Book Review: Fly By Night

Book description is taken from the book.

Fly By Night
by Frances Hardinge

'Twelve year old Mosca Mye hasn't got much. Her cruel uncle keeps her locked up in his mill, and her only friend is her pet goose, Saracen, who'll bite anything that crosses his path. But she does have one small, rare thing: the ability to read. She doesn't know it yet, but in a world where books are dangerous things, this gift will change her life.

Enter Eponymous Clent, a smooth-talking con man who seems to love words nearly as much as Mosca herself. Soon Mosca and Clent are living a life of deceit and danger--discovering secret societies, following shady characters onto floating coffeehouses, and entangling themselves with crazed dukes and double-crossing racketeers. It would be exactly the kind of tale Mosca has always longed to take part in, until she learns that her one true love--words--may be the death of her.'

Well, I guess I'll start with the positive stuff first: it was a very well written book, with a complicated plot full of espionage and battles that keeps you on your toes. Saracen, the goose, was a great idea on the author's part. And I found myself very attached to the main character.

Bad parts: first off, there's gods and charms in the book. Second, even though Mosca and Clent are the good guys that are supposed to be defeating the bad guys, I couldn't really see a lot of difference between them and the villains. They lie cheat, and Mosca even burns down her uncle's mill--she hadn't meant to, but she has completely no repentance over it.

Overall, I would suggest you read it, but I would also suggest proceeding with caution.

Here is the amazon link for anyone who wants to buy it:





P.S. Once again, a scheduled post (my, life is full of surprises!). It was really written on September 15, 2009

We have found the cause of Galdor's crankiness--an infection of some sort. He'll have antibiotics, but he's really, really, REALLY grumpy.

Ahem.

Uh..correction here: I misspelled 'clique'. It's really cliche. Eldarwen, no wonder you were confused; I misspelled it!! =)

So, anyway...sorry 'bout that.

Can my book get any more cliquer than this?

Edit! I typed this whole post misspelling 'cliche'. I look back on it and laugh, but at the time it was soooo embarrassing. Hey, this was a loooooong time ago.

In my book, Sarea (working title, remember) it seems like EVERYTHING'S clique! It begins on a dark and stormy night, it has an evil king that some people are trying to overthrow, and the main character is someone that looks completely under-qualified for overthrowing the evil king, but then finds out that they can use magic.

I didn't realize how clique my book actually was until I was already more than half-way through,
and then the clique-ness had become too important plot-wise to change.

It actually wasn't as bad as it seemed. I'm hoping that with all the tweaks I add, the clique stuff will be sort of countered. I actually have a pretty un-clique demise in store for my main baddie, and I've also plotted out some other deaths for more secondary villains.

And I'm almost done with the second part of Sarea! This part, other than the ever-popular escape through the window of a tavern late at night, isn't clique at all. And the romantic parts, which I was looking forward to with dread, has been going SO smoothly, and I don't think they're clique, either.

I was reading my first draft of the first-third of Sarea, and was astonished at how different it is from the up-to-date draft. My first draft was so much more shorter, and the writer style was more...amateur. It was only about 50 pages long typed up, and my previous draft is 146 pages. I'm hoping to add even more to it once iGirl''s finished her editing.

And iGirl's sister is working on a title for Sarea!! It looks SO awesome! She's an amazing artist.

Give-away!

There's a really cool give-away at The Yodeling Dwarf! Click HERE for details!

(I don't have time to put my signature here, so I'll just put--)

Izori

I had a horrible last night's sleep...Galdor wasn't feeling well at all, and when one year old's don't feel good, they cry. All night. Which made Luthien cry, and she shares a room with me. Thankfully Erestor didn't cry =)

And so Mom got me up at 5:40 AM. The story behind that: Mom's training for a marathon, so she gets up really early in the morning and runs. My alarm clock doesn't work, and I need to get up at 6 so I can get all my schoolwork done before I leave for Spanish at 12:40. Dad's still asleep around 6:30, and no chance of Erestor waking up before 7:59 (It's not as bad as 8:00, you know!). So that leaves Mom to wake me up.

In all, I probably had a grand total of three or four hours of sleep, give or take some. And I need to go do my math.

Characters: Ehra

Just for fun, I'm going to tell you all about my main character! Aren't you so excited? (Hint: you're supposed to be ;)

name: Ehra, Elashi of Water

age: 14-16 in my book

personal status:
-married: no
-best friend (s): Mina, Leela, Aera, Betha

appearance:
-hair color: black
-eye color: dark brown
-skin color: slightly darker than peach, yellowish undertone
-facial features: small, straight nose, largish eyes
-height: 5'3"
-posture: neutral posture, walks with a teeny, weeny limp.

personality: not particularly out-going, yet not shy, either. Usually peaceful, but can really fight when she has to. Slightly pessimistic, sarcastic sense of humor.

weapon: sword, although she can be an archer in a pinch.

fighting style (w/sword): both hands on hilt, although she can fight excellently with only her left hand.

faults/weaknesses (physical and mental): sometimes assumes without finding all the facts, slightly prejudiced occasionally. Also can have a bit of a temper (which she has learned to control a lot). Small stature often tells the enemy that she is the most vulnerable, and therefore she gets plenty of action in the sword fights.

qualities/strengths (physical and mental): good aim, quick, loyal. Good self control and has a strict conscience. Brave (aren't they all?)

scars/markings (physical): scar from a sword slash on her forehead (from her first real battle).

family:
-father: Lerikan, Elashi of Fire
-mother: Ruth
-siblings:
-older: Jerad, Sarono, Betha
-younger: none.

ancestry: Mother has roots in Latronia and Uraith. Lerikan's family is Sarean.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isn't it funny how characters take on a life of their own? Ehra was supposed to be based off two friends of mine: Tatiana and Rin. But Ehra now is like neither! True, she still does look the same, but she is sort of pessimistic and a tad sarcastic. Tatiana nor Rin is like that (I think), and I didn't mean at all for Ehra to be like that! But she has. Oh, well. See what I mean? I can't even keep control of my own characters!




