So, since last week I aired out my dirty little secret...
...wait, before you jump to any strange conclusions, what I mean is that I occasionally write some seriously creep-tastic stuff... now put down the phone. You don't need to call 911...
We good? Okay.
...so now I'm interested to know how far you stray from the genre you usually write.
Granted, all my stuff has a slightly twisted flavour, but since I usually write YA/MG, it's pretty toned down compared to the 1st Challenge. Rarely though, I do write short stories which I find are a good way to stretch my muscles a little and enjoy sinking into a drastically different kind of perspective. It keeps me fresh 'cause I dump out all the overly-dark stuff in my head that wouldn't fit into my YA/MG stories.
...cause those are dark enough as it is...
Actually, short stories are where I started. I didn't do the whole emo-poetry phase as a teenager. I went straight to stories which usually involved murder of some kind. And often the main character was just slightly short on sanity, but like emo-teenage-poetry, some were pretty melodramatic and overwritten. Yup, I can admit that. One of the first stories I wrote as a teenager was for Social Studies class. We had to choose a partner and do a project that showed our deep knowledge of different political setups. Like, Communism, Socialism, Monarchy, Democracy, etc.
...I think ours was Communism, but honestly, it really didn't matter a whole lot.
My partner and I ended up writing a mini novelette about witch trials in Salam. Why? I'm sure we were just really overtired... It was probably between 10-15,000 words and the main character died at the end. We literally waited until the day before it was due, then I spent the night at her house and we made it up as we typed. We finished around 6am, fell asleep, then were up at 7am to catch the bus to school. We handed it in and, well, let's say the teacher was less than impressed. After all, we were supposed to show we knew all about Communism, right? ...not a story where the main character gets betrayed and burned at the stake.
...let's just say my BS skills were highly developed, even at age 14. Because he was ready to fail us for not doing the project correctly, I wrote a "How 'The Burning Cross*' Relates to Communism' essay, and we ended up getting one of the top marks in the class.
I'd probably turn purple with embarrassment if someone pulled that story out and waved it in front of my face right now... I've still got my copy, buried somewhere in my parents' storage room under the stairs... but I have no plans to dig for it anytime soon and it would probably go through its own trial-by-fire if I ever did find it...
But yeah, writing about witch burning is what started me off on this twisty dark path, so occasionally I go back to my roots and slip into the skin of a death-row inmate, an escaped murderer, or in the case of the 1st Challenge, a stalker who just wants to connect to the one he loves.
So what about you guys? Do you moonlight as a romance writer, tinker with steampunk, or draw goofy children's stories when you need a break from your usual genre? Maybe tap out a zombie comedy with slap-stick humour or a cozy murder mystery with a ghoul & ghost as the detective pair?
*see what I mean about melodramatic? I mean seriously! We thought that was a great title at the time...
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday 13
Wo-hoo! 13 is my lucky number, so I guess I better make this one good...
Welcome back all you SSS participants! How's your first Sunday since school is back in session?
I'm in Vancouver today celebrating my birthday a couple days early with my beloved family (including my adorable 4 year old nephew), so I will start the SSS rounds first thing tomorrow morning :)
Last time, Hector started to get a little panicky about 'what the madam said' (and yes, it's that kind of madam).
And now, Simon cuts him off:
And that's the end of the first scene :)
As always, you can click on the 'Six Sentence Sunday' tab at the top to read from the beginning if you're lost or need a refresher.
...do you guys want me to continue on this story so you can meet the madam? Or would you like to read more of Project #3 with Alexander? Tell me which you want in the comments and I'll start posting whichever story has the most votes.
Welcome back all you SSS participants! How's your first Sunday since school is back in session?
I'm in Vancouver today celebrating my birthday a couple days early with my beloved family (including my adorable 4 year old nephew), so I will start the SSS rounds first thing tomorrow morning :)
Last time, Hector started to get a little panicky about 'what the madam said' (and yes, it's that kind of madam).
And now, Simon cuts him off:
“What is it? What does she stare at every day?”
“Simon!”
“Don’t be afraid, Hector.” Simon pushed away from the door and offered his brother a reassuring smile despite the waves of blood pounding through his head and heart. “I’ll think of something.”
***
And that's the end of the first scene :)
As always, you can click on the 'Six Sentence Sunday' tab at the top to read from the beginning if you're lost or need a refresher.
