy that I'm actually halfway through this challenge. And that is where my fear kicks in. Because the 2nd Act is the one that I have absolutely NO planning for. I didn't have any ideas for it before I started, and now that I'm here, I have no idea how to continue Ella's story.

But, oddly enough, I'm not afraid of it anymore. I know I just said I was, but... After talking to my best friend in the entire world (literally!) she helped me realize that it doesn't have to be perfect right now. I'm able to edit it later, and cut things, expand others... I think I always knew that in the back of my mind, but to my perfectionistic mind, it just seemed so stupid to write something that you knew you were going to have to cut later. So I only wrote things that were "right" to me.

But no longer. Starting today, my second act is going to be filled with ninja zombies with zombie parrots. My characters have been telling me for a while that Clarissa needs a smack down, but I've been unwilling to give it to her because it's not something that would be workable on stage and it doesn't help the story at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I hate my step mother. It's awesome. That's how it should be. She is a complete and utter B-I-T-C-H. And that's great! But because of this, even her schizophrenic son wants to kill her, and that just seems weird. I won't reveal what I have in store for her demise, but I think it will be... interesting.

So, to wrap up, I have 50 pages down, and 50 left to go! WOO HOO!

Book Review - The Silmarillon

For reviews to come, I will post a synopsis of the book here first, and then continue on with my review. But with this book, the synopsis is so long, it's rather... boring. Basically, this is the history of Tolkien's Elves in Middle-Earth, along with some basic history of Men. The first quarter or so of the book is dedicated to the making of Earth and explaining how it was created and by whom.

Overall, I was very impressed with the amount of detail and thought that went into this history. You really see how this world was created, unfortunately, it really does read like a history book, written by Shakespeare. The language is at times, very difficult to translate what he means, but once you get rolling and get the grasp of the difficult names it's a great read. I was disappointed that almost all of the names, especially the Valar and Elvish names were very similar. That does through you off sometimes. Same thing goes with when he bounces back and forth between their "true names" and what men or elves call them, like in the case of the Valar.

I was in love with the story of Beren and Luthien. I'll have to go back and read it again, it was that good. I love the idea of a mortal man risking his life so that he may marry the elvish woman of his dreams. It's just so classically romantic. If you haven't read this story, it's basically what Aragorn and Arwen followed. Except, Aragorn just had to become King of Gondor and finish off Mordor and all that, instead of stealing a jewel from the crown of a God...

If you love/are obsessed with LOTR, and haven't read this yet, I would recommend it. If for nothing else other than the cool little Aha! moments that abound in it.

Books I Want to Write

While I was debating on what to blog, I came across Jenni's blog, where she had a picture of her TBR (To Be Read) shelf. I was awed by the number of books she hadn't read, and it's actually a good idea. Myself, I probably have a thousand plus books scattered around on my shelves, in boxes in storage, and a couple scattered on my bed, but I have read them all. So I was still at a loss as to what to post, and while I was contemplating just saving it for later and writing some more pages for the script, I had a brilliant idea.

How many of you have ever come up with an idea that makes you want to sit down and write? I know I've had lots of those, and they almost always come at a time when I don't have anything to write them down on. So I've actually started keeping a little notebook and a pen in my purse. The most annoying thing with that, is that I get the ideas when I forget my purse!

I have a whole notebook that is almost full with story ideas that I just never seemed to get around to start. Some of them, I've got a chapter or two, but nothing more than that. I wish that I did have the time and creative energy that it takes to finish all of my writing projects. Heck, I wish I had the ability to sit down and focus on the books I do have. Eventually, it will all be finished and I will be able to hold that published and printed book with my name on the cover on my hands. I can't imagine how that will feel. Actually, I think I'll be too overwhelmed to feel anything other than shocked and completely joyful.

Promised Post

Alright, so I'm a little slow on the uptake. I swear, I've had this New Post window open for several hours, but I just haven't had the desire to sit down and blog. So before my brain melts, and Chris yells at me to put on my shoes because we're going to be late for our class, here goes.