P.S. This is a scheduled post. I actually wrote it on September 15, 2009

Character's can be very stubborn...

...right when you don't need them to be!

Has anyone ever had a great new idea for a plot twist in your book, and tried to try it out, only to have your characters refuse to follow it? I know at least my characters can be downright persnickety sometimes!

So, what do you do? Other then tell them they have to follow it because you're the author and you said so, here's some advice.

1). Hold an interview. No, I'm perfectly serious. Write down a list of questions about the characters in your book. Something like (here I'm going to use a sub-character in the book I'm writing. She's not really giving me grief, but she's my example) this:

name: Lydia (this is just for keeping track of whose interview is who's.

job/profession: tavern-maid

personality: spunky, energetic, observant and quick-witted but at first glance acts like a silly twit.

problem: she wants to quit her job at the tavern. I want her to stay and gather information for my main characters.

Now that you've written it down, think on the problem. Maybe you could compromise some way between your opinion and that of your character's.

#2). Your character may have a point in their suggestion. You could try to do it their way and see what results. You could come up with something very interesting! This is the one I use most often and that helps the most.

#3). Kill the character! Uh, might I add that this is only useful when your problem character is only a sub character that can't add anything more to the story and you have no emotional attachment to (is it possible to have no attachment to characters you made up?). Once again, this can lead to interesting results.

#4). Conflict with your character and do it your way, just to experiment if the character really will refuse to work for you. This is something I DON'T suggest.

Out of all the cures, number 2 is most suggested.

Izori

(Oh, by the way, this post popped up a day ago. If you were reading it, and it suddenly disappeared, sorry about that. It was right in front of a rather important announcement)

P.S. This was a scheduled post. For all who are curious, this was really written on September 15, 2009.

Caption Contest Results!!!!

Man, this was HARD to judge! Originally, I was just going to do one winner per picture if possible...but it isn't possible! There's a few ties.


#1:

Prince Caspian: "What on earth is that on Trumpkin's head?"
--Tinydancer

And another one that I had forgotten to put in! Terribly sorry:

Susan: Guys I don't think we should be walking any farther.

Caspien: Why not?

Susan: Well...look at the funny looking person taking a picture of us.
--Saerwen






#2:

Susan: 'Somehow it feels like we're in a motion picture.

Lucy: OK, so we're at the part when the audience is full of suspense, right?

Peter: I just hope we get out alive.
--Tatiana

"Um...whawasdat???"
--Dr. Paleo Ph.D





#3:

"I'm coming! It's okay! I'll light the candle for the romantic dinner for two!
--Olive Tree

Caspian: 'Peter! Come back here and face me like a man!"
--Eldarwen Failerial






#4:

'Give us a smile, sweetheart. It it your birthday!'
--Enna-Rin

White Witch: 'Do I really look fat in this, truly?"
--Catherine WhiteRose




#5:

Sliiide to the left...sliide to the right...take it back now, y'all...
--Olive Tree



Um...maybe nearly all of them were ties...but that just means that everyone was REALLY funny!!

Great job, everyone!

Signature!

Which one do you like better?

I am judging the captions now, too!

Until I get a new signature,

Izori

Movie Review: The Princess Bride

Credits are still rolling in the family room (also known as the TV room) and we just finished watching...'The Princess Bride'.

'The Princess Bride'
Rated PG

Buttercup, a young lassie, falls in love with a farm boy named Wesley. But they're too poor to get married, so Wesley has to go out and seek a fortune. Fairly usual, except Wesley here does the above average--he gets captured by an infamous pirate who takes no prisoners. That is a death sentence.

Hardly any time has passed before Prince Humperdink requests Buttercup's hand in marriage--and it's impossible for Buttercup to refuse. But before the wedding, she's captured by a giant, a Spaniard, and their somewhat-obsessed-with-the-word-inconceivable' leader.

A mysterious ship on the horizon forces the small kidnapping group to do some quite daring things--climb up mountains, split their ways, have contests for their own lives--but the man in black, still following them, is unstoppable.

But kidnapping and mysterious, masked men might not be Buttercup's only troubles. Even though she learns what she thought impossible, she is still forced to marry Prince Humperdink. Her true love has disappeared yet again. And he won't show up in time to save her. Until it could just very well be too late.
--- --- ---

I know, bad summing up of the movie. But it's late.

First of all...IT WAS AWESOME!!

Before I watched it, I wondered at everyone who raved about it, thinking 'Who would want to watch a movie titled 'The Princess Bride'? All that sounds of is mushy-ness.

