Adventures in Editing - The Oh Carp Stage And The Battle Plan

*Theme music*

Welcome to Adventures in Editing!  A series of blog posts in which you will see a young writer figure out how the heck to edit a novel. Heeere's your host, Lily!

*Scattered applause*

So. This week I started editing my NaNoWriMo 2012 novel, Noxumbra. (Yes, I did change the title from Noxumbra Manor.)

Overwhelming? Oh, yes. So many levels of yes.

There is so much to fix. Plot holes, flat characters, a not-yet-built-enough world, some Insta!Luv (sorta).... lots of things that just need to be redone and reworked.

This would be the first "Oh carp what I have I done what was I thinking that first page tastes like cardboard" stage. I would be surprised if another didn't visit me half-way through.

One cannot edit, or do anything productive, during an Oh Carp stage.  So I kissed it goodbye and sent it off to torment someone else. It still sends me postcards, very depressing post cards, but I try to ignore them and give them to my sister so she can use them as litter for her ducklings.

So, after spending an afternoon or so wallowing in self-pity and general overwhelmed-ness, I decided to develop a battle plan.

Everything gets better when you have a battle plan. Time to pull the Battle Axe of Editing from the dungeon.  

I'm still working on my battle plan, but basically it looks like this:

1.  Make sure the chapters work so I can torment work with a crit partner for NaNoCritMo.  
2. Work on fleshing out the characters. Their backstories etc, will influence the plot.
3. Work on the plot: 

• Fill in the big BREAKS I left in my manuscript during NaNoWriMo when I needed to get my 2000 words in but had writers' block so I switched scenes.
• Obliterate the Insta!Luv and develop the Nomance properly. 
• Develop a reasonable way for the Manor to earn money.
• Make Gwen's life harder.
• Etc, etc, etc.   

     4. Worldbuild. A lot.

That's it so far. No doubt it will change somewhat.

I think that's all for this episode. Time to pull the Battle Axe of Editing from the dungeon.

Do you have any advice/questions/random statements about glittered armadillos? Please utilize the handy comment box below!

And a good night/morning/afternoon/whatever to you.

*Lights dim. Closing theme music* 

Viola and Zella's Theme Song

NOTICE: This post will most likely turn out to be me fangirling over a song and how well it fits with two of my characters. Ish. I may also get a few words in about character theme songs in general. We'll see.

One of the things my writerly side does is analyze nearly every song I hear to see if it fits with a character. Break up songs, love songs, songs about death, about partying, about tractors, you name it. It can get rather annoying, actually. But sometimes my head puts a song with a character and it's so perfect I grin every time I hear the song and I make a mental music video of my characters to the music. 

This happened a while back with Thompson Square's If I Didn't Have You, and my characters Viola and Zella. Now, If I Didn't Have You is a romantic love song, but I ignore all the purely romantic lyrics and fantasize about Vi and Zella to all the "Can apply to love in general" lyrics.

Here's the song:

It all started when I listened to this song and thought "what if they meant 'this life would kill me if I didn't have you' literally?" And almost immediately, Vi and Zella came to mind. Zella gives Vi a reason to fight and survive, and Vi rescued Zella when she was just a wee thing. Both are orphans of war, and they bonded to each other when their parents died.

I won't go into the rest of their story, but if you want to hear more about it, ask me in a comment. Also, if you want your daily dose of depression, go check out the Pinterest board I have for them. I'm pretty sure that story idea is the result of my dark side watching my interest in writing grow and saying "Hey! I want in the fun!" So, yeah, not a happy Pinterest board.

Well, that wasn't a great excuse for a blog post, but hey, I got new content up.  And I never did say anything worth while about character theme songs in general. Oh well, maybe another time.

And a wondrous day/night/evening/afternoon/whatever to you.

Announcing NaNoCritMo!

Hey guys, Sarah F. from Inklined and I are organizing a new event called NaNoCritMo, like NaNoWriMo, only for critiquing.  Check out the CritMo blog here: http://nanocritmo.blogspot.com/

We should have more up later today! You should totally check it out.

UDATED TO ADD:
The June test run for NaNoCritMo is now live! This is a trial run to work out any kinks in our system, but if you want to participate, you can register on the blog. We plan on doing another CritMo in September, so if you can't make it to the June event, check back then.

Character Question: What is Love?

Yeah, I know that's a weird title. Allow me to explain.

Last night, I was watching Lark Rise to Candleford (a really great period drama TV show that any Austen/Gaskell fans should check out) and the conflict for one of the characters was the question above. What is love? She was kinda freaking out about it. Anyway, when she asked that question the first time, one of my characters answered her in my head. "Love is giving your life for someone else's." Now, this doesn't fit the Lark Rise episode in any way, shape, or form, but I was intrigued. Viola, my character, answered what love is to her. So, I decided to see what some of my other characters had to say.

