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??)

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*)

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)

A Sprig of Green // editing is happening + snippets (as requested)

Yes. You heard (read?) correctly. I am doing more edits.

*dramatic music*
(because why not? Dramatic music makes everything more exciting, don't you think?)

It doesn't seem like too long ago when I was doing this for Rogue Escarlate, but now I'm working on a completely new story and it's still so exciting. I'm really enjoying working through it actually.

I've gone through the whole thing, fixing bothersome typos and mistakes so I can concentrate on what's actually going on. Then I read/scanned through and wrote down all the plot holes. Ahem yes there are several of those. XD Aaand I started to plan out how to fix said plot holes. I also need to work in the theme a little more so it's not quite as vague, and there's a heap of telling and probably tense switches where I accidentally went back into past tense instead of present. BUT for the moment, I'm happy with how it's going.

It's been really easy and fun to edit actually, and I'm not sure why? I'm motivated to go over it, and fix it, and spend hours working on it.

Plus if I ever need some more encouragement, or a laugh, I can just look back through some old comments on my short story version of this, that I asked some friends to alpha/beta for me...Some of them are quite amusing.

And now for some more stuff other than just talking about editing. Let's move on to some pretty collages!

This one is a collage that my friend (and alpha reader) Krystal made for me for my birthday and ack it's so cool. <33 I love it so much. *hugs picture*

Aaand this is one I made, and I don't remember if I've put on my blog before?? Help, I suddenly can't remember anything. xD

I also have a case of 'that character who doesn't seem to belong to any faceclaim ever' and it's very bothersome. Braden is still faceless. *squints at him* Rude.


BUT NOW. The thing you were really waiting for. YOU REQUESTED SNIPPETS AND I HAVE OBEYED. Because I'm a very nice person like that.

If you've already seen some of these snippets, please pardon my forgetfulness because I couldn't be bothered to go back and check. :P

Also they're purposefully vague. Aaand one or two may or may not have had a sentence or two (or three) cut out of them for spoilers reasons. *ahem*

BUT HERE GOES ANYWAYS. *bows out*


Standing again, I blow out another breath and cross over to the door. Someone could come in at any moment and then I’d be roasted. Knowing some of the people who stay at the Maestoso—the roasting may be literal.

I slip out on the landing and check both ways. All clear as far as I can see. The servant’s door is unlocked, and I go down the stairs two at a time. Reno will definitely be worried, since I rarely stay out this late at night.

Leaping down the last few steps, I duck out into the kitchen, and stumble straight into the barmaid. She lets out a yell of protest and spins, giving me a hard kick in the side.

“This is a staff only zone. Get out,” she orders, her brows furrowed in a fierce line.

I press my hand against my throbbing side and stumble toward the door. Falling through, I stagger into the street, looking for all the world like any drunk man. Why has everyone suddenly decided to start kicking me in the side?

It’s not nice.

- - -

 “All I did was smash a vase on his head.”

- - -

He stands, slouched against the wall, hands deep in his dress-pant pockets, his suit jacket meticulously perfect and his white shirt buttoned right up to the top. His eyes are shielded behind impenetrable shaded glasses, but the corners of his mouth are twisted down just a little bit.

I start to cross the room, leaving the supporting wall and trying to get my knee to support weight properly without just crumbling underneath me. He doesn’t even shift slightly as I pull up beside him.

Am I invisible suddenly?

“Sir?” I wince as my voice comes out dry and hoarse.

No response from the man.

“Excuse me, sir?” I stand on tiptoe and try to talk louder so that he actually hears.

Still no sign of reaction.

I narrow my eyes. He isn’t deaf. He isn’t stupid. He’s just ignoring me. I grab a chair from the table and drag it sideways over to him. My leg folds beneath me and I only just catch myself on the chair. I will make him listen even if he doesn’t want to. I scramble onto the chair and use the wall to stand up properly.

As soon as I’m at the level of his ear, I clear my throat and speak as loudly as I can without yelling. “Please excuse me, sir. I’d like to speak to you.”

He pulls away roughly, the movement almost making me topple to the floor. “Leave me alone, girl. It’s not my fault. Go away.”

I scramble down from the chair and peer up at him, trying to see beyond the dark shades of his glasses. “I haven’t even asked you anything yet,” I protest.

“I don’t care. I already told you. Go away.”

- - -

The woman grabs out at my shoulder, but I duck back. Only to have the man grab my hair roughly from behind. I gasp in pain and clutch the box tighter. “Don’t!”

They don’t listen, the woman just grabs the box by the sides and tugs at it. “Let go, girl.”

“No. You let go,” I reply, holding on as tightly as I possibly can. “If you want something you should ask.”

