ANNOUNCEMENT // author website, newsletter + CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY

In case you missed the title:

TODAY I'M LAUNCHING AN AUTHOR WEBSITE.

MY WEBSITE.

*screams into the abyss*

I spent aaaages trying to work out what in the world to write in a blog post about a new website, but in the end I'm just going to wing it completely.

So without further ado—behold the website:

Jane Maree

Now if anyone actually hangs around this blog post any longer, THERE'S STILL MORE.

I'm starting a monthly newsletter. (*more screaming*) You can sign up for it on my website 'contact' page or the sidebar of the blog (the website blog, not this one). So basically just head on over there right now and check it all out.

This post is going to be fairly brief because I don't want to bore you and repeat myself. I have more details on the post I did on the website. (I suggest you read that one too because it covers some important details that I've probably completely forgotten to say in this one. xD)

BUT THE GIVEAWAY!!! I'm giving away the winner's choice of Heartless (Tales of Goldstone Wood #1, Anne Elisabeth Stengl) or A Wish Made of Glass (Ashlee Willis). Both of these book are five-stars from me (though some later ones of the Tales of Goldstone Wood are even better—looking right at you, Veiled Rose) and I hugely enjoyed them.
If you already have BOTH of these books, ENTER ANYWAYS. If you win I'll email you and, depending on costs, maybe we can work out another book. *fingerguns* IT'LL BE EPIC, 'KAY? JUST DO IT.

This giveaway is open internationally. And yes, it'll be in paperback copy for the winner.

You excited yet?? (If you're not, shhh don't ruin my dream :P) Here's your entry tasks!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'M JUST SO SO EXCITED GUYS. *flails*


But Jane—does this mean your mistymaiden.blogspot blog is going to be...abandoned???

I'm sorry to say, folks, but yes. This blog will drift into silence, but I am absolutely not going silent myself. I have a blog on the website which you can all stalk (or follow, if you're civilized xP) and I'll be posting weekly still. AND if you've tagged me for something or other, HAVE NO FEAR. I will still do it. It's just been carried over from this blog to the other, so you'll have to look there for when I'll do the post.

You guys are all epic. Thank you for hanging around here. Every single person who reads this blog (even if you've never commented!) really means sooo much to me. *group hug*

NOW GO. Complete your tasks and enter the giveaway. Have fun. :D (Also, I promise that I'm not all scary and official now. I'm still exactly the same as I was before. :P)


Have you read Heartless or A Wish Made of Glass?
Which would you choose to have sitting on your shelf?

3 Ways I Use MBTI for Characters // because lists and letters are fun

The words 'Myers Briggs Personality test' has haunted me basically from right at the beginning of my blogging life. People randomly used letters to describe their personality. People asked me what 'MBTI' I was and for all I knew that might've meant 'massively bouncy tiny iguana.' 

It was actually only this year-ish that I really bothered to work out what this mysterious thing actually was.

Each of the older half of the family took the test. I almost gave up halfway through because I was bored, BUT NO. I persevered until the end. (And that was the day that I discovered that I was an extrovert. And it absolutely made sense, I'd just never considered the fact that it was even a possibility. I thought I was just hyper. xP) 
For anyone who was wondering and doesn't already know - I'm ENFP. For anyone who is still as clueless about the Myers Briggs test as I used to be - yay I'm not the only one. Go check it out. :P

But since my personal discovery of these mysterious four letters and the meaning they have, I've found them really intriguing and actually quite useful when it comes to characters. And that's what we're going to talk about today.

How does the MBTI help me with characters? Well, there's multiple ways I find it useful, but let's go with three...

1: It's an easy way to describe a character if asking for personality advice

No one's the same, obviously, but it can really be quite useful to be able to ask an ENTP friend (for example) about how they react to situations and how they think and show emotions, as research for an ENTP character. I've done this multiple times and it has absolutely helped with the realistic aspects of the characters I've done it for. I don't copy off everything they say (and I often try get as many of that 'type' as I can to see a lot of points of view) but it really good to have that inside perspective on how they see things.


2: Researching in general

If you look up 'angsty characters' you'll get a huge variety of posts and articles.
If you look up 'INTJ characters' it narrows down the search and in a matter of moments becomes at least 50% more applicable to said character.

I've used this tactic multiple times too and it really does help weed out the less related articles.


3: Doing the test from their POV is actually a really good experience

Whatever test you're doing (there's a fair few out there), there are always questions that honestly just don't relate to your characters and their situations. BUT it can be really interesting to work out what would so-and-so do in that sort of a place? How would he react? It's just another way that I've worked out some teensy little details about my characters that really do help me know them better as an overall person.


Bonus - the MBTI of some of my characters!! Because you definitely wanted to know this. (Shh, don't argue. Of course you wanted to know.)

Rogue Escarlate and co.
- Will Escarlate: ENTP
- Ben Kit: INFP

A Sprig of Green
- Braden Argo: ISTJ
- Michayla: another INFP

Adventures of Lando Erif
- Lando Erif: ISFJ
- Titus Kanter: ISTP
- Thomas Kanter: ISFP
(Interesting note: the twins were 1-3% off identical in everything but the thinking/feeling section which they were 10% apart in. So - very similar.)
(Also interesting note: all three of them start with 'IS' which is interesting. Although Lando was close to 'IN.' *strokes chin thoughtfully*)


And there you have it! Keep your eyes open for a BIG and IMPORTANT and EXCITING post this Friday. *looks mysterious*


Do you use MBTI for your characters?
What are some of the benefits you've found?

