English Journal: Paranormalcy #3

Let's not mention last week. It was a bad week.

As always, beware of spoilers, read good books, and happy holidays.


Evie works for IPCA, an international organization which attempts, with mixed success, to control various paranormal creatures and keep them away from humans. They are just a little anal about this. When Evie leaves IPCA later in the book, 'organization does not equal justice' becomes something of a theme. She joins what might be considered an anarchist faction, if the book had been more political. Though it's run by a normal man, the principle is for the paranormals to keep each other in check, rather than having Big Brother constantly peeking over their shoulder. There's understandable animosity in the faction toward IPCA, made more reasonable when you discover some of their less lucrative tactics. Still, the tension between the "anarchists" and Evie is practically palpable for a while, until she comes to terms with her friends being her enemies, and vice versa.

Evie tried to explore other species' positions a little, earlier on, but she's quickly distracted by her own duties and opinions. Joining the faction wakes her up a bit. I was glad she didn't flip-flop - "They're good, I like them, oh wait, they're bad, I hate them." She does become something I'm constantly working toward: objective. She reconciles with the fact that even the people she loves are at fault, and even those at fault can be loved.



That's it for the Paranormalcy journals. The next two, if I keep going in order, will be on the incomparable Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott.

English Journal: Paranormalcy #2

It's Wednesday. I'm getting a little less dismal at this. *I wish*

So, neglecting speeches and schoolwork and a few Christian-themed blogs I promised to do for a friend, I'm here to post another journal from my English class on the incomparable Paranormalcy. I'll try to keep the Christian themes to a minimum when posting here, since this isn't that kind of blog, but bear with me - this journal didn't come to a very good end without it. Until next time.


There was a theme running through the book - subtle enough that I didn't notice at first, but I'm sure it's intentional - about judgment and worldview. It's kind of a common theme in fantasy recently. Actually, it's borderline cliche: don't judge a vampire by his fangs, and whatnot. I think White went a little deeper into it. Because Evie works for the government, the idea of allies and enemies seems more true than in some books (title redacted) because there's actual authority and duty and power play going on, not just an angsty teenager thinking the world's against her.

Anyway, White really isn't dealing with the nature of evil here - well, she is if you count the multiple reestablishings of the heroine's "personal evil", thereby defining what pure evil is not. Eh. I hope that makes sense.

Evie even mentions once that fairies, minor to major reoccurring baddies of the book, are not so much evil or amoral as they are other moralled. What's important to humans, not so much with the Fae. There are even two clans of fairies which are differing levels of nasty, and they seem to consider each other evil.

I think it's an important point, especially for Christians: it's not reasonable to expect people to conform to our standards if they don't believe in them. Like the organization Evie works for, depending on other moralled people to do what we want them to do isn't very wise, or very fair. And it's not very good for our reputation, either.

Music and Writing

A few days ago, I was getting ready to edit a scene from my WIP and literally couldn't bring myself to start until I brought some music up in the background. I'm one of those authors who finds it much easier to write with music. It often reinforces and/or inspires certain characters or relationships, regardless of if the songs themselves are mentioned in the book.

That being said - My Chemical Romance has been my favorite band for several years. They have a brand new album out, and I've done more than I usually would to celebrate the occasion, partly because of the band, but partly because this album has already been an inspiration, from the time I heard the promo for the very first single. I won't be able to buy the CD 'til I get some funds (Christmas money is never saved with me), but I've watched every video, including one with the entire album on it (you can see why I love this band, yes?) and I'm excited. Very, very excited. There is one driving force behind this excitement: Spade.

I haven't talked about Spade much, and I won't, because it's not my project. Well, I'm co-author, but it's not my baby/brain-child, the idea came from a friend that just got too busy to do all the writing herself. I offered to help, and she offered to let me. It's my fall-back project for when I'm stuck on my own stuff, or just need a break.

Like MCR's new album, Danger Days, Spade is a dystopian set in California (though it's more governmental breakdown than true disaster story), and it has it's light/dark moments. We don't have masks, dracs, or blasters, but we do have a kidnapping, copious amounts of thievery, and rebellion. While hearing Danger Days for the first time, I thought continually about Spade, the characters and what I love about them, and about that book.