Yesterday. Heh, I honestly had to look back at my previous post to remember what I did yesterday. Benedryl, you are my sleepy-time friend.

The Great Island Clean-Up was actually a lot of fun. The Lions (the club that I'm a member of. Yahoo!) had Cattle Point Road, and the other newbie and I went from Madden down to Golf Course and back. We found a lot of stuff, mostly glass beer bottles (I'd wager 150-200) and beer cans, but also some interesting stuff, like an animals skull (I'm bettin' on a fox...) and an entire car headlight, along with some broken plastic that looks like it's off of a motorcycle. Oh! And a couple pieces of a blown-out tire, and almost an entire car bumper. Crazy huh? The most annoying things to pick up with our little grabbers, were the tiny pieces of plastic bags and paper. When the guy who drives that giant lawn-mower cut all the blackberry bushes, he also shredded the trash that had been thrown into them, making it a giant mess. Pain in the butt. But on the upside, we got a lot of people who waved and honked at us, and one biker lady even told us Thank You! How cool is that? Even though it was bloody cold out, and it had started to drizzle a bit, it made it worth it, just for that little bit of praise.

Now, for my update on the script writing. I hit 35 pages! Woop woop! I feel exhausted, really. And a little depressed. Because I know that I will have to go back and take out the flying monkeys and ninja zombies. (Yes, I actually did write them in... Hey, I was drugged on benedryl and it was like, 4am. Gimme a break. Kit Kat is preferable.) If I'm really going to give this to the Theater Director, I know he is going to tell me we can't have green monkey's swinging from the catwalks. As awesome as that would be. But all well, At least I will have my 100 pages, regardless of having to retype the whole bloody thing.

As for today, I hate church. I will not go into detail about why I hate it, or why I hate God's Fan Club. I kinda want to keep y'all around. But, I went, for most of it, for my mother. She deserves me actually doing something she asks me to. I guess. If I have to. Grudgingly. Anyway, after that, I went out to my cousins place to help for a coupla hours, and that was fun. I discovered last week that I actually enjoy laying down hardwood flooring. I think the deal maker for me is getting to take my aggression on the flooring gun... You have this heavy, but small, rubber mallet that you use to whack the black button on the gun that uses pressurized air to blast the nail into the floor. It's awesome. Really really really loud, but awesome. So that's what I did with 3.5 hours of my day today, and now, I am being told that I need to put on real pants (I guess pajama pants don't count as pants anymore...) and get ready to go to a class I have lost interest in. It's not their fault that I've lost interest but... After two weeks of learning stuff that doesn't apply to me, (How to get rid of your debt, and how to deal with creditors and collection people. Neither of which Chris and I have) I'm bored. Last week was funny, I'll admit it, but I don't remember most of it because my brain... well, it became a free spirit, and after 17 minutes, my body was there, but my mind was off doing something more fun.

Goodnight, keep writing, and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to blog about how I've hit the halfway mark in this script frenzy with days until the halfway mark through the month! Wouldn't that be nice?

Oops!

Well I got my page count in (Woop!) but I forget to post here. (oops).

I don't have any more script covers to show all of you, unfortunately, because I slept most of the day away. Being sick is not fun, and after I did the Great Island Clean-Up today for a couple hours, I came back home, took a benedryl, and fell asleep on Felicity's bedroom floor while she was stacking blocks around and on me.

So tomorrow, after I attend church (because my mother is MAKING me...), I will give you a more detailed post complete with updates!

Lion, Tigers, and Bears! Oh My!

It has been a while since I've posted, and I do apologize for that. But I have reasonable excuses! First off, our internet died. Can't really post a blog if you can't access the page... Next, the computer wouldn't turn on. How messed up is that? And now, I am sick. Lovely, ain't it? My nose feels like it's about to explode from the sinus pressure, my ears feel like they're both infected, and I can barely swallow my own spit because my throat hurts so bad. I have written very little, unfortunately, but since today is Friday, (TGIF!), and I am suitably drugged up on medicine, I will get to 25 pages today. It's a scary prospect, but it WILL happen.

