Beautiful People-February

Hello, lovelies! It's been a while since I did my share of Beautiful People, hosted by Sky at Further Up and Further In and Georgianna at Before My Penn Has Gleaned. So I decided that now is better than never ^_^
 I'm doing these questions for Anna, one of my main characters from Avaria, because I've recently dusted off her book and started plotting again [finally]. So here we go.

1. If your character could be played by any actor, who would it be?
Eh. I'm not exactly sure. I don't watch enough movies to know any actresses around her age who would make the cut. Maybe... No. I just don't know xD
2. Does your character have a specific theme song?
I almost feel like it should be Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen or something melancholy like that. But maybe that's just the guilt for all the horrible things I've put her through getting to me ;_;
3. What’s their worst childhood memory?
Her dad leaving when she was about ten years old. She's sixteen, and she hasn't seen him since. It scarred her badly--I don't even know how badly, and I've been writing her story for about five years o_o
4. If your character had a superpower, what would it be?
She'd probably be able to fly or something cool like that. Though she's fast, so maybe she'll be Flash 2. Or Flash Jr.
5. If your character crashed on an island with a bunch of other people, how would your character help the group survive?
Not by having a mental breakdown, that's for sure. She'd probably do a good job of masking her fear, organizing the survivors, and being all rough and tumble; then she'd have her breakdown after rescue.
6. Are they married? If not, do they someday wish to be?
She's not married; she'd like to be, but she's terrified of having her marriage end the same way her parents' did. I think she could do it, though, if the right guy walked along. Which he did. In book three. But she doesn't know that. So SHHH.
7. What is a cause they would die for?
A good cause? Saving a friend, because she hasn't had many. A bad one? Getting revenge. She's an unstoppable monster where revenge is involved. It could be her undoing.
8. Would they rather die fighting valiantly, or quietly at home?
She'd prefer to die quietly. But she's not afraid of fighting. She's been fighting herself all her life.
9. If someone walked up to them and told them they were the child of the prophecy, would they believe them?
You know what, that's funny, because that actually happened. As I remember it, she fainted. Or laughed. Or both. But she ended up being a pretty good child of the prophecy, if I do say so myself.
10. Do they prefer the country or the city?
The city. She grew up in New York, and she despises the small Virginia town her mom's job took them to. *sigh* I guess she can't be perfect.

Okay, that was fun! Every time I finish one of these, I realize that I need to do them more often =D Try one for yourself--you won't regret it!

NEWS.

Like, really big news!

Well, first off, I didn't get that big scholarship I'd wanted. I came home from skiing yesterday, exhausted yet excited because I knew that I'd soon find out whether or not I'd be invited to go down to Georgia for scholarship weekend. The phone call wouldn't have let me know that I GOT the scholarship, but it would bring me one step closer to being able to attend the college I'm being pulled towards right now. Anyway, I got a call from my Admissions Rep. She was so sweet, apologizing that I hand't gotten invited even though it wasn't her fault. That made the news easier, somehow.

But today, I was really feeling the weight of not being awarded all that money. College is EXPENSIVE, people. If you don't have a job, get one and start saving, because all that hard-earned money is going to go a long way if you save wisely. I'm looking into other scholarships outside of the school, but they require more work and time that I don't have. So I was stressing out.

Tonight, I came home a little depressed. I sit down at my computer and what do I see (besides my amazing War Horse Background)?

An email.

No, not from Fozzy (although I always loooove to hear from her). Not from the college, telling me there's been a horrible mistake and would I please come and accept a wad of cash (though that would be nice, too).

It was an email from a Christian writers' magazine that I'd mentioned a while back, right after the writer's conference 2011.

They want my short story.

As in, to publish.

On paper.

Maybe with an illustration.

In only a couple months.


God is so amazing in His timing! I was feeling so let down, and yet here's something to pick me back up--something I've been working towards and praying for and dreaming about for... well, years.

[potential, but it looks like it really is happening] PUBLICATION.