There was once a rather self-indulgent scene early in Spade where a large group of characters start bawling out 'Teenagers', a MCR song, when it came on the radio. Now, in my mind, that scene that probably won't make it past revisions has 'Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na)' in it, instead. Whenever I think about the two MCs, I feel like 'The Only Hope For Me is You' and 'Sing' are their songs, their hope and their message. And that's what I love about MCR, about this album, and about music. It rings true to me as a fan, a person, and a creator, and it makes me want to write and draw and get up in front of people and scream my lungs out. That's my definition of good music.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thanks go out to MCR, for breaking the rules, making this album, and bringing back the sunshine and color. It's been a trip watching them grow as artists and leeching off their inspiration.

In closing, MCR rocks, dystopians are fun, and this was an unusually long blog post. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

English Journal: Paranormalcy

You know what's funny? I said I'd do these every Sunday. And I thought I'd be able to do it.

Wishful thinking = disappointment.

I lost one of my journalling notebooks, so for now I'll be using some from this year. The first three are for Kiersten White's Paranormalcy, which just came out earlier this year. Since it's such a new book, and by a blogger I happen to admire greatly, I'll probably post the others, too, over the next two weeks. Just remember: spoilers. My English teacher, sadly, will probably never get around to reading Para, but if you are planning to, you've been forewarned.


This is the first book I've ever ordered before it came out. It makes me feel all writerly and connected. Between that, and the fact that I read and love the author's blog, these journals may not be completely objective.

Basically, this is the paranormal book I've been waiting for. It's funny and sweet and a perfect comfort read, but it's also deep and the characters are personal. It doesn't take itself seriously, but parts of it are serious. High concept is all well and good, but sometimes you need a hobby read. And why shouldn't a hobby read be well-written, too?

The main character, Evie, made a pretty successful heroine. She had enough characterization to make her personality and originality clear without ostrasizing the reader, which I think is important for this kind of first person. When the story's moving quickly, which it usually is, she takes a little more of a backseat to help the reader experience the story.

She also falls in love without being supremely annoying to anyone who has not fallen in love, mostly, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

Englih Journal: "Rose Daughter"

Did someone here say something about posting journals every Sunday? What a little liar that person must be...

So, today I have another journal. I'm still trying to pick things that are at least a little known, which seriously limits me choices. This one is rather long, though I'm not sure if this is more of a downside for me, or for anyone reading this self-indulgent tripe.

Without further ado, an English class journal on Robin McKinley's "Rose Daughter."

McKinley has a real "thing" for Beauty and the Beast. Good thing, too, because I'm the same way. I've read both her adaptations, "Rose Daughter" and Beauty", and another book with definite connections to the tale. So if there journals end up being about all three instead of just Rose Daughter, it's because I can't quite keep them straight in my head.

I've been reading a lot of books about magic lately. It's a little unusual for me, since I generally have little interest in it; my interest is in fantasy. The fact that the two often go together has softened me to warily accept the occasional magician. But the magic in these books is... quiet, maybe. Very Chronicles of Narnia, in a way. And I actually like it quite a bit. Particularly when magic is attached to the story in non-otherworldly ways. For instance, in "Rose Daughter" there are an awful lot of, who would've guessed, roses. (McKinley loves roses. I know this because I am now slightly obsessed fan of hers, and I read her blog every day.) In the story, roses are a symbol of, and a blessing for, love. "Not silly sweethearts' love," but real, true love. It's said that only wizards and greenwitches can get roses to grow because people didn't have enough love to give them. It's a continual question n the book whether our heroine, Beauty, is a greenwitch without knowing it because she got the roses in her new town to bloom again.

I'd kind of given up hope on roses - they're dreadfully overdone, in fiction and real life - but this has brought me back to them again. I think that's proof enough that "Rose Daughter" is a piece of literary magic.

English Journals: Howl's Moving Castle

So, basically, my language teacher is awesome. Every quarter we hand in ten journals - three-quarters or more of a page per entry - on outside reading books that we choose for ourselves, and I think that's about 25% of our English grade. I especially appreciate this because a lot of the books I read wouldn't get past the school's radar, if this program didn't give me something to do with them that doesn't necessarily hinge on their content. That's not to say I read dirty books, my school is just verrry cautious. Sometimes we journal on assigned books, but not usually.