It's awesome!!! The sword fights are awesome, the humor is awesome....it's awesome.

To be more official: Buttercup and Wesley are devoted to each other, and not even death will stop true love. The swordfights are (I won't use the word awesome)...spectacular, and the movie had us all laughing. There were some parts, too, when I...ah...cried. If you know me, I am not the crying type. So maybe I didn't cry...my eyes just got a little watery. The blanket must have been dusty...or something.

However, there are some bad parts. First of all, the torture scene is a little disturbing (and I thought the torture scene in my book was pretty gross). Buttercup's parents are never mentioned (not that that's bad, it's just not good), and there are some other intense parts that may disturb younger kids (I myself didn't watch the torture scene. And I consider myself pretty hardened). Buttercup, although she never does it, does mention suicide. And then there's the kissing.

On a less moral and more quality-based critizism level--the first part, I thought, seemed a little rushed. The acting of the dude who's obsessed with 'inconceivable' I didn't think was first-rate. It may just have been me. And the rodents in the Fire-Swamp didn't look real, either. Just like an overgrown mole.

The Spanierd dude--I can't remember his name--was really good though.

Overall, it was an AWESOME movie! Watch it.

Izori

A lot of stuff

Okay, I guess I'll go in order of importance:

1. Update on Dad--he's now starting to feel the effects of radiation. No losing hair yet (or at least, I haven't noticed. However, the odd thing is that to me it looks like my color hair: generally brown but with tinges of red, black at the roots, and almost blond at the ends, and not like...well, his used to have some gray. That's odd. But anyway, food--even his all-time favorite Doritos--don't look appetizing at all, so he's lost one pound already. He's not supposed to lose any weight, so now he has to eat nearly all the time. Which is a little tempting to me, because he gets to have chocolate milkshakes and all that good stuff! But so far, he's okay. And it's his b-day tomorrow!

2. Tod Steward is having a book signing tomorrow! View HERE for all the details. I'll be there!

3. Andrea is kind enough to work on a book cover for my book! Tatiana's also editing it for me. Thanks so much, both of you! Tatiana also showed me around Lulu (on my sidebar for the link).

And...

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY FOR THE CAPTION CONTEST! If you haven't entered a caption and would like to, please do so now. Remember, this goes until tonight, September 25. Until midnight to be exact, but I won't be staying up until then to say, "Hmmm, this is 38 seconds late; it's disqualified", and all of my followers are spread out all across the country and even globe, so midnight will vary. Basically, if there are any new comments on Saturday or by the time I get up, they won't be counted!!

Izori

WE WON!!!!!!!!!

Okay, it might just have been a mere soccer scrimmage. BUT WE WON!

I'm a U-15 (age 12-15) and we scrimmaged the U-19's (15-18). And we won 2-1. I played left fullback the entire time.

However, the U-19's are...good players...so I think that winning will be a rare occurrence against them. But we still won.

Izori

Some suggestions for first-time authors

I remember when I was just starting out writing, and I started out in a pretty bad way. Nearly every mistake there is out there, I made it. So now, with all the experience I have gained, I will post some ways how to avoid starting out like me =).

1). Don't be neat. Now, that might seem rather odd, but when I mean to not be neat, I mean to not sweat the details in your first draft. You should be neat in your final draft of your book, but when you're beginning, don't spend half an hour trying to make your first chapter perfect. If you agonize over every single word, phrase, and action, you won't get much done and your work will sound too labored. That is why I like to write my first draft instead of type it. If I type it, I'm tempted to delete and re-delete, which is made very easy by a handy-dandy delete button. If you write with a pen, you can't erase, which keeps you from getting hung up over a mere sentence. If there is something that you know needs editing in your first draft, just make a note of it in the margin and keep going. It doesn't matter if your book is perfect by the first-draft! Because it's not going to be. This is what makes the Elandai series so hard to write; you guys basically see my first draft of it.

2). Start out simple. Right now, I'm on a level with Sarea where I have sub-plots and sub-sub plots, supporting characters and characters that support the supporting characters. It's very hard. If you're just writing your first book, I would suggest you start off with just one plot (maybe a small sub-plot, too) and just a few supporting characters. Then you can get more complicated as you go.

3). Talk to other first-time authors. When I was just starting out, I had a lot of friends who wrote--but I didn't know they did. It's encouraging to talk to other young authors, not to mention helpful.

4). Find out what genre you are. I am a fantasy/allegorical genre. Seriously, I can't write anything else then fantasy and allegories. I've tried historical fiction, sci-fi, contemporary, and others, but I can't write those. You can experiment to find it out, or you can think on what books you read a lot of. Read a whole bunch of fantasy? You might want to try writing fantasy.

5). Read. A lot. I think that's self-explanatory, but I'll explain anyway. If you find a really good author, study their writing style. They probably use a lot of strong verbs (like sprinted or dashed instead of ran) and you can copy their ways of making the reader interested.

6). Have other people read your books. The first book I actually let someone read was the first third of Sarea. They probably will be able to tell you if your characters are strong, plot interesting, etc.

7). Get a fair amount of sleep, drink a lot of water, eat healthy, get a good amount of exercise. They're actually important factors of good writing.

8). Get your school-work and chores done before you sit down to write. That way there will be less interruptions from siblings or parents asking if your household duties are done yet, and you will be able to concentrate more if you don't have a to-do list hanging over your head.

