Happy New Years Eve Eve Day

Yeah, long title, I know.
So, this really doesn't have much to do with writing, actually, but whatever. Updates are fun!
1. My new haircut = love. Because I'm a narcissistic teenager, I will post as picture:


2. My mom got me tickets to the All time Low concert in Toronto April 25. Excuse me for a moment... "YAYAYAYAYAYAY!" That is all. You will be hearing a lot about ATL for the next few months. Brace yourself.

3. Huh. I guess I will be slipping something about writing in here after all. So, I hit 25000 words on TCSC a few days ago. At first, I was sort of like, "The story sucks I hate it I hate my life it's just a rip off of Mortal Instruments GAHH", but I introduced a new character (and with him, a plot twist! Le gasp!), and I really love him. I don't want to jinx anything, so I'm going to shut up now.

Yup, that's about it. I probably won't post for the next few days (Faber Drive concert on the first! :)) so happy freaking 2011!

Mortal Instruments

Hey, sorry I've been MIA lately, but I've literally divided all my time between reading, eating and sleeping. Oh Christmas Break, how I love you!
As you can probably tell by the title, I've been reading the Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare. All I can say is...
HOLY CRAP AWESOME READ IT GO NOWNOWNOW!
But seriously. I read the first one, and I was like, huh. This is pretty good. Then I read the second one, and I was like... this is really good.
Then I read the third one, and, well... look three lines up there. That was my reaction.
I am now obsessed. I went out last night and bought the prequel, Clockwork Angel, and got it giftwrapped too, because wrapping was free :) So it's right over on my window seat... begging me to read it... which is why I'm going to go now!
I'd say happy Christmas/holidays now, but I'll probably (try to) post tomorrow or Friday. Just in case, though--happy holidays!

PS, I'm getting bangs cut tomorrow. Biiiig change for me! So, yeah, I'm kinda nervous!

I'm tired...

You know when you just want to sleep, but you also need to keep working? I'm having one of those moments right now. I'm up to 17095 words on TCSC. I wanted to get to 20000 by tonight, but I really don't know what direction to go with it. Gah I need sleep -.-
Incidentally, if anyone cares about the math test I was freaking out about a few posts ago, I got it back, and... guess who got an 81%? Oh damn!
Oh, and thanks for the reviews on my poem ;)

I never realized how screwy I really am.

I tried my hand at writing poetry tonight... I dunno. I think it sucks, but I would kinda like some critique or whatever, so I'll post one. Just warning you, it's really depressing.

Restart

Clean slate

No feelings, no memories

No failures, no mistakes

Just press the button to turn me off

I’ll shut down quietly

No one will notice

No one will care

It’s better than crashing

Yeah... I have about five other, equally depressing ones :P
I wrote them while procrastinating, funnily enough... I'm reading through Outpost, which needs a lot of edits but actually isn't all that terrible--for me, at least--and working on TCSC, which has 14685 words now. I suppose I should get back to work now, huh?

Finished!

Yup, NaNo is done... as you can see by the shiny badge on the side there, I won... with 60006 words, I might add! I'm pretty proud... I finished Outpost with approx. 48000 words, then started on The Coffee Shop Chronicles (to be abbreviated to TCSC, because like many writers, I'm lazy :)) which I now have 12000 words on. I think that, so far, I'm like TCSC better than Outpost, so I'm pretty sure that I'll use my Createspace code on that... but who knows? Maybe I'll look back on Outpost and find that it's a literary masterpiece....
...

>.>
...

<.<

HAHAHA YEAH RIGHT.

I think I failed my math test.

...Damn.

So, I've been busy.

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much. Really, I am. But I've been so busy with NaNo... please forgive?
At the moment, I'm around 56700 words. I can't check the exact amount because at the moment, I'm on the computers at school. But I feel like this weekend is going to be, like, a ten thousand word weekend. I can just... feel it.
Actually, I have 50000 words of the book I've talked about all October, and 6000 of a new one. I really like both of them--even though the first one is a mess of magic and characters angsting and blowing things up. And talking about Harry Potter and The Matrix. The second one (called The Coffee Shop Chronicles), so far, is a mess of characters angsting, gay bashing, and nicknames. Oh, and magic.
I like magic.
So, my weekend schedule (well, and Friday):
1. Wake up (check!)
2. Go to school (check!)
3. Take massive math test, which I am freaking out about because I failed the last test and I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON (Not check. Ahh!)
4. Go home and write until I go to bed (around 1:00am)
5. Wake up, go Christmas shopping.
6. Come home, write until I go to bed.
7. Wake up and write.

Sounds good!

NANOWRIMO!

Starts tomorrow!
I have characters, a loose plot, a setting, and even a first line! My alarm is set to wake me up at 5:30am. Now, all I have to do it wait.
And go to Walmart to stock up on Red Bull and M&Ms. But other than that... waiting.

Why is it...

That the majority of my posts happen when I'm home sick?
Seriously.
I didn't even want to stay home today. I was FORCED. Legit. I slept through my alarm, and my mother decided that I could miss a day of school.
I suppose it was for the best. I mean, I have a fever and I can't actually talk, because my throat is on fire. And yesterday, whenever someone asked me something, I just kinda of said something really stupid because I was so drugged. A sample conversation from French class:

Girl Who Sits Beside Me: Would you say that I'm unforgettable (note: we were finding ajectives that described ourselves. She's not just being vain)?
Me: I dunno. Why would you want to be unforgettable?
GWSBM: Um, it's a good thing, isn't it?
Me: Why would you want people to forget you?
GWSBM: ...
Me: ... Oh. right.