Disclaimer: I'm absolutely not advertising this test or site or anything. I've just used it in the past and have found that it can be somewhat useful. :P

I PRINTED MY BOOK!!! // A Sprig of Green gorgeousness

[warning: this blog post contains much screaming in caps. I apologise in advance for any hearing problems you might sustain]

*screaming*

YES YES YOU READ RIGHT. I printed out a real life actual book copy of A Sprig of Green. *flails and more screaming*

How did this happen??
Well, the story is that Alice (one of my older sisters) is normally my brainstorming buddy and she reads all my books as I'm writing them and everything. And she's great at it. But for this one I wanted to give her a surprise. A birthday surprise.

So I didn't let her read it. Instead I had the epic Krystal reading it for me instead (many hugs and thanks to her because she was so amaaazing <33). And then I enlisted my other older sister, Clare, and she made an epic cover for me and I scraped through the novella roughly to try get rid of as many typos as I could. Then I uploaded it all onto lulu and clicked order.

AND THEN IT CAME IN THE MAIL JUST IN TIME. Two days before Alice's birthday, I got the book.

I was excited. Very excited. MUCH FLAILING HAPPENED, GUYS. I'm sure you can imagine it. xD

Flailing is still happening actually. :P MY BOOK SMELLS WITH THAT 'NEW BOOK' SMELL. I CAN HOLD IT. I CAN HUG IT.

So naturally YOU GUYS GET ALLLL THE PHOTOS NOW. YEEET.
(Once again, thank you SO MUCH Clare for taking such amaaazing photos. <3 <3 <3)

Then we break through the clouds and the light explodes down on us, illuminating a world of white, misty clouds and endless horizons...

I know now. I made my choice a long time ago, and there’s no going back. 

I’m going to help Michayla change the world.

Also, yeah this post has, like, two hundred words and two gazillion photos (closer to 300 words and 10 photos but shhh that's beside the point), but PICTURES TELL A THOUSAND WORDS EACH. So win-win. xD


SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PRINT YOUR BOOK??? (because you tooootally should, guys. Really. )

More Tags // revealing the secret of how I smashed NaNo 2016

Let me tell you a story.

One day, I did a tag. I tagged Sarah. Sarah tagged Ralraymee. Ral tagged me.

And then one of the other people that Ral tagged did the tag and tagged Ral back and then. You'll never guess it.

She tagged me again.

*squints*

I did not sign up for this. *shakes head slowly* But anyway. :P

Thank you Ral for tagging me (both times) (and sorry for taking so long about getting around to doing this), everyone go check out her blog. She's only fairly recently started up again, but if you activate ninja skills you can stalk all her posts. *nods*

I shall now proceed to skip the rules and go straight on to the twenty questions (double tags shouldn't be allowed. xP) from Ral.


1. Can you share with us a Snippity Bit of a story you are currently writing/have written?

Nooo. You've already gotten enough Agent Kit snippets. Let's do something different. Time for stalking all my other story ideas and finding a nice little snippet.

I am a prince, therefore I must rescue the princess.

I must also have an over-protective mother, a father almost as stubborn as myself, and a name long enough to make a dragon cringe.

That’s just how it works.

No one asks questions. No one steps aside from tradition. No one protests that it jolly well gets boring after five centuries of the exact same thing. Over and again.

Cliché, am I right?

If one looks back through the history books, it’s all just repeating itself. Handsome prince, damsel in distress, tall tower. Toss in a couple of assassinations, wars, and on-the-side romances, and that’s the entire history of the country.

I can near enough recite it in my sleep.

And for me it’s all going to be the same.

“It’s what I did, and my father before me, and his father before him and—”

“His father before him and so on and on and blah blah. I get the picture.” I drape my hand off the side of the reclining lounge, trying to ignore my father.

Oh yes, I didn’t mention that because I’m a prince, I’m also a rebellious, stubborn son.

Again, that’s just how it works.

To be entirely honest, this one makes even less sense to me, because surely the fathers would have rebelled by now and slapped some sense into their sons. But no.

Not that I’m complaining.

2. Is there a funny writing experience you've had? If so, what?

a) I am a master of funny (do not question me here. *solemn nodding*)
b) how could I choose one thing??

Okay so let me pick one random thing. Last year in November - aka my first ever time of doing NaNoWriMo - I was doing some word wars. LISTEN CAREFULLY. This is where I tell you my secret of how I won NaNo in nine days.

I was doing word wars with some peoples on an online forum. Then one other girl and I decided to spice things up a little.

Next word war, we typed with our toes.

And then our thumbs.

And then our noses.

By the time we got to typing with our elbows, one of the others on the forum said 'do you think we could do a normal word war? Because I'm kinda doing this for NaNo.'

Then both me and the other girl said 'so are we.'

And I won NaNo in nine days so OBVIOUSLY IT'S A GOOD THING TO DO. Go. Word war with your nose, my friends. It makes things far more interesting and I highly recommend it.


3. What's your favourite thing to do to your characters?

Torture them

Of course.

And then cry over them.

And then do it again.