9). Try to write often, even if it's only for a little while. If you skip one day, it'll be easier to skip a week.

10). Don't give up! No one ever becomes world-best author without a lot of work.

Izori

*evil snicker* Aren't I smart?

Actually, I think everyone thinks I'm crazy. First, I explained several times why I wasn't wearing any shoes--because it was hobbit day. So I got some weird looks from that.

Next, I was visiting a friends house, and her mom said that she was going to bring baked oatmeal tomorrow between 7 and 8 am. She said I could keep it a surprise (I'm on breakfast prep. this month, BTW). So tonight I told everyone to just have one meringue so that there would be four left over for Bilbo and Frodo, who are going to come over between 7 and 8 tomorrow and bring some breakfast, not to mention celebrate a late birthday. So now they think I'm crazy, too. (I'm really going to give the left over meringues to my friend's mom).

So tomorrow I'm going to have a hobbit breakfast! =)

Happy Birthday to Frodo and Bilbo!

It's Hobbit Day. I went barefoot all day, and we're going to have a feast tonight.

HERE is the Wikepedia explanation of Hobbit Day

Happy Hobbit Day!

Izori

Randomness

I don't have any piano lessons today, which is a good thing because I'm feeling sort of wiped out. I have a rather severe cold, with some nausea, too (this is really rare for me). So basically I've just been sitting around, doing schoolwork and trying to write Sarea.

Have you guys ever reached a point in your book where you just feel like ripping it up? I've reached a point that's supposed to be exciting (escaping from a hostile Elven city) but for some odd reason, I can't write anything exciting. And for some odd reason, I was looking at my copy of Dun Zarum (which Tatiana is still faithfully editing. Mucho gracias, Ta!) and my writing looks unusually...immature. That's what I think is the only bad effect of your writing skills drastically improving over a short time. You just look at writing you did a month or two ago and immediately tell that it needs major improvement.

And furthermore, my characters aren't giving me any hints as to what I'm supp--never mind. I just had a BRILLIANT idea!!! So now off I go to writing!

Izori

I've been Tagged!

(Unscheduled post) I've been tagged by Eldarwen Faileriel and, later, Lady Ophelia! Thank you, Eldarwen and Ophelia!

Here are the Rules:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.

2) Share "ten honest things" about myself.

3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

#1. I'm Irish, and therefore have inherited an Irish temper, love for potatoes, and my hair has a slight tint of red. I'm tall because I'm Norwegian, my skin is naturally a sort of brown-y color because I'm a small part Native American Indian, I don't know what I got from being French (probably brown eyes and brown hair), I'm a Scottish Presbyterian (and I love bagpipes)...and I don't know what I got from being Welsh.

#2. I'd like to either be a singer or an author. More chance of...both.

#3. I play soccer!!!!!!

#4. I had Spanish classes today (Tatiana's mom teaches us). It's actually rather fun, although I had to work on reviewing Spanish verbs ending in -ar today.

#5. I love shooting and archery. As a matter of fact, I just got home from air-rifle.

#6. I'm often-times the younger, but taller, then my friends. Although recently I've really slowed down with growing, and everyone's sped up. Now I feel like a shrimp!

#7. My right arm has little or no reflexes due to a careless nurse when I was being born. That's why almost all my scars are on my right hand- because I can't reflexively jerk my hand back when I touch a hot stove or something.

#8. I love Elves, centuars, fauns, dragons, and the like.

#9. I'm probably the most like Arwen and Galadriel out of LoTR characters.

#10. Last one! 'My' colors are fall colors, especially dark green.

Now I have to tag...seven...people?!

Okay...

Tatiana

Andrea

Rin

Catherine WhiteRose

J.R. Parker

Saerwen

The Grove Family

There you go!!

Izori

Prayer Request

Dad had his first chemo treatment today. He's not home yet, but he's already had it. And with all the radiation, chemo, and stuff, his immune system will be way down, so if he gets a cold or anything that usually wouldn't be very serious, he could end up in the hospital. And I believe I'm coming down with a cold right now (sore throat, stuffy nose, all that). So please pray that I don't pass anything to him. He works at home, so he won't have to worry about the commute and all the colds and sicknesses you pick up from being on a train with everyone else.

Izori

P.S. I gave the first third of Sarea to Tatiana so she can edit it!

Lightning quick--I'm about to head out for Spanish.

Anyway, I was over by the window this morning, and I saw a female cardinal sitting on our porch railing. She was chirping away, and looking right at me. When she saw me, she flew over and perched on the outside of our railing.

I was pretty surprised, and began whistling to her. She chirped back some, and then flew to a different window. We had a 'conversation' for a few minutes, and then I had to do my math.

Later, Luthien came in from the garage, where she had been riding her bike, and said, "Guys, come
quick! There's a bird on my bike!"

"A bird?" We all sceptically asked, and I ran to get my camera.

Lo and behold, there was the same female cardinal, sitting on Luthien's bike. When she saw that the door leading into the house was open, she flew into the house and perched on my chair! Then she flew by my head and went in to the school-room.

By that time, we had all recovered our astonishment and Mom got the broom. We managed to shoo her out the door, and now I can hear her chirping away on our porch.

When we have an encounter with animals, we like to name them. So our female cardinal is now 'Opera'. We have a groundhog, a squirrel, and formerly a black snake all living around our house. I'll post about them later.

