The 37 Things I Learned This Year

As it is the End of December/Beginning of January I am going to become reflective and think about what I learned this year, though generally I leave reflecting to the mirrors and ponds of the world.

1) Putting things like metal into your mouth is bad for your teeth. You can supposedly chip your teeth this way. Who knew?

2) Just because a musical has puppets in it does not mean it is appropriate for children.

3) If you are on vacation you will most likely get sick.

4) When you slide on ice and tap the back of a large pick-up truck and they say "that's alright" what they really mean is "In three months I'm going to call your insurance and try to blame you for a totally unrelated incident."

5) Sometimes cautious drivers will stop at a yield sign even if no cars are coming. Especially if they are foreign and do not know the difference between a stop and yield sign.

6) When you hit the back of a car that has stopped at a yield sign even though no cars are coming, it is quite possible that awful green liquid will ooze out of your car. And you will cry.

7) No matter how much you love your Nissan Maxima, it will not magically reappear in your driveway.

8) No matter how much you love the truck you're borrowing from a friend they will not hand it over. Even i f you bake them brownies. Or write a love song to the Nissans you adore.

9) Writing a book in 8 days will turn you into a Zombie.

10) Trying to accomplish NaNo after spending 8 days writing a novel is not a good idea.

11) Just because there are exploding wardrobes in your novel does not mean that you will be able to finish said novel in 30 days. Sadly.

12) An all girl's college is very weird. And not necessarily in a bad way.

13) Never transfer from a place that will hold your transcripts hostage.

14) Be careful while writing. Do not empath too much with a suicidal character. Or a character obsessed with shoes. Bad things can happen.

15) Bloggy friends are Amazing. Never lose them for they will keep you sane.

16) Summaries aren't as hard to write as you thought they were.

17) Do not tell people your car exploded in the middle of the highway. It does not go over well.

18) Even if you work in a store clearly marked "Calendar Store" customers will still ask for things that have nothing to do with calendars. Like asking for fish food.

19) Researching agents can lead you to discover some really wonderful books that you might not have read otherwise.

20) If you go to the library multiple times a week the librarians will start knowing you by name. This is not a a bad thing.

21) The insanity of writing is cantagious. You may or may not cause others to start hearing character voices and you may or may not cause certain parents to worry for their children's sanity.

22) Do no talk to your characeters out loud while at work, even if it is late and no customers are around.

23) Age doesn't matter as much as people think it does.

24) Sometimes you have to actually study what you're learning in class. It does not magically enter your brain through some sort of Learning Portal.

25) Polaris is the most Amazing Convention Ever!

26) BEA is also up there on the E.o.M

27) Spakes are a whole lot more complex then you thought they would be.

28) Sometimes, even if you only have one chapter left a novel will not let you end it. This can be an okay thing.

29) Some bosses are better than others. Some should be avoided, some should not.

30) Catholics can be pretty cool people.

31) Some jobs are worth fighting for, some are not. Sometimes you will not be sure which truth applies to the situation.

32) If you leave coats/notebooks/Bibles lying around at some church buildings they will disappear and you will never see them again. This will very likely sadden and frustrate you.

33) Having an organ-obsessed brother can be a good thing, and can even produce some pretty darn good music.

34) Aristophanes is one funny guy, and Aeschylus has some really Spake-appropriate quotes.

35) You cannot go to college for anything cool until you do graduate work. This is unfair.

36) There are times that it is perfectly acceptable to go into the city to meet people you've met online. As long as your parents know about it and you go in pairs.

37) Sometimes you will write blog posts that are not your best work, but people will read them anyway because they care about you and it will blow your mind.

Stranger Than Fiction Blogfest!

So Lindsey (aka DWAP) and Vic (aka aspiring_x) had a Stranger than Fiction Blogfest/Contest that was Super Fun! As it is the 22nd I'm posting my entry which will be found below:

Broken Things

“Hurry!” I hissed. Rose gagged on a plant she had somehow almost swallowed (that girl is talented) and stumbled over to me. We both ducked under the sign that we wouldn’t read because then we could honestly say we hadn’t read the sign. It was a tactic my younger brother had taught me. I probably shouldn’t listen to my brother, since he falls off of roofs and swallows handfuls of gummy bears whole just for fun. But my brother wasn’t what I was thinking about. I was thinking about the old abandoned building I was sneaking into.

Rose and I stop inside and stare. We had both dreamed about this day. It was a building we had written stories about, had wondered about, had done research on. There is a feeling of awe we both feel, standing there with broken glass under our feet, bits of boards stacked up nearby.