I just had to share that with you. I'm so grateful, scared, and beside myself with excitement. Please pray that I don't send the publishers a really hyper email, singing something about rainbows and unicorns bursting from the clouds, and scare them out of wanting to publish me. That would be bad.


Thanking God [and putting my editing cap on!]~

Elisabeth

Is it November Yet?

I was babysitting for a friend today. She has a lot of health isssues and just really needs someone to help her out with her rambunctious, adorable 18 month old baby girl. I was sitting with her daughter and she was out in the kitchen getting breakfast.

"So, have you gotten much writing done lately?" she asked.

I tried to force a smile, even though I knew she couldn't see my face. "No. It's hard, with school and all. It's pretty crazy."

"Yeah." She laughed. "Hey, have you ever heard of this thing called NaNoWriMo?"

"YES," I replied, almost before she was done asking the question. "I actually did it last year. It was so fun! I think the most words I wrote at one sitting were about 5000."

"Five thousand?" she exclaimed. "How long did it take you to write that many words?"

I paused, nostalgic. Those were the richest three hours of that November. I sat on the floor at my sister's friend's house while she and my sister talked. They talked. I wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote until it seemed like my fingers were going to fall off. But when I was finished, I looked up with bloodshot eyes and triumphantly announced, "I'm back on schedule." My sister and her friend gave me the weirdest look and kept on talking. But I was saved. That little blue chart now matched the curve I should be getting for that day. I felt fulfilled. "Three hours," I told my friend as I twisted her daughter's little mop of hair into a curlycue. "It was amazing."

I can't wait until November.

NaNoWriMo emails are flooding my inbox. I'm ecstatic. I can't wait to start. I want to write. I want to write fifty-thousand words. I want to write a hundred thousand words, if I can. These short spurts of creativity each day are driving me insane. I want to tear down the dam and submerge myself in all the pent-up ideas floating around behind the barrier I've put up to keep my life somewhat normal. Even if it's for only a month. Even if it was only for a day.

I can't wait until November.

I think I have the story for this year's NaNo. It's the story of my great-great grandmother, May. It's not fantasy, but it's a GOOD story. And, depending on how much research I get done, most of it will be true. I'm so excited. I want to show it to my grandmother when I'm done, to thank her for sharing those stories with me. But first I have to write it.

I can't wait until November.



Is it November yet?

~God Bless

Elisabeth (who is on a different computer and thus cannot stamp her awesome signature onto this blog post :( )

Elisabeth with an "S"

 It doesn't sound quite the same, but it's true. Elisabeth with an "S" is a much more interesting way to spell the name ^_^ Biased? Nooooo, not I.

Well, this is getting to be a trend, I think. First Little Women ate up gobs of my time while thoroughly delighting me; now Anne Shirley has captured my attention. That's right--I finally made good on my promise to read the books. And now that I've finished the first one, I don't know how I can bear to read the second one. I just know the characters are going to change.

Anne of Green Gables has an intriguing premise. As the sister of two former foster boys, Anne's plight captured my heart. Just thinking about arriving at what you assumed to be your forever home and then be faced with the prospect of being turned away is heartbreaking. And L.M. Montgomery writes with such maturity that she actually makes Anne's plight become real. The result is breathtaking.

Besides the characters, who deserve a blog post all to themselves on account of their incredible awesomeness; and besides the storyline, which is as simple as can be and yet held me captive for about four hours straight; and besides the fact that this book is set in a real place that you can actually visit (you can certainly tell that Montgomery was a Canadian--she describes every detail in Avonlea to perfection!), I loved the fact that after 100 years (YES! 100 years!) Anne's story is still as believable as ever. The writing is not over-wordy and doesn't use terms foreign to a 21st century teenager (namely, me).