Photoshopped by me,
Crown image
courtesy of Google.

Now onto happy moments. I have one HUGE surprise for everyone, but I can't talk about it yet, because I'm not ready for everyone to know yet. A few of you already might know, and if you do, please don't go spreading it around. I will post a blog about it, and shooting off fireworks and all that when WE are ready. And for the love of God, I am NOT pregnant. So please, don't go spreading THAT rumor around again. Puh-lease! Thank you.

Now, this happy moment is about my script covers. This first one I really like, because the crown looks slightly like a evil queen instead of a goody-two-shoes princess. Which to me, is perfect, because my MC is most definitely not a happy-go-lucky, submissive girl waiting to be rescued. My next favorite thing about this is the font. I was very lucky to have these on hand, and I think they work really well. A fancy type for the princess aspect, but also a normal, even slightly sloppy handwriting. I know that there really isn't any need for my script to have a cover, unlike a book, it's just nice to have that extra feel of professionalism.

Google image again,
Photoshop by me.

This next one I love because of the shoe. It's probably the most recognized symbol of Cinderella, and I love that. I am a big fan of tradition, and the glass slipper is one of those. Unfortunately, thus far, it plays no role in my Cinderella story. I do not have a somewhat neurotic fairy godmother sparkling onto the stage. This is also a slightly different title. I'm not sure which way I like better, with or without the "just". I think it adds another, kind of indifferent, element to it that I like. Because there really are LOTS of "Cinderella-esque" stories out there. I mean, jeez, Hilary Duff did one. While I know nobody has done anything like MY story, I still want that originality to really shine, even though the title.

By Jenni, Image is DeviantArt

This is one that Jenni did for me. Isn't that awesome?! I love the light background with the blue, and I gotta say I love how the words mesh. The font is pretty kick-arse too. I think it really shows off the shoe a lot better than my dark one does.

I do have a couple more, but I will save those for tomorrows post, (probably along with a victorious round of wild dancing as I hit 25 pages), mainly because I haven't finished them yet. I am currently searching and searching for the right images to meld together, and as far as I'm concerned, it's my best idea for the cover that I've had!

I am truly looking forward to sitting down and seeing what happens to my characters tonight, especially after I take another round of drugs to clear my nose and help my coughing. I'm pretty sure some ninja's are going to crash the ball, while vampyric zombies emerge from the graveyard and go on a killing-spree of all the kingdoms pigs. It shall be an interesting evening.

Oh, if you aren't doing this, then you have not received the weekly pep-talk. This week it's from Chris Baty (the guy who started both Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo). I thought it was hilarious! So I want to share it with you all. Enjoy!

Dear Scriptwriter,

How's it going! Sandra invited me to contribute a guest pep talk this week, and her timing is perfect because I just got a letter that I need to talk to you about. The letter contains a petition about Week Two of Script Frenzy. And it was written and signed by all the characters in your script.

Weird, right?

Anyway, your characters asked me to pass along their concerns because they were too scared to do it themselves. The actual petition is scrawled on what looks to be a bar napkin, and I agreed to transcribe their list of demands and email them to you. Here goes...

1) They would like to wear capes more often. (This one seems negotiable.)

2) They sense that you are starting to struggle with them a little bit, and they swear that by page 30, they will be more interesting (and funnier!). They've really just been finding their footing this first week, and now that they're loosened up, they promise to blow your mind. Razzle-dazzle! Jazz hands! It's all coming your way this week.

3) {Illegible} (Dinosaurs? Binoculars? I can't really read this one.)

4) They would like to hang out with you this weekend. No pressure! And just for 10 pages or so. They say they have a surprise waiting for you.

5) Your main character would like to let you know that the on-set catering company you've hired to feed them puts out deli trays that frequetly skimp on the ham.

