Late Night

Some nights were meant for writing. Last night was one of them.

School has ended, (I got A'a in all my classes, praise the Lord!) and I was free to do what I wanted with myself in the first time in forever. So I let my fingers sink down onto the keyboard and gave my imagination control. It felt so right. *sigh* so perfect.

Happily, something actually came of it. I opened my WIP and got some of those pesky notes my editor had written for me to look at. Mostly I worked on the ending of my book, the hard part. I scratched a bunch of yuck and replaced it with some (hopefully) better stuff.

Endings have always been hard for me to write. Maybe that is because I just don't want a good story to end. But then, who does? I want everything to end happily, but I don't want it to end. But all stories end, don't they? Or do they have too… Stop it plot bunnies! I have no time for you tonight.

Anyway, back to my story. The more I write on it, in it, about it, with it, the more I feel I am living in my story. Maybe someday someone else will pick up my story and feel the same way? I girl can dream, can't she? I think I am allowed a little dreaming. Especially on late nights.

And it looks like tonight might be a very late one.

––TTFN

So far… Progress?

My dream to publish seems further and further away with each day I put off editing my WIP. But every day I don't spend working on the book only pushes the day off even more.

What to do?

School comes first. School always comes first. Then my health (okay, so maybe this one should have come first). And last but far from least is work and social obligations.

What good will I be as a writer if I can't even stick a few years to something as impersonal as school work? Writing is an incredibly personal task. And I know I have many years ahead. So even if I am not working on my writing, I am working on my perseverance. And that is kinda the same thing.

My health, which, as I noted earlier, should have come first, bounces along with me in this uncertain life. But if I haven't my health then I can't write. I NEVER WANT TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE I AM UNABLE TO WRITE. Especially because of some dumb reason like I couldn't take care of myself now. Take that shower Rachael. Clear your mind (and maybe your room) of clutter. The book will be there tomorrow. Your sanity might not be.

Work. Yuck. Why does this one word in the English language have to be so spot on? I need money for, well, everything in life. Including food that I somehow turn into words that I somehow turn into a book. So I must work. And I must be well enough to work (see paragraph above).

Social obligations have been on the back burner for a long time now, I hardly get to spend time with my best friend or any friends for that matter. Many of them left me for colleges in different states, and next year I know I will have to take this leap, but man, I wish we could stay in touch better. I miss them lots. Maybe this should go into my mental health paragraph.

Speaking of health, it is past midnight here.

Happy writing everyone.

TTFN

NaNoWriMo

Ah, the wonderful month of November is upon us. So hard to believe that it was just one year ago today that my WIP, Halfblessed Halfbood, was just hatching out. I had completed the first chapter by now, day three. The first big reveal had happened and I honestly had no idea where it would go from there.

Okay, that is a lie. I knew what I wanted the ending to be. Basically. I am not a "panster" as some call those who don't plot out their ideas before writing. But I am not an over planer either. I find that once I get my characters well rounded in my head, they sort of take over from there. I don't like to tie them down with silly things like plot. If they want to randomly become a halfbood, I say go for it. For some odd reason, they seem to know much better than I do where this story is going. And for that I am eternally grateful.

But this year there is no NaNoWriMo for me. I promised myself I wouldn't start another book until I finished this one. I have homework coming out my ears anyway. No time this sweet November. Maybe next year.

A friend from work is writing for the first time this year so I promised to read her daily entries so that she would have motivation to keep writing. I do hope she makes it. I want her to experience the thrill as I have. The joy of realizing that there is so much more to life when you have written a book.

To all of those writing this year, best of luck!

–TTFN

Rewrite

My editor pointed out to me that one, quite critical scene, in my book needed a rewrite. After reader her comments I couldn't agree more. Hawk-eye and Mynnah grow closer and actually (finally!) admit they love each other. I guess being on the verge of dying makes them more honest.

But long story short I didn't really want to rewrite it. Not because I disagreed (see above) but the scene had so much emotion in it that I was just afraid to even reread it.

I spent many weeks thinking about what she had said and contemplating how I could change the ever important dialogue to match the characters personalities and situation. Well, those weeks turned into months. School started and I tried telling myself I would get to it as soon as I could actually think of a way to fix it.