Carefully, cautiously, we walk forward, through each room. We wonder about the stories each room contains. We run our fingers along the cracked green paint and step around the peeling grey tile.

In one room there is an ugly grey desk and an old record player. There’s a sign for the missing pool table. Rose wonders aloud, “Why was the pool table taken, but not this,” and places a finger on the record player. I shake my head. “Why did they take all of the curtains except that last one?” I point to the single fluttering yellow curtain. It is a strange thing. I never know who decides what is taken, what is left behind. We go upstairs and stare at the abandoned library. Books are scattered over the floor like a thousand lost souls. I turn away and don’t know whether I’m going to cry or throw up. It is just… wrong.

Rose tilts her head and whispers, “I’m far away from home…” The others who come here have spray painted words along the halls because they don’t understand the hollowed nature of abandoned buildings. They just feel the hollowness, I guess. But that one sentence is different, holds sadness in every stroke. It’s home here in this broken place.

At one of the other staircases Rose squats down and flips through the pages of an old Bible. There are pages missing, notes and cross-references scrawled in fading grey pencil. Rose reads the notes out loud as I sit on the bottom step and drag my toe through the debris of papers and disemboweled books. I imagine that each paper is a part of someone’s life; a part that they lost and can never get back.

“Why was this left here?” Rose asks, her voice breaking, but I shake my head. I don’t know why. I don’t know why anything was abandoned here with this building. “Come on,” I whisper. “It’s time to go.”

Before we leave, though, we stop in one last room downstairs. There’s an altar to the left. Bits of marble and plaster have crumbled and fallen. Blue tiles with golden scrollwork have sighed and given up. They lie on the ground, an unfinished mosaic. I imagine rows of boys kneeling on the ground, praying, and singing and filling the room with the music of being alive. I imagine the priest up at the front holding his hands up toward the sky-painted squares of ceiling. I wonder what words were spoken. Stepping carefully Rose and I walk over to the room behind the altar. Everywhere I see words and thoughts pressed against the walls, in between the cracks of missing mortar.

“I wish the walls could talk,” Rose whispers and I wonder if we’re thinking the same thing. We do that sometimes. As if we were twins in another reality, and this reality messed that up, putting us in different families, in different times. But here, in this broken down building, age and family and differences don’t matter. There are just the echoes of a dying place that used to be a home.

We leave, making sure we’re alone first, that no one is waiting outside as they walk their dogs or make out in the square of green grass. No on is there and we run to the side, push through the broken metal wall that separates the world from this broken place. They say it’s not safe. Of course not. Broken things are never safe.

We walked back to the car then, occasionally glancing back at the building that we will always love. We’ve seen its heart, we’ve seen its soul, and now it’s time to go home.

Have a great weeks guys! And if I don't post before then, Merry Christmas!! Ohmygoodness... This year went by Way Too Fast. Have a lovely day my LamNams, and if you're interested, I believe on one of the two ladies' blog there should be a linkydink for anyone else involved in this blogfest/contest. I really have no idea because I'm writing this entry early since I will have No Time tomorrow (which is now today). Anyway! :D

2010: A Study in Cars

My sis brought to my attention the other day a strange consistency when it has come to my Car Problems this year. I found it mildly disturbing and thought I would share it with you. Shall we take a gander through this past year?

1. The year began with my beautiful, beautiful, Nissan Maxima that I will love forever. I drove it from January on through April, until I hit the back of a White Suburban, which happened to be on the very last day of Finals. This is what my car looked like as I said good-bye:

All smooshed ;*(

That same month I left the Christian Bookstore and started my new job at the Playhouse.

2. As I looked around for a new car friends of our family let us borrow their beautiful, beautiful, Frontier Nissan.

This Truck will be immortalized in the Spake Stories

A week before leaving the Playhouse I was finally able to find a new car.

3. An ugly colored Chrysler Malibu... It used to look something like this:

We didn't even have time to become friends... *sniff sniff*

This is all that remains:

Tires!

I had stopped being jobless and had just gotten a job at Borders with the sis. I was driving down the highway going a little over 65 and suddenly I was going 55. And not accelerating. I made it over to the side of the road no problem. The tow truck guy came (Yay triple A) and took me to the Family Mechanic Man. Where we found out a very tiny explosion happened in the engine because of the stupid transmisison or whatever. For some reason when I say, "My car exploded!" and then show them that only the tires remain, they tend to freak out. So don't freak out. The explosion was tiny and contained in the engine. More boring but... Whatever.