She stops, her mouth opening as she stares at me. I reach up and pull my hair from the man’s grip. “And you. It’s not nice to grab a girl’s hair.”

He stares too.

I run my tongue over my lips, still not relaxing my grip. “If you want something, don’t try attack the person who has it.” And then I turn and run.

- - -

“Are you okay?” I manage to get the words out through the choking in my throat.

The words seem to snap him from some sort of dream. He straightens and shoves his hand across his hair, his pale eyes dropping away from mine. “Why would you do that?”

A tingle touches my fingertips. “Because I care.”

- - -

“Braden?”

I raise my head, straightening my shoulders into their fake, stiff position. Matthew Reno paces down the narrow walkway toward me, his hands deep in his pockets.

“I thought I’d find you here.” He settles down beside me, in the exact same position we’ve been in so many other times.

“Yeah,” I grunt, studying my fingernails.

“Look.” Reno slaps my knee gently. “I know it’s hard when you have to do things like you did today, but it’s got to be done.”

I don’t reply. I just sit, listening, trying to convince my conscience that he’s right.

He’s always been right before. Why is it only now that the doubts are coming?

“You did exactly as I’ve always taught you. It was wonderful.” Reno leans forward, waving his hand in front of my eyes.

I snap my gaze up to his and he smiles a little, his greying brows creased in a concerned frown. “Braden, are you feeling okay?”

“It just…I don’t know.” I clench my hand and press it against my thigh, trying to work out what I even meant by that.

Reno’s smile fades a little and he leans closer. “I’m proud of what you did today,” he says, his gruff voice so old and familiar in my ears. He pats my shoulder and stands, grunting at the movement.

I don’t move from my position as he returns along the raised walkway. I just stare downward, not really seeing the maze of pipes and mechanics below. The vibration of his footsteps fades and then stops fully and I lean my head forward into my hands.

He’s proud of me. That should make me happy. What else could I want? What else have I been trying to aim for all these years?

Nothing.

So why is this guilt building higher and higher like bile in the back of my throat?

AND THERE YOU GO. *throws confetti* Allll the snippets for you. Originally I went a bit crazy and had an insane amount of snippets and then I changed my mind because "nooo let's not tell them all this so that it can be an exciting surprise one day."

To wrap up - here you go with a youtube playlist that I put together for A Sprig of Green!

(It's a perfect ending, don't you think? I started and ended on dramatic music. *bows* Excellent planning on my part, definitely.)

Do you have a favourite stage of editing?
Do you like listening to music while writing/editing?

Comparing Your Work to Others' // dealing with low confidence and fear

Do you ever feel like you’re a failure? Like you’re not as good as so-and-so? Like it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’ll just never be enough?

Sometimes comparing our work to someone else can help. It can spur us on to work harder, strive more, learn how to be better.

But other times, it simply pulls us down.

It’s so easy to look at someone else and see their work—or even them as a person—and the compare it to your own work, your own self. The problem is that when we do this, so much of the time, we don’t measure up.

We can’t measure up.

We’re all different people, we’ve all been given different talents and gifts. Of course we can’t all be as good as each other. But we know that, and somehow it doesn’t seem to help.

So often I see people hiding back in the corner and not wanting to show their work. For some people they can pass it off as perfectionism. For others—introversion.

But I think for everyone, it’s also just that little seed of doubt.

Everyone has it. That fear that they won’t measure up. That they’re actually a failure. That, quite honestly, they’re wasting their time—and everyone else’s.

And then even worse, there’s the moments of timid bravery when the little artist (not necessarily drawing, I’m using the term in its broad definition) steps out and show some of their work. Some of the art they poured their energy and heart into. And then someone laughs. Or not even laughs, but just passes it off as ‘good’ or ‘nice.’

It hurts. It pulls down the timid hope and our little artist soul scuttles back and hides.

The problem isn’t with the person who betrayed the trust (though they are at fault—a topic I shall be rambling on next week), it’s actually with the artist.

The problem is that so often we look to man to fulfil our desires, to fulfil our identity. We look to our family, our friends, our acquaintances. But they can’t fill that role.

The One who gave us the gift in the first place can.

If you write a chapter, draw a picture, do whatever you do and look at your work and say “I’m a failure” you’re saying that God’s gift is worthless. That he gave you something that is a waste of your time. It’s a ridiculous thought.

You don’t have to measure up to so-and-so. You don’t have to be as good as anyone.

Because that’s not the point.

We need to be looking to God to find our purpose and identity, not the world around us. And when we do that, it doesn’t matter what other people think or do. It doesn’t matter if they all seem better.

Right now, God has you in a special place.

Don’t scorn it and hate it because it’s different than someone else. Accept it and embrace it because it’s a gift.