It's been in my mind for a while now to post some journals - the good ones, and ones about more popular books - here, kind of like book reviews but without stars. There's a slight possibility for spoilers: insert flashing red WARNING sign. So, since I'm starting today and today is a Sunday, let's just say I'll post one (long) or two (short) every Sunday. I'll start with the ones from last year, since I can't find my journal from the year before, and work my way forward. They may read a bit oddly, since I write them with that specific teacher in mind, almost like letters. It's not quite the same as blog posts aimed at the public in general.

Journal #1: Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones

"Now that's the kind of magic I admire. Taking something that already exists and making a curse out of it." Calcifer, Howl's resident landed-falling-star, says something to this effect in regards to a rather tricky curse spun out of a poem, "Song" by John Donne. I have to say I agree with him.

I generally don't go for fantasy magic: the negative side is a bit too "real" for my tastes, and a little magic goes a long way. But this is the kind of magic I admire. Between spells, seven league boots, and a handful of other unexplained magical elements, there is a magic so pure and simple that the heroine uses it without knowing what she's doing. It is the magic of talking life into things; plain things like hats and strange things like animated scarecrows. All Sophie Hatter has to do is talk to something (she's in rather a habit of doing this) and it takes on what she says, becoming either alive or bespelled.

The thing I like so much about this, though, is that the principle applies to our non-magical words as well; at least, if you truly believe that words have power, which I do. The things we say to people, even after the words are forgotten, brings something up in them that wasn't there before, or strengthens something that was. Whether we're tearing down or building up, the distinct mark of our words affect all we come in contact with.

Computerized!

Not only do I have a Twitter now (which I use to follow industry people - mostly agents and publishing houses - and a handful of my favorite authors), I also have a Zazzle. It's a fun little interweb store where I can make products with my silly pictures. It's not making any money, but that doesn't matter because it's FREE! ^_^ Gotta love the internet. And it wouldn't hurt me to work a little on design asthetic-y stuff. The reason this is here on my writing blog? Most of the designs on my products are characters from one or the other of my two big WIPs.

So, this is supposed to make my "Zazzle Panel" come up. Let's see if it works.


Create personalized gifts at Zazzle.

Wow, pretty. Makes you want to click on it and spend money, doesn't it? =] I kid, I kid. There's really nothing there that anyone who doesn't know the characters would buy.

The blog-o-sphere is a mystical and lovely place... It feels kind of awesome reading about authors and agents, anticipating a good book before it's even out (Kiersten White's Paranormalcy makes me very happy. Eleven days...). And the contests! Seems like as soon as I start stressing about querying, there are a whole bunch of query and submission contests going around.

Karen Gowen is hosting this one: http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/2010/08/lettuce-write-and-get-your-chapters.html Send in the first three chapters of your manuscript. While three winners get to send in a full for editor Allie Maldonando to review for them, every entry will recieve some feedback on the three chapters.

Another hosted by Adventures in Children's Publishing for MG/YA pitches: http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-contest-yamg-pitch-to-query-letter.html At noon tomorrow they'll be open for fifty pitches, but the contest progresses in steps. The prize is a three-chapter critique from agent Sarah LaPolla (who was on my list of agents-to-query before I found out that she's on an indefinite vampire break. Twitter saves my butt, yay) who is also judging the contest. But they're encouraging a lot of critique between contestants, and there's a panel of "mentor authors" that'll comment on the entries, so at any rate it's a good way to get feedback.

Sara B. Larson is also holding a pitch contest: http://sarablarson.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-path-to-getting-agent-pt-6.html The winning pitch gets a query critique.

This is one of the coolest: http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/ Come up with a good title for Krista V.'s WIP (currently called Bob), and four wonderful prizes will be divided between the three winners, including 1st pg and query reviews by agents.

I hope I get around to entering all of them. <3

The Chronicle of Late Night Doubts

Dear non-existent reader,

It's about three thirty A. M. and I am not, unfortunately, sleep-typing, but completely awake. This is going to be one of those posts I hope I can look back on, one or two or five years from now, and laugh (either because I've proved myself wrong, or because I've proven myself right and gotten over it).