Ahh, the writer's life.


4. Is there a time you've gotten so angry at something that happened in a book you stopped reading? If so, what book/what happened?

No. I've never been so angry that I stopped reading (I've been bored and stopped reading a shameful amount of times though). I've had times when I was very grumpy, but I kept reading because I was holding onto a hope that it wouldn't be too bad. (spoiler alert: it was that bad)


5. What genre is your favourite to write in? (Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-fi)

Why do people like asking me this question? xD

I like playing around with a lot of different ones and I love them all for the different story opportunities that they have. 
- I love dystopian because cool inventions, explosions and fun stuff like that. 
- I love sci fi because -again- cool inventions, interesting planets, creative social structures. 
- I love contemporary fantasy because DRAGONS and also REAL LIFE. 
- Steampunk is cool because allll the gears and biplanes and old-style clothes and much fun stuff. 
And the list goes on and on. I SHALL NEVER CHOOSE A FAVOURITE.

I've never actually written anything solely for comedy. BUT this is me, and as I mentioned, I'm the master of funny (and humble about it, too :P). All my stories turn out funny without me trying. (Except maybe A Sprig of Green because it turned out mostly feelsy.)


6. What's your WIP story about?

WELL LOOK AT THAT I did a handy little blog post on this exact question a few weeks ago.


7. Is there a book you tried to read but got too bored? If so, which book?

*cough*WarandPeace*coughcough*
*more coughing* Among many others *cough*


8. Is there a time you realised too late you spelt something wrong?

Is there a time in any writer's life when they HAVEN'T spelt something wrong??

Ahem. Yes. Yes there certainly is. But that's okay because I don't even bother with typos in my 1st drafts and I don't usually do anything with my writing that's irreversibly set in stone if there's a mistake.


9. Is there a time you hated something that you've wrote? If so, please share :D

HA. HAHAHA. I love this question. I repeat my former answer: Have any writers NOT, at some point in time, hated what they wrote??

Because if you are that writer, please may I talk to you. Either you're delusional, or perfect.

Yes. Of course. I've gone through stages of hating every single novel or story or anything that I've ever wrote. True fact. But I get over it.


10. (Last one, phew) How do you get your ideas?

It's like this. For me, ideas are like ninjas. They stalk me, they see me right when I'm least expecting them, and then they pounce down from behind. They are merciless things.


FIRST TAG DONE, WOOT. And now for tag number two.


1. Do you draw your characters? *hint hint*

Let me get one point straight.

I am not an artist.

At all.

BUT STILL. Because you asked, let me show you some amazing pictures that the epic Sarah S-B drew of my characters because she's an amazing artist and friend and you all need to see her drawings.

Please say hello to the Ginger Ninja and the Green Trident. Two characters from a superhero story of mine. That isn't written yet. But shall be. One day. Hopefully. xD

And this adorable one is Ben Kit and Brinley. Brinley is actually Sarah's character, and she and Ben met in a character chat a while back. Good fun. (about 90% of the character chat was basically the scenario shown in the picture. xP)

Now go check out Sarah's blog to stalk more of her amazing drawings!!


2. Is there some strange thing you do to help you write? If so, what?

It's not really that strange as such, but I have specific musics for each WIP to get into the feel of it. I also avoid having the internet open (other than maybe a youtube playlist) while writing otherwise it's too big of a distraction.


3. Is there a time you've been interrupted while reading/writing and gotten so bored of reading the same thing over and over again? If so, what book?

I'm not entirely sure what this question means? Other than begin interrupted and rereading half the page to find out where you were up to. And eh. I don't normally get that badly interrupted.


4. Does your main villain have any special 'connections' with the main character? (Eg: Epsilon, Star Wars, ect)

For Agent Kit - if he did, I wouldn't say. Because spoilers.

For all my other WIPs - same answer. I shall not impart the spoilers.  *mysterious smile*


5. Is there a time you've never seen a plot twist coming and it surprised the living daylights out of you?

First of all. I had no idea that other people used the term 'living daylights.' I assumed that was a weird thing my family does. BUT NO APPARENTLY NOT. I am impressed. (Now I just need to discover whether it's Australian slang or just an odd figure of speech.)

And yes. Yes I have had that happen. Someone please help me find my daylights. Five cents reward for anyone who catches them - living preferably. Dead daylights don't work quite as well.


6. 3 worst books you've EVER read.

You do not need me to list these. Trust me. I will start ranting if I do and no one needs that.

If you're really curious, stalk my goodreads. (although note - sometimes my star ratings aren't what you should go off because I used to rate them...oddly. Which ended up with some books that I really didn't like...at all...somehow sporting three shiny stars. Also going off my two books that I've rated one star - one book I didn't like, the other I was just bored by and apparently bored enough that I slapped it with a one-star. xD)


7. 3 BEST books you've read.

THIS on the other hand, I shall answer. Maybe. If I can choose only three books. I'm going to stick with fiction books.

1: A Time to Rise - Nadine Brandes
2: Veiled Rose - Anne Elisabeth Stengl
3: Resistance - Jaye L. Knight

And just so you know, I spent about half an hour trying to choose those books. Other than A Time to Rise. That one I wrote immediately. *throws Nadine's-fan-forever confetti everywhere*


8. Your character and their friends have to go on a looonnnnggg journey. Monsters attack. What does the main character do?