As fate would have it, I was walking in our woods (we live on 7 archers) and the answer came to me as most answers do: when I am least expecting them. One of the reasons I love being a writer is because my mind will never stop surprising me.

So that very night I had a little writing session with my sister and sat down to write. It was just as painful as I anticipated. So. Many. Feels. But my characters again came through for me and when I put my fingers to the keys the words just flowed out. It is far from perfect, but now it is much, much better.

Here is one of the Quotes from Hawk-eye. He really knows how to make his words count:

––TTFN

Princess and the Dragon

I had to write a dialogue poem for my creative writing class. I don't write poems. Ever. So please feel free to dislike my attempt.

In the name of trying new things, I present my poem.

Princess and the Dragon

Princess Clarissa

Why am I here? I see no advantage.

The vacant halls whisper squalls of solitary air.

The silent chambers yearn for conversation.

Chairs sit fallow, fireplaces void of warmth.

Why am I here? I see no advantage.

Dragon Keeper

I keep you here. The reasons outnumber the stars.

The blank halls sing silent songs to you.

Soundless compartments are your charming companions.

Unused objects offer themselves to you.

I keep you here. The reasons outnumber the stars.

Princess Clarissa

Why must I stay? I see no advantage.

The nourishment is tasteless, your selection poor.

Stale, shallow food hesitates on my tongue.

The wine is corrupt and of insignificant variety.

Why must I stay? I see no advantage.

Dragon Keeper

I keep you here. The motives out number the sands.

Food flows as free as you can consume.

The simple sustenance sits sweetened in your mouth.

Delightful drink divulges your appetite.

I keep you here. The motives out number the sands.

Princess Clarissa

If stay I must, show me the advantage.

Outside I kept myriads to converse with.

Beyond the fortification breathes forth sunlight.

Exterior acreages hum out freedom in sonnets.

If stay I must, show me the advantage.

Dragon Keeper

I want you here. I cannot number the wishes.

Individuals divulge disagreeable stories without drive.

Entities can harm you past my safeguards so sufficient.

Ache also accompanies the world of freedom.

I want you here.

But go if you must.

Apologies

To all my readers I must offer some sort of explanation. I feel I owe you all at least some of the reasons why I have not been posting every Monday and Friday as planed. If I told you all the reasons we would be here a long time.

My reasons stem from my Leukemia. I may be "cancer free" but that doesn't mean I am chemo free. I have to take large doses of drugs and have painful shots daily and monthly. This month will be one year I have been on this plan and a year and a half since I started chemo all together. When will it all end? May 2015.

Until then, I must learn to juggle that, full time college, and two part time jobs.

I do not wish to give up my writing because it gives my life the least stress and allows me an outlet from this reality of confusion in which I live. There are so many days I wish I could just step into my stories and never come out again.

As you all know, I can't.

I don't want your pity, so please don't think of this as my sob story to the world. I would, however, appreciate your honest prayers that strength will be graced to me. If I can just make it through until Christmas, I know life will get easier.

Thank you all for listening. I will try to write as often as I can.

––Rachael

Character Profile: Eyan (Hawk-eye)

Yikes! How in the world did time pass so fast?! Sorry about the delay everyone. College life over came me for a while.

**this blog post contains slight spoiler alerts. But nothing that is not revealed in the first few chapters of the book**

So here is my Character Profile on Eyan, on of my favorite characters to write because of his backstory and personality. I searched far and wide before I found a picture that suited him just so. Turns out he is a character from one of the Finale Fantasy video games. My brother told me which one but I can't recall it at the moment. Feel free to comment below if you know.

So here he is: Eyan

Full name: Eyan Langton

Roll: Male Main Character (MMC)

Age: 21

Hight: 6'2"

Species: **Slight spoiler alert!** Halfblood

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Allegiance: to Lord Agron and Lady Elysium who are **another spoiler alert!** his aunt and uncle

Skills: Fighting, bow shooting, close combat knife fighting, and **last spoiler alert!** using his blessing to start fires with his hands

Character Profile: Sir Edwin

Sir Edwin was the first character that I saw his picture and said yes too. I just had such a perfect idea in my head of who he was that it is a surprise that I found his look alike so quickly. I found this one on Pinterest.