Lately, I've been wondering why I wrote Accidents. Which is really a stupid question - I wrote it because I realised that my last series, Colorblind, was a horrible dead-end idea, and I needed something new I could throw myself into with everything I'd learned up to that point. I'm not exactly sure when this was anymore - maybe summer/fall '07? I'm not saying I regret writing Accidents or Colorblind, because I learned alot from practical application that I couldn't learn in English class. I discovered my areas of fault, learned to be my own editor, developed the desire to be original, to be great, because I hated looking at what I'd written and not being able to say, "I love this. This is amazing. This is my best work yet, and even when I've become a better writer, I will not be able to make this any better. This is perfect." It's kind of the unattainable dream, right? I know that nothing I write will ever be perfect, but that has to be my goal, or there's nothing to shoot for. I don't want to just be as good as anyone else.

I know that some of my best writing so far has gone into Accidents. I don't think it's a bad book, or a bad concept, or that it wasn't worth my time. And I still think it's a good book to enter the market with. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like, why am I doing this? What connection do I feel to these characters? What am I trying to say?

Truthfully, I say a lot of things in the novel - little tidbits of myself, tucked in here and there - but in the grand scheme of things, the theme of Accidents is overcoming all the cr*p that life throws at you. It's something I care about, obviously, but I don't know if it'll really speak to other people in that way, because my MC has a rough time with that - the overcoming. It's not so much how a person should do it, but how my MC does do it, which isn't a perfect or healthy method at all. Maybe it'll be a warning to people. Maybe, if I get a chance to see the series to it's end, it'll give people a little hope that the passage of time really is a good healer. I just don't know.

People who've read it, or part of it, say things about the characters, the writing, the plot, but I haven't heard any thoughts on the theme. I'm worried that I've written a book that will not stay with you. But now that it's done, really the only thing I can do is keep moving forward with everything I do from now on.

I am always learning. It's a little painful.

Sincerely,

Shadows

The First Five

Okay, last post was kind of a downer. So this one's going to be more fun. I've finally picked the first five agents I'm going to query! (Well, the first four - one is a publisher.) I have a bunch lined up to research for round two, as well.

I'm really interested in all four of these agents (and the publisher), so I'm praying they'll be as interested in me! They all do YA and fantasy, I checked, because otherwise I'd end up looking like a total n00b sending an urban fantasy to someone who only does historical drama, or a YA fiction to someone who only does self-help books. And that would be embarrassing.

I found out recently that the agent I had been really into before, a junior agent with Writers House, was no longer working, and I was totally disappointed. But researching all the other options out there, and seeing how good they were, got me excited again. I know that most people don't get their first choice of agents, and send out a lot of queries, but now that my first choice is no longer an option, it's kind of like, "Okay, I didn't get to work with her, and I may not get to work with these people either, but at least once I send out queries it'll be doing something. And then, if I keep sending, and keep writing and editing and getting better, with a little luck, I'll get to work with someone awesome in the end." There isn't exactly a shortage of amazing agents - anyone who takes on a job like that for the love of the industry is already pretty amazing in my book. So I have hope! Haha.

Discouraging

Stephenie Meyer, look what you did. *sigh*

Okay, so the world isn't lacking in open, interested YA lit writing agents, but it gets a little annoying when I keep seeing things like, "Please no vampires, give me something new." Because, really, I think my book is something new. It has Kappa in it, for heaven's sake. But I know that a premise of "and the main character is a vampire" will put these people off their appetites faster than if I were writing about cannibals. (Not that there's much of a difference.) It's times like these when I think about dropping Accidents, writing out one of my non-fantasy manuscript ideas, and using that as my first novel instead. But I don't want to do that, because I think Accidents is a good first novel to go into the market with. It's got commercial appeal, but it's a little edgier than some of the other YA lit that's out now, and it's a series, the only one I have planned, and I want to lead with something strong, but not too strong. And I think, out of my current novel ideas, it's the one with the most shelf appeal, meaning that people might actually look at it/buy it even though I'm a new author and no one's heard of my before. It's just annoying that my best leading novel has to have vampires, and that vampires are so popular/unpopular now, when very few of my other ideas have any fantasy in them at all.