Ben considers himself a bit of a ninja. He would probably charge in to protect his friends, get thwacked by a monster and then Will would actually save them all.

This is basically the rough summary of the whole of Agent Kit. :P


9. One of your favourite things you've ever written.

*blinks*
I can't choose.
How could I choose something like that.
I protest.

My favourite story that I've written is probably A Sprig of Green but that said it's battling with Rogue Escarlate and co. because I honestly love those characters so much and I've been working with them for over a year and they're just such a part of my life. So yeah.

I tried to choose. I really did.
I also failed. Oh well.


10. (Last one, phew *sighs with relief*) Your character has the opportunity to kill the super-ultra-evil-villain BUT. He's unconscious, he doesn't have a weapon, he's severely wounded, someone else beat him up. Would your main character spare him (for now) or straight-up kill him?

One thing that I shall say here - Ben would never kill the villain. There's one scene in A.K. where he almost kills a man (it was slightly different originally but I'm changing it in the rewrite) and it leads on to a huge traumatic stuff and let's just say that Ben's goal is to stop anyone from getting killed. 

Not killing people is also a big part of his overall character arc and stuff.

He wouldn't kill someone who was about to kill him, let alone someone who was unconscious and bleeding. He would try save the villain if he was like that.


And there we have it. I come out with yet another tag post (are you tired of them yet??) and more collages and snippets from YET ANOTHER story idea. I have enough story ideas to keep me going for almost a decade.


What's your favourite thing to do to/with your characters?
(face it though, writers are all horribly cruel and we torture our preciouses.)
Do you like making aesthetics/collages for your characters/WIPs?
(I'm not the only person obsessed with this, riiiight??)

Character Karaoke Tag // a post-ful of folk songs

Apparently it really is the tagging season at the moment. I've got half a dozen (okay okay, slight exaggeration there) draft posts of tags I've been tagged for just...sitting around until I can fit them in. Even I'm impressed.

It's beginning to get to the point where I'm just picking my favourites and whichever one I like the sound of best and deciding to do it, and then getting tagged for another interesting-sounding one before I even finish writing that post.

Quinley - Adventure Awaits - tagged me a little bit ago and this time it's a whole tagful of music, so I couldn't resist. If you like music YOU SHOULD HAVE FUN.

I'm a music person. I play five different instruments (flute, violin, piano, guitar and ukulele). I also like listening to music.

HOWEVER. Because it's about characters, I immediately turned to Agent Kit to answer them via Ben.

Ben is not a music person.

He doesn't listen to music. He doesn't play music. He certainly doesn't sing (and if he did, everyone would hurry to ask him to shut up). And also, the first question is about my character's wedding day. Ben is fifteen. Needless to say, I have not planned his wedding. AND SO BEHOLD. I'm going to snatch up a completely different character. Or rather, character couple.

Please welcome Kip Paxton and Karissa Tarley.

*cue me being super predictable and having an aesthetic picture ready for them*

Before we get into the questions though, I have a super cool story. The faceclaim I have for Kip Paxton is Roo Panes. I came across him and he was just perfect to what I'd pictured Kip to look like (and all other writers can relate to the excitement that gave me, I'm sure). So I then went and looked up the owner of this face, to find some more photos. And then I discovered that he's an English folk-styled songwriter. YES YOU HEARD RIGHT. And his songs are so. cool. They fit with Kip and Karissa so well and it's insane how perfect both the songs and the face are. Needless to say I still haven't gotten over how epicly cool it was with those 'coincidental' discoveries.

I don't believe in coincidences like that. I honestly found it such an awesome reminder of how God cares about even the littlest things. Little things like finding a faceclaim for my character and music to fit him as well.

ANYWAYS. Right into the questions now.


It's your character's wedding day. What song plays during their first dance?

I think Kip would just go for whatever Karissa said, and she'd firmly insist on something fun and folk-y. I feel like Hewlett's would totally be something that would fit.

What song(s) describe your protagonist(s)?

Kip's is definitely Ran Before the Storm - Roo Panes. It's just...so perfect for him. Particularly further on into his story.

Karissa doesn't have a particular song that fits her. But as a couple their music is all bouncy and folk-y and fun. I just love listening to it. Some of my favourites:

As you can see. Much folk-y-ness and lots of The Fretless. (If you've never listened to The Fretless before YOU MUST. I love their music.) My personal favourite though, is Wing Commander. It's got a brilliant name (because if you didn't notice from the aesthetic collage, Kip has a biplane) but it also just sounds so cool and I can really see it paired with Kip and Karissa so nicely.

Any instrument players or characters with ties to music?

Kip can play guitar, but doesn't really do it much. Karissa spends a lot of time with folk music playing on a radio-ish thing. (Their genre is steampunk so...this totally makes sense. xD)


Go-to songs, for battle, romance or intense scenes?