Izori

Book Review: The Book of the King

Description taken from the back of the book.

The Book of the King, by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry
Book 1 of the Wormling

'Nothing special is the best way to describe Owen Reeder--at least that's what he's been told all his life. When a stranger visits his father's bookstore, Owen's ordinary life spirals out of control and right into a world he didn't even know existed.

Owen believes the only gift he possesses is his ability to devour books, but he is about to be forced into a battle that will affect two worlds: his and the unknown world of the Lowlands.'

It was a very good book. It was sort of told in a storyteller fashion, and I liked it a lot. It was an allegory.

Definitely recommend it, and here's the Amazon ad if you want to buy it:



Izori

A real, live post (basically, not a scheduled one) in which I learn something!! (Wow, that's a shocker)

Behind our church there's a small area--I wouldn't even call it woods--but it has some trees, and it's really quite peaceful. So after church, I grabbed the notebook that I'm writing Sarea in and went in the not-quite-woods area. Well, it was rather popular, it seemed, that day. There was a berry fight with the boys, and then a lassie who's friends with Luthien and me (who for the sake of naming her, I'll call her Arìlì, after an Elven princess in Sarea) came up and asked me what I was doing.

"I'm writing," I replied.

"Really? About what?"

"A girl. Named Ehra." You can notice that my sentences never exceed two words.

"Cool! You could have it that she lives near a forest that is so tangled and twisted, that no one who enters there will ever come out again! It's owned by this wizard..."

And Arìlì goes on to tell me a complicated story, full of double plots and lost little boys and wizards and the wife of the wizard who bakes cookies for him. It ends with a soldier getting poisoned, by the way. And she's ten.

Even though I wrote a total of four words, I have discovered that Arìlì could very well grow up to be a writer.

Izori

Caption Contest

Seeing as I have more time on my hands than I thought, I have decided to do a caption contest!

I will post the rules and guidelines (as well as have a link to this post) on my sidebar, but I'll also post them here.

Guidelines:

1. Comment your captions on this post.

2. Please label them (Picture #1, #2, etc.) to avoid confusion.

3. I will do the winners for individual pictures.

4. This is just for fun!! There won't be any prizes, such as awards or blog make-overs, because a techie I am not. However, you will get the satisfaction of having your funny caption posted.

5. You can post as many captions on as many pictures as you like. Only one will win, though.

Rules:

1. No offensive or rude language!

2. Please be a good sport. I'm sure everyone's captions will be funny!

3. Make 'em funny!! =)

And now, here are your pictures!


#1





#2





#3






#4




#5



There you go! The contest ends Friday, September 25, and it starts...



NOW!!

Izori

Well...I have time!

I have some time to post something, so I'm...uh...

...I guess I'll post five things that are completely honest about me.

1. I look like like a mix between Arwen and Galadriel.

2. I'm scared of creepy spiders, hornets, public speaking, and the list goes on.

3. I'm hoping to have to start training for a 5k soon. Unless I can't run because of my back (which has been bothering me rather badly).

4. My room is a mess.

5. And I stayed up playing pool (billiards) with Dad, Mom and Eristor.

For the book I'm writing that I call Sarea for lack of another title...I think I'm going to post the first and possibly second chapter of it so that you guys can tell me what to name it! And also tell me HONESTLY what you think of it (good, bad, need's improvements, whatever!). The main theme of my book itself is clique...you know, this evil king is in charge of a struggling country, and a small rebellion that has absolutely no chance of defeating him decides to give a shot at it...that has got to be one of the most used plots on earth! I actually didn't realize that 'till I was a good part finished with the first third, and by then it was too late to change it.

I've also scheduled character personality sheets on my characters just for fun.

By the way, everythings going well with Dad's radiation so far. He won't loose his hair until a few weeks, but his tastebuds are supposed to go around now. He has a hard time turning his neck, though, due to a surgery he had a few months ago that was supposed to help diagnose the problem. And he has to keep up his current weight because if you lose (or gain) weight during radiation, you're chances of recovering are considerably less. So that means he has to eat, like, 1,000 calories a day (no, I'm not kidding!).

Izori

Chapter 7: (Spiders)

Chapter 7

It was now completely dark. Ben and Kaela had both pulled out their swords, and the familiar, pure glow lit the path ahead of them.

Kaela smiled as she remembered a time, quite a bit ago, when Klii had read aloud to her, Ben, Learka, and Yev from the Book of Prophesies. One of the parts that she recalled well was a verse fitting for the situation now. 'You are a lamp to my way and a light to my path/I can walk at night without my foot being caught'. How true that was now!

Lisa quickened her pace and caught up to Kaela. "I didn't know it could ever get so dark out!" the other girl exclaimed.

"Dark?" Kaela wondered. "It's not dark; the swords are lighting up things rather nicely."

"Well, yeah, but...don't they seem really dim? Everything's all shadowy." Lisa nervously chewed on the end of her pen as she peered around, trying to find the great light that Kaela was talking about.

Kaela shook her head, bemused. "Lisa, can't you see it? I can at least clearly make out the path ten feet in front of us!"

Lisa looked sad. "Maybe I can't see it because I don't really believe in Adonai?"

Kaela's eyebrows lifted. "You know, you're probably right--you can't see the light because you don't believe in the source of it."