4. Present Day Subaru:

The Family Mechanic Man has a man who works for him that sold me this for a Very Good Deal. I didn't think I'd be able to buy people presents at first (never buy a car in December) but because I've been working nearly 40 hours at the New Job I've been able to be alright.

Car!

Rebecca says that now I can never quit Borders, or my car will die. Ha. Ha. I hope not. Still, I'm planning on staying at Borders as long as I can. Just in case.

And... In case you want to torture yourself here is a Very Poorly Done video of a song I wrote for my Nissan. Very low tech, trust me. You don't have to watch it. I won't be offended. I was just feeling out of touch with reality this morning and decided to upload it to YouTube.

How 'bout you, my LamNams? Did you have any odd trends this year? Did you ever have a car or large kitchen appliance die a few weeks before Christmas? Hope y'all are ready for Christmas! Woo!

Greek Mythology

Now, before I say anything I want it to be clear that I like Greek Mythology. I have enjoyed it on numerous occasions. I have even read the famous D'Aulaires book. (Once when I was young and

hated it and thought it was Pure Evil, a second time when I was a little bit older and understood its historically and literary value.) I've read re-tellings of Greek Myths. For example, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books and Emily Whitman's Radiant Darkness.

But sometimes I think Greek Myths are Way Too Popular. I've been reading this Ancient, Ancient, school book called Myths and Their Meanings, by Max J. Herzberg which was published in 1928 and is So Old I cannot find and ISBN #for it. It's an interesting enough book, but what bothers me is that the first 353 pages is all about Greek Myths. Nordic Myth is lumped in with the Celts for the rest of the book which is under 100 pages long! And there is no mention of Egyptian Mythology at all, and by this time in history people were aware of the Rosetta Stone and there were Egyptologists running about. Suffice it to say, I found it just a little bit disturbing.

Fortunately, it's been a good amount of time since 1928. There have been re-tellings of the Swan Maiden folktale, which is thought to be North-Eurasian as far as I can find. RL LaFevers has used Egyptian Mythology, and so did Rick Riordan in his newer book series the Kane Chronicles. The Nordic Myths seem to be not quite as popular, though I believe a certain blogger is trying to rectify that. (Ohmygoodness. I know she exists. I feel terrible. I have looked for her on twitter, on Google Reader, I have Googled her. I even looked on CafePress and I cannot remember what her blog is and I'm not sure of her name and I don't want to say the wrong thing. I feel so Terrible. But she does exist. I know she does.) D'Aulaires even put out a Norse Myth book as well, which is Very Exciting.

Still, there are certain Mythologies that still tend to be skipped over. Like Sumerian. There is a vast amount of myths in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean culture that is not seen as often. I'm sure there are others that I'm completely forgetting about, but you get the point.

And I do understand that Greek Mythology was adopted by the Romans who ruled the so-called World. I do know that it was considered a normal part of a high education to learn Greek so people could read Homer and the like. Even know you can go to many colleges and be able to take Greek. Not so much Ancient Egyptian. I was blessed to go to a college where I could take a semester of Akkadian, but that doesn't happen very often. Greek Myths are still more widely accessible than most other stories. (I am excluding European folk tales for now, because there is a certain distinction between Myth and Folk tale, according to some.)

I'm hoping this changes, and continues to change. I think it would be fantastic if more colleges offered special classes in Akkadian, or Egyptian, or whatever. I do think that even with the Paranormal shift in YA literature, looked over myths will start to be tapped into. Maybe even because of the shift in YA. (Can Greek and paranormal inter-mix? That would be interesting. Or even a Greek steampunk? Ahem. Anyway. Moving on.)

How about you? Any thoughts on the subject? I'd love to hear what you think. :)

Reasons I Failed at NaNo 2010

Yes. I completely and totally failed.

My First Novel clocked in somewhere at 6,ooo words. Then I stopped, despite the exploding wardrobes.

My Second Novel edged in with 6,5oo words and then that sputtered and died. A bunch of you guys ended up popping up in my novel, which was fine at first. There was Mia (with unknown powers), Mercedes and Simon (these two as Vampires), Wolfie402 (as a werewolf), Laura Marcella (who is a mystery), and the list just kept on growing. But after I had Evil Blam show up with a Zombie Joan Crawford, I just couldn't take the story Seriously anymore and I had to stop before I started losing my very own sanity. I have very little sanity left. I need all the sanity I can hold onto.