It honestly depends what I'm writing.
If I've got a battle/fight scene in Rogue Escarlate or Agent Kit, it's usually Bourne soundtracks.
In A Sprig of Green the one fight-ish scene (easiest chapter to write in the whole novella XD) was just the same music as the rest of the book. Halo soundtracks (I think it's a game maybe? or is it a movie? I honestly have no clue, I just like the music) or John Dreamer (I think he's the composer) are the main songs though.
If it's a superhero story. WELL AHEM. Obviously Spider-Man: Homecoming soundtracks. (Or other superhero movies, but, y'know, Spiderman is the best.)
Kip and Karissa haven't really had any intense or battle/fight scenes written about them, so I actually don't know. But their romantic music would be just some cool folk-ish songs by (can you guess??) The Fretless. :P


So there you have it. Basically a huge dump of Roo Panes and The Fretless music. xD *scrolls up* Actually no. It is a complete dump of those two, I didn't have anything else. THAT JUST SHOWS HOW PERFECT THEY ARE. *bestows pizza upon the wonderful musics*

I can't think of very many people who haven't done this already/already been tagged. *squints uncertainly* I honestly don't know because I've tagged people a lot recently (people have tagged me a lot recently) and I don't want to bother anyone.

Basically, if you want to do this, please consider yourself tagged. (and if you do it, poke me in the comments and I'd love to read your post!!!) You can say that I tagged you and everything. I have tagged you. And here are the questions (with a little addition from me if you don't have any character couples) if anyone wants to use them:

It's your character's wedding day. What song plays during their first dance?
(optional replacement for above song/question: What song/s do they play as background music on their birthday?)

What song(s) describe your protagonist(s)?

Any instrument players or characters with ties to music?

Go-to songs, for battle, romance or intense scenes?

Now pardon me. I'm off to listen to some more folk music because I love it so much.


Do you like finding songs that fit your characters/story?
What music do you think fits you??
(or that you just really like, or whatever. *shrugs* I just want to have all the music recommendations. :P)

Agent Kit // so many WIP projects

I did a WIP post on A Sprig of Green less than a month ago. Is that enough?

NO. NO, IT ISN'T.

Because, see, I have a new WIP. My novella is finished (though edits shall still happen) and I've moved on to a new project. Or rather, an old project that shall be rewritten.

Hahahaaaa no way. My pictures are never totally random. Ever. *cough*

Agent Kit was my NaNo novel last year. I finished it on day 22 at exactly 89,978 words. I flailed and the flopped and took several weeks to recover back to my normal self. (don't do this guys, look after yourself as well as write. DO NOT FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE. xP)

Since then, I rewrote book #1, Rogue Escarlate, in January-February, edited it in march + plotted book #3. April I wrote Operation Flint (aforementioned #3), then May was back editing #1. June I finished my edits and sent it to some wonderful alpha readers. *throws confetti on them*

AND WOW. That was a lot of stuff.

With all of that, I never really got much time to look at book #2 - Agent Kit. But now that I've taken my dystopian break and written A Sprig of Green I'm diving back in. Currently I'm trying to work out one factor.

One word, guys. One important word:

p l o t

Yeah. I need a plot. I meant to be a lot further through plotting by today, but ehh. Plotting is hard sometimes and it doesn't always do what I want it to. I have to work out a plot that fits nicely with book one, preferably book three as well, but I'm already going to have to majorly edit/loosely rewrite that. (I fail at romance. Don't ask.) It's just a bit more bothersome than I was expecting.

But it's still fun at the same time, and it's going along slowly but surely. I'm also quite excited about some ideas that I've had, like bringing in characters that I originally...completely forgot about. Oops. But they actually come into this draft and we've got a whole gang thing going on. Plus some Russian Mafia involvement, a bit of kidnapping, some Ben-doesn't-like-soup-ing, and some more character development that it didn't have before. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of this plot stuff unfolds. *rubs hand eagerly*

Anyways. I have some random stuff for you today. Like...completely random. I don't know what to tell you about this WIP? So hopefully what I've got here will suffice. 

Musics

So after the question that came up in the Rising Authors Tag I was curious to see whether I could find any songs that fitted with Agent Kit specifically. I haven't come across anything that just hits perfectly and I know instantly that it's right, but I've discovered that For King and Country has a few that fit reasonably well. I like 'To the Dreamers' and 'Ceasefire' best. Also 'Take this City' by Everfound has a sort of Agent Kit-ish feel?
(Stalk my five-song playlist (to be expanded over time) here)

Aesthetics/collages

BASICALLY I JUST LIKE MAKING PICTURES, OKAY? :P

Will and Ben <33

the main cast of characters that hang around for the whole book. LOOK AT ALL THOSE BROODING EXPRESSIONS.

Aaand if you missed the ones from last Monday, click here to stalk them allll.

Snippets

And I got asked for snippets. Again. Because apparently you all like that?? So strange. :P I don't really have a lot, and I'd have a lot less but for the fact that I'm kind of (*cough*extremely*coughcough*) competitive and the OYAN forum had/have their annual Olympics. So I had to write something. (I came out with the highest word count for week number one, in case you wondered. The overall results haven't come in yet, but soooon they shall. *crosses fingers*)
(also I'm doing a test. All my posts with the word 'snippet' in the title have rather high page views and I'm curious to see if it's just because of the title, not the content. Because here's snippets and I didn't even warn you in the title. xD)


A high pitched buzz shot through the suffocating dullness. Just the shrill squeal and the pounding throb of his heartbeat.

Jeez what was wrong with his ears?

Ben forced his eyes open, squinting against the bright spots across his vision. Everything wobbled, warping in confusing waves.

Welp. The world had gone mad.

