Bad day

Hello there!
I'm having a rough writing day today, so this is your only warning. It might be bad. Or rather, it will be bad.
Just so you know how bad my writing has been today here's a gem that I wrote this morning. It's terrible.

If there was any indication of Bert’s presence, they wouldn’t have noticed. Well, Ranunculus might have noticed something if she’d known what they were looking for, in the first place, which she hadn’t. So she didn’t. But as far as either of them knew there was nothing, so it’s not like Cephas could blame her.          

Betcha that made you cringe. Yeah, me too.

Today I decided to work on outlining and scene plotting, just so you know. But I'm sure not a sprocket of pure poetry today.
So what do you do when you aren't exactly stuck, but every comes out more than a little off?

P.S. Tomorrow will be my last post before getting cut off from Internet access for up to 2 weeks.

Hey there! I told you that I would be posting today, and so here I am. I have a link here to a website where you can check out my entry in Stephanie Morrill's Writing Prompt Contest. I place in the top few so here is the link. I hope you enjoy it! First time I placed.

Okay, moving on. I know you all know that I am going to TBQ Regionals the weekend after next (the 5th, 6th & 7th), And I just wanted to thank those of you who have offered me support, going into this big competition. Pray that the team will grow and learn to support one another through this experience, and that we can be a good example to others. Thanks so much for all your support!

I just wanted to make a quick comment on the weather as it is really, really nice today, 65 degrees. Which is warm where I live. Well compared to the last few freezing cold weeks where it actually snowed, much to some peoples' disbelief.

Well, I ought to let ya'll go, or I'll have nothing to say tomorrow, or I'll go on and on about BQ. Which I do way too much.

Thanks for having me on your computer today, bye!

Writing, Reading & Bible Quizzing, Oh my!

Hi ya'll! I am mega excited right now because of something posted here.
Yep, that made my day!
Made me hyper too!

I have been studying my brains out for the TBQ Regionals where my team will quiz BQ royalty, if there is such a thing. I will honestly be surprised if I have any brains left after the tournament. Or my brains might get fried out right before the tournament and then-well, that won't go over very well with my teammates.

Bible Quiz trips are really fun, especially when we go to a hotel with a pool, and free breakfast. The van rides are not for those who are more than a little claustrophobic, because we pack the kids and parents tight! The coach tries to make everyone study 55 minutes of every hour, but it turns into more like 55 for the entire 6 hour trip! I am so excited for Regionals! Seeing all my quizzing friends on the other teams, quizzing them etc.

Last year our team competed in a high level tournament in Southern Texas (despite my use of "ya'll" I don't live down in the land of black gold), and it was at the exact same time as the 2010 Winter Olympics were going on. So our team decided to have our own BQ Olympics, when we weren't quizzing. We had luggage cart races, pool football and elevator races in the hotels, a scavenger hunt in Wal-mart, and a banana pepper eating contest at the 59' Diner. I will always treasure those memories that I made on BQ trips, (I got a bronze over-all medal in the BQ Olympics!) I remember the boys singing constantly  the whole way down to Texas, repetitive songs like "With Christ in your boat, you can smile at the storm, sailing home!" And how much I bonded with other Christians all brought together for the purpose of quizzing over God's word.

Oh, and in case you were wondering the list for the scavenger hunt looked something like this:

1. Baby Bath Toy
2. Optimus Prime Action Figure
3. Cast Iron Skillet
4. Canned Jalapeno peppers
5. T-shirt with the president on it
6. 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle
7. Colgate Toothpaste
8. Box of Valentines candy
9. A stuffed bear with hearts on it.
10. black nail polish.

I'm proud to say that my team found everything on the list.

So if anyone tells you that Bible Quizzers never have any fun, you be sure to set them straight!

Oh, and I just finished "Lilies in Moonlight" by Allison Pittman, "A Family for Faith" by Missy Tippens, and "The Forgiving Hour" by Robin Lee Hatcher. All great books that I would recommend to you. And right now I am reading "The Deepest Waters" by Dan Walsh.