...do you guys want me to continue on this story so you can meet the madam? Or would you like to read more of Project #3 with Alexander? Tell me which you want in the comments and I'll start posting whichever story has the most votes.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Weekend plans!
...I've got a great weekend all planned out!
Dinner out tonight with our ex-neighbours (before we moved to the witch's hut), tomorrow morning drop the pets off at jail (okay, it's an over-the-top kennel where they have couches, a fireplace and a tv for the dogs... and a huge half-acre run for them to play in), then catch The Clipper ferry to Seattle to watch the Mariners game!
Go, Ackley!
(in case you haven't guessed, he's #13)
Sunday I'll be having a barbecue at my parent's place (on the mainland) with my sister and my cute little nephew... I suspect most of the afternoon festivities will be spent tumbling around on the lawn pretending to be dinosaurs. This usually involves one of us playing the Anklyosaurous crawling around on all fours and the other playing the Tyrannosaurous Rex (both from the Cretaceous Period and from the same part of the world*) who tries to flip over the other while roaring and shouting, "let me bite your soft, white underbelly!!" accompanied by much tickling and giggling.
...we're a hit, I swear ;) No need for other entertainment when the two of us get together :)
What about you guys? Any fun weekend plans? When's the last time you got together with your family?
*Hey! Don't judge me... the facts have gotta be correct! ...and yes, I'm a total nerd, but since he's my little clone, it's all okay :)
Dinner out tonight with our ex-neighbours (before we moved to the witch's hut), tomorrow morning drop the pets off at jail (okay, it's an over-the-top kennel where they have couches, a fireplace and a tv for the dogs... and a huge half-acre run for them to play in), then catch The Clipper ferry to Seattle to watch the Mariners game!
Go, Ackley!
(in case you haven't guessed, he's #13)
Sunday I'll be having a barbecue at my parent's place (on the mainland) with my sister and my cute little nephew... I suspect most of the afternoon festivities will be spent tumbling around on the lawn pretending to be dinosaurs. This usually involves one of us playing the Anklyosaurous crawling around on all fours and the other playing the Tyrannosaurous Rex (both from the Cretaceous Period and from the same part of the world*) who tries to flip over the other while roaring and shouting, "let me bite your soft, white underbelly!!" accompanied by much tickling and giggling.
...we're a hit, I swear ;) No need for other entertainment when the two of us get together :)
What about you guys? Any fun weekend plans? When's the last time you got together with your family?
*Hey! Don't judge me... the facts have gotta be correct! ...and yes, I'm a total nerd, but since he's my little clone, it's all okay :)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
YOU, online
I've literally been trying to write this post for 3 days now...
Natalie Whipple has talked about this a bunch of times.
Nathan Bransford recently posted on it...
...as well as the agent Rachelle Gardner.
I also touched on this subject in one of the first posts I ever wrote (which does includes a brief glimpse into the most cynical opinion on art you'll ever find...), but let's talk a little more about authenticity online.
I think most people, if you ask them, would say they are being themselves online/on their websites/blogs/etc, but others might come to the site and say, 'This person isn't authentic.'
Just like, if you meet someone new at a party or wherever, you may get the feeling they're putting on an act for you. Fake smile, overly polite, that tone of voice... you know what I'm talking about...
But we all put on acts. That's just part of social consideration.
Would you want to be around someone who said exactly what they were thinking every moment? Or a person who feels the weight of the world is on their shoulders and complains constantly. When someone asks you, 'How are you?' do you answer back, 'well, if these haemorrhoids would go away, that'd be just peachy.'
Just like with new people we meet in real life, we feel out our audience. Someone throwing too much personal information (or complaints) at you can be disconcerting and usually, it turns you off.
Also, what kind of person you meet and what kind of relationship you want with them will change how you present yourself. If you're meeting a blind date, you're going to act differently than if you bump into an 85 year old woman in the grocery store, or you meet your new boss for the first time, or if you have a job like a lawyer, doctor, etc and you run into one of your new clients/patients on the street.
I don't have a big online presence. I don't use Twitter, Facebook, etc. Other than this blog, I'm essentially invisible. Up until a few months ago, I rarely even read blogs or consistently followed websites, so I'm still trying to feel out the social rules of this new form of meeting people (give me a slap with a rolled-up newspaper if I do something wrong).