Gotta love medicine!

Can I just say...

Planning? Pwned. Although I did spend far too much time looking up psychopaths.

Tonight...

Tonight--or rather, early tomorrow morning, and by early, I mean one a.m.--I shall post again. And by that time, I will have some more of my NaNo plotted. I will!!
Actually, it's not so much plotting that I need... well, yeah, it is, but in addition to that, I need to do a lot of research. Mostly on New York, Vermont, and psychopaths, which makes my novel sound insane, but... well, yeah, it is insane. But I've kind of gotten distracted by the shiny new forums, so... tonight will be my work night.
My dad already thinks I'm crazy. Case in point: Last night I walk up to my older brother (who, incidentally, does not think I'm crazy, because, well, he's crazy too. So we see each other as sane, even though I doubt either of us are). And we have this conversation:

Me: What's the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath?
Brother: A psychopath can't feel emotion, and sociopath can't feel sympathy. I think.
Me: Alright, thanks.
*I walk over to my dad*
Me: Bad news. I just found out that my villain is a psychopath, not a sociopath!
Dad: O_o

But now I've gotten of topic.

NEW NANO SITE!!!!

Apologies for the all-caps, but no apologies for the excessive exclamation points!!!!
I'm not even going to say anything, but go check it out now. Seriously. Go. Or else.

I'll know.

www.nanowrimo.org

On Pens and Notebooks

I, personally, believe that having a great pen and notebook is essential for writing--or, in my case, planning, because I always do all my actual writing on the computer.
Anyways, though, I don't know why I feel like discussing pens and notebooks, but I do.
My lucky pen is pretty boring. It's a normal, dollar store quality Bic, but the end is all cracked because I'm one of the gross people who chews on my pens. Not in public, but still.
My notebook, on the other hand, is very small. It has the names of all kinds of places that I want to visit someday written on it--places like New York, Paris, Rome, London--I'm into traveling.
I have a notebook that I'm going to use when my regular one gets filled up--it's a Moleskine, plain black, and absolutely beautiful. I'm almost afriad to write in it and tarnish it, though :/

Tell me about your favourite pens/notebooks in the comments!

Me characters!

I set my Facebook language to pirate (they didn't have ninja-speak, sadly), thus, the pirate title.
Anyways, I figured I would talk about my main characters, mostly because NaNo is now in one month, three days (!!!!!!) and I know my character's names. This makes me feel proud. So, without further ado:

-Fallon Grant: One of the cattle (side note: I supose it would help if you knew a bit of my plot. Basically, it's fantasy. Magic is a bit of a shameful affection, although I don't know why yet. Usually, magic people, who are nicknamed "cattle" because they're branded like, well, cattle, go to an Outpost for schooling, where they feel kinda sorta normal, but sometimes, you get those annoying stubborn ones who think that they "shouldn't be ashamed of themselves" and go to a normal school. This is where my three MCs meet--at a boarding school in Vermont. Then they find out about an Evil Plot (TM) and figure that they have to stop Villain from Destroying The World. Only I'm going to try and make it less cliche). She is the unofficial leader of her friends, because she's very outspoken. Shes clever and noble, but she has a tendency to do some really stupid things because she doesn't really stop to think. Also, in the words of JK Rowling, she has "a bit of a saving people thing."

-Lee Jacobson: Another one of the cattle, and one of Fallon and Bowie's best friends. Lee is a perfectionist. He's also a bit of a follower and he's very smart (I swear, smart is, like, a requirement of my characters). He's loyal and he's really hard on himself, even when he does everything right. Lee is very good at history, which is how the MCs find out about Evil Plot (TM).

-Bowie Kruse (God, my poor characters with their poor sucky names. Bowie, I'm very sorry that you had the misfortune of being called "Bowie" , never mind your surname): Bowie yet another one of the cattle, and best friends with Lee and Fallon. He is a slacker, and a womanizer. He is a foster child and gets into fights a lot. He's kind of a jerkass, come to think of it. He's very charming and arrogant, and he considers life to be a game.

-John Wit: My antagonist. He is magic too (I'm getting tired of just saying, "one of the cattle" over and over). John was bullied as a kid and now, basically, wants to cause the "normal" people pain and suffering. He's a sociopath and he's good at manipulating people. He is not that cliche, I swear, but I'm running out of space and time and can't fit his entire bio in here.

-Lucas Dahl: Yet another magi. John's best and only friend. Always seems to need someone to tell him what to do. He's sort of a hired thug, except again, John and Lucas have been friends since childhood. Lucas is a very good liar.

