character interview | part 3 and final

Gooood morning! (or evening, or whatever the Order of the Time Zones has decreed shall be where you are) I pray you're all well, wherever you are, and having an actually-quite-good day. 

Unlike my characters.

((Entirely coincidental shoutout to Kenzie for the hours she spent planning a murder with me when I got stuck on day 3 of April Camp! Three Sisters thanks you... although the sisters themselves don't.))

Remember all those questions you asked over two years ago? There are just enough left after Part 2 for a rapid-fire finale to the character interview!

Jem: Welcome, everyone! Thank you all for being here - in the comfort of your own homes, of course! For the finale, I have: Billie, Elsie, Josie and Zephyr! Present but with no questions to their names are Count Laszlo/the Beast, Rowan and Kik. I'm sure they're very disappointed?

Kik: Yes.

Rowan: No.

Count Laszlo: I feel that the position of viewer may be the safest option, so...

Kik: I want my five minutes of fame.

Rowan: You got a heroic moment in the draft, at the village, remember?

Kik: ...we lost, so no, I don't remember anything about that at all, how odd. Definitely was never at that village ever in my life.

Jem: Annnd let's move on to the questions!

WIP Special Part 5 || I harass my characters

I won't beat around the bush and bore you with a long and rambly introduction. We all know who you're here to talk to, and it's not me. *tragic sniff* Today I have some special guests - the cast of Three Sisters, particularly, Billie!


Billie: I would rather be forced to behave through a full formal tea with Count Laszlo.

Jem: She's still a little rattled from meeting her author.

Billie: It's just wrong.

Jem: Unfortunate. We will also be having bloggers from the audience asking the cast questions! which will be so fun!

Billie: Fun, like a wild animal attack.

Jem: Thanks, Billie. With that said, I'd like to introduce Ceci, with our first question! *hands over mic*

Ceci: Billie, have you ever run out of things to say?

Billie: ...

Billie: wow. So that's going to be the style of this interview, Jem.

Jem: Answer the question.

Billie: ...

Billie: Never.

WIP Special part 4 || lots of side characters, seriously

WHOOO *runs around screaming* It's week four of the WIP Special! and of NaNoWriMo! 

and I'm not screaming because things are going great, if you were wondering.

I'm screaming as a replacement for Dedication™, Work Ethic™, and all those other lovely strong abstract nouns.

Look, if Billie can go through life relying on snark and bitterness alone, I can use screaming and procrastination, okay??

No. bad Jem. you cannot use the habits you gave your character as an excuse for your own bad habits.

ALSO: see the end of the post for *ad voice* your chance to feature in the next installment of Jem's Three Sisters WIP Special!

........

Week Four: Side Character (SC) Questions and Story Building

–{{1. List your SCs, state one of their main hobbies, and tell us how they influence your MC in the story.

*cracks knuckles*

*actually no I never crack my knuckles ever, ignore that* *shivers*

Elsie: the middle sister; hobby: writing; her gentleness influences Billie to be tougher.

Josie: the youngest sister; hobby: riding through the forest/hunting; impulsive and slightly wild, which influences Billie to sacrifice herself.

Count Laszlo/the Beast: grumpy talking tiger-bear-thing from the forest; hobby: reading, pottering around conservatory; influences Billie to act like more of a wild beastie than he is (simply because he is 0% wild beastie and he irritates her) but also to use manners as a new weapon.

Rowan: leader (or so he claims) of the bandits; hobby: snark (do you see where I'm going with him, dO YOU); his similarities with Billie influence her to open up (just a crack, though, seriously) and trust him to help her.

Kik: would be Rowan's right-hand-man except he denies Rowan's actually in charge; hobby: insulting Rowan (as fictional friends do); has not yet met Billie?? but I suppose might influence her actions through not sending (or making Rowan send) Josie home away from the bandits.


Zephyr: from another country I haven't named, he's the literal sweetest and I'm sorry I hurt him; hobby: not sure?? maybe poetry; his presence influences Billie's actions in that she starts freaking out for spoiler reasons.

Count Yala: the voice of common sense and competence; hobby: making sure Zephyr's okay (he does not have a life); he influences Billie by not taking Zephyr away.

–{{2. Who is the SC that is the closest to your MC?

part 3 || the antagonist [apparently not the author??]

concerning the title: it's true. We authors are all the true antagonists. We are the ones that stop the protagonists from getting what they want. Our goals are in direct conflict with theirs: they want a happily-ever-after, we want conflict and excitement.