I thought long and hard before starting this blog... what did I want out of this online relationship? What do I want? Because it's inevitable that what we want will change over time.
So, if depending on the relationship affects the way we display ourselves, and that is normal social consideration, how does that affect this blog in particular?
I did address this a little in the first entry I ever posted, but (since it's a little ramble-y) to summarize, I decided to go online to meet other people with the same interests. Because I don't work a traditional job (I renovate the house we live in, then we sell it and I do it again, hence 'the witch's hut' I occasionally refer to), I don't interact with a lot of people, other than the customer service crew at the contractor desk in Rona/Home Depot and the occasional tradesman. Sure, I get out once in a while for dinners, see my writing group a couple times a month and catch the ferry to the mainland to see friends/family, but even those relationships require *social consideration* because (especially with family) having the same interests is a rarity. Especially the writing thing. Sure, my family and friends all read, but none of them write, so if they do read a book, they aren't interested in dissecting the story to find what worked well and what didn't work well. They either 'liked it' or 'didn't like it'.
I think the main reason this entry took 3 days to compose is because I value honestly over any other character trait. If someone asks for my opinion, sure, I might sugar-coat it a little once in a while, but I will always give a straight answer. Even if it's not what they want to hear. I figure, if someone values my opinion enough to ask, then I'm going to return that show of respect and be truthful.
Since my primary objective was to meet people with similar interests, I've intentionally shown that side of my online. My interests, the way I think, books and movies I like, my sense of humour, what I'm curious about... all that kind of stuff. Even things I hold back in real life relationships, like the fact I'm dyslexic or that I get voraciously obsessive about certain things.
The things I intentionally don't talk about always have to do with maintaining the privacy of people I know in real life. I try not to use their names, nor do I discuss the relationships I have with them. That also includes former jobs/etc. I also try not to discuss things I don't like because, just like in real life, I don't think there's any excuse for dumping complaints/rants online and subjecting other people to that. Negativity is like a cancer. And I'm not exaggerating... there are a ton of studies relating to health/etc. Besides, just because I don't like something, it doesn't mean someone else won't love it... and my opinion isn't worth any more than anyone else's. If I can have real life friends with different ethnic backgrounds, different religious, different political views, different sexual orientations, etc, then there's no excuse for not befriending all different kinds of people online.
I strongly believe that no difference is insurmountable as long as one person respects the other.*
So far, I'd say my little online adventure has been a success... I've met a few really nice people, occasionally correspond with them via e-mail (which is totally awesome!) and found some interesting blogs to follow/read.
What about you guys? Have you thought about why you are online and what kind of relationship you want with those you meet? If you have your own websites/blogs, do you have clear boundaries about what you talk about and what you don't?
*This is the main reason I hate war so much. Because it's when one group of people devalues another group of people. It's only when you consider someone less important or valuable that you can abuse them, take from them, kill them, etc. In any war, that's what the propaganda is about... making the 'enemy' less human than yourself.
Natalie Whipple has talked about this a bunch of times.
Nathan Bransford recently posted on it...
...as well as the agent Rachelle Gardner.
I also touched on this subject in one of the first posts I ever wrote (which does includes a brief glimpse into the most cynical opinion on art you'll ever find...), but let's talk a little more about authenticity online.
I think most people, if you ask them, would say they are being themselves online/on their websites/blogs/etc, but others might come to the site and say, 'This person isn't authentic.'
Just like, if you meet someone new at a party or wherever, you may get the feeling they're putting on an act for you. Fake smile, overly polite, that tone of voice... you know what I'm talking about...
But we all put on acts. That's just part of social consideration.
Would you want to be around someone who said exactly what they were thinking every moment? Or a person who feels the weight of the world is on their shoulders and complains constantly. When someone asks you, 'How are you?' do you answer back, 'well, if these haemorrhoids would go away, that'd be just peachy.'
Just like with new people we meet in real life, we feel out our audience. Someone throwing too much personal information (or complaints) at you can be disconcerting and usually, it turns you off.
Also, what kind of person you meet and what kind of relationship you want with them will change how you present yourself. If you're meeting a blind date, you're going to act differently than if you bump into an 85 year old woman in the grocery store, or you meet your new boss for the first time, or if you have a job like a lawyer, doctor, etc and you run into one of your new clients/patients on the street.
