I'm alive and I've been tagged

Yes, I am still alive. Just very busy is all. I finished up my last exam this morning (very very early this morning I might add, I've been exhausted all day) and I start May Term on Monday. Lovely.

Anyway, Jude tagged me. And then Anita tried to tag me. So here goes!
Here's the rules at a glance:
-Pick up the nearest book
-Flip to whatever page you're on or a random page
-Type up lines 6-9
-Tag 5 people

From pg 80 Generation X: Crossroads by J. Steven York:
"...And most of all, we will need one unit to operate full specs, and we will need it ready quickly, to allow for the cosmetic modifications that we require."
Bervin leaned back against the workbench, allowing a..."

I really don't know who to tag anymore, as everyone else seems to have already been tagged. But I will tag Jordyn, my newest blogging friend.

Also, Jude nonspecifically & unknowingly tagged me for a second game:
Rules are:
a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up

1. The first person to congratulate me today after I finished my last exam was my favourite radio DJ, Jordan, who does the all-request hour on Shine.FM (I called in to request Paul Allen's "Bring You Back")
2. I write more fanfictions for my X-Men forum than I write for my book
3. I crack my toes in my sleep
4. I am allergic to mint, which means I use kid's "sparkle fun" flavoured toothpaste
5. I am a caffeine addict, more specificly a Coca-Cola addict
6. I'm one of the few writers I know who loves editing

Again, I don't know who to tag anymore, so anyone who wants to can consider themselves tagged.


One of the classes I'm taking during May term is Children's Literature. I've already started flipping through the text book; I'm very excited for this class. We'll be reading Charlotte's Web and when the girl in the school bookstore tried to give me a copy I told her "Oh no, I have my own copy, I just read it last month actually." She gave me a very strange look.

Research help: Your Last Days?

I'm working really hard on one of my books right now & I need some help! So, if you could please leave comments here about what you would do if you found out you had only a few months left to live. What would you do? What sort of things would you want to see?

Things to keep in mind:
+ These things must be inexpensive
+ These things have to be able to happen in a small suburb. Which isn't that hard, just, not something that belongs in big cities.
+ The odder, the better. I like small town oddities.
+ My characters are all about 19 years old

Thanks in advance, this will really help my research. I'm planning on a lot of research trips with my writer friend Jessica (you may remember her from my NaNoWriMo 07 interviews) to really get a feel for this book. The first is a trip to the local forest preserve, which will play a part in the story, and serves the double purpose of getting my friend to see it as she's never been. Other crazier trips are in the planning stages, as well as looking into tattoos (though my character only ever thinks about it).

Book Review: Feed by MT Anderson

The feed is in their minds, keeping them constantly connected. And this story stays in the minds of the reader as well. You will not want to put down MT Anderson's Feed and even when you do, the story stays in your head. Part teenage love story and part biting satire this book is amazing. It is unlike other books and gives us readers a taste of what it would be like to be constantly connected, to advance so far ahead that we loose sight of where we came from. So far ahead that we loose sight of who we are and what's imporant and see only the barrage of banners advertising the next big thing.

If the point of science fiction is to warn us of what could be coming, then Adverson has acheived it. The story is written realistically from the point of view of a hipster teen named Titus. He goes to the moon with his friends and meets a girl, then they go to a club & are hacked. Suddenly Titus finds himself grappling with problems he'd never conceived of, and on the biggest adventure of his life: an introduction to real life.

I could recommend this book to certain groups of people based on their taste in literature, or could relate to it, but that wouldn't be good enough. Everyone needs to read this book.

Moonvertising

Moonvertising

I knew this was coming eventually: using the moon as a gigantic billboard. Starting March 21st Rolling Rock will have their logo imprinted on the moon's surface with a laser. Every full moon companies will be able to do this. We're turning the moon into the galaxy's biggest advertisement.

Rolling Rock is an independently spirited beer that does things differently, which is why we're trying a new, more tasteful marketing approach this year: putting our logo on the moon -- movertising.

Tasteful? I don't think so.

My father made a good point about this, in a few years the children growing up will never know what a full moon looks like without somebody's banner plastered across it.

What has the world come to when we can't even gaze up at the stars without being subjected to this kind of media infiltration? I keep thinking of MT Anderson's Feed and how the moon was transformed into a tackier version of Vegas and there were flashing billboards at the bottom of lakes for all the "upcars" going above to see. Is that what's next for us? Because, after all, isn't the point of science fiction to prevent certain futures from becoming reality?

