Merry Everything and Happy Always

Hey guys.

I apologize for my absence and begin with saying I have no real reason - no good reason, anyway - for my being gone.

I will, however, attempt to explain.

Hate me if you will, but that's what this post is.

First- December has always bee, and always will be, a lazy busy month for me.
      1.2- My new job at Wally World.
        During the Holidays, I began working 40+ hours a week. Doing my job, this is hell. Hell on my back, hell on my wrists, and hell on my personal well being and mental state.

        This started around Thanksgiving and only recently ended.

Second - Video Games. In this case, the Mass Effect trilogy. I started playing 1 in early December.

I finished with three less than an hour ago. I cried. Again. This was my second play through.

Side Note: If you are any kind of gamer; fantasy, shooter, plot-based, etc. you should check out these games.

The backstory, characterization, and gameplay are superb. The best I've seen, easily.

Also, I may or may not write an ME fanfic or two.

Third - Life. Seriously.

With work, the holidays, family and trying to find time to sleep, I barely had time to think, let alone sit and write. (Look at all the commas!)

I understand now why my parents never had time to do what they wanted when I was growing up. (Hell, they still don'e, what with my four younger siblings and nephew.) And I don't have kids. (And I won't for awhile, stop panicking, mother. I know you read this.)


So this is me officially reentering the real world. And by real, I mean the internet world. The writing world. And... nope, that's it.

My new years resolution? Less games, more writing. Also, eating better and maybe exercising some? I have weight I'd like to lose.

Typical resolutions, I know. And my boyfriend isn't helping. He's trying to introduce me to three or four new games...

*le sigh*

As my mother's Christmas card said, Merry Everything and Happy Always!
Since I missed the holidays.

How have you guys been?

Free-Writing

Okay, last night at work during a couple of my breaks, I was trying to figure out what I want to write about...

To do this, I did a couple different free-writing exercises. And I'll type up one here for you guys to read. Because 1) most people don't know what free-writing really is, I didn't either, really. 2) I have nothing better to post.

Fiery red hair whipping through the wind. Flowing skirts clanging jingling bells flashes splashes spots of color loud laughs silent screams mothers fears fathers scars dark destroys light rebuilds tortured tongues loosen spiked collars bloodied water runs cold poisoned veins smothered lives under a microscope torn pages broken spines missing books loud falls turning doorways watching stars staring unblinking eyes decorated walls outshine the day dragons fall spirits scream shrouded hills singing Death colored leaves square windows towering pillars monstrous altars bloody sacrifice Nodding guards slipping sliding shadows dead king exiled son bastard daughter spies hired killers ninja of the knight Shadows hide and steal blue eyes, piercing clouds makeup hides scars ball abound music loud false smiles petty laughs meaningless words poisoned tongues hair black as night long or short as will

Don't try to find meaning in it. I didn't. It doesn't really make sense. It was good to write something again. I haven't written anything for NaNoWriMo for a couple days now. And I need to.

Anyway!

Happy Writing!

In Which We Meet A Gypsy

Okay, this is another one of those random ideas, this one I had at work.

But FIRST! Obligatory nod of the head, happy dance, spastic hyperventilation, ecstatic wave to November the First. Do you know what that means? If you've been reading my blog you probably should. It means NaNoWriMo!

And if you still don't know what means (where have you been? Under a rock?), it means 50,000 words written in a month. It means the permission to write a terrible rough draft. It means no editing while you work. And it means writing at least 1667 words a day. Or more. Normally more. It means a month of complete and totally literary abandon. At least, that's what they say.

And I've already made my word count for the day!

I'm sitting at 1,683 words and planning on getting at least a few more before I work tonight.

Anyway! The NaNoWriMo discussion is over, (I may have a post dedicated fully to it tomorrow) so onto the gypsy!

Gypsy

Author is sitting in her chair, chewing on a pencil and staring at a blank sheet of paper again. As she is sitting a woman steps out of the shadows, admittedly scaring the bejeezus out of Author. Really, people should be more considerate and warn her before they walk out of her subconscious. 

Author turns, "Who are you?" She is not unfriendly, just curious and lacking in people skills. 

The woman has tanned, almost leathery in it's age and sun-beaten-ness. Long, thick hair hangs past her shoulders and is bright red, except where gray has begun taking over. Around the woman's mouth are faint lines, and make it appear she is about to smile any moment. 

Her clothing is brightly colored, being a skirt that hangs to her knee on the right side, but drags on the ground at the left, and a shirt that appears no more than a long strip of cloth wound about her torso. Both the skirt and the top have bells sewn into them, so every movement or shift of body she makes is heard clearly. There would be no way to move silently in such an outfit. 