I don't have a big online presence. I don't use Twitter, Facebook, etc. Other than this blog, I'm essentially invisible. Up until a few months ago, I rarely even read blogs or consistently followed websites, so I'm still trying to feel out the social rules of this new form of meeting people (give me a slap with a rolled-up newspaper if I do something wrong).
I thought long and hard before starting this blog... what did I want out of this online relationship? What do I want? Because it's inevitable that what we want will change over time.
So, if depending on the relationship affects the way we display ourselves, and that is normal social consideration, how does that affect this blog in particular?
I did address this a little in the first entry I ever posted, but (since it's a little ramble-y) to summarize, I decided to go online to meet other people with the same interests. Because I don't work a traditional job (I renovate the house we live in, then we sell it and I do it again, hence 'the witch's hut' I occasionally refer to), I don't interact with a lot of people, other than the customer service crew at the contractor desk in Rona/Home Depot and the occasional tradesman. Sure, I get out once in a while for dinners, see my writing group a couple times a month and catch the ferry to the mainland to see friends/family, but even those relationships require *social consideration* because (especially with family) having the same interests is a rarity. Especially the writing thing. Sure, my family and friends all read, but none of them write, so if they do read a book, they aren't interested in dissecting the story to find what worked well and what didn't work well. They either 'liked it' or 'didn't like it'.
I think the main reason this entry took 3 days to compose is because I value honestly over any other character trait. If someone asks for my opinion, sure, I might sugar-coat it a little once in a while, but I will always give a straight answer. Even if it's not what they want to hear. I figure, if someone values my opinion enough to ask, then I'm going to return that show of respect and be truthful.
Since my primary objective was to meet people with similar interests, I've intentionally shown that side of my online. My interests, the way I think, books and movies I like, my sense of humour, what I'm curious about... all that kind of stuff. Even things I hold back in real life relationships, like the fact I'm dyslexic or that I get voraciously obsessive about certain things.
The things I intentionally don't talk about always have to do with maintaining the privacy of people I know in real life. I try not to use their names, nor do I discuss the relationships I have with them. That also includes former jobs/etc. I also try not to discuss things I don't like because, just like in real life, I don't think there's any excuse for dumping complaints/rants online and subjecting other people to that. Negativity is like a cancer. And I'm not exaggerating... there are a ton of studies relating to health/etc. Besides, just because I don't like something, it doesn't mean someone else won't love it... and my opinion isn't worth any more than anyone else's. If I can have real life friends with different ethnic backgrounds, different religious, different political views, different sexual orientations, etc, then there's no excuse for not befriending all different kinds of people online.
I strongly believe that no difference is insurmountable as long as one person respects the other.*
So far, I'd say my little online adventure has been a success... I've met a few really nice people, occasionally correspond with them via e-mail (which is totally awesome!) and found some interesting blogs to follow/read.
What about you guys? Have you thought about why you are online and what kind of relationship you want with those you meet? If you have your own websites/blogs, do you have clear boundaries about what you talk about and what you don't?
*This is the main reason I hate war so much. Because it's when one group of people devalues another group of people. It's only when you consider someone less important or valuable that you can abuse them, take from them, kill them, etc. In any war, that's what the propaganda is about... making the 'enemy' less human than yourself.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Endings
I mentioned 'The Knife of Never Letting Go' by Patrick Ness last week.
Well, last weekend while I was in Seattle for the Seahawks game, I read the other two books in the series.
...the ending?
Much more satisfying than 'The Hunger Games'.
I haven't hated and loved books like this for a very long time.
...does that make sense? When I say I hated and loved them?
I don't easily fall into stories told in first person. In this series, I fell hard. As I was reading, I'd argue, I'd shout, I'd scream at the characters... at their naivety, at the choices they made and didn't make, their decisions to trust or mistrust other characters.
...you know I wasn't actually yelling out loud, right?
But I was getting all tense while reading. Well, *dread* might be a more accurate description of what I was feeling.
The most brilliant thing about 'The Hunger Games' was the pacing... how, every time Katniss would get a small break, one moment to relax, to catch her breath, something even worse would come crashing down.
This series is the same. Each time you'd think the characters had scored a small victory, they would get blindsided.