If you've read Anne of Green Gables, I hope you share in my joy. If you haven't, I hope you pick it up and read it sometime. Even if you don't particularly like it, it's a great story and Montgomery was quite accomplished in her craft. I found it almost too easy to read Anne of Green Gables in under four hours, and I definitely plan to read it again in the future. The sequels? I'm not too eager to read them yet. I still have a perfect picture of Anne's life after Green Gables in my mind, and I don't really want her to grow up just yet :]


Besides my latest literary raptures, I've written a bit in the past couple days. College website surfing and college applications have been eating up my time and my insanity. It's hard to believe that I could be in COLLEGE this time next year o_o Scary is a better word, actually.
I wrote a poem, and a muse, and some random outbursts of frustration at my inability to express my joy at being able to write again. None of them passed the "blogworthy" test, however, and thus I have nothing to show to you. Lord-willing, I will. Soon. VERY SOON.

Alas, it's time to say goodbye. Take a look at my new siggie as you leave. I made it HERE. You should all grab one, too!

God Bless!

(GRAHH. It has a white background DX Oh, well. Another thing to tinker with ;D)

Pumpkins, Hemingway and Questions

What can all these things have in common, you ask?

Nothing much. They just happen to be the things which have consumed my brain over the last few days.
First up: pumpkins. I love pumpkins. They're round and huge and orange and such fun to paint. We don't celebrate Halloween (in fact, we take great cares to be out of the house and enjoying a meal at the nearest Cracker Barrel when the Trick-or-Treaters start coming around). But we buy pumpkins every year for our front steps, and this year my siblings and I decided to have a pumpkin-carving party. In the dark. With sharp knives. And an eerie pumpkin-candle glow.
I had so much fun.
First, I tried to pose as the headless horsewoman, but my pumpkin was pretty heavy, and I could only hold it up for so long (thus the fuzzy picture up top there). Gutting the pumpkin was the hardest part--it was sticky and slippery and gross inside, but the seeds made excellent missiles. In total, I carved three pumpkins--mine, my youngest brother Jude's, and my brother Issac's, who succeeded in slicing his finger before he'd carved out his pumpkin's leering mouth (don't worry, he's fine. But he did convince my dad that he needed bedrest and extra ice cream that evening).

When we were finished, we took a little candle and lit up our pumpkins. The result was pretty cool. That's my pumpkin--with the huge, hollow eyes and only one tooth. Our back porch is covered with seeds that stick to your feet, but it was a fun night. Maybe we can do it again next year.

I recently started reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. My mom's book club read it, and she gave it to me. I have seen the old Gary Cooper movie, and the story intruiged me, so I started to read it. It's funny how different literature was written sixty years ago. The writing is immaculate, but very hard to read. I don't know exactly why. Hemingway is brilliant in his use of dialogue--he has the characters speaking Spanish, but their lines are written in English. The result is a strange word order, a lot of thees and thys, and a very respectful feel to the conversations. I'm enjoying the book so far, and I plan to finish it (even though I already know how it ends).
The hard part is finding time to read. I'm basically on my own school-wise this year--all of my homework is from classes and it's on me to get it done in time. I actually have a lot more time, and I've started setting aside an hour (or however much time I can find) a day to read. Some days, it will be impossible to find an hour, but on other days, I might be able to read for two or three. I really want to read more--there are so many books I want to get through. Hopefully this new pattern will help me do it.

Questions have been consuming me for the last few days. Unfortunately, they're not the deep, life-changing questions that I should be pondering. They're all from memes. That's right. I'm in meme mode and I can't get out (I need a Life Alert button).
Memes are great. But after a little while, they all sound the same. And then you're sitting there asking your poor characters the same questions over and over and over again. And they don't like that, no sir. Several have committed mutiny and refused to appear in any more memes X3 So I'm going to write--I'm going to write scenes in my book until my fingers fall off or until my laptop dies. A meme or two will find its way in, as will some poems. But I want to write stories again. I want to write my characters, not just interrogate them. So that's my resolution for the next however-many-days-I-can-keep-this-up. I'm thinking two. But two days of nonstop writing will be better than twenty of nothing at all.

