Garnam: Adventure Awaits

So today I heard about yet another online writing community, called Movellas (for reasons unknown to me). For the past couple of days I've been thinking on a new story idea. So what do I do? Combine them. The new story is called "Garnam" (just a name I came up with that I thought sounded cool) and its kind of a mideval magic story. It's available on both Figment and Movellas if you want to check it out. Here are the links.

http://figment.com/books/501407-Garnam

http://www.movellas.com/book/read/201212240007402405

The following picture was supposed to be the cover for this story, but it was too wide to get both the cover and the character on the same page, so I had to end up looking for a new cover. I thought this one was awesome. I wish it could have worked.

Anyway, as this picture shows: in Garnam, adventure is just around the corner. Go read it to find out why!

Oh, and on another similar note, I am entering the Scholastic 2013 Writing Awards with an excerpt from "Follow the Raven." Wish me luck!

What is Minecraft, and who is Herobrine?

So my brother is really into Minecraft. I don't know exactly what it is...best I can figure is that it's a building game where everything is cube-shaped. I haven't seen any circles. Everything is made of blocks. Even the sun and clouds are blocks. Anyway, he keeps trying to show me stuff that he's built, and I do look at some stuff, but since I'm not into building I'm never really that impressed. (Until he built our house on Minecraft. THAT was pretty good.)

Anyway, getting to the story. For the past two weeks he's convinced me to watch some Minecraft music videos. Two weeks ago he showed me three different ones. Ever since then I've had the one called "Revenge" stuck in my brain every other day and I've had to listen to it a lot just to get it out. I find myself humming it when I'm focusing on math or Spanish. Here's the link if you want to listen/watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPJUBQd-PNM

Then last week he showed me another one, called "Cube Land." Again, I've had it stuck in my head ever since. Good thing the song is catchy and has an interesting video. I guess this one is what finally got me interested in Minecraft and the only reason I'm typing this post: the mysterious character Herobrine that was featured in the video. He apparently looks like the character you start with, Steve, only his eyes are empty and glow in the dark. Kadin says he can control lighting. I don't really know much, but in doing some research I've discovered that he's a really big mystery. He is apparently not supposed to exist, and many don't believe he does, but others have caught him in their single-player worlds. Sometimes he just stands there and stares while other times he'll chase you and try to kill you. He's a very controversial subject, I guess you could say. In any case, Herobrine is what finally drew my attention to the game my bro likes so much.

Why am I drawn to characters like this? I don't know for sure. I was drawn to Shadow and Raphael and Antauri in the same kind of way - they each have some sort of mystery about them or puzzle that I just have to solve. I guess Herobrine is kind of similar in that respect.

Well, that's my life so far. I'm REALLY ready for Christmas break. My homework tonight took me a whopping hour and a half. Usually I'm only working for 45 minutes at the most. I guess that's what I get for missing a day. Two days = two times the homework. Fun...NOT.

On the plus side, I'm going to play some Sonic racing with my bro. He like never wants to play it with me so I'm going to take advantage of this oppurtunity. But first I owe Sonic a race from five-ish weeks ago...

12/12/12

I figured since today is 12/12/12 my blog deserved a post. This is the last time something like this will happen for a while.

To update on my last blog: I didn't win the Costa Rica trip, but my Spanish teacher really wants me to go on the 2014 trip. I told him I'd consider it. He's been on to me about it since I first met him last year. Haha

I just passed my one-year anniversary on Wattpad. My stats are pretty impressive, considering that they are more than my other four writing sites added together. 55 fans, 20 readers (yes, there is a difference between the two), 65 votes, 89 comments, and 2,900+ reads. All based on one book. Score!

Everyone knows about One Direction's song "What Makes You Beautiful," right? You should listen to this cover band I found a while back. They're called Cimorelli, and they are made of awesome! Have a listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyNkNWQAewQ

In other news, I've decided to enter the first 50 pages of "Follow the Raven" in the 2012 Scholastic Writing Awards. The deadline is January 5, so I need to see our school's writing teacher and get the thing squared away. I mean, how often does an aspiring author get to have her book read by Scholastic publishers without having to have a Facebook first? YEAH!!