Full Name: Sir Edwin of Normandy

Roll: Supporting Character (I think of him kinda like the father figure)

Age: 43

Hight: 6'1"

Species: Human

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Gray

Allegiance: To the Royal Council and Lord Agron

Skills: Sword fighting, strategy, and leadership

Now and Then

I wrote this as a discussion question for my British Literature class. We had just read Joseph Andrews. Sorry if this comes across sounding like a rant.


The way in which Joseph Andrews was written is very different than the way authors are told to and write today. I am also taking a creative writing class this semester so I will try to compare and contrast (mostly contrast) what we (as writers) are told how to write verses how Joseph Andrews was written.

Punctuation is an important part of any book because it can help emphasizes thoughts and draw the reader to conclusions as well as set the tone. In Joseph Andrews, I was beginning to wonder if periods cost the author money because he used them so sparingly, sometimes just one sentences to a good sized paragraph. By the time I got to the end of his long winded sentences, I often forgot what it started with or what the point was. Writing for a modern day crowd, writers are told not to have so many thoughts to a sentence because it can confuse and distract the reader.

Another difference between the writing in this book and modern writing is the excessive use of capitalization and italicization. Just about every other word is capitalized in Joseph Andrews for no particular reason that I could find. The author also italicized names––most of the time. All these marks often left me confused at first but soon I started ignoring punctuation all together. I think that is why today we are told to use these features sparingly, so that our readers will pay attention to them and know they mean something when they are used.

The next point is something I learned just this semester about writing. In Joseph Andrews, we get the feeling that the author is having more fun writing this book than we might be reading it because of all the tangents and digressions the “narrator” goes off on. This is a big no for today’s writing. The reader should always feel like they are having more fun discovering the authors little jokes and plot twits than the author did writing them. If they don’t, they might take that the author wrote this piece more for him or herself than for others.

In Joseph Andrews, we are told just who and what each character is/ looks like/ feels. But we aren’t shown. Today, authors are told, “Show me. Don’t tell me.” This means show how someone looks when they are angry: creased brow, tight fists, narrow eyes. Are their hearts pounding? Is their vision blurred? Don’t just write, “He was angry.” Readers can pick up on that from the “visual cues” a writers gives just like a person can in real life. Writers are told this makes the whole reading experience feel more real.

Which brings me to my last difference that I will talk about: the plot. It started out slow, and then stayed that way. The truly exciting parts didn’t happen until book three and then I found them anticlimactic and melodramatic. Basically, I felt they built up to the action could have been so cool, and then the problem was resolved and the reader was forced to move on without feeling like much had happened at all. The most exciting thing to occur was when Fanny was kidnapped. But even that conflict was resolved quickly without anybody getting hurt and no actual addition to the plot but to take up space. Writers today are told that every scene, every action, must have a purpose in the plot.

Once...

Once, there was a girl. A girl who loved to read. She loved to read so much, in fact, that once when she sat down to think about it, she couldn't ever remember just when she couldn't read the written word.

Her mother loved to tell the stories of this girl who loved to learn so much. After story time at their local library, instead of making crafts with the other kids, this girl would go back to the picture books the teacher had just read. "Come over here with us," the teacher would encourage, "We are having fun over here."  The girl would just shake her head, her brown curls bouncing. What were crafts when she had books?

And then there was the fateful summer she learned to read. Nobody could say to have truly "taught" her. Her mother taught her the letters, the sounds, the way they fit together to make sounds. But summer came and homeschooling ended. It wasn't until the following September that a small book was pulled out. "Show me what you know," her mother encouraged, hoping she would point out letters, sound them out. Instead:

words

popped

out.

Not lots of words. But words. Full out reading. With no direction. "When did you learn to read?" her mother asked. But the little girl couldn't answer. Before there wasn't words, and now there was words. 

But the use of words wouldn't stop at reading for this girl. At the age of twelve, on what she would look back on as a landmark of her life, she spoke these fateful words,

"Mom, I think I want to write a book."