By the way, how did you like that meme I left you last time? It's my favorite so far :3

Signing off,

Elisabeth

The Happiness

Folks, meet my dog (if you miss her, you need to check your pure-and-simple happiness detector). Her name is Denza, and she's a Golden Retriever, which is arguably the most happy dog in the entire world. When she's happy--well, that's all the time. But when she's REALLY happy, she just sort of sits in front of you, grinning as if her life has been defined the moment your hand sunk into her fuzzy fluff.

This past weekend, I was a Golden Retriever.

I cannot begin to explain to you the joy I feel when I write. Sometimes it's hard, sometimes I hate doing it, sometimes I want to be a brain surgeon and forget all about showing-not-telling. But I always have this joy--the joy that I'm creating something, be it another Les Miserables (I highly doubt it) or another building block for my "never-read-again" pile. I love to write, and I could truthfully say that if I could simply write for the rest of my life, I would be quite content.
So, the writing's enough for me. But then comes this week (and all the weeks in prior years). Not only do I get to meet scores of people who love to write and who love God, but I also am told that what I've written is quite GOOD by more than one or two sympathetic grown-ups. On the contrary, all of the people I met with this year were not only pleasantly surprised with my ramblings, but some of them even expressed an interest in publishing them. It's like being told that you're good at eating ice cream.

....

I think I could die happy 8D

I can't tell you how much the GPCWC means to me. Ever since I found it, I've been looking forward to a blissful weekend of escape every August. Sometimes there are hard things that are said, and I can honestly say that stings. But I've learned--I've been made to learn--that even when you feel like you've been hit really hard, you have to get up and keep doing what you love.

The first thing that simply amazes me about the conference is that it is FULL of God. He is in the sessions. He is in the worship. He is in the teaching. People pray with you after interviews. People pray with you after classes. People pray for you in the hallways. I can't imagine going to a more secular conference and losing that richness that simply permeates the GPCWC. Not only is it comforting and calming when you're stressed and frazzled, it's also a firm and solid foundation for a sensational conference.

The next great thing about the conference are the people. The people who come from all over the US--and sometimes outside the US, too--are simply incredible. They are from all kinds of churches, and they have all kinds of different views on faith and theology, but (thank God!) it doesn't stop from loving each other and sticking together like brothers and sisters in Christ. You meet the most unique and kind people, people who exhort you to keep pushing and moving forward even when you're so tired you're falling asleep at lunch. They interact in the classes, ask questions you wouldn't dream of in a thousand years, keep you smiling and keep you going all week. They offer the best advice and give you new leads on how to better your writing and yourself. I was humbled to interact with them this week.

Then there are the teachers, the writers, the editors, the agents, the people who make this thing happen. They. Are. Amazing. And that's truly all I can say. The teachers are funny, witty, sometimes brutal, but always honest and never cruel. They challenge you, they embarrass you, they praise you, they tear you writing apart and leave you bleeding but resolved to do even better next time. They hunt down every error and make it hurt--they train you to see your mistakes and not to make them again.
The writers, editors and agents who I've met with are gracious and excited that I've requested to see them, even if it's for the third year in a row or I forgot if they're an editor, agent or author and have to ask them what exactly they do for a living before the interview even starts so I know what I'm supposed to pitch. (true story, see XD). It's so rewarding for me to start out with a publisher skeptical of my idea at the start of the interview and shouting (yes, shouting) "SHOW ME THE UNICORN!" at the end. They let me make mistakes, honestly tell me what I do wrong, recommend other people to meet with and give me business cards and a piece of chocolate <3

The people who run the conference are true heroes. They man the cash register for hours. They put up with my stupid questions and tell me the answers again and again without even missing a beat. Without them, I'd be totally and hopelessly lost. They provide delicious meals and work for hundreds of hours on registrations and emails and making lovely informational packets for each and every conferee. I have one complaint and one alone: they always manage to spell either my first or my last name wrong. And I can understand why XD


Lastly, the material at the conference is in a class by itself. The teachers prepare it and present it; it's found in countless books in the bookshop; you talk about it, think about it, read about it and try to apply it the entire weekend. It's made very concise, not so that it's watered down, but that I can sit through a class with 30 mature adults and understand the intricacies of dialogue as well as they do. I appreciate that the teachers and authors make the material so understandable--I can use the handouts they give me all year long and come back with a better, more polished novel each year.