Is anyone else ready for Christmas break? I know I am! Here's a Chistmas picture for you:

Happy 12/12/12! :)

Solos and Español

Since I haven't updated in a while, I figured I'd go ahead and start with some exciting news: I finally, finally got a solo in my choir class! The beginning of first song that my choir does is when I sing. And the best part is that since it's the Christmas concert, I get to do it twice. Once at 1:30 and again at 7:30. Woot!

In other news, the drawing for the free Costa Rica trip is tomorrow. When Señor Monaño did the mock drawing today, my name came out 5 in 7 times. How exciting is that? If I actually won for real I think I'd run around the school screaming with joy. Haha that would be so cool! I really love Spanish and hope to speak it fluently someday. I already watch movies in Spanish and listen to Spanish songs all the time. My MP3 player is in Spanish! :D

Christmas is coming up! Here's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for you! Or, as they say in Spanish, "Rodolfo el reno de la Nariz Rojo." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwOlagOGOS0

Follow the Raven: One Year and Counting

Today I'm celeberating the one-year anniversary of my current project, "Follow the Raven." I began writing it on November 25, 2011 and am still working on it today. I'm about halfway through the second draft. I've changed some things around, but I think it's still a great story. I'm really proud of how it turned out. FUN FACT: I began writing the story because I knew exactly how I wanted it to end. I had no idea what the story would be leading up to that point, but I knew how I wanted it to end and so I started brainstorming, which led me to where I am today. The book has a grand total of six characters.

For those who don't know, the story is about a 15-year-old girl named Amber who has always dreamed of being a famous singer. She is sent to Moonlight Cove, where Dreams go to live once they've been born. (FUN FACT: When I was in elementary school my bro and I had a game called "Speed Punks." One of the tracks you could race on was called Moonlight Cove. I loved the track so much I told everyone I'd write a story about it someday.) There Amber meets a girl named Cale, who changes her life forever. How? You'll have to read to find out!

By the way, I know that authors really aren't supposed to have favorite characters in their own books, but I do. My favorite character in "Follow the Raven" is Marc, a lone wolf who has been given the task of guarding Moonlight Cove from the villain, Lord Hendrix. (No, not the Jimmy Hendrix kind of Hendrix.) I can't find a good picture that depicts Marc as I imagine him, so this will have to do:

Meh. It's close enough. :)

With any luck "Follow the Raven" will be editor-ready soon. Once I finish the second draft I'm going to read through it again and make sure everything looks good. I'm going to keep editing until I have the best final product possible. I love this story and I love the characters. I really want this one to be published, but NOT to Kindle or Nook. I want a hardback copy. I've always wanted to hold a book I wrote in my hands. :)

Anyway, I've officially been working on this book for a year today. Woot!

Holy Series Finale, Megas! (No spoilers, I promise.)

So, thanks to Nick, I've seen every single episode of Megas XLR. (Even that stupid Sonic parody which I will NEVER watch again.) The finale just blew my mind - I was seriously surprised how it turned out, although the last five minutes of the last episode were totally Coop. Haha. I really liked this show, even if it was kind of stupid. My favorite character is Jamie, though I don't know exactly why. My favorite line in the entire series:

Coop: Well...I've fought things bigger than this before.

Jamie: No you haven't! It's a FREAKING PLANET!

Haha you should check it out sometime if you're really bored. This is the best cure for boredom ever. Viva las Megas! :)

Rise of the Shredder

My bro and I always watch the latest episodes of TMNT 2012 together. Ususally we watch them the day they come out, but sometimes we have to wait a few days later. I'm so glad we didn't have to wait for today's episode - the Shredder finally reveals himself to the Turtles! What started out as just another plan to stop the Kraang ended in a brutal fight between the Turtles and the Shredder. Literally. The poor guys got their butts kicked like nobody's buisness. According to Splinter they were lucky to have survived. I can't wait for next weekend now - I just HAVE to know what happens next!