And her mother said what would become so much more than a little encouragement. She said, "Rachael, I think you would be good at that."

Yep, that girl was me. I soaked up words before I even grasped just what they were, what they could do for me. You story might not be as involved. Perhaps you didn't even like reading when you were younger only to now discover what it can do for you. 

But what ever your story, I want to encourage you not to let it end here. There could be a turn ahead that takes you off in ways you couldn't imagine before.

What Hurts

  What hurts? Pain, emotionally and physically, is one obvious answer. But, what hurts me to write might not hurt another author or writer. As I have said before, I have had to live through leukemia and hospital stays and surgery. But to someone who has only read about it, researched it, it doesn't hurt nearly so hard.

  So, what is an author to do if they haven't been through a huge ordeal like I have? Well, to tell you the truth, I hope and pray most authors, or even people for that matter, haven't suffered as greatly as I have. I wish everyone could get through life without being scarred in some way.

  But the truth of the matter is: we have all been hurt in some way. Someone close to us has died. Parents divorced. Best friend moved away. Didn't get into the college of our dreams. Some may seem minor compared to others, but heart break is just that.

Heart break.

  You don't have to have had the exact kind of heart break to feel the heart break. Now I know I said above that it wouldn't hurt as bad, and that is still true. But it can still hurt if you remember just what broke your heart before. 

So go. Write hard and clear about what hurts.

Happy Monday :)

Inspiration

Edit or Regret It

First off, Happy Labor day everyone. Hope you are enjoying your time off of school or work (or both in my case. I am lucky enough to work somewhere that closes for every holiday.)

So on to my post:

I can not stress enough just how important the editing process is to my book. When I finished writing the first draft (in just one month of NaNoWriMo) I thought "Wow, this is the best thing I have ever written." So I spent the month of December researching editing tips and advice. Pinterest is a great place to blog links on editing and writing. 

If you want to check out some of links, you can go to my Editing Time board: http://www.pinterest.com/givingmyall/editing-time/

I learned from some pros about different ways to edit. I heard from people editing for the first time. I found out the following facts about Editing:

1. It is hard. Like the hardest thing you might ever do.

2. It takes a lot of time. The amount varies on the length of the manuscript, the way you edit, and the kind of book you are writing. But most people seemed to agree that if you were really serious about editing, like working several hours a week on your manuscript, six months to a year was the magic number.

3. You are going to want to quit about month three. Don't. It gets easier; I promise.

As someone who has been editing her book for a grand total of eight months, I can't even count the times I wanted to call it quits. I considered abandoning the tedious editing process and return to the glorious writing experience. It was SO tempting I even started writing down ideas for my next book.

How did I keep going? I will talk about the advice and tricks I used to keep focused on Friday.

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

  Wow, where did Friday go? My life is so full now with school and work. And now I get a second job at the college I attend to top it all off. Why did I say yes to that?… Oh. Right. I need money.

  But anyway, I wanted to tell you about my latest exciting news: my Creative Writing class at college. It is so much more than I thought it would be. The book we are using is full of advice and ideas to get all the creative thoughts flowing. And it is challenging me in ways I didn't think it could or would! Now I don't write every day because I want to, I write because I have to. I seriously have no choice. Well, unless I want a bad grade––which I don't!

  I am sorry to say I haven't worked on my WIP for over a week because of all the studying. But I have been writing every day so I count that for something. At least I am not letting my creative mussels go soft. That was something the book said.

  The book also said that a writer can't only write "when they feel like it" and expect their writing to be good. To be good or sometimes even decent at something requires practice. Athletes practice several times a week and sometimes every single day. And still most of them will never make it big. And yet some writers only write now and then and are surprised when there stuff isn't up to par.

  So now I write more because I have to keep up my grade and to stretch my creative mussels to their very limits. What are those limits? I like to think that I don't have any. Maybe one day I will find them, but I have a feeling that day is a long way off.

  The lesson here? Just write. Don't care if it is good, just write. Write for yourself. Write because someone, somewhere, needs your story.

And now I leave you with Olof to help you remember what I said:

How to Take Criticism That I Don't Need

In this part two on how to take criticism, I will be discussing how I handle unneeded criticism.