And to think that I have a whole lot of other character's left out! I don't think I did my plot justice, but whatever--it's NaNo! I'm allowed not to have justice! :D

Getting back into routine

:O Two blog posts... two days in a row? Whoa, it's some sort of miracle!
Or, you know, not.
So, I'm trying to get all the small things done before the site relaunch, which is in... four days! Or so, anyways. You know... posting everyday, just like I'm going to have to write everyday.
I'm also getting my music ready. My NaNo playlist consists of two things... "character" songs, and catchy songs. I assume you all know what this means, but in case you don't, I'll summarize... "character" songs = songs about characters. Catchy songs = songs that make you want to dance, or, at least, type faster.
Not so difficult.
I just realized though... for the next two or three months, anyone who doesn't know what NaNo is is going to get really confused. Which is fantastic excuse to go check out the NaNoWriMo website! (www.nanowrimo.org).
Okay, next topic (I missed a month of blogging. I have a lot of topics): Fund raising! For NaNo, of course. So, I'm going to beg people for money this year--er, I mean, get sponsored. (Do it! You know you want to!) Also, I have about seventy five bucks stashed away at home. Part of it is for food, but the other part is for donating. I think I'll send out emails around October first, so... I'll keep you updated, I suppose!

I have no title.

So, uh, sorry about that... extended absence... *Coughhasn't-logged-on-for-a-monthcough* Sadly, I don't even have an interesting topic to blog about... only complaints. Ah, well, I'm a teenager. I'm good at that.
Complaint #1: High school. Which I just started. And already hate. Turns out that no one actually bursts into song in the hallways, at least not at my school. Go figure.
Complaint #2, which actually tires in with Complaint #1: My course schedule... I HAVE GYM FIRST PERIOD. To anyone who tries to tell me that gym is "fun" and that it's "not so bad" to have to "sweat" first period (I'm going to stop using obscene amounts of quotation marks) ... to them I say, "DON'T BOTHER".
Complaint #3: THERE'S STILL ONE MONTH FIVE DAYS UNTIL NANO :(

Now I suppose I'll offset my complaints with some good things...
Good Thing #1: I made a new friend who happens to be a writer. And who happens to also be a Nerdfighter. And who happens to know what NaNo is, though she hasn't participated. Oh, and who happens to be another Harry Potter nerd.
Good Thing #2: New Friend and I found out that Writers' Workshop (a writing club) is going to start this Friday or next. Hooray for meeting new writers!
Good Thing #3: I HAVE A FREAKING GREAT IDEA FOR NANO! HOORAY!

That is all.

......

Yes, yes, I know that I haven't been posting lately. I really don't have an excuse, except that I wanted to spend summer outside--what little summer I have left DX.
So, school starts in one week and two days. Ugh. I don't care how exciting everyone thinks it is--I really don't like school. And this year I'm starting grade nine, and I admit... I'm scared. There. I said it.
:(
I think it's mostly because of the whole "meeting new people" thing. None of my friends are going to my high school, you see, so I'm starting fresh. But, um... I don't know if you noticed this, but I'm a nerd. An introvert. I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE.
Getting back to the writing side of things... I have an idea for NaNo XD And one for another series, which I think I actually might start writing soon. Maybe.
How was that for my first post in a month?

I was born in the wrong year.

Seriously, I was. I would have been better suited for, say, the 80s. I could have been a screaming Stones fangirl, and watched all the John Hughes movies as soon as they came out. Because, honestly? I really hate teenagers. And I have compiled a list of why.

1. Technology. Seriously, is it so hard to sit for a few hours and, say, read a book without taking breaks to text? And I know it seems a bit hypocritical (I'm complaining about technology while blogging on a netbook) but not all electronics are bad. Just like chocolate isn't bad. But when you spend every waking hour texting or going on Facebook or whatever... you need to take a step back. Which brings me to point number two.

2. "Text Talk" Seriously, what is this? I mean, how long does it take to write out a message with proper spelling and grammar? Like, a second longer? And what would our teenage example do with that extra second he or she has accumulated? Go on Facebook or Myspace and write more badly spelled things! Which brings me to point three.

3. Our slang. Have you ever walked down the street and heard how teenagers speak now days? I mean, it's filled with the type of swear words that would get a bar of soap shoved in my mouth, for one thing. I mean, I understand the need to cuss occasionally. Maybe you're trying to make a point, or maybe you just lost control for a moment. But when your speech is peppered with more "F-bombs" then nouns? That's going overboard, in my opinion.

So there you have it. The top three things that bother me about teenagers. Actually, I have way more, which I shall probably post periodically, but those are what I'm thinking of at the moment. Now, get off the computer and go read a good book, which is exactly what I'm about to do :) Better yet, maybe I'll build a time machine to take me back to the eighties.

Evil Overlord List

Found this, thought it was funny. Gave me a good idea for a very sadistic villain.

Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. However every Evil Overlord I've read about in books or seen in movies invariably gets overthrown and destroyed in the end. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. With that in mind, allow me to present...

The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

1. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

2. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

3. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

4. Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

5. The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

6. I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

7. When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

8. After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

9. I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.

10. I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

11. I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

13. All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

14. The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

15. I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

16. I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

17. When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

18. I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

19. I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

21. I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

22. No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

23. I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

24. I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)

25. No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.

26. No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.

27. I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

28. My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

29. I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

30. All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

31. All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.

32. I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

33. I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

34. I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

35. I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

36. I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

37. If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.

38. If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

39. If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.

40. I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

41. Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.

42. When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.

43. I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.

44. I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

45. I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.

46. If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

47. If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.

48. I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.

49. If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.

50. My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.

51. If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.

52. I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.

53. If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.

54. I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

55. The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.

56. My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

57. Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual.