If you have any questions regarding BQ or anything else I post, please leave a comment and I will get back to you!

Blessings!

To entertain y'all

To entertain ya'll here is a random snippet of nothing in particular that I wrote in a time of boredom and writer's block. (Writer's block associated with what I was supposed to be working on, that is). Remember, I did promise randomness!

Three days later, Mort returned. He returned with a princess. She was, in essence just like every other princess Ward had seen before. And he had seen more than his share, with Bob being married to one and Mort rescuing one almost every other week. (You see, sometimes while rescuing one princess he would find another in distress as well, and save her too. Not to mention all the people Mort rescued that weren’t princesses).

                This princess was no different, she was beautiful, charming, perfectly poised, and completely in love with Mort. In fact she had already planned their wedding down to the last frosting rosette on the seven foot tall, twenty layer wedding cake.

And Mort was scared. Not of Princess Harriet, but of the raving madman who was running full out toward them, waving sword. He was old, it was true, but he was menacing just same, (old men waving swords usually don’t do so unless they want to look menacing).

The madman was the king of Lardo.

Though at that moment he looked more like a pauper than a king, running about in his long john underwear usually had that effect on kings- and people in general. The sword added a whole new level of insanity to the almost comical situation.

I know, I cringed. It was pretty bad. I tend to write lots of stuff just to amuse myself, and that stuff that I write in moments such as those is complete and utter nonsense. Just thought I'd amuse ya'll.

Writing and reading about love?

I don't write romance. Mostly because it hasn't happened to me enough for me to write about it. I haven't been a jilted prince either, but somehow that's easier than writing about love. Writing about love comes hard for me. I write about it in passing, as a side story, but it doesn't take center stage.


But I love to read about love! Give me eight Christian fiction romances and I'll be good for a week! But set me down and tell me that I have to write a romance, not just a story with romance in it, I'd be sulking around for the rest of my life(actually I wouldn't be, I'd just be giving it my best go at it!). I think that it mostly stems from me being a oldest child perfectionist, and I know that it isn't my strong suit. The story starts out good with a good plot etc. but I have noticed that alot of romances feed off of emotion. Raw emotion at romantic frustrations. I haven't experienced many romantic frustrations. Thank goodness for that! I can't ever seem to get the right emotions, or deep enough reactions. Nothing I write makes me want to sigh. *sigh* I just can't get the scenes quite right.


I think that's where writing what you know comes to play. I think writing what you know is very important, I like to write main characters who have horses. Which works great from me since I can honestly say that I know horses. I have one.

I can also (and do!) write about struggles with being faithful and following God. I struggle writing those scenes too, because I want them to be real and easy to relate to. Like in the short story I'm working on now, my MC is confused about God's will for kings because, why would God choose a tyrant king who oppresses the people? He struggles with God's will for his life. For the kingdom.

I guess this post is mainly me rambling randomly about my writing struggles. So over and out!

Inspired by fairy tales

I always loved fairy tales as a child. My mother would red, and re-read Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and the Beast, The Snow Queen, etc. to me every night. You name it I've probably heard it. (Though I had a strong dislike for Scandinavian fairy tales, which always seemed gruesome with somebody always cutting off some body part with out thinking twice). Fairy tales inspired me to write fiction, because that's what fairy tales were, made up stories. I loved writing my own fairy tales, where the princes and princesses were professional private eyes, or where a prince was in search of a princess but fell in love with and married a princess's lady-in-waiting instead. Most of all I liked the romance. How right after the two people met, they knew right off that they were right for each other, and would endure flaming trials together by each other's sides. What I liked most about fairy tales was that they were made up and I could create my own realm full of made up people. I even tried to rewrite a fairy tale. Here is an excerpt from  my attempt (which I have not picked up since I was 12), of Sleeping Beauty.