This is in no way an attempt to blow up your minds so you don't notice that my answers to the following questions mostly consist of me avoiding the questions.

–{{1. Introduce the main antagonist of your book!

...the cruel world.

Look, okay. There's one character Billie despises and does a lot of stuff just to spite. Even though this character will never know she did it, so there's no point. This character is never 'on screen'.

There's another character who does turn up, but not really until the climax? still. I suppose she's the main antagonist. Her name is Georgeanne, because I hate naming characters and gave up before I found the perfect one, and I have no idea what she looks like.

I could go find out, but then I'd be trawling Pinterest for the rest of the evening and I'm feeling crazed enough already.

Her backstory is - *radio crackling*

She's an acquaintance of - *semi roars past*

 And she's working with- *super-loud crickets*

  Let's move on, shall we?

Shared WIP Tag #2 || Billie, ball of snark and bitterness

Me: this week my post will be earlier! I will be the earliest! because I live in Australia so I get to Friday before the Americans! just have to beat Melissa...
Friday: are you aware you have swimming groceries basketball piano groceries and need to get your glasses adjusted and pick up a family member from work.
Me: ...
Me: ...Saturday?
Saturday: Sorry ma'am, you need to clean the house, your laptop has a tantrum scheduled, and then you're going for dinner with family and to see a live stream of the ballet.
Me: ...
Me: next week, I will be prepared early! earlier than this week! I will be the earliest!!

...welcome to week two:

MC Questions!

("main character", if you're not familiar with the abbreviation.)

Which means... *gasps* we get to talk about Billie!

(Wonderful ball of bitterness and snark that she is.)

If you weren't around when the last WIP Special was on, I did a post on Billie here, and it has a few more details (also a few of the same ones).

........

–{{1. Introduce your MC a little, and tell us something quirky about her.

Billie || Isobel || never Bill, because Old Bill is the horse

it liiiives!! || part 1: the Shared WIP Tag returns

You know how there's this writing thing on called NaNa or something?

And you know how I've also been (shall we say) sporadic at best at keeping active in the blogosphere? (or in real life – keeping active, ugh – but I digress.)

I've signed up to do something which will help me fail in combine both of those things!

You may have heard of it. I've done it twice before, and there are a lot more bloggers joining in this time. It is...

*overdramatic drumroll*

The Shared WIP Tag!

And! because I have no imagination! and am a NaNo rebel! I am focusing on Three Sisters, aGAIN, because I have not! yet! finished!

........

–{{1. Introducing: Three Sisters!

...again, not dead [I'm always only pretending. because I'm Loki.]

Sooo. I've been absent from the blogosphere for most of April (three weeks now?).

This is a) an apology for abandoning all your lovely blogs in that time! and b) an assurance that I'm just taking a bit of time off and will return to my poor blog eventually. Even though it isn't truly a Jem-haitus unless it's completely random and unannounced??

I'm sure most of you know about Camp NaNoWriMo, and a significant number of you may well be participating. Hopefully you'll sympathize! (especially when I tell you I'm working on study + assessments for my Camp goal. Funnn.)

How's Camp going for you? Tell me your goals! and I'll give you virtual lamingtons (or TimTams, if you don't like coconut?) Do you struggle to keep up with the blogosphere sometimes? (Do you have advice on how to keep up with the blogosphere and also not abandon life??)

THANKS A LOT KENZIE || consequences of the NaNo Dare Squad

My sisters have been waiting for this post ever since they first heard it was coming...

So waaay back in November, I signed up for an idea Kenzie had:

The NaNoWriMo Dare Squad [of Death]

 

• I sent her my goal for NaNo
• I sent her a dare to go in the Virtual Hat of Consequences
• and I laughed because aPPARENTLY IF YOU HAVE NO BRAIN YOU FEEL NO FEAR

Now obviously this should have meant I would COMPLETE MY GOAL and not lose NaNo. Because the consequences were just too terrible to contemplate.

Lo and behold, I did not win NaNo. Probably because I didn't write for the third and fourth week? I mean, I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that's a bit of a red flag for non-dedication. 

So even though I keep blaming Kenzie, this is entirely my fault.

It's just... she's laughing. I know she's laughing. I CAN HEAR YOU LAUGHING, KENZIE.