58. If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

59. I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.

60. My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords.

61. If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.

62. I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.

63. Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.

64. I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.

65. If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.

66. My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.

67. No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.

68. I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.

69. All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

70. When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

71. If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.

72. If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them.

73. I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

74. When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.

75. I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

76. If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)

77. If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.

78. I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."

79. If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.

80. If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.

81. If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

82. I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.

83. If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.

84. I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.

85. I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."

86. I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.

87. My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

88. If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again.

89. After I captures the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.

90. I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.

91. I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

92. If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

93. If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first.

94. When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.

95. My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look.

96. My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.

97. My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.

98. If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

99. Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size.

100. Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

This Evil Overlord List is Copyright 1996-1997 by Peter Anspach. If you enjoy it, feel free to pass it along or post it anywhere, provided that (1) it is not altered in any way, and (2) this copyright notice is attached.

Good times

Well, my JulNo is finished. Its only 35567 words (Or something like that, I'm to lazy to check) but there's no more story. Ah, well. It was actually really crappy, so I wasn't planning to edit it anyways. And now I have time to plan for NaNo! :D It was a fun ride, but I did learn that I have to stick with my pseudo-outlining--I'm not a pantser, that's for sure!
Also, I won't be posting for the next week, I'm going to Ceder Point and then my aunts cottage :) Hooray for summer!

I knew it would happen eventually...

I've hit a rut.
I don't want to say "block," that sounds so serious. But, seriously, I'm building up to my climax, and then I realize...
My characters can't get into the antagonists house. It's actually impossible, unless I want to make all the thousand some guards that are, well guarding idiots.
And I don't want to do that.
Wordcount at 10:50PM: 33560

Another excerpt

Only this one is much more interesting.
One of my characters just basically told another character the plot of my JulNo, and I figured that that would be much more interesting then me going into excruciating detail about it XD

“I didn’t say I was going to save the world, I just said it would be a good excuse—” Quill was silenced under Kalmay’s look. “Fine. My friend Sayden said that we have to keep the Keys away from this guy or—well, actually, I’m not to sure why. But he made us make a blood oath, so if we stop looking, we die. And that would suck.”
Kalmay nodded. “Who’s, we?”
“Well, there’s my best friend Isaac. He’s basically this quiet guy who’;s to sarcastic and way to nice. He needs to tone down his morals, because some day he’ll meet a girl and she’ll just walk all over him. And then there’s Collier, who looks likes he’s about seven but carries around a bunch of weapons. And he makes these annoyingly elusive comments about having a bunch of lives on his conscious. And then there’s me. I’m like the amazing glue that keeps us together. Which is why I really need to find them. Without me, they might just kill each other. Oh, wait—it's me that they always seem to want to kill, isn't it? Damn.” Quill took a deep breath. He didn’t usually talk so much, but the cave kind of freaked him out. Maybe the sound of his voice would be enough to keep the monsters away.
Not that he believed in monsters.


Yup. I love Quill. Not as much as I love Collier, though. He's this little blond kid, with these really big blue eyes, who carries the following weapons:
*Three knives in a strap across his chest
*A pack of homemade arrows in a pack on a strap going the other way across on his chest (so they make an X)
*A bow on his back
*A sword on his belt (sheathed, obviously)
*And a dagger on an armband

I love how I talk about my characters like they're real people :) They are, to me!

JulNo wordcount at 8:45 on July 7: 25528

It's a good day!

Yes. The birds singing (well, not really) the construction workers across the street have turned off their damn jackhammers (really? 9:00am? Really?), the raspberry green tea and instant cafe mocha I bought last night from Wal-Mart taste delicious (not together, obviously) and JulNo is going well :D This morning, I even outlined what I was going to do! I'm so proud! I shall include a crappy webcam photo, because I'm too lazy to get my camera.

See? You can even see part of my neck and shirt! That's how skilled I am with a webcam XD

JulNo Wordcount as of 3:20PM, July 6: 19077

JulNo, I love you!

I forgot how much I missed updating my wordcount daily, and how much of a motivation word wars are. I forgot how satisfying it is to hit your goal. I almost forgot the pain in your wrists that you get when writing 5000 words in mere hours.
JulNoWriMo, even if I can't pronounce your name, you reminded me of this. You also reminded me that I don't have a plot for November, and that I should really get on that <3
Wordcount as of 12:43PM: 10645. In two days. Can I just say, :D
Off to eat a Tim Tam for hitting 10000, and then get writing!

*Evil Laughter*

If you can't tell by the shiny new picture to the side, I've decided that the only cure for my insanly annoying writers block is to participate in JulNoWriMo. Do I have an idea? No. Am I usually a planner? Yes. Is this probably going to turn out horribly bad? Obviously. Do I care? Of course not!
So, word count stats: 1952. Hooray.

In The Words of Cameron Frye, "I'm dying"

Why, you ask? There's a simple answer to that: I can't write. Anything.




Not even a damn blog post.

I'm not dead--promise.