6) Your minor characters suggest that if you want to kill someone off this week, it would be MUCH more unexpected and powerful to kill off your main character.

7) The whole cast wants to express the fact that they love you, and that you are pretty much their only hope for playing a part in a completed script, and that playing a part in a completed script is something they've dreamed about since they were kids. Back then, their parents discouraged them from hanging around writers, saying it would lead to nothing but heartbreak. But look at them now! They're in a script that will be completed THIS MONTH! It's such a dream come true, and they can't thank you enough. Again, no pressure.

8) In closing, your main character would like to repeat the point about the ham.

Good luck on Week Two! I'm right there with you! 

Chris
Fellow Script Frenzy writer and
Executive Director, the Office of Letters and Light

10 Pages! Woot!

Yahoo! I now have 10 whole pages of my script. I need 25 by this coming Saturday, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm excited that I have not crumbled and died yet, although there are times when I have wished for a keyboard made out of chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers. Just for the sugar boost.

I am two days into my SF journey and already ahead of the game. I'm pretty excited about that :) The only thing I'm not so excited about, is the fact that I have ten pages, and in another 5-10, I'll have reached the "intermission" part of my play. Not a good thing when you're shooting for a 100 pages. But for now, I have made the conscious decision NOT to worry about it. I shall cross that bridge when I get to it, and the great thing about script writing that I have found, is you can just add more and more dialogue to it. Unlike writing a story, where you have a couple of paragraphs devoted to setting up a scene, you just have to click and start typing. Kinda nice when it comes to "fluffing up" the story.

To be honest, I don't have a great amount of energy to put into this post. I've been helping my cousin build her house and get the hours she needs, because somebody (I won't mention names, although it's very tempting) stole 15 of her volunteers hours for her house, putting her 17 entire hours behind. That's a lot of hours to be working, but thankfully, between my mom, myself, and her, we were able to put in 14 hours. I'll probably be going back tomorrow for another two or three hours to help catch her up. I cannot believe how selfish a person must be to steal somebody else's hours. Or anything! I mean really. Because I know who they are, I can say this. They are one of the laziest, self-righteous a**holes I know. And it's really not nice of me to say, but I also believe them to be one of the stupidest people on the face of the planet. Honestly. There are very few times when something comes out of their mouth that is remotely intelligent. Pitiful, actually.

Now, before I get all riled up on this, again, I am going to say goodnight. I'm hoping to get another 4 or 5 pages in tonight before I go to bed, but I don't know. We'll see. Tomorrow is Monday, the most upsetting days of the week. Ugh.

Almost Too Tired

This picture is pretty much what I looked like last night. Even after drinking copious amounts of caffeinated tea and energy drinks, my brain was frazzled trying to come up with witty lines, the right words, and other little details that I just simply cannot ignore. I'm fine with using random names and changing them later, that's easy to do. But coming up with the right things for the characters to say, and just how to get other characters in deep doo-doo, can be taxing on an already exhausted brain. I will admit I only got a few pages done last night, but I'm planning on finishing up my 10 page quota by this evening. Not too many left to go, it's just a matter of making my brain actually wake up long enough to function and help my fingers to type things properly. I swear, even writing this little paragraph so far, I've had to hit the backspace to fix an error every other word. How sad is that?

Any way. Moving on.

When I decided to do this Script Frenzy, it was really a passing idea. I was involved with the Playwrights Festival {deeply involved. Running the sound, having a lead part in one play, and a minor part in another} and the subject of writing my own script was just an idea. One of those silly-at-the-time ideas that turned into a challenge, and then into a double dog dare. I was curious about writing a play, and with a little encouragement from some theater friends, I signed up on the website. {Which, as a side note, if you click on the Script Frenzy Icon over there, it'll take you to my profile and you can explore from there ^^} I started reading about how to write a script, what the proper formats are, and other hints, tips and tricks.