Marius: Love is accepting/loving someone despite their past.
Bev: Love is being accepted for who you are.
Joy: .... Is this a trick question?
Silla: Love is being accepted, even when you're not what was wanted.
Gwen: Love is working hard for the good of others.
Chad: See Shakespeare's sonnet 116. I painted it on the side of the abandoned crematorium.
Farold: Love is protecting your loved ones from the past.
Henley Sayer: Love is avenging your family.
Lizzie: Ooh, I should ask my characters that.... 

I'm not sure some of these even make sense, but I thought it was interesting to see how differently the characters reacted. And thank heaven they reacted differently, or I would have some serious character development to do for everybody.

As you may or may not be able to see, some of these characters have insecurities that affect their view of this subject (Marius, Bev, Silla...).  Hopefully, that makes them more like chocolate lava cakes and less like cardboard.

If you're a writer (and I assume most of my few readers are), how did your characters react to this question? And I'd love to hear input from all the non-writers too.

A good evening/morning/day/whatever to you.

Characters in Costume - Vorsilla Silverbeetle

Gillian from Of Battles, Dragons, and Swords of Adamant hosts a Characters in Costume blog event every month, in which you dress up as one of your characters, and I thought I'd participate this time (though I'm actually two days late in posting this, which is kinda ironic since Gillian did a post on Go Teen Writers last week called "Procrastination Doesn't Pay.") This month's theme is villains.

So, allow me to introduce you to a minor antagonist from my work-in-progress Noxumbra Manor: Vorsilla Silverbeetle.

I look nothing like Silla, and that setting is all wrong (I wanted to go to the local cemetery and take pictures there, but I ran out of time), but I think she would wear that dress.

Silla doesn't play that much of a part in the current draft of Noxumbra Manor (something I intend to change), but when I worked on figuring out who she was, I grew to really like her, and I've decided to make her the protagonist of the sequel, which has no title or plot yet.

Her mother died in childbirth, and her father had wanted a boy, an heir to his estate. As a result, Silla grew up in the shadow of male cousins and other relatives, watching them get praised, while her accomplishments were ignored. This left her as bitter and frosty as a winter's wind.

Then I went and broke her heart. And she was set on revenge. Thus began her role as an antagonist.

If you want to see what Silla looks like in my head, click here for a nearly perfect likeness I found on Pinterest. And you can find my Noxumbra Manor Pinterest board here.

And in case you were wondering, I've Seen Hell from the North & South soundtrack is her theme song.

Be sure to check out the other Characters in Costume participants! There's a list here on Gillian's blog.

And a good night/day/morning/evening/whatever to you. 

Of Character Correctness

One of the things I did wrong in my first novel was that Lizzie, my MC, was always right. She found the true meaning of every clue right away. This does not make for a good story. It makes for an okay story, but it would have been better (and will be, when I pull that manuscript from the dungeon again) if she'd misinterpreted a clue or two, or only realized half of what it meant.

Why? you ask? Because my friends, that makes for plot twists of awesome.

Think about it. You're reading along, what the MC says makes sense, and then KABLOOIE, the condemning footprint couldn't have belonged to the postman, or the dead guys isn't really dead, or that chandlery isn't just a cover for a bad guy on the run - it's a smuggling ring too, or the man who everyone thought was the father of the illegitimate son is actually covering for the real father, or the MC has two potential villains to follow, and she picks the wrong one.

Or, you're reading along, what the MC makes sense, and what do you know? She's right. She's so clever. She followed the right guy, and fit every clue together perfectly, and thanks to her, the bad guys will rot in jail for eternity.

Which is more fun to read? The first.

Readers like being proved wrong (as long as the new explanation makes sense). Or they like figuring out the true meaning of the clues before the MC, and being proved right.  Either way, proving the MC wrong will throw him/her for a loop, and make the story that much more interesting.

As a side note, characters with secrets are an excellent way  to prove the MC wrong. Henry lied, and the MC believed him, or Agnes told the MC the truth, and he/she didn't believe her. The MC builds an idea around what s/he believes, and then POP goes that idea, and in the soap suds of its death, a new idea is born, and this one is one step closer to the truth.

What do you think? Feel free to debate and expound upon this idea. I'd love to hear your input.

And a good night/day/afternoon/morning/whatever to you.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop: 10 Questions about Noxumbra Manor

Emily Rachelle from Emily Rachelle Writes has nominated me to participate in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. Thanks Emily! To participate, I have to answer 10 questions about my current work in progress, and so I shall.

1: What is the working title of your book?
Noxumbra Manor because that's where a good portion of the story takes place. I've also considered The Lady Lord, but my mom said that might sound like the main character is a transvestite, and I just didn't want to go there.