Alright, so basically, I haven't written since last Sunday night (and even then, it was only 500 words), so I'm kind of in a bad mood. I think my creative block was because of LOST ending. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that though I wasn't fond of the metaphysical stuff at the end, I did think that over all it was a good ending that made me cry. Pretty hard, actually. But that's not important.
What is important, though, is that I now have two things that shall serve to motivate me. Well, if you want to be technical, four. And if you want to be even more technical, three. If you want to be even more technical, well, sucks to be you, because that's as technical as I get.
Anyways.
The first (or first three, whichever you prefer) is/are three very small medieval soldiers which I bought at the dollar store and named Ignatius, Sylvain, and Stephan (please, don't laugh at Stephan's ordinary name in comparison to the others' fantasy names. He was named after Stephan King). These are my three main man characters--well, Stephan and Ignatius are my protagonists, while Sylvain is my incredibly cool and badass antagonist. Sadly, they didn't have females, or I would have gotten a Kinsley as well.
The second, I don't exactly have yert. It's a drawing of a dragon that my friend promised me--she's an amazing artist and I've seen some of the other dragon's she's drawn--they're freaking fantastic.
So, yeah. Basically, that's my update.

I need a job.

Honestly. I have two problems right now, both pertaining to the Starbucks Mocha Light Frappichino (I can't spell it) sitting in front of me.
The first is the nearly $5.00 price tag attached to it's deliciousness, which I, being thirteen and not having a job, cannot afford, especially due to the fact that I go here every other Saturday and order way to much coffee.
The second in the calorie count. Okay, now I officially feel like a stupid pre-teen obsessed with weight, but I need to drop about five pounds before June 24, because it's my grad and my dress is tight. I've gained about ten pounds between the time I got it (February?) and now (May). I'm not being unhealthy about it--for example, I've been doing about a hundred crunches a day and generally trying to eat more fruit--but still--my weakness is coffee drinks!
Stupid Starbucks. It's so wrong, and yet... it feels so right!

*Angry Mutters*

Stupid editing.
I've started on my edits of Misfits (My Script Frenzy novel). It's pretty bad, but not as bad as I would have though. Right now, I'm working on adding another subplot (they'll be the death of me yet!) and planning another novel, not to mention trying to think of am idea for NaNo. Basically, a lot of edits and planning and no writing... I kind of miss it :(
Ah, well... I can't wait to get my own Createspace.com copy, once I'm done the stupid edits in a few months :P
So, yeah. This was kind of a rambling progress report in which I got a chance to complain.
Happy writing!

Frustration

You know what I hate about writing the most? Naming the characters. Seriously. I have like ten random characters running around in my head. Nameless.
Hmph.

I'm That Bored

Yup. Still sick. Plus I finished all my homework, and my extra-credit math, and some review stuff... Yeah. I'm bored.
So, without further ado, I'm posting a list of people I would fan-girl over if I could ever meet them, in no particular order (note: some of them are dead):

- John Hughes
-Micheal Emerson
-J.K. Rowling
-Hugh Laurie
-The Rolling Stones
-Billy Talent
-Chris Baty
-Chris Colfer
-Lisi Harrison
-Kevin O'Leary

And this is just an abridged list.

In Sickness and in Health...

No, I'm not getting married.
I am, however, sick.
There is an upside and a downside to this.
The upside is that I'm staying home from school today, giving me ample time to work on my novel.
The downside is that my head feels like it's exploding, I have a fever, I was up all night last night, my throat is on fire, and I can't stop thinking of the schoolwork that I'm missing.
Interesting story, though:
Last night, at about eight, I was exhausted, so I took some NyQuil and went to bed. It wore off at about eleven and I woke up. I didn't get back to sleep until about three.
However, while I was awake, I was kind of... well, I guess the word would be either "hallucinating" or "daydreaming," though I think the first one works better, as I was completely awake and I knew I was in my bedroom. Anyways, I hallucinated that there was a war going on and soldiers were hiding in my room, though I couldn't fight because my stomach hurt so badly (seriously, I thought I was going to be sick) and all these people were laughing at me over it.
That really has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to point out the craziness of hallucinations.

Winner!

Hooray! As you can see by the nifty web badge on the side, I have just validated my Frenzy, coming in at one hundred and fourteen pages.

... Well, I'm bored.

I'm not going to start editing for a month, so I suppose I'll have to keep myself busy with the novel I started to get to one hundred pages(my first one cut out at ninety four, so now I have the beginning of another one). Still, though--I'm feeling the letdown that comes after a big event.

Ahem. Nevermind.

Ignore this. T'was an accident XD

As of yesterday...

I'm done.
WHEEEEEEEE!
Now that I've gotten that out of my system...
Yes, I finished my novel yesterday, at 94 pages, so then I started a new novel, which brought me to 100 pages. I figure that if I can do 100 pages in 14 days, I can finish the second novel in another fourteen days. I guess I'll have to wait and see...

So... Close...

88 pages. 88 PAGES. It is nine twenty-six on a Sunday morning. I should be able to pull of my one-hundred by tonight. So why can't I?
BECAUSE I'M PROCRASTINATING.
I feel blocked.
Bleh.

In Which I Bore You With an Excerpt

I'm at sixty-five pages, and I seem to be hitting the week two blues.
Bleh.
And my teachers all hate me, apparently, as they are assigning crazy amounts of homework. Really, what's more useful? A novel or drawing pictures for French?
Thus, to boost my spirits, I decided to post a little excerpt. Please don't comment on the spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, logic mistakes, ect... Write or Die, man. Write or Die.