"I am Morhaktihna Kryllmynl."

"Uh huh... 'More-hock-teen-uh Krill-men-ull.'" 

"That is correct." 

"You are Zhahilen?" 

"No."

"Then you are Zhacorahl."

"Yes."

"Why-?"

"I was to be Saralmai. I did not wish it. So I left."

"You left? And made it past the Spine and to the wetlander's world, I suppose?"

"It was not easy, but yes, I did."

"Uh huh. Well, if you would go through that door there behind you and choose a room, I will call you when you are needed. All comforts will be provided for you." 

As Morhaktihna dipped her head and did as she was bade, Author put her head in her hands. What was it with these Zhahilen characters and not following the customs of their people? Most Zhahilen weren't like this. But then again, they wouldn't make good characters if they did as they were expected all the time. 

----

Well, that was something. 

Happy NaNo'ing all!

Sleep is Good

Like, really good.

I work nights, and can't sleep during the day, so if I don't go to bed when I'm exhausted I will be physically incapable of sleeping until the next night.

Now, I know as a writer, especially if you are a WriMo'er sleep is one thing we sacrifice to get our writing done.

I know that.

I've done it.

But please, make some time to sleep. A whole sleep cycle is an hour and a half. Or, sleep in 45 minute increments. Or look up online how long you should sleep.

Because I'm smart and slept the night before I had to work, I could't sleep at all the day before, so when  I finally got home from work, I had been up for over twenty-four hours. I know some people can go 36, or even 48 with no sleep. I am not one of them. Caffeine stops working for me at the twenty-four mark.

Still Not Convinced?

I know the feeling. 

Depending on who you talk to, lack of sleep could be good for creativity. Some people say opposite. But you know what? Sleep deprivation is not good. For anyone. Today was probably the first time I've gotten a full eight-hours in a week. You know how much creative writing I got done during that week? No work on Mortality. Just some character development for Tainted, and most of that was thanks to the NaNoWriMo forums. 

Now imagine if you did that during NaNoWriMo next month. No creative output for a week? Maybe that's been my problem. 

I have never completed a WriMo with 50,000 words. I rarely sleep a full eight hours. Especially now that I work nights. 

So the way I see it, get as much sleep as you need. You'll be more creative. 

Food For Though

What's your view on sleep and creativity?

My House Is Kinda Clean

Hey Guys!

So I've decided my blog has been too formal. I'll save all the preaching for when I'm actually on the road to being published, how about that?

Now that's not to say I won't be sharing my writing process... I will. I am, first and foremost, a writer. And pretty much my entire life revolves around that fact. Outside of work and my boyfriend... yup, all revolves around that.

SO! Today I was in an odd mood. I was trying to plan my character Jonathon some more for NaNoWriMo. But I decided it'd be a better idea to clean the entire house. You have no idea what an undertaking this is. My boyfriend is a habitually messy person, and I am a habitually lazy person. We don't match well when it comes to keeping a clean house. Also. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?! I HATE cleaning. Like, you have no idea. But suddenly, my OCD kicked in and I was like... "Wow, this place is a mess."

...I don't know either. But I got most of the living room cleaned up. Cleaned the stove, and tidied the kitchen. Finished off my pot of coffee (maybe that had something to do with the urge? Coffee does strange things to a person. Great things, yes, but strange.). All the while I was listening to music. Then I was like "Hey! I haven't seen Tangled in awhile, I'll pull it up online to play it in the background." *shame*

I love the movie, and sat down to watch it. I've done like three loads of laundry, though, so I haven't been doing *nothing* while it was playing... And I suddenly don't want to clean anymore. Maybe I need more coffee...

Onto the writing point! I don't think any of my blogs will be without *something* to do with writing or a book. It's the way I am. While I was making breakfast this morning (oh yes, I did that too, I never do that), I had a brilliant idea! Actually, two. One for Mortality, one for Tainted.

Mortality. So, the Mortality idea came when I was washing the dishes before making breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and bacon, in case you were wondering). I realized I had so many characters that were mentioned but not fleshed out, and was like... "How do I incorporate them?" So, I was thinking, they're about to go on what is essentially a scavenger hunt for an item that hasn't been seen in centuries so... They split into groups. Follow each of the groups and go from there~! GENIUS!

Tainted. This one came... either in the shower after breakfast or while I was making the pancakes, I don't recall which. It's less ground breaking than the one above, but considering I know less about this novel, it means more to me at this point. So, I was toying with the idea in my head, just mulling it around, and it came to me. Garret isn't Jewel's half-brother, he's an ex-boyfriend. The crazy kind. He got it into his mind that the "party" and sacrifice would win her back and show her the joys of being a werewolf, but when she denies him, he chases after them, still trying to win her back, and also, probably kill Jonathon when he finds out she's falling in love with another man (Jonathon).