Guys, I'm just so blessed by this conference. It never fails. It's exhausting, it's stressful, it's confusing at times, but it's SO worth it. The only thing that could make me happier next year is if I see you there. (Except for you, Danielle. You are there every year, and it adds to the joy :3).

May we all be as happy as a Golden Retriever every day--or at least close to it.

~God Bless

Elisabeth

Ideas, Ideas

Okay, first of all, let me apologize for not posting in over a week. I've been sick and I've spent most of the last week on my sofa being miserable XD I haven't gotten any writing done, just a bit of brainstorming. And I think I kinda latched onto a new idea.

Maybe...

I don't know much about it yet, but all I DO know is that there are five brothers. They're not in a fantasy world; they're in ours, and I don't know what time period. And I have no idea what they do, or if they even do anything XD I think one of the brothers--maybe the oldest--has a problem. Maybe it's mental, or maybe it's physical. And one of the brothers is a lover. And one might be a scholarish rascal. But I don't know anything about the other two XD And I'm really not sure if my main character will be the youngest brother or the second-eldest. It depends on what ends up being "wrong" with the eldest. Or maybe it doesn't. I guess my idea's at "that" stage XD

I got the idea after watching "Dancing at Loughnasa" (an film set in Ireland centered around five sisters) and after watching the preview for "Little Women." Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't think of any stories about a little group of brothers other than The Brothers Karamazov, and certainly not one set in modern-day or close-to-modern-day settings. Correct me if I'm wrong; I'd like to read said books =P

All I know about my five brothers right now is that their last name is Falcarragh. And that's not even written in stone XD But it sounded cool when I said it (right?) and it's Irish =D

I must leave you now with that; just a random update about the state of my brain. Say Falcarragh five times and be very happy ^_^

God Bless~

Elisabeth

Ps. Aaaand, since this is sounding a little too like "Dancing at Loughnasa", my Falcarraghs don't live in Ireland. They might not even be Irish. They might be Swedish. I don't know. I'm tired XD

Books on Books!

So, I figured since I'd like to use some of the books on writing that I own to help us develop our skills, I should probably name them and tell you exactly why I like them! Most of these books I found at writer's conferences, but I recently stumbled upon the breathtaking array of books on writing at my local bookstore! That's a good place to check for some of these titles =D

Seize the Story~ Victoria Hanley: This was a really great book, and a quick read, too. I haven't had much time to do the exercises (summer goal) but I liked her approach and appreciated the examples she used.

Wild Ink~ Victoria Hanley: The sequel to Seize the Story! This book focused less on exercises and more on how to choose your genre and where to look for publishing opportunities.

The Write-Brain Workbook ~ Bonnie Neubauer: One of the most fun books I've ever had--EVER. It's composed of 366 exercises and meant to be done in a year's time. Some of the prompts are short and don't give much wiggle room, but some can be expanded on and may even end up in a new book! I'm absolutely loving this book and would love to post a couple of the prompts on here in days to come.

Writing the Breakout Novel ~ Donald Maass: This is a helpful book with a lot of questions to ask yourself about developing your character, villian, secondaries, and storyline. I haven't worked in it in a LONG time, and am just starting to read through it again. Some of the examples used have profanity and other issues, as a heads-up; aside from that, it's a really great resource.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers ~ Renni Browne and Dave King: A helpful little workbook dealing more with mistakes writers often make than with developing character, etc. Again, it has issues with language, which is actually sad considering that it's a good book otherwise.


These are just a few of the books [on writing] which I own and enjoyed working through.
My question for YOU is: which books (if any) do you find helpful in developing writing skills?

~Elisabeth