“Do you love her?” Emerson asked.
Dante ghave him a strange look.
“Um… who?” He raised one eyebrow, and absentmindedly touched his lip-ring scar.
“Rae,” Emerson replied. He sneaked a side glance a Dante. He looked uncomfertabble, and he stared straight ahead.
“Why?” Dante’s mouth moved, but other then that, his face seemed still. Impassive.
“You are in love with her!” Emerson laughed.
Dante glared.
“Sorry, it’s just funny that you fell for her, because I think she likes Alexander.” Emerson s hrugged, before realizing what he said.
“I can see why people ignore you,” Dante spat bitterly. “You really have no idea when to close your mouth, do you?”
“Sorry,” Emerson said. “Okay, um… well maybe she doesn’t like Alexander. Maybe the way she hangs around him, talks tohim, laughs at his jokes and always smiles when she’s talking about him means he’s just a friend.”
“You suck,” Dante retorted.
“Wow. That’s intense,” Emerson said lightly. “So are you going to tell her.”
“Yeah, how romantic,” Dante said sardonically. “Hey, since I expect we’re going to die in a few days anyway, you want to make out. I’d say that we’d have a running chane with that pick up line.”
“See!” Emerson pointed a finger at Dante, as if he had just proved his point. “You’re to sarcastic. You’re afraid of letting anyone get close to you!”
“Of course I am! People who are close to you only end up hurting you!” Dante exclaimed.
“That’s what love is. Love is scary as hell, and it hurts like hell to.” Emerson said. “There she is, by the way.”
“I can’t let myself get hurt again,” Dante said, dropping his voice. They were approaching the place where they had made camp.
“Fine,” Emerson said. “But what will hurt more? Love, or watching the one you love with someone else? Knowing that you had a chance and you blew it? Think about that?” Emerson left Dante then. He dropped the food on the ground in somewhat disgust and sat down next to Alexander.
Dante stood alone. He needed to think.

P.S. I found my mothers collection of Rolling Stones CDs. Guess who's going to Itunes after she hits seventy pages... >:)

Halfway Point!

Woot woot! I just hit 50 pages! Am I the only one who finds it funny that I'm also at 25000 words? Sadly, though, I had to pull out something that I wasn't planning to do for another 5000 words at least. But whatever.
Now, my big question is: Paint it Black or Play With Fire? I myself am leaning towards Paint it Black... I'm off to the land of Itunes!

Day Five!

Today is the fifth day of Screnzy and I'm at 45 pages. I've promised myself that if I can get to 50, I'll let myself buy exactly one Rolling Stones song (I love the Stones but I can never afford their music, as Itunes hates me and has upped the price to $1. 29, and I refuse to get music off the internet). So, I sat down with a homemade cafe mocha (yum!) my writing totem (you know 3D glasses that they give at movie theaters? Those, with the lenses popped out) and my (sadly Rolling Stones free) iPod.
And now here I am, procrastinating and making a long, rambling post so that I don't have to go back into my word document and see all those empty pages.
Sigh.

Script Frenzy!

Started April First! Comment if you're participating.
Or, you know, don't (:
But, anyways, it's 11:01 p.m. on the second day and I'm at nineteen pages.
I DON"T HATE EVERYTHING I'VE DONE SO FAR, EITHER!
Just puttin' that out there...
I want to get to twenty pages by midnight, and then hopefully twenty-two or so by 1:00 a.m.
Wish me luck!

I'm not quite dead yet!

I'm still here! I've been busy, lately, which is why I haven't been posting (Billy Talent concert last night!!) so... sorry.
At the moment, I'm preparing for Script Frenzy, which starts this Thursday. I have a doctors appointment this Thursday.
You see the problem?
So for now I'm planning my head off, and hoping that as I get a ride down to Strathroy (which, I doubt you know, unless you know me or you're stalking me, is about a half-hour drive from where I live) and then wait for an hour to actually see my doctor, I can get a pretty good start.
I'll have to wait and see, I suppose.

March Break!

Woo-hoo! I have this week off from school, and I really want to finish my novel, since I have so much free time now.
... or at least, put a nice dent in it.
So I'm not that confident about finishing. But between the extra credit English work that I asked for (I refuse to get below 95% on my report card) and hanging out with Zoe(so you have no idea who they are. It makes me sound cooler then just saying "my friend" :P)... well. I want to hit at least 35k, maybe more. I only have 21, 705 words right now, so... ah, well. I'll keep you posted, how's that?

Bleh.

Not much to say as I'm very busy procrastinating right now--not only on writing, but on studying as well!
That takes some serious skill, to multitask on procrastination.
I can't wait for March Break to begin. It's a crime to keep children inside on such a beautiful day!

Bleh.

The Lightning Thief

Okay, so, if you couldn't tell by the title I'm reviewing The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. The book AND the movie, actually. Yup, that's how pro I am: I can review two different media forms in one post!
Okay, the book, frankly, is amazing. So it's aimed for kids about nine years old and I get stares whenever I go into the kids' section to get it. It's a really good, funny series and I highly recommend it.
As for the movie, which I just saw today... well. A bit of a less friendly review. It kind of sucked.
Maybe I'm being harsh. I'll list some good points first: Percy was amazing. So was Luke. And the Gods were spot on. Lots of action. Gabe was perfect.
And, as for the bad points... if I wrote every single thing that bugged me about the movie, I would have a very long post indeed. But some main things: First, there was NO KRONOS. And NO PAN. And ANNABETH AND PERCY DIDN'T HATE EACH OTHER. And I NEED TO STOP USING ALL-CAPS. What about the famous "Seaweed Brain" insult? Where was that? I suppose the lack of Kronos and Pan means that there will be no squeal?
But I think my main pet peeve was where they didn't only fail to be faithful to the book, they failed to be faithful to the ACTUAL GREEK MYTHOLOGY. Yes, I'm talking about Persephone, who shouldn't have even been in the Underworld, due to the fact that it was the summer solstice. Not winter. Summer.
Ending rant...