This is what I look like on a good day

Thus the Third Novel was picked up. It was inspired by Ellen Hopkins and Laurie Halse Anderson. As you may imagine, it is not exactly a Fun book to write. There is a whole lot of Emotional Trauma. It deals with rape, suicide, cutting... All sorts of stuff. The one girl I found myself empathizing with... Well. I was thinking a little bit Too Much like her. When I started feeling suicidal I decided it would be healthy to take a week or so off from writing it. I started again a couple of days ago and am doing Fine now, but I seriously needed that time off.

So I didn't win this year. But I think that's okay, because I did write some stuff I probably wouldn't've otherwise.

SO...

Congratulations to everyone who Finished NaNo! And Congrats to those who tried, even if they weren't able to finish.

Here's Cake:

It's Pretty!

Have a great day me LamNams! :) Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving (for those of you here in the States) for the rest of you I hope you had a Wonderful day toooo.... YAY!

I'm Back! I... Think.

So I'm pretty sure I'm over my: "Blogging is stupid" as my mindset has been lately. Even though I don't really believe that... But anyway. I do have an Exciting Story to tell at a later date, hopefully sooner rather than later, but until then I have a question to ask.

I really, Really, REALLY, want to query this agent-man. But I want my query/synopsis to be the best, Best, BEST that it can be. I was whiny this morning (because I always whine in the mornings. Mornings should not be allowed to exist. Except. That would probably mess up the tides. And for most people 12:30 is not the Morning. Anyhow.) and my sis, Rebecca, said: "Why don't you ask your LamNams for help? I'm sure someone would be willing to help you out." So this is a cry for help. If Anyone is willing to read either my query letter, or synopsis, or both, you can e-mail me at achinghope(at)gmail(dot)com. And if Any of you have a query letter and/or snyopsis or whatever, and you need help with getting someone else's perspective, let me know. I would love to help you guys. I mean, you guys have been so Awesome and supportive of me. (Sometimes, I'm not sure why.) And I know I haven't been around lately so it seems really selfish to me to ask this of you guys, but my goal was to query this agent-man before the end of the year... And it's pretty much December. So...

Anyway. That's my plea.

And for all my lovely LamNams:

COOKIES! :D

And though my smile will not be like that, because it's Creepy, I will be smiling regardless, because you guys are Amazing.

Just a Warning

For whatever reason, this month I have been entirely Anti-Blogging. I have no idea. Probably because of NaNoWriMo... I'm not sure. Either way, I want to warn you guys that I won't be around for probably about a month... Even though I have a list of you guys that I want to read your blogs and stuff, but every time I try I decide to write or stare off into space, or go eat breaded cheese sticks.

Mmmmm...

Eventually I will be back though... Like I said, it's probably just being in the NaNoWriMo mindset, where nothing matters but to Write, Write Write. I hope y'all are having a good month and for those of you writing (whether for NaNo or just for yourselves) I wish you um... not luck because that's not awesome enough.

Yes. I wish you the power of Mythological Creatures. Or something like that. ANYWAY... Fare thee well, my LamNams.

NaNo Update...

With the help of Twitter and my Twitter friends on there, I was able to convince my friend, H.M. Komorowski, to write my NaNo novel for me. Finally I convinced him, considering the idea included exploding wardrobes and creepy forests. I was very happy to sit back and watch him write until this morning.

As I may have mentioned before, a whole LOT of my ideas come from dreams.

I am the cat, and the ambiguous 'Z' is a story idea

Thus I woke up with a Serious Problem. I had two ideas to pursue for this month. And I like them both. And I'm having trouble writing either one. This is why I decided it is NOT a good idea to finish writing a novel the eight days before NaNoWriMo. Just NOT a good idea. *shakes head*

Now I must decide what to do... Exploding Wardrobes or an Excess of Sugary Cereals? The choice is just so difficult.

Am I the only one who finds this picture Disturbing??

Anyway. That's where I am right now. ALSO, in an hour I have to run to my new job and try not to DIE. I haven't worked for two months. It will be Weird. Definitely Daunting.

NaNo Now!... Well... Almost

Like some other bloggy people I too am going to be doing NaNoWriMo this year. Unlike some other bloggy people, I still have No Idea what to write. I'm guessing I'll figure it out, just picking something randomly when the time comes. What'll be interesting is on November 1 I'm going to be taking a trip down to VA in order to visit a Secret College, so my first two writing days will be full of Driving Long Distances. Hopefully I'll be able to get home early enough on Tuesday that not too much time will be lost. Ah well. I'll have enough days to make up for it, hopefully.

BUT...

Last year I was going to do a Videcumentary because I knew some people had done such a thing before. But I didn't because I was in school, had a job, and was writing a novel. Plus other things I'm sure. Anyway. This year I will attempt to make some vlogs, and I'm warning you they will be very Boring. I'm trying to think of a way to Spice it up, so if anybody has any ideas, feel free to advise me. No idea is too stupid. Wait. I take it back. Some ideas are way beyond stupid. But. Anyway.