Ah... I think this post is long enough. Quite a bit of a rant, there.

Leaving you with this

When do you get your best "eureka!" moments?

What's the last such moment you remember?

Why You Shouldn't Care

Hello all!

I'm going to start this post with a few stories, but bear with me. I have a point. I promise.

Now, if you've read my first post, *ahem* Briony, you will know roughly my age. So keep in mind I've been in the work force for three- almost four- years. Mostly fast food. My first story is when I was 15/16 years old, at my very first job.

• It was a small, family owned business, so I worked with pretty much the same people almost everyday. There was one girl I recall who *really* didn't like me (some of you may already see where I am going with this post, but let me finish). I had no problem with her, so I went about work as usual. Almost a year later I finally asked why she didn't like me. She gave me a legitimate reason. I worked to fix it. We never had a problem again. 
• My second job I had few issues aside from my last day (which is another story ENTIRELY). My third job was at a McDonald's. I think I worked there all of three-four months? In that time, most the people I worked with loved, or at least tolerated me. However, one girl disliked me extremely and it was causing problems. She'd outright ignore me, but that wasn't the issue, it was a problem when she'd ask me to do HER job, while I was helping or doing something for a customer, but I digress into run-on sentences. I asked her one day, and this is pretty much the conversation verbatim. "Do you not like me, or something?" "No, I don't." "Okay... Why?" "I dunno. It's just the way you are." I walked away and don't think I ever spoke to her again, but then again I quit like a month after that. 
• My fourth/fifth job (I went back to my first job for a couple months after my third, but then we moved.) I worked at a taco place down in Texas. Still in school, I worked night shift. There were a couple girls I had issues with, but one stands out. She didn't like me. It was obvious. I didn't say anything until she snapped at me one night. We were both on drive-thru and she took off her headset to take care of something in lobby. Shouldn't be a problem, right? She was still working, after all. My issue is, it wasn't her job to take care of lobby, her job was to do drive-thru with me. I asked her to put the headset back on. She comes back with something snarky about there being no customers. It irritated me. But I let a manager take care of it. Texting her later I asked why *she* didn't like me. She said I was bossy. Really? I'm bossy for asking you to do your JOB? (I actually told her this. She didn't like it.)
• Now we come to the incident that spurred this entire post (because I'm bad and forgot to write up my post before work, I hand wrote part during lunch and am now typing the rest.). I work at walmart. I don't care that you know that, it has nothing to do with this post. Nor am I criticizing it. But anyway. A guy I work with, doesn't like me. (Starting to see a pattern here, eh?) I don't know why. I don't care why, though I AM curious. I have no problem with him. He's a pretty cool guy, just has some issues of his own. I can understand that. Everyone has issues of some sort. Now, I'd only just figured out he didn't like me. Like... the night before last. 
• Last night at work, I was messing around with him and another employee. I don't think Terry will mind if I tell you his name, he's cool. So I was kinda messing around with Employee A and Terry. Stuck my foot out when they passed to "trip" them. (I don't think I ever actually touched either of their feet, was just messing around.) An hour or two later, one of the managers calls me in to talk. She does the whole schpiel about safety in the work place and how they know I was messy around but that it could cause an accident. Yadda, yadda. (She called me "bubbly", and while I'm not too sure about that, she said I light up a room. It made me feel good.) It's a mild pat on the wrist. I'm fairly certain at this point who complained. I'm sure you are, too. 
• Now. That normally wouldn't bother me that he went to the bosses. But some of the stuff he "jokingly" says to me, could warrant sexual harassment charges. But I'm not vindictive, and like I said, I think he's an alright guy. I would like to talk to him about this, but haven't had time/opportunity to get him alone. I may, I may not. 

Alright. Story time is over. 

How could this pertain to writing? You may ask. 

Well, I told you those stories to tell you this. And it's a harsh truth I think many burgeoning authors need to know right off the back; I just thank the life I've lived that I learned this lesson early (It's the way I am, after all). 

Not everyone is going to like you.

Some people could downright hate you/your book. However, there will be the people who absolutely adore your writing. Learn this. Know this. Write this down and stick it on your refrigerator. The sooner you learn it and take it to heart, the easier rejection will be.

That being said, I have never faced rejection of my writing before, but I have no doubt I will, and you will be among one of the first groups of people to know how I truly take it.

Happy writing, tomorrow's post will probably be something about NaNoWriMo, or the other writerly things one of my previous posts talked about, or something about cats, I haven't decided yet.

Cheyenne