Final rating: I refuse to let the movie drag down the rating of the book.

Anyone? Anyone?

Anyone doing ScriptFrenzy this year? I'm in the midst of planning now, though I'm not writing a script. I can't get my head around them, because I really like writing description and character's thoughts. I mean, I guess I could do voice overs, but...
No. I'm just writing a hundred-page novel, which, if my calculations are correct, is approximately 45000-50000 words, depending on how much dialog you use.
Should be fun!

Go Canada!!

Nothing to post, to busy celebrating the WIN OF CANADA IN HOCKEY!! Now that I've got that out of my system...
I don't really like hockey. Can't play it, I don't watch it, I don't really understand the rules and the fighting. But am I the only one that thinks Olympic hockey has a kind of... special feel to it? Or am I just mental?
Also, I want to shout out to Joannie Rochette, who is my new hero. I thought it was really strong of her to skate after she lost her mother...
And yeah, I realize I'm behind the times.

Woo hoo!

Yes, I stayed up until 12:30am. Again, not a big deal for most people, but this is me, the one who usually falls asleep around eleven. And by the way, it might look like I posed this at like 9:30pm or something, but that's just 'cause the clock is screwed up.

So goodnight, and happy writing!

Don't you love those days...

Where you're totally motivated? Yup, it's a snowy, blustery day, and I'm sitting here in my bedroom (okay, technically it's a closet) typing my head of madly. It's like, my muse has decided to come back from wherever the heck s/he went! Speaking of which, my muse needs to hurry up and tell me his/her name. Same with Inner Editor.
Oh, and about my bedroom/closet: My dad got a new apartment, with one bedroom. He sleeps in there, since, obviously, I only sleep over every other weekend. The original plan was that my brother and I would both sleep in the main living room, but then I stumbled on to this amazing closet! There's only enough room to lay a mattress down, and there's these two massive shelves which hold all my books and crap. I decorated it with my (admittedly extensive) postcard collection, a calender, and pictures of Lost that I cut out from the newspaper. I feel like I'm Harry Potter!

PS, I've made myself I promise: I'm going to try to sta up until at least 12:30am this morning writing. To others, this is nothing, but I need my sleep. I've never stayed up past twelve--well, I have, but that was at sleepovers.

Wish me luck!

Boredom...

Nothing to say, really, just checking in. It's 9:07 here and I'm drinking an extremely large coffee... How's that for having your priorities screwed up? But I want to do some writing tonight, and some trivial thing like sleep isn't going to stop me.

*Sigh*

Yes, I have been avoiding the blog, because... because...
I gave up.
Yes, I couldn't get into my story for FebNoWriMo. I didn't have enough research, or a good enough idea, or... ah, hell, maybe the entire idea sucked. So, I ditched it, and yesterday started on a new novel, with all new characters, one of which is talking to me at the moment (I'm not crazy, I swear! Sin just never shuts up!).
So, R.I.P. Remy, Charlotte, James, and Alexander. I had a good run with you guys, and, *sniff* I'll miss you!
Also, on a brighter note, happy Family Day if you're in Canada, happy Presidents Day if you're in America, and happy Monday if you're anywhere else!

Happy anniversary

Yup, this is the two month anniversary of my blog! I told you I'd make it past the one-week mark! Nothing else to say here, except LOST IS ON TONIGHT!! Haha, if I try and say that anywhere else, whoever I'm talking to walks away. Always. :)

FebNoWriMo

Yup. I signed up yesterday. Am I crazy to try and write another novel in 22 days while trying to edit my JaNoWriMo? Yes. Yes I am. Does that bother me? No. No it doesn't. Though I think it must be bothering my friends, I keep going around muttering things like, "Kansas can't be that perfect! He needs some sort of tragic backstory!" under my breath.
Ah, well.
Anyways, I'm 5024 words in, and I'm really liking my plot. This is either going to be the last book in the trilogy, or the third book in a four book series.
Oh, God. I might hate my characters sometimes, but how will I ever go on without them??