That was a rant. Sorry for anyone who actually read through that. I feel better now.

Little Piece...

I thought it might be fun to post a little, teeny piece of the book I'm currently editting, Accidents: Densetsu. This is the first book in the Accidents series, and this scene was added pretty recently to the second chapter of the book. It's just a fun transitional scene, really, but I think it's important because it brings up some themes that might be important in later books and it highlights Art's macabre/playful side. You can read the rest of the chapter on my webook account.

Artemis

I wandered down the south hall, letting my fingers brush along the lockers. The school had decent heating, but the lockers still felt like metal ice. Only one teacher asked where I was going. “Mrs. Lamb wanted me to get another roll of paper towels.” It was a good lie; all the teachers knew that the art teacher was notoriously messy, and that she almost never gave hall passes. The guy straightened his glasses and told me to get a move on. He watched me go, though, so I had to take the wrong hall to the supply closet until he’d walked away. I turned back and skulked to the Biology lab.
No one was using the lab, so I slipped in and went looking for Yorik. That’s what Tabor had named the human skull model that no one ever used. I sat on the edge of a desk, more or less out of view of the windows into the hall, and talked at Yorik, because I was just that desperate. “What’s it like to be dead?” I asked him seriously, running my thumbs over his teeth. “Is it interesting? Or is it nothing?” I worked his jaw for him. Tabor sometimes tried to convince people, usually our Biology teacher, that he talked to her. He’d never talked to me unless I helped him. “I don’t know anyone who believes in Heaven. If it existed, it’d probably suck. I don’t want to just... keep going... forever.” I sighed and let myself flop back on the table, holding Yorik up the way Hamlet did in illustrations. “I’m close enough as it is.”
Yorik chattered reassuringly at me, and I patted his skull plates and put him back on his shelf. The bell rang as I started back to the art room. By the time I got there, all of the students were long gone, leaving the teacher to clean up and put away everyone’s supplies. She didn’t look up. I grabbed my canvas bag and left without saying a word.

Shameless Plug

Okay, so I just found out that they've released a new edition of "Sunshine" (my favorite book ever) for YA instead of adult. I hope this means I can finally suggest it to more people. XDD I have to get my hands on a copy first, to see what - if anything - they've actually changed in the book. If "the infamous not-a-sex-scene sex scene" is gone, then I'm totally forcing the book on my language teacher. My class would be a better set of people if we read this book, as much as the guys would probably hate me for it. XD I'll be kind of sad if they took it out, even so... It's totally TMI for me, but I think it's more important to the relationship of Those Involved than I previously realized. But with it in the book, I know I won't get it past the administration as a reading book. And we really need some that are more current, in my opinion.

Anyway, if you happen to be reading this rambling shame of a blog and haven't read "Sunshine" by Robin McKinley, I highly suggest you remedy either one or the other of those conditions immediately. If you're under sixteen, please go for the one in the YA section with the golden cover. If you're over sixteen, the red cover or the building cover will be just fine.

Uh-hem. So, my creative writing course is coming to an end. The last class is Wednesday, and then the following Tuesday there's an exam. It's really been helpful - I wasn't sure if it would be, but it was. A lot of good practice. Very encouraging. Hopefully I'll get the chance to do it again next year. The moral of this story is: Don't knock it 'til you try it.

P.S. I'm in the last few pages of Anne Rice's "Interview"... That book scared the **** out of me. XDDD But I liked it. I kind of hope that, someday, I can write like her. Just trying to figure out how she came up with some of that stuff.... The mind boggles.

Insert one long, satisfying scream

That's what editting feels like. All of the annoyance and pain you went through writing in the first paste, doubled over with the neccesity to nit-pick, escaping in a drawn-out burst of energy, praying you'll get it all done before your breath runs out. And then, in the silence, the sense of accomplishment is renewed, and you can look at your (hopefully) improved work with pride.