“Ben!” The sound of his name burst through the bubble of fogginess and the high pitched squeal stopped and sound exploded out on him. Falling metal, groaning and grating, and the snap of flames.

Will’s figure gestured frantically from the other side of the smashed windscreen. The entire vehicle shifted backward. Back toward the ground. “Ben, get out!”

Oh yes. Avoiding death would be nice.

- - -

Ben crouched in the deep window frame, tapping his fingers rhythmically against his knee. “To be entirely honest, I kind of imagined Russia to be a little bit more grey and gloomy colours.” He tipped his head sideways. “Not really expecting the cream and pastel buildings.”

A rustle came from behind and Will leaned sideways against the edge of the sill. “It’s ugly.”

“Hey!” Ben twisted around, furrowing his brow at Will. “What do you mean? These are no where near ugly compared to London. Though London does have it’s own charm.”

Will grunted. “Do you always admire a country’s architecture?”

Good question. Ben glanced back out at the coloured buildings. If he studied it, the paint did look a little dull, but a pastel sort of dull. “Not really.” He shrugged and swivelled back to the room, looking around. “But honestly—”

“It’s just a painted building.”

“A city-full of painted buildings. It’s cool.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

- - -

“Don’t look in the mirror—” Will warned, but Ben flicked his gaze upward just a little.

The mirror showed the room around him, small and pale and dirty. A utilitarian bathroom with one sink, one mirror and one toilet in a small cubicle. But mostly what Ben noticed was himself.

His jacket was burnt.

No fair. He liked this jacket.


And considering I have no plot, I think three snippets is enough for now. xD You can thank the oyan olympics for that.

Also - on the topic of snippets I thought it would be interesting to see the new snippet vs the old snippet just so you can compare, because it's cool. *nods*


Product of NaNo Insanity:

Grabbing Ben’s gun from the floor, Will dragged him forward. “Out.” He shook his shoulders. “Remember, we’ve got to get out.”

Ben blinked rapidly, trying to clear his eyes. A dull numbness surrounded his entire body. He started to look down.

“Don’t,” Will said, grabbing his chin and stopping the movement. “Whatever you do, don’t look at yourself. Save that for later.”

Ben took his gun from Will’s offered hand. “Is it really that bad?” he asked blearily.

Will didn’t reply, turning on his heel and kicking forward through the debris. The wailing of police sirens made Ben follow him with a lurch.


AND BLAH BLAH. You don't need to see any more. xD

Rough Rewritten Scene:

Will’s lips drew into the flat line of worry that had become all too familiar. “I can’t help you here. We have to get out first, then you can rest.”

“But what’s wrong with me?” Ben shook his head, but that didn’t make anything any clearer. “All I did was crash the car.” He tilted his gaze downward to look at himself.

Will caught his chin, gently pushing his head back up. “Look at yourself later. I can’t have you fainting on me now.”

“I don’t faint, I’m more manly than that—wait.” Ben closed his eyes, trying to think over what Will had just said. “Why would I faint if I looked at myself?”

Will lifted Ben’s arm over his shoulders, standing up and half lifting Ben with him. Ben fumbled for footing and gritted his teeth. He could walk. Whatever was wrong with him would just have to wait.


I THINK IT'S PRETTY SAFE TO SAY I'VE IMPROVED A BIT?? I hope so anyway. (also LOOK AT THAT you get four snippets actually xD) I'm honestly having so much fun writing little snippets and playing with Will and Ben and their relationship. Will is like a big brother trying to learn what big brothers are meant to do, and Ben always forgives him for anything as long as he gets lunch on time (and usually when he doesn't as well). 

Aaaaand I think that's all for now. Or did I miss anything?? *squints at blog post* *squints at novel document* *shrugs*


What's your WIP about?
Is there anything else about Agent Kit that I forgot to satisfy your curiosity on?
(I'll answer in the comments if there is *fingerguns*)

Birthday happenings // I'm 16 now?? + random ramblings

You know those times when someone asks you how old you are, you answer and then have a mild internal freak out because "WHOA NO WAY AM I THAT OLD"

Yep. That's me right now.

As of mid-July, I am sixteen.

I remember when I used to go "ooh when I'm sixteen, I'll..."

To be honest, basically none of those child-dreams are true today. Some of those things, I have met. (Growing taller than my oldest sister, for example. :P It used to be a dream of mine, back when she towered a head and shoulders above me.) Some other things...not so much.

I pictured a lot of things. But I never imagined the sixteen-year-old me climbing trees, learning handsprings and flying jump/side kicks, writing novels for fun, and drinking chai tea.

God's plan was always better anyway.

And yes, I am teaching myself handsprings and random taekwondo kicks. Just because.

But believe it or not, I didn't actually plan this post to be at all deep or philosophical. I also actually planned to do this the week after my birthday. But then the photos hadn't been edited properly yet and then the next opportunity it was late at night and my brain wasn't working to write this post so I wrote a completely different one instead.

Because that totally makes sense??

So I also put off writing this blog post until...late at night. Again. Because that makes just as much sense.

I confuse myself sometimes.

*cue me realising that this blog post just got super off topic and whoops that wasn't the plan*

BASICALLY, I had a birthday. It was super great. I don't even feel ancient yet.

Although, since I turned sixteen the time had come...*more dramatic drumrolls* for me to do my driving test and get my learner license. (Hence the header for this post.)