Oh, crap, part deux

Remember a few weeks ago, when I posted about my math teacher reading my NaNo (she's giving it back tomorrow with feedback, by the way!)?
Well, I have something way, way worse.
In a fit of insanity, I agreed to enter a short story contest, showed to me by my french teacher. The problem? I had to give it to him to enter and send in.
Which, as we all know, means that he is going to read it.
It's worse then my NaNo, to, content-wise. It's basically about a girl sitting on her bed, thinking about committing suicide. Heck, since the whole world is going to be reading it (or, at least, the teachers and a panel of judges in BC), I might as well post it here:
When we’re little, we think that doctors can fix everything. They just give you that magical drink, or sometimes even a shot, and then you’re all better.
But they can’t fix me, Essence realized. She was in her room, perched on her bed. The curtains were drawn.
Beside her lay the little bottle of pills.
The doctors used pills to make people feel better. Well, maybe these will make me feel better, Essence mused.
They looked so innocent, the little bottle laying on its side.
Essence ran her hand through her hair. She honestly couldn’t deal with her life anymore. Her parents were stressed, to frazzled to talk to her. She had no friends at school—she didn’t expect any of her classmates to know how to deal with grief. She used to be able to talk about that kind of thing with Indie. But she couldn’t now.
The bottle was such a happy orange color.
Indie had liked that color, Essence remembered. Indie had liked bright colors—the reds and yellows and oranges. Once she had tried to convince their parents to repaint her bedroom orange. It hadn’t worked. Essence now stared at her sister’s bed, the pale whiteness of the wall behind it blinding her.
The pills spilt out of the bottle on to deep blue comforter.
The comforter in question reminded Essence of the waves, that night in Cancun. The beach party. And Indie’s last vacation. Essence remembered the terrified look on her sister’s face when the undertow had caught her. It had been so unexpected, and Essence hadn’t been able to do anything.
Essence looked at her hands. She recalled the woman who had spoken to her class in grade six, all those years ago—It’s okay to feel sad, as long as you tell someone about it. But Essence couldn’t talk to anyone else. She was trapped inside her head.
She reached for the bottle. It rolled into her palm like an old friend, waiting for her to rescue it from its abandoned life on the bed.
And now it was going to do the same for her.


Yeah... just a note: there was a word limit of 360 words.

Post Script

Yeah, I know I just posted approximately three minutes ago, but then I remembered: I'm not going to be posting for the next few days, due to my demanding TV schedule.
I can't help it. I'm addicted.
Tonight is House, tomorrow is the LOST SEASON SIX PREMIER (!!!!), and Wednesday is Dragons Den.
Quelle exciting!

We all want what we can't have

Isn't that the truth.
While I was writing, I had to take my inner editor, duct tape his mouth, shove him in the basement, and threaten to shave off his eyebrows to get him to stay quiet and not critique my novel.
But.
Inner Editor seems to like that basement. He's not leaving anytime soon. Because now that I need him, he's disappeared. I will sit at my computer, stare at my document for five minutes, and then I'll go on Facebook or do homework or some other waste of time. I can't edit!
Plus, my Microsoft Office trial has run out, so I have no way to write. It's been two days, and it's killing me. Google Docs doesn't cut it for me, and OpenOffice is not cooperating, as in: I've been trying to download it for three freaking days, and nothing.
Grr.

Done!

Don't you love the feeling of finishing a book?
I printed out my finished manuscript last night. And then, because I have decided to rebel against all advice, I started to edit immediately. Not big things, but I cut out all of my breakings of the fourth wall, and all of the spelling mistakes.
And then to reward myself, I plopped down on the couch to watch my all-time favorite movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
So now I think I'll get off Facebook, do some more editing, and then watch it again.

48 245 Words!

Progress report for my self-initiated JanNoWriMo (I know that there's an official one, but I was to lazy to sign up):
I have approximately thirty-four hours and forty minutes to write one thousand, seven hundred and fifty-five words, and, yeah, I'm pumped. I can do this! So I'll see you in thirty four hours with a brand new manuscript, all ready for editing!
Sorry it's such a short post, but I think I might have taken a small bit more cough syrup then the correct dose, so I'm currently dizzy and I have the spins. And I'm really, really out of it. So I think I'll just go take a nap.

Reality is truly scaring me - Billy Talent, "Line and Sinker"

Just a quick post to inform anyone who has been living under a very large rock about the tragedy that happened in Haiti the past week. The earthquake was some 7.0 on the Richter scale. You can donate through the Red Cross (text redcross to 30333 to donate five dollars) or World Vision. Of course, those are just two examples.

Oh, Crap.

Yes, I am in a state of panic.
I gave my novel to my math teacher. Why my math teacher, you ask? She's my favorite teacher. Then why are you so upset, you continue. Well, the answer to that is simple--I was obviously having a brain aneurysm when I gave it to her.
Or not.
You see, I forgot the content. It's not terrible, but it's ever since I handed it over on Friday, I keep running over little bits in my mind. The language. The characters. The drunken bar fight.
She's going to be back tomorrow (she wasn't at school today). What do I do?

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. - Author Unknown

Book review: No Plot, No Problem, by Chris Baty.
Yeah, it's a book about NaNoWriMo. But you know what they say - There's no such thing as life after NaNoWriMo, only life before it.
Okay, so they don't say that. But I say that.
So, ending my mini-rant, I have to say that this book deserves high praise. It's a good guide, sure, but it's more then that. It's witty, and it's descriptive. My favorite part:
"The love of books, I think, was the saving grace of the entire enterprise. However unseriously we had agreed to take the whole novel writing process, we had absolute reverence for books themselves, the papery bricks of goodness which, when pried apart, unleashed the most amazing visions in their owners. In books, we had found magical portals and steadfast companions, witnessed acts of true love and gaped at absolute evil. Books, as much as our friends and parents, had been our early educators, allowing us our first exciting glimpses into life beyond the gates of childhood."
Papery bricks of goodness? This man is amazing!
Final rating: Four and a half stars out of five (because no book is perfect!).