It’s not easy to accept, and the fear can still be there. But you need to go back to God over and over and over. Every. single. day. Commit it to Him.

I promise you. You won’t regret it. And it certainly won’t be a waste of your time.

#WIPjoy // A Sprig of Green

A day or two ago, Katie Grace did a #WIPjoy post all about her book Where Shadows Lie. IT WAS VERY COOL. Basically, I loved it so much that I decided to jump in and do a post of my own.

(If you don't know what #WIPjoy is, don't worry, I don't hugely either. XD Check out Katie's blog post though because she actually explains it. :P)

But loosely - it's a bunch of questions about your work-in-progress and I'm going to pick my favourites and throw some stuff around about my wee li'l novella A Sprig of Green.

Describe yourself and your WIP.

Me: an energetic, joke-teller, always looking for a laugh...Bare feet, outdoors, callouses on my left hand fingertips from musical instruments, always hungry. I don't even know how to describe myself. XD

WIP: A Sprig of Green, one young girl trying to save her father, one young man trying to save himself.


Your 1st inspiration for this WIP.

It started out because Kingdom Pen was having a Sci Fi themed month and I decided that I was actually going to submit something for once. So then in popped a random idea for a world with no plants and a girl who is looking for them. And it developed from there into a short story (which was then submitted to Kingdom Pen AND ALSO ACCEPTED and (after lots of edits) published *screams* READ IT HERE).


Would you rather: get trapped in your story for a week, or have your antagonist enter your own life for a day?

Can it be after the story is ended?? Because it has a happy ending and everything is all okay again, so I'D BE FINE WITH THAT PART. Before the story...not so much.

And antagonist in my life? No thank you, good sir.


What would your MC be like as an antagonist?

Okay so I have two MCs. Michayla -smol girl- and Braden -a young man. They are both VERY different characters.

Michayla would be the sweetest antagonist ever.

Braden would be confusing. He would have so many internal dilemmas that the hero/MC of the story just gave up and surrendered to him.
He's a fun character. (And technically is sort of an antagonist already, because 'antagonist' is the term for anyone who stands in the way of the plot, not necessarily the main villain.)


What would the antagonist be like as the MC?

VERY EVIL. He would be an exceptionally evil protagonist. XD Ruthless, willing to do anything at all (even deny his own family) to get to his goal.


A line you nailed perfectly.

I can't say that I nailed any line of this absolutely perfectly. BUT STILL. Some of the lines that I am the most proud of currently:

I am not worthy to be called a man.

- - -

Notes of paper money go fluttering everywhere like butterflies with broken wings.

- - -

There’s always another chance in the world.

- - -

“The first leaf means hope.”

Choose an ideal reading spot, food, drink, and music to go with your book.

Reading spot: outside on a warm (but not too warm) day, on the grass. Or, even better, a patch of clover.

Food: ohh this one is actually harder than I was expecting. *hums* How about honey jumbles (yes, I believe it's an Australian recipe (maybe?). Look it up and make them. You won't regret it.) because they're all happy and outdoors-adventure-y.

Drink: Chai tea. I can definitely see Michayla drinking chai.

Music: Rise, True Strength or Becoming a Legend - John Dreamer. Look them up on youtube if you've never heard them before. *hugs the music* But I'm also equally leaning toward having no music and just having the sound of birds and breeze in the background of reading because that also fits.


What's something you're still figuring out about this WIP?

A LOT OF IT.
I need to work out some details with Braden, and something *coughcough* slight spoilery detailish *cough* about him.
Also another character that I kinda ignored from about the midway point of the book. I need to work out what happens to them.
Plus a lot more, but those are the main important factors, I think. (Actually no, there's probably other super important things that I just can't remember right now. XD)


Would you rather: have tea with your antagonist, or be stuck in an elevator for 3 hours with your MC?

Tea is good. I'm not sure that having it with my antagonist would be good though. But still, I can imagine him being quite gentlemanly.
On the other hand, being stuck in an elevator with Michayla for three hours could be quite interesting. I feel like she has so many good thoughts on life and she's a very wise girl (though somehow naive at the same time?? I don't even know if that works, but she just...is.). We could get into some very deep conversations. Braden and me stuck in an elevator...hmm not so sure about that one though. :P


And there I shall leave it! :D Hope you enjoyed some random odds and ends about A Sprig of Green.

Here's the full picture of all the questions. NOW GO AND WRITE A BLOG POST. I wanna hear allll about your stories. Yes please. Even if you don't have a blog/don't feel like posting, just answer some of them in the comments because I'm a curious blueberry and I want to hear everything. :P


Would you rather have tea with your antagonist or be stuck in an elevator for three hours with your protagonist?