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
The original idea spark came in the summer of 2011, when my mom asked me what my dream pen name would be.  I'd recently become infatuated with the name Gwendolyn, and I'd just seen the name "Copperstone" somewhere, so I said Gwendolyn Copperstone. That November, I used "Gwendolyn Copperstone" as my NaNoWriMo username. Well, Gwen wasn't happy just being a username. Before long, she'd evolved into a really flat, story-less character, who I decided should be a fantasy-set detective. When NaNo 2012 started to draw near, I decided I'd give Gwen a story. After some brainstorming, she was no longer a detective, but an heiress of an estate that someone didn't want her to have.

3: What genre does your book come under?
Fantasy and mystery, though I've removed pretty much all of the traditional fantasy story elements. So it's a mystery set in a world that doesn't exist.


4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Honestly, I've been so focused on writing the thing, that I haven't thought of this. Except for one character. If this were to be made into a movie, I'd want Ben Aldridge to play Lord Delstone, the guy I put in an unrequited love situation I refer to as The Nomance.

I do, however, have a Pinterest board with some pictures of character look-a-likes on it here.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 
A young herbalist is flung into a world of mystery and deceit when she inherits an insolvent estate that someone doesn't want her to have.

I've very proud of this elevator pitch, since it placed in the top 25 finalists in the Go Teen Writers Pitch Us Your Story contest. It didn't make the top ten, but out of 140 contestants, one of the top 25 isn't bad.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
None of the above. It's still in the Really Big Mess first draft stage. 


7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I started it back in November for NaNoWriMo, and I typed the words "the end" a couple of weeks ago, but there's a bunch of stuff in the middle that I skipped over that I need to fill in. 


8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 
I have no idea. You could say it's like a Dickens-ish or Austen-ish story set in a world that doesn't exist, but that might be kind of a stretch.


9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I needed a story to write for NaNo '12, and I wanted to try my hand at fantasy, so I chose this one over all my other ideas.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Well, there aren't many fantasy-set mysteries out there (that I'm aware of, at least), and it's got lies and betrayal and scandal and secrets, and other good stuff like that.

If you have any other questions about Noxumbra, leave a comment and I shall answer them.

Now I'm supposed to nominate five other bloggers, but pretty much everyone else has done this already, so I nominate anyone who reads this and wants to give it a go. 

And a good day/night/morning/afternoon/whatever to you.

We Interupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

Here's the deal. I don't like writing book reviews. So, I'm not going to post a review of every single book I read anymore, just the ones that are SUPER AWESOME DROP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING AND GO TO THE LIBRARY NOW worthy.

So, instead today I'm going to share something I wrote. This is the first 700 words from a story I just started called Falsely Accused (at least until I find a better title). Please feel free to critique. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have.

Awaiting your execution is nerve wracking, no matter how many times you do it.

I should know, I’ve learned the hard way.

Yet no matter how many times I try, I can never manage to convince myself that this time won’t be any different from the others.

The time I spent awaiting my sixth attempted execution was no different. Goosebumps ran a marathon up and down my arms, trying to win out over my racing heartbeat. Taking deep, calming breaths was out of the question, since the Ootwoxans had stuck me in the rankest part of the Royal Dungeon. Apparently I’d commit enough crimes against them that they’d stuck me with the murderers. Great.

At least the Spryllians kept their jails clean.

Maybe he won’t come this time. That nagging thought danced around my mind. 

“Oh, shut up.”

A dark mass moved in the cell across from mine. “I didn’t say nothin’.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Horace.”

He humphed. “Have ye finally gone mad, then?”

I laughed. “No, I’ve been in far worse places than this.” Yes, I had.  And in far worse situations.

Well, in theory. 

At any rate, I was going to get out. No dying today.

I jumped as a loud bang raddled the room with enough force to knock my cup off the shallow ledge I’d set it on. A dim scrap of light crawled along the floor and dodged around the shadow of the prison guard.

“Mesonoxia Svensora! Your turn at the noose.”

I swallowed hard and stood. “Here.”

“Eager t’ die, are you?”

I bit my tongue and waited while he unlocked my cell.

“Nice knowin’ ye,” said Horace.

Several others mumbled goodbyes as the guard led me up a narrow flight of stairs.  He pounded on a wooded door until it whined open, flooding the dark stairway with blinding light. I blinked several times.  The first thing my eyes focused on was the noose. Not a welcome sight.

The guard laughed. He trembled like an earring on a noblewoman’s ear. “Where’s your confidence, now?”

Oh, that was me trembling. 

I scanned the crowd of people come to view my demise. My heart leapt at the sight of the back of a tall redhead. Jasp was here. I wasn’t going to die.

“We meet again, Miss Svensora.”

I turned to face the short, dark man standing before the noose. “Hello, Boris.”

“I believe we have some unfinished business.”

I smiled. “Aye, but we won’t finish it to…” The tall redhead had turned around.