Let me say here that I hate books or movies about war. Especially *real* wars. Yes, I can understand the view that exposure to our history through media (not the dryness of traditional textbooks) can educate people about our own past mistakes. But I still hate it. I hate that it gets glorified in Hollywood movies, that people are making millions of dollars off something so disgusting and horrible. I actually feel physically sick when I watch/read about war.
This is one of the main reasons I write *quiet* stories... stories where it's not about saving the world. Sure, there may be greater things at play around the characters, but I'm more likely to touch on things like racism, mental disorders, superstition, abuse, etc than an entire group of people working their hardest to exterminate (or subjugate) another group of people. Because I feel that is very, very wrong.
...but please don't let this turn into a debate about which aspects are okay and not okay about war/etc...
The point in my bringing this up is, the fact that I fell so hard into this series of books on war (yes, yes, a fictional war, but still...) is kind of amazing for me. Which is also why I both loved and hated it.
What was interesting was, in the first book, the entire thing was from Todd's perspective. In the second, it swapped between Todd and Viola. In the third... another voice was added. Through this series of death and madness, you get to see three different characters wrecked in different ways by the same war. Unlike in 'The Hunger Games' where you only see it from one perspective, this was very... balanced, I guess, as odd as that sounds.
I think this is one of the reasons I fell so hard, and it wouldn't have worked if the first book had been split into more than one perspective. Because you get so entrenched in Todd's head, when the second book starts and you realize the two of them have been separated after everything they have gone through, you are as eager and desperate to find out about Viola as Todd is. And in that moment of relief when you slip into her head, you accept it. You've just read an entire book of Todd wanting to know Viola and what's in her head ('cause she ain't got no Noise), and then you get it. It's that small break, that moment of relaxation of catching your breath... and then something even worse comes crashing down...
Well, last weekend while I was in Seattle for the Seahawks game, I read the other two books in the series.
...the ending?
Much more satisfying than 'The Hunger Games'.
I haven't hated and loved books like this for a very long time.
...does that make sense? When I say I hated and loved them?
I don't easily fall into stories told in first person. In this series, I fell hard. As I was reading, I'd argue, I'd shout, I'd scream at the characters... at their naivety, at the choices they made and didn't make, their decisions to trust or mistrust other characters.
...you know I wasn't actually yelling out loud, right?
But I was getting all tense while reading. Well, *dread* might be a more accurate description of what I was feeling.
The most brilliant thing about 'The Hunger Games' was the pacing... how, every time Katniss would get a small break, one moment to relax, to catch her breath, something even worse would come crashing down.
This series is the same. Each time you'd think the characters had scored a small victory, they would get blindsided.
Let me say here that I hate books or movies about war. Especially *real* wars. Yes, I can understand the view that exposure to our history through media (not the dryness of traditional textbooks) can educate people about our own past mistakes. But I still hate it. I hate that it gets glorified in Hollywood movies, that people are making millions of dollars off something so disgusting and horrible. I actually feel physically sick when I watch/read about war.
This is one of the main reasons I write *quiet* stories... stories where it's not about saving the world. Sure, there may be greater things at play around the characters, but I'm more likely to touch on things like racism, mental disorders, superstition, abuse, etc than an entire group of people working their hardest to exterminate (or subjugate) another group of people. Because I feel that is very, very wrong.
...but please don't let this turn into a debate about which aspects are okay and not okay about war/etc...
The point in my bringing this up is, the fact that I fell so hard into this series of books on war (yes, yes, a fictional war, but still...) is kind of amazing for me. Which is also why I both loved and hated it.
What was interesting was, in the first book, the entire thing was from Todd's perspective. In the second, it swapped between Todd and Viola. In the third... another voice was added. Through this series of death and madness, you get to see three different characters wrecked in different ways by the same war. Unlike in 'The Hunger Games' where you only see it from one perspective, this was very... balanced, I guess, as odd as that sounds.
I think this is one of the reasons I fell so hard, and it wouldn't have worked if the first book had been split into more than one perspective. Because you get so entrenched in Todd's head, when the second book starts and you realize the two of them have been separated after everything they have gone through, you are as eager and desperate to find out about Viola as Todd is. And in that moment of relief when you slip into her head, you accept it. You've just read an entire book of Todd wanting to know Viola and what's in her head ('cause she ain't got no Noise), and then you get it. It's that small break, that moment of relaxation of catching your breath... and then something even worse comes crashing down...
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