I was naturally thoroughly prepared. I finished reading the rules book eleven hours before my test. And I did some practice tests. Like, five.

See. Very prepared.

I also discovered something interesting. When I'm super nervous, I shake. I knew this a bit already, but this was on a slightly more severe scale. I was physically shivering, like I was freezing cold or something.

So. intense.

At the testing place itself I kept mindblanking of what I was meant to say and just stammering out something odd and trying to ignore the fact that my voice was cracking over every sentence.

Again, it was interesting from a research side of things. *takes notes for future reference* Writers are amusing creatures.

I passed, by the way. Perfectly. Somehow. I don't even know.

SPEAKING OF WRITERS THOUGH. I got two VERY cool t-shirts for my birthday - designed by Clare. One of which I was wearing during my test. (It was very reassuring)

BEHOLD: 

Isn't it so cool??

And it's on the back of course. Because then I can have a nice conversation with someone, turn around to walk away and only then do they realise their mistake. XD

The other shirt is suuuper cool and it's really pretty too. It says "His Grace is Enough" and yass. <3 I love it so much.


Another thing that happened on my birthday was the beginning of a very cool something that I CAN'T WAIT to announce. *tries not to squeal* I'm hoping that it'll be ready by the end of the month, so eep. Hold on until then and you shall get an important announcement, my friends.

Other than those of you who I've already told because, let's be honest, I'm bad at keeping my excitement inside.

*throws some excitement confetti around*


THIS BLOG POST IS SO WEIRD AND RAMBLLY. I'M SORRY. XD I think I started writing it with some sort of idea or plan in mind but then late-night me happened to it and all plans went out the window.

Bye bye plans. *waves*

But seriously guys. I haven't gotten over how old everyone's getting. So scary. Every moment we spend is gone. Forever. And always. We can never get it back again.

That's a slightly terrifying thought. But also a good reminder.

Have I lived my sixteen years in a way pleasing to God? How will I keep on living every minute of every day to give glory to his name?

It's something I want to make sure that I never forget. Because I never know how much longer I have. Or even the world has. So I want to live - in the true definition of the word.

And look at that. I went all philosophical at the end of the post again too. *shoves all the randomness at you* This is what happens when you're sixteen, obviously.


Did I actually say anything other than ramblings in this post?
(no really, I'm curious. XD)
Do you take note of random things you do, for future writing reference??
(I can't be the only one, guys.)

Rising Authors // I HAVE A NEW WIP *flailing*

Some of you who have been around for more than a short while, might remember waaaay back when I did a post called "Of Rising Authors and the Number 777"

Those who don't remember can count yourself lucky. Because I went back and hunted it up and laughed at myself. It was all about my original version of what is now Rogue Escarlate and actually a slightly decent manuscript. *pats my past self on the head* Ah, good times.

Anyways. I did this tag a year and a bit ago, and since then it has meandered through the blogosphere and somehow managed to find me again. Many thanks to my friend Middle Earth Musician for tagging me. Known to her friends/camp nano cabin mates as MEM. Because in the middle of Camp, no one has time to type out the whole of Middle Earth Musician.

And GUYS GUYS. I have now officially decided what I'm writing/working on this month. *drumroll please* Book two of my trilogy. Agent Kit. *runs in circles excitedly* (aka Rogue Escarlate's first sequel) It needs a huge complete and utter rewrite. Because...I wrote it in November last year. 80k in 22 days. 80-plotless-k to the bargain.

Oh suuuure it was full of action, but...that's all it was. Action scenes. Lots of explosions and car chases and fun things like that. But plot is also important. And theme and character arcs and I could write it all so much better now. So that's what I plan to do.

And you know what?

I'm not even depressed or annoyed that my 80k NaNo from last year needs complete scrapping. I'M JUST EXCITED. Super excited. (As you can see with all the caps. Though I use caps about 99.9% of the time anyway. *looks thoughtful* maybe I'm always excited...)

So you guys might just get in a WIP post on Agent Kit sometime this month, eh?


And anyways. Another THANK YOU to MEM because there's no rules so I can just chill out and do whatever. xP Also she's thought up some brilliant questions that I can't wait to answer so YEEP. Let's get right into this.


1. Do you listen to music while you write?

Sometimes. It honestly varies.
Actually no, if I think about it, YES I do listen to music the majority of the time. It's only when I'm not on the laptop (instead on my desktop out in the main room of the house) and hence can't really play music without disrupting other people.


2. If so, what genre?

(the answer of this question = me describing music genres without using technical terms for music genres because I don't know them)

It depends on the story (naturally). If you check out my Playlists section on youtube (*inserts handy dandy link*) you can see that I have a few different character and story lists. Will's playlist is a good example of the basic feel and style of Rogue Escarlate and pretty close for the following books as well (although they each do have their own unique themes). I haven't actually made one for Agent Kit, but it would be faaairly similar.

A Sprig of Green is completely different, with a whole lot more peaceful music and less...angsty?

Lando is more dragony. Green Trident (his story doesn't have a name yet) is allll the superhero-ness. Kip and Karissa (they're from the same story) are more folk-ish.

So yeah. Short answer: it depends what I'm writing.