It wasn’t Jasp.

I swallowed. No. No, I wasn’t going to die. Boris was short, even by Ootwoxan standards, maybe I could make a break for it and run…

“Brought before you today, ladies and gentlemen, is the notorious Mesonoxia Svensora, charged with the murder of Duke Limeberry. Her punishment…”

“Wait, what?” I asked, brought out of my plans for escape. “Murder? I’ve never killed anyone.” I was a petty thief and a traitor to the crown, but not a killer.

Boris glared at me. “Excuse me, I’m trying to announce your death.”

“But I’ve never killed anyone. I don’t even know who Duke Berriedlime is.”

He shrugged. “That’s not what they told me.” He turned back to the crowd. “She shall be hung from the neck until dead.”

A smattering of applause ran through the audience.

I shook my head. “But… you can’t hang me for something I didn’t do.” I took a step back, and bumped into the guard. My heart pounded in my ears.

“The king says you killed Duke Limeberry, you killed Duke Limeberry.” Boris stepped forward with a leather bag.

I tried to run, but the big Sudethen guard grabbed me and pinned my arms behind my back.

This could not be happening. I struggled against him, but he was too big.

“No! No, I didn’t do it! Stop!” Dizziness swept over me. 

Boris smiled. “Time to finish our business.”

He slipped the bag over my head, and the world dissolved into darkness. I gagged on the smell of other prisoner’s sweat, and I-didn’t-want-to-know-what-else.

“NO! Jasp! Jasper! Help!”

The guard pushed me forward.

“Stop stop stop s-s-stoooop!”

The noose fell down around my shoulders. Tears poured down my face. “I didn’t do it! Stop!”

And I'm going to stop there and exercise my Evil Writer Cliffhanger muscles. This hasn't been edited, and as I said before, I'd love to hear any thoughts you have.

In other news, I've recently been tagged for an "Answer 10 questions about your work in progress" blog hop, in which I'm supposed to tag 5 other people, but I don't know who to tag. Pretty much everyone in the two Facebook teen writer groups I'm in has done it already. So, if you want me to tag you, please leave a comment telling me so, and I shall do it. Here's the post by the girl who tagged me, if you want to see it.

And a good day/afternoon/evening/morning/whatever to you.

Tips For Changing Your Manuscript From One POV to Another

So, at around the 60k mark in my WiP, I decided to try writing in 3rd person instead of 1st person, and I liked writing in 3rd person better.  This means I now have to change the first SIXTY FREAKING THOUSAND words from "I said/nodded/walked/died" to "Gwen said/nodded/walked/died".  Yeah. A little daunting.

I got started a few weeks back, and I thought, "This would make a great blog post!" So, here it is. I may come back and edit it to add more tips, as I have 74 pages left to convert. 

NOTE:  I use Microsoft Word, so these tips will work for it, but I don't know about other programs.

Tip #1: Listen to fun music so you don't get frustrated/bored.
I like to listen to music without lyrics, 'cause lyrics clog up my head. I usually listen to my writing playlist on YouTube.

Tip #2: MS Word's Find and Replace feature is your best friend (usually).
The first thing I did was search for "I said" (it appeared in my doc about 150 times), and replaced it with "Gwen said".  So much better than changing each one individually.  Other terms I searched for and replaced with their 3rd person equivalents were:

- I nodded
- I shook my head
- I raised an eyebrow
- I stood

 And other actions I know Gwen does a lot.  Now, a potential source of error is if you have another character say that they "verbed" in a bit of dialogue, and it getting changed to "Gwen verbed".  For instance, I just did a search for "I hated" and got three results. Two were Gwen's narration of the story, and the other was this bit of dialogue from my character Merig:  "At first I hated you for [SPOILER]" which he said to Gwen.  So, if I'd Replaced all the "I hated"s, this would have turned into: "At first Gwen hated you for [SPOILER]" So, Merig would be telling her that she hated herself. Um, no.  "I saw" also is proving problematic.  There are only 26 of those, and not all of them will have to be changed, so I think I'll do those manually.  Speaking of doing it manually, if you use the Find feature to find all the instances of a certain phrase, assuming there aren't a ton of them, you can sift through the results and change them one by one. 

Also, look for "we verbed"s and change them to "they verbed"s.  

Also also, include punctuation in your searches. For example: "I asked." and "I asked," with a period and a comma.  That may weed out bits of dialogue, 'cause it won't include things like "'I asked her for her pink flamingo slippers, but only got the purple elephants,' I said." You can use spaces in this way, too.

However, the lovely Find and Replace feature does have it's downsides. For instance, I was rereading a scene this morning and I noticed that when I replaced all the "I said"s with "Gwen said"s, it changed the "Leoli said"s to "LeolGwen said"s, since "Leoli" ends in an "i".  Sigh. 