........

But what dare did I get? (you can see the whole post + options here!)

First try, I rolled a five: "Let a sibling or friend who you really don't want in control of your blog write the next post". I am so glad I couldn't do that one. because it was mine.

Then I rolled twelve: "roll the dice separately and do each!"

Then I rolled two ones, which was "Impossible! (Unless you're a Jedi...)" So I'm obviously a Jedi master and do not need to do a dare at all.

Buuut I felt like I should try again.

And I got two fours: "Publish at least one chapter (or section) of the most embarrassing novel you've ever written." (This dare was courtesy of Kirsten at Simple Love.)

I blinked twice ("...okay...") and then a very, very old story flashed through my suddenly tense mind. Quite frankly, if I wasn't such an honourable person, I would have gone with my first response:

I have no idea who this is, but I identify with his amount of nOPE.

But as I said, I have my sense of honour! So. Here it is. My first ever 'long' piece of writing (unfinished at 43 A5 pages), which also happens to be the. most. embarrassing. I just don't know what I was thinking (or why I hadn't burnt it before now??)

You may begin the throwing up. Or tears of laughter. Whichever response you're inclined towards. (I vote for aggressive clicking of the red x at the top right of your browser? but that's just me.)

Ready?

Weak excuses + The Writer's Book Tag

Over the last week, I disappeared off the face of the earth blogosphere.

This was not, good idea though it would have been, so I could focus on NaNo. No. It was... so I could... that is, I've been... doing...

I don't know.

I don't know why for a whole week I didn't have any time to comment on blogs, since I did not write a. single. word. on my NaNo draft either??

Here's what I know I did do:

• One morning: Spent an hour on remedial reading with a  at a local primary school
• One evening: Submitted last TAFE assessment for this year. 
• One morning: Swimming instructor for a bunch of homeschooling kids
• One weekend: Read 5 books (and a frankly embarrassing amount of fanfiction throughout the week)
• Over two days: Read a 300+ fancomic series. I have now caught up. I am displeased. 
• One evening: Watched The Battle of the Five Armies with my brother (the one I'm slowly converting to the fandom. Only he has an actual job and studies full-time, so he doesn't usually have time. He makes me feel so lazy :P)
• This morning: Got on the tractor and buried a feral pig Dad shot. 

And it doesn't feel like that's enough serious things happening to justify a word count that's gone up by zero??

...

I always knew I was a Master Procrastinator. 


Anyway, here's a book tag! Because I've been reading far more this month than anyone doing NaNo has a right to do. The Temperamental Writer (well, her ghost, at least ;) at All Things Trivial and Insignificant tagged me for the Writer's Book Tag, and I love the way it uses various elements of a writer's life as book categories.

Beautiful Books part 2: NaNo update

There's another Beautiful Books linkup going this month! Normally Cait and Sky do 'Beautiful People' - questions about your characters - but around NaNoWriMo they change it to questions about your NaNo story. Last month's linkup, Part 1, was to introduce your NaNo story to the blogging world. I skipped it, though, because I had Julian's whole WIP Special to introduce my story with.

But Part 2 of the Beautiful Books linkup is a sort of NaNo update.

So, since I am all about ignoring my responsibilities and NaNo in particular accountability and boring you to death with abundant but insignificant details of my writing life keeping you up to date with my progress, I thought I'd take the questions this time.

Why are you even here you should be writing.

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

HAHAHAHAAA

I'm a much slower writer than everyone else seems to be. On the bright side, I spent a few days thinking, and ended up with a few pages of plot! Like, two whole pages! Or one and a half. But it's definitely helped me write more... decisively. Because I now have an idea of what I'm aiming for.

(Did you think that because I don't plot, my brain isn't screaming, "PLOT, YOU FOOL"?)

(Because it is. It is screaming.)

The Four-Part Writing Special // Part Four: Writing

Today, we have our last part of the 4-Part Writing Special: Writing! With no introduction because intros are hard and I've already done three in the last three Writing Special posts!

[HERE, HERE, and HERE.]

1. What do you do to get yourself in the story?

I simply write myself in.

'Jemma' is not completely me, but she's close enough that I didn't have to think up another name. Or personality traits. And I think that counts as me being in the story.

...hang on. *rereads question*

Ohhh sorry guys.