The hard part about advice is to know when not to take it. How to determine if the advice I have been given is sound or not often goes like this:

First, I give it a few days.
Taking a step back is ALWAYS a good idea. It helps me not get caught up in the emotions of the moment and really ponder the advice.

Second, I consider the source.
Is the advice from my editor? My sister? My best friend? All of those people could give good (and even great) advice. But the people who are just reading this because I begged them too (aka, my friends) may not be the best book writerly advice givers.

Third, I get a second opinion.
Many times have I had a well meaning beta reader tell me to change something. I didn't think it needed to be altered so I would ask another reader. More often than not when I get to this step I find that my second reader often agrees that nothing should be changed or it shouldn't be changed as drastically as first mentioned.

  Once it has been throughly decided that I do not need the advice, I will delete the comment and never think of it again.

Just kidding.

  I put the thought on the back burner… for now. I have a separate word document for that. I may come back to it later and realize they might have a tiny point. Or it serves the purpose of letting me see my book through different eyes: the eyes of a reader.

  Maybe I will take their advice later, maybe I won't. The point here is not all advice is sound, and therefore, doesn't need listening to. But all criticism has its place. Sometimes that place is in a separate word document.

How to Take Criticism That I Need

  When anybody, my sister, one of my beta readers, or, most recently, my lovely editor, points out a fault in my book I am like:

  I often get a little feisty, sometimes a little angry. Okay, maybe more than a little. Some times I get so mad all I can do is huff at my screen and make up excuses about how they just don't get my brilliance. When this happens, I try to close my laptop and take a step back. Sometimes just a few minutes, sometimes a few days, until I have calmed down and can think clearly.

  And then, when I think I can look at it all in a new light, I admit to myself that they might, might, have a valid point that requires a closer look. So I open up my computer again and reread the passage in question. Often, this happens:

  And then I find that, yeah, they are right. This section of text really sucks. That doesn't mean I suck (at first it was hard to wrap my head around that). But maybe it was late when I wrote that, or maybe I just wasn't trying hard. 

  Whatever the reason, when I come to the conclusion I need to fix it* I have a few options:

  1. I could rewrite the entire passage to better reflect the plot/character/setting.

  2. I could delete the passage of text all together.

  3. I could do a mix of rewriting and deleting.

  4. I could move the passage to a better spot in the story.

  All of the above options completely depend on the context of the passage. I must note here that when I "delete" more that a few sentences, I first copy and paste them into a new document to save for later. It doesn't happen very often, but every now and again I realize I could have just moved the passage to another spot or I change the story to better reflect the passage. At such times, it is a great joy to simply copy and paste the passage back in. I have enough headaches without trying to recreate my own writing.

Let me know if any of you do something else to change a passage!

*I will post on Friday on what to do when I don't think a passage needs fixing.

Pain

 Happy Friday everyone! Today I am going to talk about pain in my WIP (work in progress).

  

  My main character, Mynnah, experiences a lot of pain both physically and mentally throughout her life time. Much of the fiscal pain takes place before the book starts so that causes much of the mental pain that she struggles with throughout the book.

  Without going into to much detail, Mynnah was abused before the we meet her in chapter one. I did a lot of research into the kind of abuse I decided she would suffer (Wow, looking back at what I just wrote sounds kind of cold, doesn't it? Ah, the life of a writer.) I tried my best to research, imagine, and add some of my own experiences with pain to the book to make Mynnah's struggles seem more real.

  I decided to give my MC some pain for several reasons. One, because everyone experiences some kind of physical and emotional pain at some point or another so that makes her more relatable to the reader. And two, because I experienced some very harsh physical and emotional pain myself and thought I was at least party equipped to wright about such a tender topic.

  You see, early in 2013 I was diagnosed with ALL or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. For those of you who don't know, that is a form of blood cancer. My doctors and nurses warned me early on, there was gonna be a lot of pain. At the time I had never broken a bone or even dislocated an arm. Falling off my bike when I was 8 into a prickle bush is about the most physical pain I could every recall before that year.