"I want to see it, I really do," insisted Lisa. "But I can't. Why is that, you think?"

Thoughtfully looking at the other girl, Kaela finally said, "It's because we don't choose to follow Adonai."

It was Lisa's turn to raise her eyebrows. "We don't?"

Kaela shook her head firmly. "No, we don't. And it actually makes perfect sense. Everyone's a sinner, and sinners wouldn't choose to follow Adonai by themselves. Last time Ben and I were here, he actually died to pay for all the wrong things we've done, are doing, and will do! People don't like to be told that they're not really good deep down and that they need someone else to help them, so we wouldn't want to believe in him on our own. It's more...grace then choice."

Lisa frowned. "I suppose that does make sense..."

Kaela nodded sympathetically. "I know everything's confusing here. You're probably still processing the fact that you're even here, right?"

"Exactly!"

"Well," said Kaela. "You think it's hard for you, just think of what it was like for Ben and me! The only explanation that we got was from Elandaians who didn't see our perspective."

"Yeah," Lisa laughed. "I guess I got it easy!"

Kaela smiled back, and then gave a shriek that was truly ear-splitting. Right in front of them dangled the biggest spider she had ever seen.
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Ah, spiders! Kaela's arachnophobic, by the way.

Izori

Dad just got back from his first radiation thing-y, I guess it's called an appointment. He said it's bearable, but certainly not comfortable. Continue to pray; he'll be doing that every day except for Saturday and Sunday for six weeks.

Thanks,

Izori

Chapter 6 of the yet unnamed book: (Unnamed Chapter, too. Suggestions are appreciated!)

Hi, y'all! (yes, I just typed in a southern accent. I can't help it; I'm a southerner) This is the first of the scheduled posts, but don't let that stop you from making comments!

Chapter 6

As soon as Ben, Kaela, and Lisa (she was still trailing slightly behind) began walking further up the trail, Lerin called back to them in a voice quavering with fear, "Wait, where are you going? That's where the outlaws are!"

Lisa stopped. "Are we just going to leave him there?" she asked Ben and Kaela. "What are his chances of finding his way back in the dark? He's not exactly young."

Kaela looked at Ben. "She's right--we can't just walk off without making sure that he'll make it back to his village safe."

Ben stopped walking. "Well, what are we going to do? We can't just bring Leran to the outlaws! What if he's a spy or something, just faking that he's an old man. He could be working for Daran, for all we know! And we really do need to reach the followers before it get's completely dark."

"Who says we can't bring him to the outlaw hide-out with us?" Kaela demanded, still speaking in low tones.

"I just said why, he could be a spy!" Ben glared at Kaela, and she glared back.

Thinking quickly to break the tension between the two siblings, Lisa joked, "Hey, you're a poet and you didn't even know it!"

A small smile spread across Ben's face. "Thanks, Lisa. Sorry I snapped at you, Kaela, but I really don't think it's a good idea."

"Because he could be a spy? Ben, don't worry so much. First, I think he's a genuinely afraid, and I think we shouldn't leave him alone in the woods. Second, even if he is a spy, he still is an old man. We can show compassion and respect to him, and Adonai will take care of the rest. We do serve a powerful king, don't we?"

Ben nodded. "I guess you're right." He turned and walked back to Lerin. "Ahem. We're going up the mountain; would you care to come with us?"

He blanched. "Up...the mountain? Don't you understand?! It's where the outlaws are!"

Ben nodded pleasantly. "So I've heard."

Lerin gaped. "Are you an outlaw?"

"Well, I am a follower of Adonai, so I suppose I am an outlaw."

Lerin slowly backed away until he bumped into a tree. "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

Kaela now stepped forward. The presence of a twelve year old girl was slightly more assuring than that of a teenage boy, and Lerin paused mid-plea.

"Would you like to come with us?" Kaela repeated. "We followers aren't as bad as we're made out to be. And it might be better than walking all alone down a mountain at night."

The old man warily stepped toward Kaela. "Well...alright, I'll come, but I think it'll be the death of me!"

He joined step with the other three as they continued up the mountain.

Presently, to satisfy her curiosity and start up conversation, Kaela asked, "So, what'd the followers do to get outlawed?"

"Following Adonai, or whoever, naturally," Lerin nodded. "It all started back in the capitol, Nirshodeth..."

"Nirshodeth?" Ben asked. "What about Mahal?"

"Mahal?" Lerin snorted. "That small city? Some don't even call it a city, only a village."

Kaela nodded. "I see. Has Mahal ever been the capitol?"

Lerin looked at her in a weird way. "If you've ever lived here, you would know right away that Mahal has never been, is not, and probably will never be the capitol of Elandai."

Lisa quietly took notes in her notebook.

So, I guess that means we must be in an earlier era than last time, Ben thought. We might even run into Klii when he was a boy. Klii was one of Ben and Kaela's friends from their first adventure, who had been rather elderly at the time.

'And so Daran is the king?"

"King Daran (may he live forever) is king, yes. But let us hurry, being in the mountains at dark is not the best place to be. I'd prefer shelter, even if it's in the den of outlaws."
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Ah...there was something else I was going to say, but I don't remember...so never mind.

Izori

Another update on Dad

We found out when treatment will start!

TOMORROW! Yikes.