I sit down at my laptop. Stare at the wall. Read the last thousand words (or so) that I wrote. Stare at the wall. Check my private story + aesthetic boards on Pinterest. Stare at the wall. Type twenty words and backspace them. Stare at the wall. Give up. Go onto MyWriteClub and try to blast out some writing, flicking over to my story's Pinterest boards when necessary. Stare at the wall.

2. Do you do anything extra - art, covers, character journals, glossaries, playlists, etc. to help you with your story?

The Four-Part Writing Special // Part One: Story

Julian (over at Saver of Memories) has created a thing. It's been through a bit of discussion and modification, but now it's ready for the first part to step into the blogging world!

It's... a link-up? Tag. But not tag-gy because you don't tag people.

See, there was a REASON I called it a thing.

The 4-Part Writing Special // Part One: Story

Basically, there's a few of us who've joined Julian in answering four sets of ten questions about our current WIP. We've even decided to put up our posts on the same day.

That's organisation and coordination.

Of course, once you factor in time zones, it isn't quite so neat... and the chosen dates don't work for some of the participants... but iT'S STILL IMPRESSIVE. 

BE IMPRESSED.

These are the participants! You should go check out their blogs and read their 4-Part Special posts too!

And now for the questions, kindly thrashed out by [mainly] Julian, Sarah, Lisa and Ivie. (The images were created by Ivie, too. :)

1. What is the title, genre and current status of your WIP?

Working title: Three Sisters.

Genre: fairytale mix/retelling [shush that's totally a genre]

Current status:

(What I say:) 

(What I mean:)

[Ooh look at me. Mixing Marvel and DC again. *gasps all round*]

2. What do you think makes your story unique?

I think it's unique among Beauty and the Beast retellings, because I've chosen to have the younger sister cause the Beast's anger, and the older, responsible sister pay for that.

I haven't read too many B+B retellings... but as far as I have read, they try to stick to the "father trespasses/etc, Beauty goes to live with the Beast so it won't kill her him". But what kind of father would do that?? Not to get too iffy here, but all he had was the Beast's word that it wasn't going to, I don't know, eat her. As an older sister, I can't fathom how he wouldn't have protected his daughter with his life, if necessary. I'm trying to investigate that sort of angle.

Oh, also, the Beast was never human, does not fall in love with "Beauty", and ends up being a grumpy/legalistic/slightly bewildered great-uncle kind of figure, who just wants his books and his tea and to be left in his garden in peace. So there's that too.

3. Where did the title come from?

I have a habit of titling my WIPs after their MC. Thus, I have Lyndie, Emily James, Huck Morton, etc.

Thusly, Three Sisters.

Because there are three. (Although Billie's my favourite and is therefore the main main character... but Elsie's story is growing on me [it involves a tragic romance backstory]; Josie's story thread still needs a bit of work though. [It's not very exciting or twisty.])

These are just working titles, after all. I have no idea how to title properly. I've never gotten that far.

4. How long have you been working on your WIP?

I started Three Sisters for April's Camp NaNoWriMo, and got 15k. After that, I worked on it during July's Camp and got another 10k (with a rather spectacular finish, if you remember...). And I haven't really considered November yet (because it's wAY TOO EARLY TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, RIGHT??), but currently I'm thinking I'll continue with Three Sisters. Because I haven't worked on it since July.

Anyway. The answer is either 6 months, or two months of actual work.

5. What do you think people will enjoy most about your WIP?

I think they'll enjoy the characters and their interactions. (I certainly do.) Also the nods to various fairy tales.

6. Provide a snippet (long or brief) of a favorite scene.

Josie backed away, leaving Old Bill's side, but she was surrounded. Rowan stepped closer.

"I did apologize before, but I'd like to do so again. This is nothing perso-"

Josie slid a knife out of the sheaths inside her boots and spun Rowan, twisting his arm up and holding the knife to his ribs. "You seem to be a leader. So tell them to let me go. Or I will make this personal."

"Easy, now." His voice became even calmer. "Have you considered that this might be a bad idea? There are a lot of us, and one of you, and we're skilled archers. Except for Kik, but he won't practice, so he can't expect any better."

Kik snorted and let Old Bill away into the trees. The rest of the men remained, a ring around Josie and Rowan and the drama. They didn't, Josie was bothered to see, look at all worried. She pushed Rowan and tried to walk forwards using him as a shield, but he dug his heels in.