  I learned quickly what real pain could feel like. Chemotherapy, the "medicine" they gave me to kill of the cancer cells, is actually more like poison. It can't distinguish bad cells from good cells, and as a result I lost my hair, all the good bacteria in my gut, a lot of weight, and my immune system. To make a long story short, I felt like crap for 7 months and many days I was so weak I couldn't even get out of bed.

  What Mynnah experiences in the book isn't the same as what I went through, but the constant, sometimes unexplained emotional and physical pain is something we share very closely. I tried to make her reaction to what had happened to her match my own. I hope I did a good job.

  But it is important to remember, whether you have experienced the pain you are writing about or not, that everyone reacts differently. Some people close up, some people open up, some get angry at themselves and the world, and others go mad. What your character does it up to you and what you think his/her personality is.

  I hope I didn't scare you away from writing about pain! I think it adds a lot of depth and realness to any story. And, as all writers know, you don't have to experience it to write about it.

  P.S. Editing update! Tuesday at my Grandmother's I got a solid hour in of editing which is a big deal to me. I am almost half way through draft 8!

Character Profile: Mynnah

Here she is! This is as close of a picture as I could get to what I think Mynnah looks like:

Her name is Pronounced MIN-ah. The "Mynn" like the beginning of Minnesota. And the "ah" like at the end of the name Hannah.

Full name: Mynnah Greensleeve

Role: Main Character

Age: 17

Species: Halfling (half human half elf)

Hight: 5'4"

Hair: Red, long, and strait

Eyes: Emerald green with dark lashes

Skin Tone: Fair

Skill/ Magic Ability: She can turn herself invisible

FanFic

Today a wrote a short frozen FanFic for a writing group I belong to. I don't write Fan Fiction often so it was an interesting challenge for me. Enjoy:

Love is an Open Door

  "I think I might be evil." Elsa whispered staring down at her hands. She had just created an incredible ice palace with nothing but those hands directing the magic. The act had drained most of her power, and after getting over the rush of all she had just accomplished, she slumped against the nearest ice wall. She pulled at the hem of the blue crystal dress she had created for herself and sighed deeply. She wanted desperately to close her eyes, yet every time they drifted shut all she could think about was Anna. The desperate, betrayed look her sister had when she saw what Elsa had been hiding from the world all these years.

  Tears threatened the corners of her eyes. "Conceal, don't feel," she said, the words coming as naturally as her own breath. She pushed back the emotions and forced herself to stand. Moving would keep her thoughts off the past and it's hurts. She walked to the balcony. The sun was well risen to show the golden light of midmorning. The snow on the mountain side below sparked in millions of colors so bright she almost had to look away. So cold and yet so beautiful, she thought. Like my power.

  She turned from the window with a sigh and went to admire the rest of her ice palace. The frozen fountain in the front room was her favorite part she decided. But the huge chandeliers came in a close second. She loved how the lack of windows did not mean the place was dark, for sun light easily penetrated the ice walls. The light scattered everywhere so no corner was dark and the entire place seemed to glow. She sighed again, this time with contentment. Her work didn't look like a rush job, it looked like someone had painstakingly planed for years before building. And while she hadn't really considered every detail, somehow she had known just what it would look like when it was done. Her magic must have filled in the rest. 

  She turned and considered the front door. Right now it opened only at her command, and she liked the feeling of protection that brought. The security of a closed door was the only security she knew, the small bit of control she had in her life. As a child, while her powers grew more dangerous, the only certain thing was a door. It could be closed, and it could be locked. And then nobody could enter. Protection. Control. Peace. She smiled. It was better this way.

  As she turned to go something happened. It was less than a second, maybe half a second, but it changed everything. She got a vision of Anna knocking on her ice door. Foolish, she swept the thought aside as quickly as it had come. Anna would never come here. And if she did it wouldn't be to see her. Then, like the rush of cold water she remembered all the times Anna had knocked on her door growing up. Ever persistent. It would be just like that sister of hers to march up here and try to get in. Would Elsa let her? She closed her eyes. She had nothing to hide now. 

  Without turning around she loosened the lock on the door. If Anna ever came, the door would open to her. Just this once.