Okay, so I'm not done editting yet. It takes a long time to edit 70,000 words. But I'm plugging away at it, getting it done so I can start looking for some outside feedback and then - finally - sending it out to agencies. My English teacher is reading it as I edit, but he's so busy that he doesn't mind how long it's taking. =P I recently finished reading his book, which he is also editting, so we've had some interesting literary convos. Take my advice, if you're a young writer: don't just talk to other young writers. Find some older, more experienced, perhaps even published authors to talk to. It shouldn't be that hard; between two of my aunts, I could get connected with dozens of published writers. Ask you relatives or teachers or even librarians if there are any local authors you could contact with writing questions. Even if it's not extremely helpful, it's a good connection, and it gives you experience in "talking shop" with other writers.

Anyhow, while the editting scene is interesting only to me, the artsy side of my life is a little less dry. I've found this cool little shop - Feels Like Ohm (yay, puns) - that sells local art, among other things, in my town. I've talked to the owner and I'm planning on bringing in some stuff for her to look at soon. Hah, if my stuff sells well, maybe I can draw instead of work this summer.

I love this blog. It's so much fun to talk to myself. <3

How Exciting

So, I need to come up with a new series title. Why?

"On June 2, 2009 Del Toro released his debut novel, The Strain, which he co-authored with Chuck Hogan. It will be the first part of a vampire trilogy."

Sigh. So, a few days ago, to kickstart the renaming, I read the dictionary. I got as far as "air", I think. Yeah, the glamorous life of an aspiring author.

For anyone crazy enough to care, here are my notes from dictionary-reading:

Animals/Plants/Monsters I could use: Aardvark, Aardwolf, Abyssinian cat, Afreet, African violets, Africander, Addax

Cool Words: Abase, Abininitio, Abysmal, Acerose, Achromatic, Acme (the definition is funny), Acrid, Aerate, Agoraphobia, Ague

And, Possible Titles: Abide, Accident

All that for two choices. XDD I kind of like Abide, nice and simple. With Accident, I was thinking about Aristotle's philosophy of accidents/essence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accident_(philosophy) Although I like how the concept coincides with the characters, the big problem is that very few people would think of that when seeing the title. XD

If anyone randomly stumbling across this sad excuse for a blog has any title suggestions, they would be much appreciated.

P. S. - Remember, remember, the 5th of November...

Sneak Peek

Here's a little taste of the book I'm working on now, Strain: Jeux. This scene will probably happen somewhere in the latter first 50 pages of the book. It's graphic, for fair warning.