Right now it WILL NOT LOAD... But as soon as I can get it to load, I totally will.

And that's about all, my bloggy lamnams! Oh... By the way... Thank you for all your encouragement! I did finish WhiteWashed and am now Editing it. So Exciting! :D

Almost There

It is very strange. There is a certain story I am working on called WhiteWashed. I have not told you about it yet because this is the story behind it:

One day on the way to watch fireworks at a Secret Undisclosed Place I wrote a page or two that i considered to be about Cinderella's side-kick. I thought, la de da de da. It would be fun to finish this one day.

The aforementioned one day happened when I was going through all my notebooks and typing bits and pieces into Glom (my laptop) when I came across Cinerella's Side-Kick.

20,000 words later I stopped typing and realized that it was much darker outside. It was very weird. So I saved the document after hemming and hawing over what to wall it. You see, I almost never get past 8 pages without knowing what to call it. I had gotten to like, 20, and still had No Idea. It was very disturbing. Finally I settled on WhiteWashed and had no idea how the name of the book would tie in with the actual book. That was Not Good.

A month or so later brought around the month of October. I was determined to finish one more book this year besides my NaNo one (more on that in a later Blog) because of a Decision that I made at the beginning of this year to write a novel every month. I failed after the Thanet's Curse fiasco (still haven't finished that). So last week or so I started typing away and wrote about 4,000 more words. Then I knew I was going to get a job soon and started write All Day. I hit 9,000 in one day and went to sleep with my eyes feeling Dead.

Now I'm at 58,000 words and I don't know what to do. I haven't even gotten used to the idea of Writing this story and it's already finishing up. I mean, I love that. Somehow the title of the book ties in wonderfully and there are more psychos in one book then I ever thought I'd have (well, other than the story about the Psycho Place, but that doesn't count). Oh. And she's not really Cinderella's side-kick. Cinderella ended up with a slightly different name and is not important, I am so glad. I did end up with a bunch of mythological creatures and the most popular 'The Ooze.' Who does not look like this:

I almost want to buy one of these...

The good news is that editing will be Fun because the story is still like new to me.

Does anyone else have Surprise stories that snuck up on you when you weren't looking?

A Really, Really Long Time Ago

When I was younger I used to write stories and give them to my parents. Sometimes I freaked them out (Do Not write stories about parents abusing their children and then give said story to parents).

You see, we used to live in VA and we knew the Dude who was running for Governor and got all sorts of Free Paper from him that had fancy holes in the side. Perfect! And why was this perfect?Because yarn fit into these holes so easily. See?

Because of how Ridiculous this story was, I knew I had to share it with you all. I kept all of the original terrible spelling because I believe that sometimes children understand spelling better than the English language.

Here is "The Best Friends" as told by my past self. I like to call her Pasomi. Notes by my present self are in Blue, because Blue is Pretty.

Wonc apan [I know I'm trying to say once upon, but all I can think of is wonking pans] a time ther was a littel boy. He was very rood. And in thet Land far away ther was a Littel Girl [I love how she gets capitalized, but the boy doesn't]. She was very pliat [*cough* Polite is a hard word to spell] She and the boy war Prins and Prinses. Won day the dad said thet The Prinses shood have a freind but the Princ was the only one. the Parints war sad.

"We have to trie," said the dad.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes we do."

The next day they drot [meaning brought. I got d's and b's confused All the Time] the Prinses to the casil but she did not like it very much. Wen thay got ther the Prince did not Like it ether. Thay had to play together.

"Yuk," said the boy.

"Yuk indeed," [Favorite Line!] said the girl.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes you do."

"Please can I go and play somethen els?"

"No, you must play whith hir."

After a wile thay war best frainds and they married and had lots of boys and Gils [I think I meant girls, unless the girl was really a fish] and got a cat and a dog and lived hapily ever The End.

I can't help but be reminded of the Swan Princess. Prince and Princess not liking each other? Being forced to play? Weird.

And there is something seriously wrong if the Only Person in the World that she can be friends with is this boy. Where are all the other children? No wonder they had lots of babies. They're trying to re-populate their world, duh. *rolls eyes*

New Ideas and Stuff Like That

SO...

My job recently ended, since it was only a summer job. Now, for most people this wouldn't be the end of the world, but when I'm not in college (which I'm not because of issues with money and stuff) and don't have a job I Shut Down. I have no idea why. It's stupidness incarcerated. Wait. Incarnate. Something like that.