Tip #3: Search for the more frequent terms twice. 
I am positive I searched for "I looked" and "I nodded", but I found an unchanged one of each, and searched again.  Word had missed 68 of one of them. SIXTY EIGHT! Grr.

Tip #4: Manually change the rest in manageable chunks. 
 Because it can get boring, and everything will suffer if you are irritable, and it does no good to dread reading/fixing your story.  I have personal experience.  So, when you start to get sick of it, take a break. Eat something. Walk around. Get away from the computer. Fight off an imaginary army of garden gnomes dressed as the Grim Reaper. Whatever.

Tip #5: Keep a notebook close by.
Because you are going to find things that you need to take notes about.  Plot holes, missing descriptions, a character who talks of nothing but llamas because you needed extra words one day during NaNoWriMo...

Yes, there is one of those in my work in progress.

NaNo has the power to make us do silly things in the name of The Word Count.


And I think that is all.  As I said before, I may add more tips if I think of any more. Got any advice on changing POV, or a story of something silly you did in the name of The Word Count? I'd love to hear it! 

Until next time, my friends. [insert really cool sign-off/end-of-post thing here]

Review: Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner

Yeah, not The World Above by Cameron Dokey that my side bar says I'm reading. But last weekend it became very apparent that I would not finish it in time, so I read the book my sister had just finished and loved (and which was much shorter and that I could read in a day) Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner.

Guys.

It. Is.

....

Well, strange.

And really, really fun. 

Allow me to present the Amazon description:

"13 things you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel:

1. Mystery
2. A beautiful golem
3. Souped-up slingshots
4. Four black cats
5. Amnesia
6. Calamity Poker
7. Angry ponies
8. A shady truant officer
9. Top-13 lists
10. A sandstorm generator
11. Doppelgängers
12. A secret mission
13. Earwigs"

Yeah, not very informative. Yet very fitting for the story, which is about a girl who wakes up with amnesia in a little town in the middle of the desert called Blackrock, and her quest to recover her memories. The novel is presented as her notebook (complete with illustrations), so you get to learn about her as she learns about herself. And you get to read all her hilarious, snarky comments about everything.

Emily herself is an awesome character. Come to think of it, she's the classic anti-social genius homeschooler. And she's like that because she's tried to fit in with the rest of the world, finds it boring, and
prefers to spend time in her lab experimenting with explosives and time travel and snuggling her cats.

She doesn't remember that 'til the end of this book, but my sister's been reading the rest of the series and I've been hearing about it all week. 

So, in short, Emily's awesomeness + the 13 things listed above = great read.  And it was really clean too, which gives it lots of bonus points.

I believe that is all I have to say, chaps. A good day/night/morning/afternoon/other to you.

Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Amazon description:

"Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive. Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall."

Of all the books I've read this year, The Archived has been one of my favorites. It's got interesting characters, mystery, and a page turning plot. 

There were, however, a few things that bothered me.  The swearing, for example. There wasn't a lot, and it was no worse than your average PG-13 movie, but it was there. And there were a couple of kissing scenes that I didn't like, and a "take off your shirt so I can look at your injuries" scene, but that was all that happened.  So, I'd recommend it to older teens, maybe 16+.  

There were also a few flashbacks that showed up right in the middle of chapters, and though they were important to the story, they were kind of annoying.

Also, it was in present tense, and it confused my past tense-using Inner Narrator. You know, that part of your brain that adds comments/metaphors/narration to your everyday life that sound like they're from a story? Suddenly it started saying things in different tense! Like, "I fail at trying to come up with a decent example" instead of "I failed at trying to come up with a decent example".  Totally bizarre. Though it was interesting to see how the different tenses acted. And they did act differently.

 Annoying things aside, it was really a good read.  And I did not see the ending coming. It was great.
I do love a good mystery.  Also, the almost-a-romantic-interest was great. Definitely my favorite character.

Before I sign off, I wanted to let you know that By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson and Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morill are free on Amazon today.  By Darkness Hid is great, and though I haven't read Me, Just Different, I do read the teen writer's blog run by Stephanie (Go Teen Writers), and she's awesome. 

Review: Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey

Amazon description:

"Etienne de Brabant is brokenhearted. His wife has died in childbirth, leaving him alone with an infant daughter he cannot bear to name. But before he abandons her for king and court, he brings a second child to be raised alongside her, a boy whose identity he does not reveal.
The girl, La Cendrillon, and the boy, Raoul, pass sixteen years in the servants' care until one day a very fine lady arrives with her two daughters. The lady has married La Cendrillon's father, and her arrival changes their lives.
When an invitation to a great ball reaches the family, La Cendrillon's new stepmother will make a decision with far-reaching effects. Her choice will lead La Cendrillon and Raoul toward their destiny -- a choice that will challenge their understanding of family, test their loyalty and courage, and, ultimately, teach them who they are."