~Artemis~

I have a bad habit. When someone pisses me off, I yell at them and run away. I did that with Eric, too. He just wouldn't listen to me. Over the one month I'd known I was pregnant, he hadn't given up telling me not to abort it. What's worse, he hadn't even really provoked me. He listened while I ranted. He didn't try to belittle my circumstances or tell me it wasn't as bad as it seemed, or even that he understood. Yet I was angry. And one night, after we'd left the dining hall to go upstairs, it all came to a head.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. "Has the morning sickness gotten any better?"
"No," I huffed, glaring down at my sandals. "I don't want to have this conversation again. When are you going to drop it?"
Eric looked thoughtful. His eyes were on my stomach, which is the best way to make just about anyone squeamish and uncomfortable. I was no exception. "My eyes are up here," I growled, and his head snapped up so fast I thought he must've hurt his neck.
"Sorry." He didn't answer the question. I knew what he would've said, anyway. "You know, I was thinking, would your mother take care of the baby for you? I bet she misses having kids around."
"Wrong angle," I said shortly, watching as my patience slowly ebbed away. "As far as I'm concerned, my mother will never, ever know that this even happened. That, and on the slight chance that this thing is a psycho like it's god-damn father, I don't want to saddle my mom with it. Or anyone else. There are enough crazy people in the world without my child being the next Jim Jones."
Shaking his head, Eric muttered, "The chances of it inheriting Genesis' tendencies are-"
"Shut up!" I nearly screamed, praying that nobody else had heard me. "I don't want to talk about him, or it, or this pregnancy from hell, got it?" And I left. I knew it was a stupid thing to do. As Conrad was generally keen one reminding us, the African night was full of dangers. Maybe one of them would eat me, demon spawn and all.
I wasn't lost, and that was something, at least. I kept Warwick manor to the south and headed straight up, following the little compass Eric had given me to make up for the plane vouchers, because a compass made a more interesting impression than a simple pocket watch, he said.
It wasn't long before I began to hear things. Most of what I heard was me, tripping over god knows what and jumping sideways at any little creature in the underbrush. African wildlife, spare me. I wondered what kind of predators they had around there. Eventually, I heard something that was distinctly not myself - it roared like a thunderstorm and cracked like thick limbs coming off of trees. In a moment of pure insanity I hoped whatever it was would kill me, and I went toward it.
I broke through a patch of brush and saw what I'd been looking for. On the ground, broken and dark with blood, lay something - man or animal, I couldn't tell. Above it stooped a person with the longest white-blond hair I'd ever seen. In his hands he held a dark lump that oozed between his pale fingers. His face was half-buried in the lump, and he seemed to be slurping at it like a kid trying to drink the juice out of an orange. He sensed me quickly and looked up, the lump dropping from his hands with a squelch. I couldn't help thinking that it belonged in the torn, black region of the fallen being's upper body. I still couldn't tell if the thing was a human or not, where it lay half obscured in underbrush.
The man with the blond hair dashed at me with familiar speed, and I felt his bloody hand grab the hair at the nape of my neck. His mouth was stained red - which looked more or less black in that light - but he opened it to reveal shining white teeth. "Daywalker," he hissed, and seemed to be thinking. "You smell like woman. It's been so long since I've tasted woman's blood..."
A scraping sound interrupted whatever he'd been planning, and by that point I was glad of it. My heart was hammering at my ribcage, and I'd been wondering how my mom would feel about me dying a gruesome death in Africa. The man was anxious now, and his eyes turned to the trees, as if he expected something to come down at us. "Asanbosam," he muttered, then swore under his breath. He fixed his eyes back on me. "Daywalker... in this country... I'm looking for one of my kind. He expects me. He smiles like a shark. Do you know him?"
I nodded and ducked away from him, heading back where I'd come from. I knew he would keep up. Suddenly, from beside me, I heard his voice again. "I don't drink pseudos. It was a moment of weakness." I wasn't sure if he was telling me, or reminding himself. I kept me eyes on the compass.
Once we had broken through to the Warwick Manor clearing, the blond man went blazing across the lawn - a bat out of hell. Conrad was waiting at the door.
"Protect me, Master of Council," he begged, his blood stained fingers gripping Conrad's shirt until they were as white as the Oxford themselves. "The Irons Ones want me dead."
"You should know better than to walk this country alone," Conrad muttered, separating the man from his shirt. "By God, you're a mess. Go inside."
The blond man slinked past him and into the house while I stood in yard. Conrad watched me from the top of the stairs.
"...Sorry for the trouble," I said. That was all I could think of.
Conrad's stiff countenance faded, and he laughed. His laughter was decidedly unpleasant. "I actually owe you, Artemis. I would have been sore disappointed if they'd killed him before I got to see him again."
I didn't ask who 'they' were. As often seemed to happen, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "Well, then. You're welcome."

Get Started...

I have a blog. XDDD;; Why did I do this?


Okay, uh, basic info/what this blog will be about... Obviously, the title is Minor Writes, so I'll try to stick to that topic. I am a minor, and I do write, so that's the premise, mostly.... I'll be working on getting my book published very soon, God willing, hopefully that'll be interesting enough to blog about.


I finished my second book sometime in early December. My first book isn't worth mentioning, it was very, very bad and had entirely too many fairies in it. We'll skip that. The series I'm working on now is three books, one finished, as I said. It's a modern fantasy, and I try to work with lots of different creatures and locations... I hesitate to mention that the main character is a vampire. ^_^;; It isn't another Twilight ripoff, I swear! There isn't even any romance in it. And no werewolves. Plus, I'd already created most of the characters before I'd ever read Twilight. I was late on the bandwagon. Anyhow, the series is called Strain, and each book sub-title is in a foreign language, so the first one is Densetsu (legend) and the second is Juex (game). If you want to read the series, it's posted online at webook.com. Densetsu was recently sent to a friend of a friend for editing. Once I get her notes back and do my second draft, I'll start looking for a writing agent. I already have one I'm looking at, but it's really uncommon to get your first choice, or so I've been told... I can't wait to get some rejection letters to pin up on my wall. XD At least it'll mean I've done something.


If you read through this whole thing, God bless you. Goodnight.