I was expecting, at the earliest, next week. But hey, the sooner started, the sooner finished!

So anyway, continue to pray! I've scheduled posts that will appear soon.

Izori

Update on my dad...

Well, Dad was supposed to start radiation/chemo today, but they bumped it to a later day because of some re-scheduled doctor's appointments. I'm not sure exactly when it's been moved to, but please pray for all of us, especially Dad. The radiation will blister the inside of his throat (the cancer is on his neck) so he'll have to use a feeding tube.

Izori

P.S. Just in case I won't be able to post in the next month or so, I'm scheduling posts for that time.

Tips on Curing Writer's Block

Rin gave me some great tips for curing writer's block when I asked for help a few weeks ago. Here's the ones I found the most helpful to me, and one that I added. (Rin, if you don't want me posting your tips, just let me know and I'll remove them. I won't mind).

1). Write down 12 ideas that might come next in your book. Don't stop, even if the third one sounds really awesome. 12 seemed an awful lot for me, so I shortened it to seven. It still worked. And don't not write down an idea, even if it sounds crazy. I wasn't going to write down one of the ideas, because it sounded very clique, but it ended up that idea was the one I used (combined with another one).

2). Ask youself 'What would happen if...'. Again, let your mind wander, and don't disgard the crazy ideas.

3). At least look at the part that you left off writing. A lot of times, I think I have writer's block because I haven't had any new brainstorms. Actually, if I can just look over the chapter that I got stuck on, I get inspired a lot of times.

4). Pray. It works better then anything! And also read your Bible. If you're working on a book that has a revolution against an evil king, read about Gideon or maybe David. If you're writing about a good king that's fighting down an evil revolution, read about David and his rebellious son. If you're writing an allegory, obviously read all over the Bible!

Izori

9/11

My grandma survived 9/11. She and a friend escaped down the stairs. But remember those who didn't escape, and all the rescuers who died making sure more could survive.

Izori

Writer's block--some prevention tips

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. It's actually true.

1). Don't skip writing; get yourself to at least read over the chapter you're working on once a day. I suppose sometimes it can't be helped, but when you skip when you could have written (even just a paragraph) you start finding more excuses. Stuff like, 'Well, I didn't write yesterday, so it wouldn't hurt to skip today, too," or "This hasn't been the longest period of time I didn't write, and it won't be until a week! I'm doing fine," can be easier to listen to if you haven't gotten yourself on a writing roll.

2). Keep it sloppy, especially if you're on your first draft. First drafts are supposed to be messy. If they aren't there's something wrong! If you're stuck on a short few sentences that are so boring you don't know what to write, just go ahead and mess them up. You can go back later and fix them.

Izori

Chapter 5: (The Outlaws)

Chapter 5

Lisa looked around her in the gathering dusk. Kaela, Ben, and her had been traveling up the mountain for quite a while, and still hadn't reached the top. She was starting to get a little nervous, too. Who knew what could be lurking around in the woods of a strange world at night?

"Um, Ben?" she asked. "Are we going to spend the night outside?"

Ben shrugged. "If we have to," he replied. "But I don't think we will. Look at the path."

Both Lisa and Kaela glanced down at the worn path beneath their feet. Then it suddenly dawned on Kaela. "Hey, that's right! Lisa, look how worn the path is!"

"Yeah...what about it?"

Ben patiently explained. "Well, look at how worn the path is. That means it's been traveled on somewhat. And look right there," he pointed off to the edge of the path.

Kaela knelt and searched the ground. "It's a foot-print," she declared. "And that means that there was a human here after the last rain. Or at least the foot of a human was here."

Lisa opened her notebook and scribbled a quick note in it. "Interesting..."

"We might want to get a move on," Ben gently chided the girls. "Otherwise we will be sleeping away from civilization,"

Lisa shivered and hurried to catch up with him and Kaela, who had begun striding ahead.

Up ahead, a stick cracked. Both Ben and Kaela whipped out their swords (which proved that their nerves were slightly on edge, too).

Immediately a voice called out of the bushes, "No! Don't 'urt me! I'm not one of 'em, I'm not one of 'em!"

A man, around sixty or so, slowly moved out of the bushes with his hands in the air, repeating in a trembling voice, "I'm not one of 'em!"

Kaela and Ben lowered their swords, now that they saw there wasn't a threat. "You're not one of who?" Ben asked.

"And we wouldn't hurt you," Kaela added in ways of reassurance. "We would only hurt--" Ben swiftly covered her mouth with a look that said, Be careful. We don't know if he's totally harmless or not.

To the old man he said, "What's your name?"

"Lerin, sir, and I'm not one of 'em!"

"Yes, we know," Ben replied, his tone just having a hint of impatience. "But who are them?"

"Them is what we piedmont dwellers call 'em. They call themselves 'the followers'. Or so I've heard. They're outlaws, and no one who has ever tried to find their hideout come back down alive! Absolutely no one! The law's been after them for years!" Lerin bobbed his head up and down emphatically as he spoke.

"Followers of what?" Kaela asked, beginning to get interested.

"Some god person, I think," Leran twisted his hands nervously. "They claim that this Adonai, or whoever he's called, made the heavens and the earth, and that he's even powerful than great king Daran (may he live forever) and--"

"Hold on," interrupted Lisa. "Did you just say 'Adonai' and 'Daran'?"