Before Midnight (from the Once Upon a Time is Timeless series) was a delightful retelling of Cinderella. It changed several things about the story, including who the antagonist was (a bit), and added some really fun political intrigue.

It did not, however, remove all the love at first sight. There were six couples in the story, and four of them fell in love at first sight. The other two were arranged marriages and the parties hated each other.  That was a bit annoying. 

But, all in all, I enjoyed it. I give it four out of five stars. 

Fair warning, I'll be reading a lot of retold fairytales over the next few weeks.  I have a bookshelf full of books I bought at our library book sale that I haven't read yet, and several of them are in the Once Upon a Time is Timeless retold fairytales series. The shelf technically belongs to my sister, and she's informed me that she's going to start evicting books one by one, and the only way I'll be able to save them is to read them.  The next one she's chosen is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, in which Jack's sister has to save him. Should be fun. 

The Reader Appreciation Award

So, I got another blog award. Weird.  My blog stats drop below sea level and the BAM, I get two blog awards (three, if you count the one I got twice). 

I have three hypotheses for this:

1. My readers have subscribed via email and read the post in their inboxes, so they create no page views.
2. The people who gave me the blog awards could think of no one else to award.
3. My readers are ninjas, and thus their page views don't show up.

 I'm going to pretend it's the third. 

On to the actual award:

It has a sunflower.  I like sunflowers.

Like pretty much all of the blog awards out there, this one has rules:
RULES:
1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Attach the icon to your site.
3. Answer the attached questions.
4. Nominate bloggers who you feel deserve this award and notify them about their nominations.

Shonti from Dragons, Unicorns, and Other Random Things gave me this one. Thanks, Shonti! 

 Questions:
What is your favorite color?
Blue. Or purple. Can't decide. 
What is your favorite animal?
That would be the dragon.
What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?
Hot chocolate, oh yes.  Though my mom's chai is really good too.
What is your favorite number?
Not sure I have one. When I was little, I really liked 256, for some reason. I found out later it happens to be the square of 16.  Apparently I like numbers that are also polygons.
What is your favorite day of the week?
Again, not sure I have one. 
What is your favorite flower?
Hmm.  Too many to choose from. I think I'll go with nigela this time.
What is your passion?
Reading, writing, music.
Do you watch television?
No, actually, I don't.  I live out in the middle of nowhere, and the only stations we get out here are various forms of PBS.  I do watch movies, though.
Who is your favorite author?
At the moment, Jill Williamson. This is subject to change.
Do you like 80s movies?
Depends on the movie.
How do you like your eggs?
I like omelets, but "egg in a nest" (a piece of toast with a hole in the middle and the egg fried in the hole) is good too.
When did you discover blogging?
Well, I knew that people blogged before I started blogging, which was just over a year ago.
Why do you like to blog?
Actually it isn't one of my favorite things, but I don't like the idea of giving up on my corner of the blogosphere, so here I am.

And because I'm too lazy to go find people to nominate, I offer this award to anyone who makes it this far down in this post.  Enjoy!

And a goodnight/day/afternoon/whatever it is where you are to you.

Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Amazon description:

"Come and mend your broken hearts here.

Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her—beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing—it’s taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation.
Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late."

I finished this book sometime after midnight one morning last week..  I loved it.  It is a lovely retelling of the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses, with magic and romance and secrets, a good plot and delightfully flawed characters.  It was charming with some deliciously dark and creepy places.

So, I give it 5 out of five stars.

If you're looking for a light, but fun read, I'd definitely recommend Entwined.

I think that's all.  Live long and prosper.  

I Receive the Liebster Award, Twice

Last week both Victoria from Stori Tori's Blog and Bethany from The Ramblings of a Young Author gave me the Liebster Award. Thanks a bunch, ladies!

The Liebster award is where Bloggers nominate other bloggers they like with 200 followers or less. Any type of blog can be nominated. It's a way to get to know new bloggers and to network with them. Here's how it works:

1. List 11 facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you left.

3. Ask 11 new questions for those who you nominate.

4. Choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers to nominate.

5. Go to each blogger's page and let them know about the award.

6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog. (Done!)

Facts:
1. I've been thinking about facts to list since I was awarded, but now I don't remember them.
2. I have to drive with my mom for nine more minutes before I can get my driver's license.
3. I have a strong affinity for glitter. 
4. I slip into a British accent once in a while.
5. I'm trying to teach myself to play Forbidden Friendship from the How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack using sheet music from this guy.
6. I'm in the process of changing the first 60k words of my work in progress from first person to third person.
7. I'll have a blog post about it up soon.
8. I bought myself a tricorner hat that I wear sometimes when I write.
9. My sister hates that hat.
10. I just read some of the comments on Victoria's blog, and one of the other nominees mentioned that he has a side character named Victoria, and after reading that, I remembered that I too have a side character called Victoria, who goes by Tori.
11. I just started watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  They're pretty good, but Lydia is SO inappropriate. 