My idea developed probably two weeks later, while watching Cinderella {The Disney one} with Felicity. I started questioning everything that happened in the movie. Why would somebody name their kid 'Cinderella'? What if there was no fairy godmother? And other such questions that lead me to the basic plot line for my play. After poking and prodding my questions, they led to ideas and those ideas led to newer ones, and most often, funnier ones.

Lot's of people have been asking me exactly what my play is about, and I'm always hesitant to tell them about it, because if I just say it's a Cinderella story, I can see their eyes glaze over and their interest levels dropping by the nanosecond. But I always end up telling people the ENTIRE story, which eats up a lot of time and doesn't leave any real surprises when they finally get to read it. {Or hopefully, in this case, SEE it.} It's not just another Cinderella story. It's got more depth to it, with very different characters. Truly, the only thing that even remotely resembles the famed story is the fact that there is a "Cinderella" {even though that's not her name}, a prince, and an cruel stepmother. That's it. The prince isn't anything like he is in the Disney movie. He is, essentially, the village idiot. But no one can say anything about it because he is, The Prince. The step sisters? HA! Got you. There are no step sisters here! That is a surprise that I will be keeping.

I will also be keeping the surprise of who she ends up with at the end. Duh.

Here is a snippet of the first act:

Ella is an orphan. Has been since her mother died in childbirth, and her father died shortly after marrying Clarissa, a beautiful but cruel and materialistic woman who Ella always believed to be the cause for her fathers death. Ella was tormented daily, not once treated like part of the family, and was essentially forced into slavery for her step mother. Her only reprieve, and the things that keep her from viscously murdering her 'family', is her childhood friend Henry, who is a servant in the kitchens at the Palace, and Alton, a friend of her fathers (and a tailor to the royalty and nobility) who took on the role of protective guardian, coming by almost every morning for a cup of coffee and a bit of high-life gossip. One morning, Alton brings news that there is to be another ball for the Prince, set up by his overly matchmaking mother. He also brings with him the clothing that he tailored for Ella's step-family. Chaos ensues when a coffee stain is found on a piece of the fabric, and of course, Ella is punished severely for it. Unable to attend the ball, Ella is depressed and thinking of running away when Alton stops by again with a surprise for her.


And that's all I'm going to give you. I'm on the verge of spilling the beans for the whole story, and really, what fun would that be? ^^ Until tomorrow, keep writing! {Or, in Jenni's case, KEEP EDITING!}

Sit Down and Shut Up

This morning has been one of epic failures. Filled with *headdesks* and *facepalms*, just like this one. >>

Today, I woke up as I do every morning to Felicity kissing my cheek until I open my eyes, and once I do, I get a glowing "Hi mommy" and I am then pulled out of bed, downstairs, where I must insert Shrek and fetch breakfast. Usually it's not so bad because I am then allowed to sit down and eat my own breakfast and watch a bit of Shrek before I get up and get dressed. But today is April 1st. Doesn't even matter that it's the Fool's Day, that has nothing to do with this post. Today, I should have started writing for Script Frenzy. I know I still have twelve or so hours until the day is technically over, but I haven't even started. I've had Word open all morning, and yet, I have been able to procrastinate well enough that I haven't even been able to sit my butt down in my computer chair. I swear, Felicity has a sensor on my butt that tells her when I have sat down, or worse yet, when I'm comfortable.

So now that I have eaten part of my lunch, I have my special tea cup with my awesome English Breakfast tea with plenty of sugar, I am ready to start writing.

....

Where to start? I have never written in a scriptural format before, and I must say, I'm a little daunted. I've never been good at summing up stuff, and I have the pictures in my mind of what I want everything to look like. Which I know, is probably not a good thing, since if I am able to direct this at the theater, it won't be exactly how I picture it. It's odd for me having only to work with what the characters actually say, instead of how they say it and what they're doing while they say it. I feel almost afraid to do this, because it seems like it will go so much faster than I think it will, and I'm worried that my story isn't long enough to reach 100 pages.

Well, enough procrastination. Iron Chef America is almost over, and then I will at least attempt to start writing. I WILL have at least a single page done by tonight!