I slowly opened my sleep laden eyelids, blinking back the sudden brilliance of light that assaulted my sensitive eyes. I blinked again, and again, until finally the room came into focus. My room. The once lavender walls were now faded and covered in...dust? Surely I hadn't slept that-

    "Fair Maiden," I sat bolt upright, and whirled towards the voice. "Fair maiden, I have broken the evil enchantment that has entrapped you and your family for 100 years, I have fought wild beasts and angry peasants alike for the privilege of rescuing you and kissing your lips."

    He'd done what! Suddenly, I felt like spitting.

    I turned my attention to the speaker, he was about my age, probably tall, but I couldn't tell because of the fact that he was kneeling beside my bed. His mouth moved animatedly as he spoke, while the sunlight dance of his golden hair. Not only that but he was dressed head to toe in blue velvet. Definitely a prince.

    I tried and failed, to disentangle a cobweb from my mud brown hair, trying my best not to think about this velvet clad prince, kissing me. The thought made me shudder.

    I tried to rise but then decided not to when I saw the state of my dress, covered with more than 2 inches of dust, and bird droppings. I had the sudden urge to bathe-immediatly.

That's all folks!

P.S. Now I write Christian based stories.

P.P.S. I'm also reading "Beauty Sleep" by Cameron Dokey. 

A 75 question tag about my story.

It seems like everyone is doing tags. So here is mine:

1.    What’s your word count? Gosh, I don’t really know, because it changes all the time.

2. How long until you finish?   Forever. Maybe.

3. If you have finished, how long did it take you? I’m not done yet. But my first story took me about a year for the rough draft.

4. Do you have an outline? Yes and no. I have one to a certain point, a very rough one, with plenty of room to grow and change. But I always have a basic outline so I don’t forget the main plot, and other important things. Though some scenes have detailed outlines, (confrontations with bad guys).

5. Do you have a plot? Yes. I would have a plot if I have an outline, wouldn’t I?

6. How many words do you typically write a day? 1,000

7. What was your greatest word count in one day? 5,000

8. What was your least impressive word count in one day? 0

9. What inspired you to write? Reading. Basically I would read a book and be inspired. I would say, “Wow, that was good. But someone should really write a book about ____” So then I wrote such a story.

10. Does your novel have a theme song? No. No music that I know of could capture the randomness of it.

11. Assign each of your major characters a theme song. I decline.

12. Which character is most like you? Cephas & Tav. Yeah, I picked two.

13. Which character would you most likely be friends with? Gabe, or Yves.

14. Do you have a Gary-Stu or Mary Sue character? No, that would be too predictable.

15. Who is your favorite character in your novel? Gabe.

16. Have your characters ever done something completely unexpected? Of course, it would be boring if they didn’t.

17. Have you based any of your novel directly on personal experiences? Directly, no. Indirectly, yes. Especially people wise.

18. Do you believe in plot bunnies? Yes, most certainly.

19. Is there magic in your novel? No.

20. Are any holidays celebrated in your novel? Mentioned in passing.

21. Does anyone die? Yes, in the back story lots of people die. And in actual story a few do met their demise. *sigh* I didn’t really know them anyway.

22. How many cups of coffee/tea have you consumed during your writing experience? Non. I strongly dislike coffee or and no tea. Caffeine is bad for you.

23. What is the latest you have stayed up writing? 10:30p.m.?

24. What is the best line? I can’t decide. Some are great sounding now, but won’t be next week.

 
25. What is the worst line? “ I remember that time he was telling everyone about the ancient mummifying practices of the Giki while we were all eating fresh venison at Michaelmas, Lennon shoved a large steak into his mouth…” he trailed off, cleared his throat and changed the subject.

26. Have you dreamed about your novel or its characters? Strangely, no.

27. Does your novel rely heavily on allegory? Not really.

28. Summarize your novel in under fifteen words. Rightful king is wronged; joins a rebel movement, and the good guys win. That was 13.