Victoria's questions:

1. What's your TV series?

Ooh, that's a toughie. It's a toss up between Lark Rise to Candleford and Doctor Who. 

2. Favorite superhero?

Probably Captain America.  

3. If you could have any pet whether it is mythical or real, what would it be?

I wouldn't mind a small dragon. One that was trained not to burn the house down. 

4. If you could live in the world of a book or movie, which one? 

 I'd live in the world of Doctor Who, because then I could borrow the TARDIS and go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted.

5. Favorite music artist?

Probably The PianoGuys. I love their new cover of Taylor Swift's Begin Again. Oh, but Owl City is really good too...

6. What is your favorite scent?

Vanilla. 

7. Hunger Games or Twilight?

Well, I haven't read the Hunger Games, and I haven't read the last Twilight book. But if I had to be stuck somewhere with nothing else to read, I'd go with the Hunger Games. 

8. Motorcycle or car?

Car. One of my mom's friends broke both arms in a motorcycle accident last year. After that, it would take a very substantial bribe to get me on one of those things. 

9. Favorite cookie?

Butterscotties. Or chocolate chip cookies. 

10. What is a quirk about yourself?

When I have writers' block, I build towers out of whatever happens to be on the table. Drinking glasses, medicine bottles, pencils, notebooks, calculators...

11. Do you have a favorite blog?

Go Teen Writers is the one I follow the most regularly. 

Bethany's questions: 

1. Do you have siblings? How many?

I have one younger sister.   

2. Checkered or plaid?

 Plaid, especially Scottish tartans.

 3. Favorite food?

Cheese.

 4. How much wood did the woodchuck chuck?

I saw somewhere that you can ask Siri that popular tongue twister, so I did, and she said "A so-called woodchuck (correctly speaking, a groundhog) would chuck - that is, throw, - as much as the woodchuck in question was physically able to chuck, if woodchucks in general had the capability (and, presumably, the motivation) to chuck wood."  Okay then.

 5. Favorite fantasy world?

Ooh, good one.  It's a toss up between the world of Harry Potter and Er'Rets from Jill Williamson's Blood of Kings trilogy. 

 6. Hot chocolate or coffee? 

Hot chocolate, hands down. 

 7. What is your favorite musical?

Toss up between The Music Man (the Robert Preston version) and Disney's live action version of Cinderella. Silly, I know, but I've loved that movie since I can remember. 

 8. Would you rather eat a raw squirrel, or moldy doughnuts? :P

*Swallows* Um, I think the moldy doughnuts. 

 9. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy reading?

Eleven. 

 10. Favorite book?

Oh, lordy.  I never know how to answer this question. Of the books I've read recently, Entwined by Heather Dixon is my favorite.  

 11. Cold weather or hot weather?

Hot. I can tolerate outrageous heat, like we had last summer, but I DO NOT like the cold.

My questions: 

1. Windows or Apple?

2. If you could change your name to anything, would you change it, and if so, what would you change it to? 

3. What's your favorite car? 

4. If you could play any musical instrument instantly, which would you choose? 

5. Murder mysteries or romances? 

6. Favorite fairytale?

7. Brownies or cake?

8. Would you rather wear neon pink or neon green? 

9. Buttons or zippers?

10. If you could visit any point in time, which would you choose? 

11. Do you think eleven questions is too many?

All righty, I nominate:

Pheris at The Word Asylum

Sarah at Comfy Sweaters, Writing, and Fish

And YOU. That's right.  If you want this award, take it. It's yours. Enjoy. 

See y'all later.

Review: By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle

Amazon description: 
"There’s hidden places all over this land-old, old places. Places with a chain for them to chain up the wolf when it’s time.

A mysterious young man has come to a small Highland town. His talent for wood carving soon wins the admiration of the weaver’s daughter, Maddie. Fascinated by the silent carver, she sets out to gain his trust, only to find herself drawn into a terrifying secret that threatens everything she loves.
     There is an evil presence in the carver’s life that cannot be controlled, and Maddie watches her town fall under a shadow. One by one, people begin to die. Caught in the middle, Maddie must decide what matters most to her-and what price she is willing to pay to keep it."  

By These Ten Bones is a quietish little story about, as the description alludes to, a werewolf.  

 

I give it three and a half stars. 

 

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite.  I liked Maddie and the other characters, and the plot was pretty good.  There was some good conflict between and within the characters, and the end was good and suspenseful.

 

Also, the description says "One by one, people begin to die", but only one (at least that I can remember) person in the village gets killed by the beast. Another character dies, but he gets murdered by another one of the characters after the other character is killed by the beast.  There were some other characters that died, but they were dead before the story even began, and you heard about their deaths from other characters.