"I only have to say the word and they'll shoot," he warned. "You can't do this."

"Shut up!"

"You're forcing us into a corner, you know that? We never meant for anyone else to get involved, but you wouldn't take a hint and leave."

Josie changed her grip on the knife, the handle sweaty. "Nice, now let me go."

Rowan twisted his body away from her, seized her wrist and forced the knife, point-first, away from both of them. "How about we discuss that now you're not holding a knife to me?"

With her free left hand, Josie reached for the knife's twin in her other sheath.

One of the men shouted a warning, and Rowan grabbed her arm before she could get it.

"That isn't very polite. I was talking to you."

"And I was ignoring you." Josie tried to bite his arm.

He pulled out of her reach. "There's no point in all this. Let's talk it out sensibly. We want our presence to remain secret, and we feel you're a threat to that, so we would like to keep you contained here until we have packed up and can move. You are unwilling - understandably - for us to contain you. That about covers things?" He saw she was not going to reply, and continued. "Do we have an alternative to containing you?"

"You could shoot me, I suppose." Immediately after saying it, Josie realised that might not be the most appropriate thing to say, unless she didn't mind being shot. They were, after all, holding bows. "I'm not too keen on that plan either, to be honest."

PLEASE FORGIVE. It's first draft writing from Camp NaNo. By all rights, it should never have seen the light of day.

And because I am apparently crazy like the Beast, here's a snippet with him:

Count Laszlo poked his head gingerly inside the door. "Ah, you're awake? I heard voices... thought I might check on you. Is there any chance I could get my study back soon?"

Billie looked down at the open book, its edges pressing red lines into her skin. "I- no!"

"Do you mean you've gotten attached to my room, in which case I must strongly object, or has something happened which has distressed you?"

She shook the book. "I've only been gone three days! Three days!"

"I'll leave you alone, then." He coughed. "But could you possibly move to your own room?"

Billie flapped a hand at him without looking up, and Count Laszlo sighed - but not loudly enough to draw attention to himself - and withdrew his head, pulling the door gently shut behind him.

Same disclaimer as before - if your eyeballs have received permanent damage, that's not my fault (even though it completely is).

Oh, and the book is like the magic mirror from Snow White?? the Beast helped Billie set it so it was set to watch Billie's cottage [where her sisters are supposed to be].

Actually, I guess it's more like a security camera...

Also please note that the Beast has undergone multiple personality changes through the first draft so far, and will need to be made consistent in editing. Although it kind of makes sense here that he's not-grumpy, because last time Billie came out on top, so he's a little more cautious. (You can read a little of what happened earlier - when he pushed Billie too far by talking insensitively about her sisters - in question 9. He's right to be cautious now.)

7. Describe your WIP in 10 separate short phrases.

Fighting, protective sisters
Remnants of a family banding together
Teacups and glowing orbs
Confusion and misunderstanding all round
Banter and snark
A grumpy Beast who wants to be left alone with his library and scones and cups of tea
A prince who thinks he's seen a ghost
Forest aesthetics
Also garden/library/scones/tea aesthetic
Have you figured out yet that I'm making these up on the spot
I'LL COME UP WITH A BETTER LIST LATER okay? because this would actually be helpful.


...Also, none of these are technically phrases. Never mind. I DO WHAT I WANT. Also it's going on 11pm so I'm not going to sit here arguing the finer points of grammar (I save that for daylight hours).

8. What is the hardest thing to write with this story? What is the easiest?

The easiest thing is the banter and people being snarky at each other. The hardest thing is making sure that the banter and snark has a point and progresses the story.

#noplot

9. A line where the tension builds.

"We discussed this yesterday. I don't think I have enough furniture to do it every day."

...

Billie stuffed the last of her bread into her mouth and, maintaining eye contact, swiped everything off the tea-table onto the floor.

The teacups and scones with honey are innocent victims of the 'discussion'. This causes enormous tension. ENORMOUS tension, I tell you.

Do not attack the Beast's teacups.

10. Explain the plot in one line. 

People are confused and make bad decisions and I do too. 

Um, this would require me to... have a plot.

I have some ideas and some things I want to do and just a whole heap of situations to make things awkward for my characters.

I do not know how the story is supposed to end.

And there you have it! Ten tidbits about my WIP, Three Sisters.