You are silly, and for that crime you will be Imprisoned Forever!!

BUT... In the mean time I have had some time to look over story stuff and figure out some pretty excited Plotness...

1) For Pixie Princess:

I wrote a story about a girl who lives with Dwarves, for the purpose of writing about Dwarves. (And don't you dare steal this idea, because I love my little Dwarves. They are so crazy interesting! Ahem. Anyway. None of my LamNams are thieves as far as I know, so I'm not really worried.)

This is the face of someone who's not worried.

No.

I'm serious.

Google says so, and Google never lies.

Anyway! When the story was just getting interesting I kick the main character out of the Dwarf-Land and make her go away. That's Stupid! So I decided I shouldn't do such a ridiculous thing. Which means I have to write like, a whole bunch. I'll probably end up doubling it in size. Which is good, because it was too short. But it's a little bit sad, because I thought I was Done, and it's in my Done folder, and now it's not. Fortunately, I love the story so it's not that big of a deal. Plus, it will make the whole idea So Much Better! Which is good.

Good - Like the Good Stuff

2) My friend is editing my book and got me back notes for the first 8 pages and I added another 1200 words or so, because I needed to add in a couple more scenes with Scotch at school. Plus, I might've killed someone. (Oh, yes. I was telling someone that and said "If you have a problem, just kill someone," and realized I forgot to qualify that statement. Only kill people if they're Not Real). It was all very exciting! And I think my story is so much better now. :) Yay!

And...

I Have Banned Myself From the Library

No.

Seriously.

I have decided that I will finish up the books I have now and then give them to my mum to return. I will not step foot inside that addictive place. I mean, what alcoholic would condone going into a liquor store? Well. An addicted one I suppose. So... Being addicted to books I shouldn't condone going to the library, right? Right?

Pfffffffft....

Like that would ever work.

But I should probably consider, considering my TBR pile (ha! I love how writer's have their own lingo-anagram things. wip, mc, tbr, etc.) is 66books, and that doesn't include the 12 or more that I'm reading right now, or the books that have gotten shoved around and under things because I have no room on my shelves, and I don't even know how many books of Rebecca's I have yet to read that I want to...

Thus my banning from libraries. And I'm not allowed on Amazon until I have a job. And I can only go to Borders if I'm asking for a job. Fortunately, there are no more bookstores around, so I don't have to ban myself from any other place.

So...

How 'bout you? Is your TBR pile as bad as mine? Or worse? Have you had to ban yourself from any places? Maybe we should start a Book Buyers Anonymous? I've started to have to chant to myself, "Don't buy books, don't buy books," whenever I pass them in stores.

An old pic of my books.

It's become worse. Much worse.

Winners: But Wait! There's More!

So... A little while ago I had a contest, and Rebecca had a contest, and both drawings were Completely blind drawings and somehow Hannah/Palindrome won Both Contests. Which I laughed about pretty hard. But I didn't want any of you to feel Cheated, and I was having so much fun making mini-pillows (which, I thought about posting a pic, but I want the pillows to be a surprise for the winners... Like Christmas! Only, the person giving you the gift has never really met you before, and they kinda' stalk you, and it's a little bit more awkward and stuff. But like Christmas. If you have a demented family. Anyway.)

Where was I?

Oh yeah! So I decided to draw another name! and give more prizes. So one person will win...

The Infamous Be Happy Book, a pillow, a packet of Herbs, and the Spoon in the Bathroom Wall, because I really loved that story. And even if you don't like the story, Brett Helquist did the artwork for the cover, and who doesn't like Brett Helquist? Ahem. Anyhow.

So the winner, without further ado, is...

A person...

With a face...

And a hat...

And they have a dog...

And they have a name...

And their name is...

Falen/Sarah!

YAY!!! :D

And I'll have to have another contest sometime, because I did have fun making pillows. Even if they are crooked. And not really professional looking. They are cute. Um. Wait. That sounds self-absorbed. Um. Okay. I'm leaving now. Bye! :D

P.S. Dude! By the way, how is everybody doing? I feel like I haven't been around in Seventeen Years. How's your life and stuff???

And here's a picture: (because I like pictures)

Have a Wonderful Weekend!!

Spake Update

As someone of you know I have a slight obsession with Spakes.

For those of you who don't know, well, now you pretty much do.

What is a Spake? You might ask. Most simply put a Spake is:

"A mythologically real creature that stalks Innocents and feeds off of their soul essence."