"Yes, yes I did," Lerin turned to her. "But you forgot the 'may he live forever' part at the end of Daran (may he live forever)."

Kaela and Ben exchanged glances. "Ah, Lisa, come here please." Kaela tugged at Lisa's elbow. "We need to talk for a second,"

The three met in a huddle a few yards away from Lerin, who was looking increasingly nervous by the second. "What's going on?" Lisa asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you were just fine," Ben assured her. "It's the man--Lerin--who's wrong."

"Ben," Kaela shifted on her feet as she quietly glanced at Lerin and then looked back. "It sure seems like this is a time of persecution for the followers."

He nodded. "Yes, it does. From what I gather, we're outlaws."

Lisa jerked away, her voice rising an octave. "Wait, you're outlaws!?"

Kaela shushed her. "Lisa, we're not evil or anything. A lot of times here, the law has been after the good and rewarding the bad. And now the good side is outlawed."

Lisa took a deep breath. "Okay," she finally said. "So what are we going to do now?"

Ben smiled. "We're going to join the outlaws."
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Not my longest or well written-est chapter, but I'm in a hurry. Sorry.

Izori

Writer's Block

Writer's block is a condition, associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work--Wikipedia

I guess that tells you what writer's block is--not that you guys don't know. Probably every writer has got writer's block at least once. I know I've got it a lot more! But have you ever given much thought to what causes it?

One thing that is usually my problem is I lose interest. The book has reached a dull point, where there's no new characters, forming plots, or battles.

Or when I have just started a book with no clue where I'll go with it, I tend to quit. I'll just make up a character, and then try and write a story around her/him. And unless you have a random idea where the plot is going, that won't work.

Izori

Awards

I guess it's time to pass on awards:


To everyone who has the big red button:


To everyone who is writing a book that has elves in it, really likes elves, or is one:
To every true Narnian, but especially Tatiana:


To everyone who writes, especially Tatiana, Rin, and Catherine Whiterose:
To everyone who is against the flow, especially Andrea and Catherine Whiterose:

And the dragon award, to anyone who really believes in dragons.

First Day of Soccer!!!

Today was the first day of soccer! (Well, you probably already got that from the title =). We did a scrimmage--which was totally FUN!--against the older age group. We lost 2-0, but it was still fun.

Izori

Had piano lessons today--and I'm going to be starting a class for advanced students at the end of September. We'll be learning accompaniment, so eventually I'll play the piano for the ballet students. And I also found out I'll be doing a Sonatina contest in February, and I'm starting learning Christmas music! I love Christmas music.

Izori

Sorry, guys...

...but I probably won't be able to post any more chapters of my book for a little while. It's sort of been on hold now, since I'm working on a lot of other books and scripts, not to mention schoolwork.

In the meanwhile, I'll tell y'all what I've been up to. On Friday Dad took Eristor, Galdor, Luthien, and me to Chuck E. Cheese. Eristor and I played the Star Wars game they have there, and it was awesome! I actually came so close to defeating Darth Vader in a duel that he actually didn't kill me.

Then we went home, and then Eristor, Galdor, Luthien, and me went to our grandparents house. Mom and Dad went out to dinner, and then picked Galdor up. The rest of us spent the night at grandma and grandpa's, and then we came home at around 6 pm today. In short, it's been pretty busy!

Izori

My writer's block went away a little while ago! You probably wouldn't be able to tell, especially since my third Elandai book isn't going. I haven't had time to sit down at the computer for 20 minutes and write a chapter, because of school work and all that. And I'm working on a script for a movie my friends and I are making. I've actually gotten pretty far on the first drafts of the preview and scenes 1,2, and 3 last night. Which explains why, when my alarm clock went off at 6:30 this morning, I rolled over and went back to sleep (after I had turned the alarm clock off, of course).

Izori

Book Review: 'The Final Storm'

Yes, I know I'm reviewing this out of order. I've read all the books in the Trilogy, but I think I returned the second one to the library already, and the first is up in my room (basically, I'm too lazy to walk out of the school-room, step over Tristan pushing Mathilda's pink doll stroller around, hoist myself over the gate that's up to keep Tristan from going up the stairs, run all the way up the staircase, walk down the hall, go into my room, and get the book off my over-flowing book shelf. Isn't my life horrible?), and the third was on the computer desk. How handy!

By the way, the following is off the back of the book.

'The Final Storm' by Wayne Thomas Batson
#3 of the Door Within Trilogy

'Paragor, the betrayer of King Eliam, unites with the Wyrm Lord and the Seven Sleepers to launch a full-scale assault on the kingdom of Alleble. While Alleble and it's allies prepare to face the coming onslaught, they cling to an ancient legend about three witnesses who have the power to bring victory. But is the legend true? And if it is, where are they? Time is running out as darkness spreads over the realm, and paragor unleashes the final storm.

IT WAS AWESOME!

There. Now to be more specific...all the characters were very well introduced. I really liked Sir Mallick and Sir Nock. I actually liked all of the characters! It was a really, really good allegory. Way better than mine. The romance in it is pure, and all around it was really good. Nothing negative.

Definately read it!

Izori

P.S. I think I'm going to stop calling Wallace, Mathilda, and Tristan by those names, and instead call them by their Elven names, which are (in the same order as above): Eristor, Luthien, and Galdor.