Because you all wanted to know more about the ramblings of my brain  amazing thing I am calling a "story" smushed-up fairytales I'm writing as one big happy story!

Now you should definitely go check out the other participants' posts on their WIPs, answering these same questions. Here they are again:

Excellent! Off you go, then - no, WAIT. Comment first. Obviously. (Why are you sneaking away like that?)

Banter and snark - vital or no? Do you know how your story is going to end? Do you think the Beast is justified in his protectiveness of his teacups [and food]? And the most important one: HOW DO I PLOT. (Please and thank you for answering that one.) 

A quick update for July!

I haven't commented on any of your lovely blogs for several days, and it's been almost a fortnight since I posted. My excuse is, of course, Camp NaNo. (Among other things. Such as study/family stuff/watching An Unexpected Journey with my brother.) The last few days have been rather stressful because I apparently don't know how to prioritise. Or focus. Not until things are looking quite dire, anyway.

But I did win.

And now I'm both really, really pleased, and quite a bit ashamed of myself. For the same reason:

Sliiight mid-month slump here.

What I'm pleased about:
I WROTE 3.4K IN ONE DAY. (My previous maximum was 1.8k.)

What I'm ashamed of:
Since I wrote 4.6k in the last two days... I could have written way more than 10k total. If I'd tried harder.

But I'm a Master Procrastinator and can't actually get anything done until riiight before the deadline?? [E.g. Tertiary study assessments. Due in two days. I'll have a look at that now I've finished Camp.]

I was actually concerned that I'd procrastinated too far:

BUT I spent a lot of time on the thirty-first and neglected real life and managed to pull my word count up to reach the goal, to the cheers of my super-encouraging cabinmates.

Me writing on July 31st. Obviously. 

So! How did Camp go for you? Or if you didn't participate this time around, how's your month been for writing? Tell me in the comments! 

Although I probably will be checking up on a heap of blogs now. And you've probably written about your month there. Never mind! Tell me in the comments anyway! ;)

Beautiful People #26 (my first time participating!)

Me: I should do a Beautiful People link-up post! talk about my characters to all the people who read my blog because apparently they have nothing better to do!
Me: *waits for post that isn't about family because my characters are all orphans*
Me: hooray new questions!
Beautiful People: today we're talking about you writers.
Me: ...
Me: close enough.

1. How do you decide which project to work on?

I shuffle through my folders and see which story captures my interest.
This may be the reason for the answer to Q2.

2. How long does it usually take you to finish a project?

Forever, apparently. At least - if we're talking novels - I haven't finished any yet. THIS WIP WILL BE THE ONE. (or not.)

3. Do you have any routines to put you in the writing mood?

Sit at my desk, open laptop, stare at wall, rearrange desk so everything is lined up and at right angles, stare at wall, listen to Owl City, stare at wall, switch to Pinterest tab, don't write.

4. What time of day do you write best?

I would love to be a morning writer. Not early morning, but after breakfast. I could get my writing done, then move on to other important things. Like Life (let's just pretend I have one).

Instead, I procrastinate and then have to stay up until eleven at night (that's REEEALLY LATE, okay guys??) and get my writing done then.

5. Are there any authors you think you have a similar style to?

I don't think I've been writing long/intensely enough to have developed a style. I do love the dry, understated humour of some classic children's books... but I don't think I have that in my writing.

6. Why did you start writing, and why do you keep writing?

BECAUSE AUTHORS ARE INCONSIDERATE AND HAVE NOT WRITTEN THE BOOKS I WANT TO READ.

7. What’s the hardest thing you’ve written?

Psychology assessments for university (I'm so glad I didn't continue that course)

Not to seem like a bad writer or anything, but if it's hard I kind of - leave? work on something else? or more likely forget writing altogether.

8. Is there a project you want to tackle someday but you don’t feel ready yet?

I have a heap of projects I started and then abandoned, with the intention of finishing them one day... that might count?

There was one I started and really loved the idea of, but it required more knowledge than I had about police procedure + hospital procedure + how do comas work? + how does amnesia work?? (If anyone has information about any of these, please comment and tell me!! It's set in Australia, though, so telling me about your sheriffs and PDs will be fascinating but unfortunately unhelpful.) It isn't exactly that I didn't feel ready; I just couldn't 'pants' my way through it, during NaNo, when important points rested on things I didn't know. (E.g. If a cop's girlfriend is under investigation for multiple murders, he's probably put on some temporary leave-thing, right?? But he had to be working on her case [up until she murdered his sister] because #plot more like #noplot. And what's the procedure for holding an amnesiac murder suspect in hospital?? Would they believe she has amnesia?? How severe can amnesia get, anyway, and what's that like??)