 

I think that's all I've got to say. See ya next time.  

TCWT! February Blog Chain: A Post in which I Review a Self-Published Story

So, I'm participating in the Teens Can Write, Too! February blog chain. This month's topic is:
“Choose one self-published book to read, then briefly review it or talk about your experiences reading it.”

I read Sew, it's a Quest by Kendra E. Ardnek, who is another teen writer, and homeschooled too! I'm pretty sure I downloaded Sew, it's a Quest because it was on sale for free for a day on Amazon. Anyway, I'd forgotten I'd downloaded it and then I found it when I was trying to download another ebook, so I decided to read it for this, since it was self-published.  I am very pleased I did, because I loved it. 

Sew, it's a Quest is a fairytale novella targeted at preteen girls and younger children.  So it's short, and isn't written with sparkling prose, but it's cute.  The main plot centers around Prince Robert and Princess Robin, twin royals whose gifts were switched at birth, and their quest to right their gifts before their 18th birthday, which is only 4 months away.  There are, however, some subplots that do in places take over.

The story itself was pretty good, not fabulous, but typical for a fairytale.  A good portion of the side characters are versions of characters from other fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty, which made for a fun read.

The best part overall was the humor.  There's one character who was gifted with excellent math skills, but whose tongue does not know the difference between "castle" and "tassel." It was hilarious.

....I can't really think of anything else to say.  I think there were a few typos, and the characters could be flat at times, but in case I hadn't made it obvious enough, I loved it anyway. I give it four point five out of five stars. 

Be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain!

February 5^th – http://the-writing-junkie.blogspot.com/

February 6^th – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com/

February 7^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

February 8^th – http://fida-islaih.blogspot.com/

February 9th – http://sarahhudsonscribbles.blogspot.ca/

February 10^th http://avonsbabbles.wordpress.com/

February 11^th http://notebooksisters.blogspot.com/

February 12^th http://mirrormadeofwords.wordpress.com/

February 13^th http://www.lilyjenness.blogspot.com/ -- You are here.

February 14^th http://www.writerbewildered.blogspot.com/

February 15^th http://realteenreader.wordpress.com/

February 16^th http://epistolarygirl.wordpress.com/

February 17^th http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com/

February 18^th http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain)

Review: The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman

Back Cover Blurb:

"Twelve-year-old Alexa Daley is spending another summer in Bridewell with her father. She looks forward to exploring the old lodge where she stays each year, with its cozy library and maze of passages and rooms. She's also eager to finally solve the mystery of what lies beyond the immense walls that were built to keep out and unnamed evil that lurks in the forests and The Dark Hills -- and evil the townspeople are still afraid of.
As Alexa begins to unravel the truth about what lies outside the protective barrier she's lived behind all her life, she discovers a strange and ancient enchantment. Armed with an unexpected new power, Alexa exposes a danger that could destroy everything she holds dear -- and change The Land of Elyon forever." 

The thoughts that came to me whist and after reading:
This was pretty cute. Its target audience is tween girls, and you can tell.  It's by no means riveting or a page turner, but it isn't bad.   The first 100 or so pages are set up, which is kinda slow, but you need it for the end. 
Overall, I give it four stars.

My Auntie S. recommended the series to my sister a few years ago, but Sis didn't get very far,  Then we found the series used at a second-hand book shop for super cheap and bought it. I read this because Sis was in the middle of another book and wanted to know how these were. I told her, but now she is considering not reading them because of something unfortunate that happened to a cat in the story.  Sigh.

I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to read the rest of the series or not yet. I've got other books higher on my list.  Including the one I'm currently reading, Sew, It's a Quest by Kendra E. Ardnek.  I'm reading it for the Teens Can Write, Too! February blog chain, the topic of which is to pick a self-published book and review it. So, I'll have my post for that up on the thirteenth.  Be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain, too.

Review: Beautiful Creatures

Back cover blurb (well, actually it's the Amazon blurb):
 There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

.....

Beautiful Creatures was recommended to me by my aunt.  I give it four out of five stars.

The biggest issue I had was that it was a romance.  But it was a pretty clean romance, which is always a plus.   I just like "Let's save the world!" plots more than "I love you and our parents will never keep us apart!" plots.  That being said, this was pretty good. I liked the characters, and there's a chance that the story will develop into a "let's save the world!" story in later books. (Though I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series soon. I have a really big pile of books on my dresser that give me dirty looks every time I bring something home from the library.)  The writing itself was good, and there are some great plot twist.

Currently I'm reading The Dark Hills Divide, book 1 in the Land of Elyon series, by Patrick Carmen.  I'm over 100 pages in, and I still don't know what the plot is, but other than that it's pretty good. And it's short, so the plot is bound to show it's face soon.