Writers' Inklings

  I had a wonderful time spending the night at a friend and fellow writers house. Lauren is a young adult writer like me and she writes historical fiction. Her current project is a book about the years after the civil war. She was also one of my beta readers for my current WIP (work in progress) before I sent it off to my editor.

  Lauren and I spoke long into the night about writing in our genres, how to get an agent, the pros and cons of self publishing, and just all around books and book stuff.

  We came upon the topic of what is popular to read today for young adults or YA fiction. We expressed our frustration that EVERY book now is about a girl with a perfect boyfriend whom she can not live without. For example The Fault in Our Stars, The City of series, Divergent, If I Stay and so on. Now most of these are great books, and I am not trying to diss them but what happened to being equal? What happened to breaking away from stereotypes? And what about all those girls without boyfriends, which is a large part of the population including myself and Lauren?

  I said, "Why can't there be a book about a girl who is awesome and saves her world without the help of a man?" Honestly, I had been wondering this for some time. And here are the reasons why:

  Not every girl has a perfect boyfriend. And those that do happen to find somebody often have a far from perfect relationship.

  Needing/having a boyfriend often makes up a large portion of the plot that is not really necessary. Now, I often think romance adds a fun element to just about any story, and I love to read about it, but does it have to be in every YA novel? No.

  The girl is often so attached to "her man" that she misses out on life, and cues that seriously could have helped her save her world faster and cleaner.

  I am not a man hater, but really, I am done with the romance being the focus of all of these girl's lives. I want to read a book about a girl who doesn't have and doesn't get a boyfriend. So I am gonna write one.

  Since this idea has come to me I have talked to more of my friend who all agree that today's books just go over the top with the whole romance thing (and some of them have/had boyfriends). So I don't know when, and I don't know how, but I am gonna write this YA no romance novel.

  And it is going to be epic.

Make a Date

I really must learn to make more time for my novel. I have been avoiding working on it for almost a week because of life stuff. I have been working, having fun chemotherapy jitters from last week's doctor's visit (more about that in my next post) but no more. Here are some goals I am setting for myself:

Work on my book baby everyday.
  Even if it is just a quick "check in" in and out in ten minutes or so. I will work on my manuscript every day. No exceptions. And if I forget or time gets away from me. I will make it up the next day.

Schedule a longer session.
  At least once a week I should find some time for a long session, like at lest an hour of uninterrupted time. Like this Sunday afternoon I should be free. So my book and I have a date to make. I know my book will be there, so I must try hard not to be late. Try. Try. Try.

Remember mornings are gold.
  I am am just about always free before 9 a.m. even when classes start on the 18th of (oh goodness!) this month. I am also most creative in the morning so this is a great time to hash out and edit my book. I do have free time, I just need to learn to use it for more than adding to my Pinterest boards.

Email my editor with questions.
  I have been putting this one off to accumulate more questions to ask her but I realize the further I get a way from when she edited the less she will likely remember about it (the details anyway). So I need to get those questions to her asap.

Well, that is all I have for now. Talk to you all on Monday.

Halfblessed Halfblood

There it is. My very first book manuscript that I have ever felt confident about. The book is a YA fantasy about a young halfblooded (half human half elf) named Mynnah. She has a magical ability to turn herself invisible and lives and a world where a country is at war with itself.

This blog, I have decided, will now be entirely devoted to my book(aka my baby). I will use this for promotion, flushing out ideas, and just all around awesome stuff about my life as a writer.

Because publishing a book as been on my bucket list since I was 12, I do plan on self publishing this book. Right now I would like to do so through the amazon company, Create Space, but I am keeping my options open. If a chance comes along to traditionally publish, I may snatch it up.

I have just gotten my seventh draft back from my amazing editor and am beginning to sift through the wonderful piles of notes she has on everything from grammar to character development. I will be sure to keep "you all" updated.

Somedays I want to throw the whole thing in the trash and start over. Other days I think my story is truly amazing and I must publish it and share it with the world. I am praying the latter is the reality and the former is just my inner critic that tells me I can't do anything right. Whatever is truth, I press on.

Here I leave you with a picture that I was playing around with for a cover: (Ella Lawai is a pen name I debated using for a long time)