3. What song do you think is your WIP’s theme song?

Ack, I have no idea?? Something like Renegades or Extreme Ways both work for the trilogy in general. But I haven't yet found a song that would fit for Agent Kit specifically though really.

I'm curious now though. xD I'll have to do some hunting and see if I can find anything.


4. Who is your MC in your current WIP?

Oh only Benjamin Kit. One of my favouritest characters ever.

*throws out a bunch of aesthetic pictures because why not*

5. What is their deepest, darkest fear?

Ooh, this is an interesting question...He's afraid of losing his family. He's afraid of failing the people who trust him.

So naturally I play on those fears. Oh yes. Yes I do indeed.


6. What is your favorite scene you’ve written in your WIP?

I actually do have a few favourite scenes (even though the whole manuscript is pretty messy). I rather like one of the exchanges between Ben and his sister. It's a nice moment where Ben can just be a teenage boy, not burdened by the responsibilities of staying alive and saving the world and where in France to buy the best french fries. (He takes that responsibility very seriously, trust me.)

Another favourite is actually one that I wrote recently, and is just a little snippet that shall be included in my complete rewrite. It's action. aka my favourite thing to write. And it's got Will and Ben interacting and it's so cool to compare that Will to the Will when the two first meet. It's rather cool, I will admit.


7. Do you enjoy writing from children’s, teen’s, or adult’s point of view?

I actually enjoy writing from ALL of them. Little kids are so fun and can have such hugely unique and interesting views on everything (for example, my little 4 year-old Zap Lorde). Teens are a wide range and all different, but probably what I'm most comfortable in. Probably because I'm a teen (*gasp* Who ever knew?). Adults aren't really a whole lot different than older teens. They just have a bit more experience usually and are maaaaybe slightly more mature. And they don't have the cuteness factor of the little ones. (Will is actually an adult, would you believe it. I think he's 23. But he's actually the only character of mine ever that I forget the age of. I keep losing track because it's changed multiple times over revisions.)


8. Do you prefer writing first person or third person?

Rogue Escarlate and co. are in third person. I really like that and it was comfortable and me.

A Sprig of Green is in first person (and present tense to the bargain). I just wanted to try it out and see what it was like and I actually turned out to really love it too.

The Adventures of Lando Erif + other blog stories have been in first person past tense and I also really enjoy that.

DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE. XD I just love everything and all the options yes please and thank you. I play with different genres. I try different aged characters. I test with pov and tenses. And I usually enjoy them all. They all have their quirks and pros and cons. For me, though, I think there's a little bit of sticking with a certain feel. Because Rogue Escarlate wouldn't feel right in 1st person. And A Sprig of Green would be no where near as feelsy in third.
So I usually just use whatever flows with the style of the actual story.


9. What writer would you say handles action scenes the best?

Great pizza and pastry I can't pick one author out of all of them. I have a horrible attention span sometimes so if I say I really liked a book, there's about 70% chance that it had epic action in it. That's all for me. (I'm the stereotypical 'short sentences, short paragraphs, lots of action' sort of reader and writer. :P) If you want some epic action-y book recommendations YOU'VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. Just ask me and I'll throw them all on you immediately.


10. What is the best book you’ve read on writing? Who is it by?

If Theme Mastery were a book, I'd say that. BUT NO. It's just a super epic online course (which you should all totally go buy immediately right now)

If I had to choose a book (okay honestly, you should all be able to see this coming) it'd be Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development by K. M. Weiland. IT'S AMAZING. So many character arcs. *hugs book* You guys have heard me go on about character arcs but you need reminding. 

I LOVE CHARACTER ARCS.

I love them to pieces.

So this favourite book choice makes absolute perfect sense really. Now you may spend your life's fortune and buy this book (unless you're lucky like me and can manage to win it in a giveaway *flails*) because it must be read by every writer ever. DO ALL THE CHARACTER ARCS, PEOPLES.


And now is when supposedly I think up a bunch of new brilliant questions to give people BUT HONESTLY these questions were so good I'm actually just going to steal them all. Aaand add a few tweaks of my own.

1. Do you listen to music while you write?
2. If so, lyrics or no?
3. Do you have a 'theme song' for your current WIP?
4. Who is your MC in your current WIP? (basic description/snippets/aesthetic pictures)
5. What is their deepest, darkest fear?
6. What is your favorite scene you’ve written in your WIP?
7. Do you enjoy writing from children’s, teen’s, or adult’s point of view?
8. Do you prefer writing first person or third person?
9. Do you like trying allll the different genres or just sticking with the same one mostly?
10. What is the best book you’ve read on writing?

AND THE LUCKY PEOPLE I SHALT TAG. *throws confetti randomly to see who it lands on* Oh look. Everyone. Everyone who wants to do this can consider themselves tagged.
Though actually I'm going to grab out some names because names are good, guys. (there's a reason your parents gave you one, really. You should ask them why, one day. It'll be funny)

Anna // A World Through Her Heart
Quinley // Adventure Awaits
Catherine // The Rebelling Muse

(note: you guys don't have to do this?? I'm just tagging you in case you wanted to, so pizza to all even if you'd rather not.)
And everyone else who finds this even vaguely interesting...PLEASE DO IT. I'd love to see your answers. (just poke me in the comments and I'll come check your post out! *nods*)


What genres do you like writing in??
Do you have a favourite writing book?
(give me alllll the recommendations, yaass)