I've been keeping it hush, hush for a Long time, because I'm afraid of someone stealing my babies, but at this point the Spakes have exploded so much, I don't think anyone Could steal them without me pointing to all sorts of Evidence that I created them. I mean, their voices are on my head for Pete's sake. Ahem. Though, who Pete is I don't know and I'm not crazy, I swear. Or I am, but I believe that's a necessity for being a writer at least 63% of the time.

But beyond my insanity there is a reason I'm telling you all of this. I want you to know that now you can become a Fan of Spakes on Facebook --> CLICK ON THIS!

And if you don't have a Facebook ignore that and know that you can also follow Spakes on Twitter! Hey, if they're going to follow you, you might as well follow them, right? --> CLICK ON THIS!

And if you don't have either a Facebook or a Twitter don't worry. I'm working on a website thingy. It's not going to be complete real, with my own domain name or anything. It's just for fun and for me to play around with stuff.

Okay.

Fine.

It's already up, but I'm still working on it. It was so much fun to put together, and if any of you go over and look at it and have any questions, or hate it, or anything, feel free to let me know. There's an easy-peasy link over there that you can e-mail me on and everything. --> CLICK HERE!

YAY! :D There's even Explosions! Well... Kinda'...

This reminds me of Spakes *sigh*

WINNERS!

The Super Sister Contest is now officially over and the winners have been drawn over at Rebecca's and over Here for the writing contest. And now I'll let you know what the winners were for the Contest here.

At first I was going to do something Spectacular! and Wonderful! and Amazing! but I started writing and didn't stop 'til three in the morning, and started up again yesterday and then got distracted and.... Suffice it to say, nothing happened. So I used the Convenient random.org

And guess what???? There are Winners now!! Yay!

Aw, isn't he cute and excited??

The Two Winners of the Chocolate Book, the Be Happy book, a packet of Herbs, and their very own mini-pillow are...

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Kaitlyn from Kaitlyn in Bookland

and

Hannah from Musings of a Palindrome

Woo-Hoo!!!!

This is Hairy.

He's very excited that you won.

And the Winner of a signed Karin Slaughter book and the owl key holder is...

aLmYbNeNr whose musings can be found Here

Despite being creepy, this dude is happy that you won

And that's Everything!

Thank y'all for entering!! Your packages will be mailed shortly.

Mockingjay: Nothing to Mock About

WARNING!!!! If you have not read the book yet, you probably don't want to read this because it is spoilery!!! Also, I warn that I wrote this right after reading the book, so it's probably emotionally jumbled... But it's pretty much exactly how the book made me feel, so... Here you go:

In one word: Devastating.

Now, I've heard from some people that they thought Mockingjay was too dark, and too bloody and um... Did you read the first two? It's a bloody story. It's a horrific story. As I said above, it was emotionally (and in my case) physically devastating. I can't explain to you how much I want to throw up and curl up into a ball and weep and retch. Mostly, because I don't think any of you want me to explain that to you.

Now, I don't like watching documentaries of war, I don't like watching war reenactments, but I've seen them. And when Collins was describing, toward the end of the book, the rush of the Rebels, the Peacekeepers, the innocents, all tangled in a mess of shooting and death... I wasn't thinking of Panem. I saw flashes of World War II, I saw the concentration camps, I saw every war that the stupid Human race has ever gone through...

I don't watch the news, I don't read the newspapers, I don't listen to the radio. Why? I can't deal with real life stuff, because I can't stop war, I can't stop people from dying, I can't do anything from my home here. But I can read about Panem, and I can read about their rebellion and I can retch and cry over them... And I wonder why that is.

Sitting here I'm tapping on a computer, a laptop, one that I own. My sister owns two laptops, my dad has one, my brother has one, plus we have two other computers. I'm listening to my sister douse herself in water, taking a shower- while people die everywhere because they don't have clean water. It made me see my life in a way I never, ever, wanted to see it. If my world were the same as the world that Collins describes, I would not be one of the districts. I would be part of the Capitol. Sure, I feel bad about stuff, but I'm okay staying where it's safe, and cold, and boring.

And that's the thing about books, about stories, about literature. It takes our world, re-names it, re-labels it, and shoves you inside to live in it. Really live in it. And it can either unaffect you, leaves you able to go back to life unchanged. Or a story can make you think, stays on the surface of your skin, but it fades after a few days. Or a story can completely ruin you, devastate you, cause you to fall flat on your butt and really look at life and ask 'Why?'