Another thing I wonder about is what effect will this have on the moon? If it changes things, even a little bit, it could really affect us here on Earth. The moon controls the tides, and if the tides are changed, well...just watch The Day After Tomorrow. That's the most extreme example, of course, but the moon does have affects on the tide & the tide in turn has affects on other parts of our ecosystem.

For the record, I'm against this. But I'd like to hear your thoughts, so sound off!

From Idea to Story

Recently a friend of mine asked me for advice on writing & eager to help I asked if there was anything in particular she wanted insight on. She asked me how I turn an idea into a story. Wow. What a question! I wasn't sure what to tell her at first, because it was such a vague question--and a big one too! Eventually I told her a few key things & because she had to leave I promised I would blog about them to go into further detail, so here goes.

1) Ask yourself "why this story?" Why do you think this particular tale needs to be written?/Why do you want to write it? What's the point? This piece of information is the most important because its what you'll form your entire story around. You could write a good story & it woudln't be worht a snowflake in the Artic without a reason or main point. This is the hardest step in my opinion, but once you figure this out everything else will be easier. Which is why you should always do this first.

2) Okay, now you've got a point, what are you going to do with it? You need to figure out your plot, or main storyline. Every writer will tell you something different about how to go about this. Some say the best way to go about writing is to start from the beginning and continue in chronilogical order, building off each event. Others say to start from the end and work your way backwards. Robin Parrish gave great advice here* when he said to figure out the ending & key points and then play connect the dots. It really depends on the writer & the story what works best, but whatever you end up doing, always have a battle plan. If you don't, you'll charge headfirst into a war against a clan of highly trained needle ninja only to find that you're wearing balloon armor. It's not gonna go well.
So figure out where you want to go, and where you're going to start. It doesn't matter what you write first, you could write the very middle first, but know your general road map first. The plot will develop as you go along & maybe the end or beginning or something will change. As facts stand though, this is generally a good thing, so let them change. But don't try to start off without a general idea of how your story will go.

3) Characters are essential, I cannot stress enough how important characters are. No story was ever written without a character, even documentaries focus on specific animals in a group. Sometimes the characters come to you first and are the reason you get the idea for the story, sometimes you have to fit them into the story, but they always come because they need to. Make sure you know your characters before you start off--more than just their name** I'm not saying you need a full biography on each character, but at least get to know them a little. Just know who they are & why they're there; they will tell you the rest in time (and more). Every character is a story unto themselves, always remember that.
When you have a nice cast of characters, figure out how they'll interact with each other, this will help a ton in the long run.

4) Figure out your setting so the reader doesn't have to. If you leave out all indicators of setting the reader might think your Neptune space epic is in Oklahoma. Again, specifics aren't necessary at the beginning, but the basics are. As is (always) the "why" of it. Why Neptune & not Saturn? Why an abandoned cottage & not an overbooked 5-star hotel? Where are you going to make your characters live?

From there, the rest is up to you. I wish you all the luck in the world (or however much I'm allowed access to) on your bold, daring, and dangerous endevour of writing a novel. Some people can't handle it, some writers never make it, but maybe someday, you will. Writing is not for the faint of heart, at least not real writing; anyone can write a book, but it takes a true artist to write a good story.

* Max Hsu's interview with Robin Parrish
** Sometimes, as the story moves along, the character's name might need changing. Originally I had a character named Ulrich, who became Matt. I think this change was one of the best things I've done for the character.

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Note: I am not an expert. I think Justine Larbalestier says it best.

Juvenile Writings

Recently my mum has been doing a lot of organizing & remodeling. In her quest for cleanliness she found my old notebook from kidnergarten that she saved. It was a daily journal we had to keep. I put up a few random entries here to show people my first ever writings. I also put up writings of mine from 9th, 10th, & 11th grade so I could see how I developed as a writer.

Have a look.


Also, I have another blog for quotes now. Just something fun to do with all the quotes I've compliled. You can see it here or access the LJ syndication here.

Fanfics for a good cause

YO! Fanfic writers! Here's a great way to use your fanfics for a good cause!

Here's the deal, truelovepooh on LJ was diagnosed with both stage two ovarian cancer and breast cancer last year. I don't personally know her, but does that really matter? Anyway, the deal is that a bunch of people on & off LJ are banding together in a mass-fandom fanfic contest to keep her spirits up.

Any fandom/pairing is allowed, just so long as the theme is "healing."

If you want to write about Edward (or Jake) taking care of Bella when she's sick, do it.
If you want to write about Josh Foley healing..well...everyone, do it.
If you want to write about how to save Norrington, do it.
If you want to write about um...Windalf healing a pixie, do it. (...it's a fandom! Or we'll make it one anyway XD )

info here

Hope you all join me in this :D