29. Do you love all your characters? Almost, except the villain, for which I can only pity. And even pitying him is a stretch.

30. Have you done something sadistic or cruel to your characters specifically to increase your word count? Not specifically to increase word count. No, that would be cruel and sadistic.

31. What was the last thing your main character ate? Venison roasted over an open fire.

32. Describe your main character in three words. Guarded. Logical. Seeker.

33. What would your antagonist dress up as for Halloween? Julius Caesar. He thinks that he’s that cool.

34. Does anyone in your story go to a place of worship? Not exactly. But he fellowships with other believers in their homes.

35. How many romantic relationships take place in your novel? One. Thinking about having one as a back story.

36. Are there any explosions in your novel? It is restricted to door bashing and other such crashing about. But that can be explosive. Not to mention explosive pain.

 37. Is there an apocalypse in your novel? No.

38. Does your novel take place in a post-apocalyptic world? Nope.

39. Are there zombies, vampires or werewolves in your novel? No, the thought disgusts me. There are already too many in books about such things.

40. Are there witches, wizards or mythological creatures/figures in your novel? No. No. No.

41. Is anyone reincarnated? No. That would be freaky and wrong.

42. Is anyone physically ailed? More  like war wounds, and the elderly have joint pain. Maybe.

43. Is anyone mentally ill? At times they act that way.

44. Does anyone have swine flu? Who made up this questionnaire anyway? NO!

45. Who has pets in your novel and what are they? Um, the hero has a horse.

46. Are there angels, demons, or any religious references/figures in your novel? Yes. No direct references to angels or demons.

47. How about political figures? Fictional ones. Like the King etc.

48. Is there incessant drinking? No, that would be gross and disturbing. And everyone would be dead.

49. Are there board games? If so, which ones? No time for games.

50. Are there any dream sequences? I’m thinking about writing one.

51. Is there humor? Yes. Why wouldn’t it.

52. Is there tragedy? Of course.

53. Does anyone have a temper tantrum? Yes, but it’s more of a venting of confusion and hurt.

54. How many characters end up single at the end of your novel? Almost all of them.

55. Is anyone in your novel adopted? Yes

56. Does anyone in your novel wear glasses? Maybe. Can’t decide if they have glasses or not.

57. Has your novel provided insight about your life? Yes, I would say so.

58. Your personality? Yes, helps me express myself better.

59. Has your novel inspired anyone? Well, it made my best friend who is also a writer want to spend more time writing.

     60. How many people have asked to read your novel? 2.

61. Have you drawn any of your characters? In my head.

62. Has anyone drawn your characters for you? No.

63. Does anyone vomit in your novel? Not that I know of. But I’ll think about it.

64. Does anyone bleed in your novel? Yes.

65. Do any of your characters watch TV? No. I wasn’t invented yet. And I believe that was a good thing.

66. What size shoe does your main character wear? I have no clue. 10?

67. Do any of the characters in your novel use a computer? No TV. No Computer.

68. How would you react if your novel was erased entirely? Be glad I have most of it written as a rough draft by hand.

69. Did you cry at killing off any of your characters? Not really. Since I haven’t killed any that I actually knew anyway.

70. Did you cheer when killing off one of your characters? No. Though there was a sigh of relief that the storyline would now fit together better.

71. What advice would you give to a fellow writer? Read! And even if you don’t ever get published or share it with anyone, write. Never stop. (Not literally, figuratively).

72. Describe your ending in three words. Justice is served.

73. Are there any love triangles, squares, hexagons, etc.? Sorta. But I might edit it out.

74. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the least stressful, 10 being the most) how does your stress rank? 2
 

75. Was it worth it? Yes.

If you've read this far, you've been tagged! If you decide to do this, be sure and post a link to yours in mine's comments that way I can read and comment on yours. P.S. Yes, some of the questions are very weird.

Thanks for reading! Now you're tagged!