Another thing I did not expect from this book was the fact that it made me jealous. Yeah, go figure. But you see, Katniss lives in a world where it has already happened. The Capitol already took over, District 13 already rebelled... But I'm living in a world where that could easily happen, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. As far as I know, my children could live in a world very similar to that, and there's very, very little I can do about it. It reminds me of a quote I heard from someone around the blogosphere that I am not going to quote right, but he was saying that dystopian fiction is getting big right now not because it's a future that might happen sometime, but because it's a future that could be theirs.

So instead of being completely depressed (though, I still will be emotionally wrecked tomorrow, which is wonderful since I have to go to work), shouldn't I let this Story remind me to be careful about life? I still have my sister, I still have my family. I don't have to be psychologically ruined and scarred for life. I can still find a way to live my life with Meaning.

Katniss and Peeta, though severely mangled in so many ways, were still able to have some sort of decent life. And that's the thing. This story is not completely depressing, there is that ever-present light of hope.

It reminds me of the power of words, and I can only hope that one day I can do justice to that Power.

And though some would disagree with me, looking at the world through the eyes of Mockingjay, it leaves me ever more grateful that I'm not in control of the world. 'Cause even if sometimes God confuses my brain out, I still know He's in control, and I know He can use things like this book to wake me up and get me moving again.

Yup. Those are my rambly thoughts. Thanks for listening to me rant *smiles and nods off to sleep*

Fairytales and Contests

So I am doing this blogfest/contest that Miss Emily is doing over here and it is Fantasticlly so much fun. There's not much time left since it is due today, but if you have time run around and write something.

You had to take a fairytale story (one that people could recognize) and twist it and put it into a different genre. This is mine:

RoseAutumn and the Hundred Years Sleep

This pic found here

The ship shrieked silently across the void of space. Within this heap of steel and plastic a girl named RoseAutumn stumbled over to the plexi-glass stasis pod. She fumbled with the controls to close herself in, watching as the metal around her blazed into roaring flame. The gas erupted, pushing the girl’s mind to sleep so that she never felt the impact, never felt the crash or heard the grinding, shredding metal.

Meanwhile, on the planet below, a Queen watched the burning flesh of metal scream from the sky and tumble among her trees and bushes. Without hesitation she slithered a feline body through the smoldering wreck and set a taloned hand on the plexi-glass that had managed to stay intact and keep RoseAutumn safe. “You are mine,” the Queen said.

For one hundred years the Queen let her forest writhe and twine itself around the foreign ship. The Queen gave of her very own life and breath to feed the girl, though how this was accomplished none have dared to ask or seek out answer. For many more years this may have continued on to eternity had it not been for one fate-filled day.

A Prince from a neighboring region ventured near the place and heard tell of the Sleeping Girl from the birds and creatures that dwelt there. And lo, the Prince forged into the forest and made war against the Queen, hacking through vine and living bramble. The Queen stayed hidden, using her powers to move rock and tree, doing all she could to kill the Prince.

After many days and night of such fighting the Prince made his way and stood before the Queen and gazed upon her. Her lower portions resembled that of a snake; her torso was feline in nature. Her upper limbs were like that of some evil beast. The Queen’s face was as Human, though her eyes were distinct, resembling nothing. The Prince averted his own eyes and in doing so looked upon the slumbering girl. Immediately, irrevocably, he fell in love with her.

“My claim is upon her,” he spoke unto the Queen and, behold, he smote her and the stench of her death spread wide through the forest. The Prince then opened up the stasis pod and, as was the custom of his people, kissed RoseAutumn upon her ruby-red lips.

“What are you doing?” She screamed upon awakening. Immediately, irrevocably, she blasted the Prince with her ray gun.

---

Hope you enjoyed :) It was super fun to write.

Spakes and Cpntests and Other Nonsense

*And apparently the inability to spell, come on Jacqueline, you should know better.

This is just a quick post: (it's a good thing too, Miss Grammar-Mistakes)

1) I believe the Super Sister Contest deadline got extended for a short while, so you still have time to enter. Yay! :D (sheesh... no link or anything? Go here for more info)

2) As some of you know my friend and I are obsessed with Spakes, so I created a Spakes page on Facebook, and if you are attached to Facebook you can feel free to become a fan, or like it, or whatever. I'm trying to spread the word about these loverly creatures, so that when the book gets published y'all will be prepared, or some such nonsense. Basically I did it just because it was late at night and I was on the computer, and one never knows what I'll do under such circumstances.

3) Have a good day!! I demand it. (*shakes head* What are you? Queen? Stop demanding people about, it's ridiculous monkeys.)

-Jacqueline Edenbry

(one of Naomi's characters)

*With notes from Amarilla, who can spell properly, you baby