9. What writing goals did you make for 2017 and how are they going?

I didn't make a list of goals (maybe I should, next year? I might actually get something done??) But participating in April and July's Camps was certainly good... I think I'd like to finish the draft of Three Sisters (my WIP for both Camps) this year? Hopefully it will be going a lot better after July (and November, if necessary).

10. Describe your writing process in 3 words or a gif!

[I apologise for the grammar error. It wasn't me.]

So that's me + a few details of my writing life + my first time participating in the Beautiful People link-up! Want to talk about anything? Do we share any writing habits? (I hope not, for your sake.) Do you have some helpful advice or some information about comas or amnesia??

April: mostly Camp NaNo, right?

Here's my slightly late recap for April. (but maybe that's a good thing, that it's late? because I know on the 30th of April my Blogger feed exploded and I still haven't gotten to you all yet, sorry!)

Obviously, April was Camp NaNo month. I survived. Just.

As you can see from the graph, I started off fine. Life rapidly caught up. I had trouble writing; not that I never had time, or that I was 'blocked', but I'd sit down and I simply didn't want to write.

The situation seemed dire. (Actually it was quite bad.) But I discovered myWriteClub (which I may have mentioned?) and managed to get a good 8 days or so of 1.2-1.8k.

 
 Three Sisters is nowhere near finished, though! The graph will tell you that my goal was 'only' 15k; I'm not slamming myself, I'm just accepting that although this is a great achievement for me, my story is obviously going to take more than 15,000 words. (Haven't even got the girl + guy to meet yet! ....that's my Cinderella thread; the whole story is not a romance. Imagine if I was writing a romance and, 15k into the story, they hadn't met yet??)

Maybe I'll do some snippets or something of Three Sisters sometime. Not now, though... there is no way I'm letting my NaNo writing out. Even to you guys. I didn't have a plan (still don't know how I'm meant to wrap up all my characters' problems??), and my characters are still developing and changing as I write. (I barely recognise the characters on the first page, to be honest.) But sometime I'll tell you more about the sisters; Billie (who feels responsible for her sisters' safety) and Elsie (who lost her happily-ever-after) and Josie (impulsive Josie, whose sister stood in front of a Beast for her and now she can't shake the guilt). 

We had two weeks of school holidays - which doesn't really affect me directly anymore! - but it meant we spent a lot of time catching up with family. 

Also, I did that local comic-con volunteer thing. It was awesome. There was a ten-year-old kid who was a super ninth Doctor with his leather jacket, and every time I saw him I wanted to tell him how pleased I was someone remembered Nine, but I didn't want to be a creepy stranger-lady. ;) Of course, I hadn't had any previous experience with comic-cons, and apparently the point is to walk up to a random stranger who'd dressed like a character you love, and ask for a photo with them? Is this conclusion I drew correct?? (Forgot a camera, though, so... Nine/Eleven/Batman/Galadriel/etc escaped.)

 

Read: 

Fairest, Marissa Meyer. Did not enjoy. I like happy endings. Sorry, all you fans. I'll still give Cinder a chance, though.

The New Recruit, Jill Williamson. GoTeenWriters author + free on Kindle? Obviously I'm reading that.

By Darkness Hid, Jill Williamson. Now I have to find the rest of the series!

The Iron Queen [+ series], Julie Kagawa. Read at your own discretion; these books go full 'fey' (Oberon/Mab/Puck), which was a bit too much for me; also there seemed to be a compulsory pre-battle sleeping-together-for-the-first-time scene for both of the couples, which mostly 'faded out', but it's pretty obvious what happened. Morally, I do not recommend these (also contain a few explosive swears with no warning); story-wise, meh - in my opinion they aren't worth the risk.

Scythe, Neal Shusterman. Okay. So I enjoyed reading this book, but when my mum read it, her opinion was 'sick' and 'not helpful'. That made me think a bit more. It's true that this book is... morally ambiguous. It doesn't say killing is wrong. Right at the start, Faraday took the kitchen knife to carve their neighbour up with (that's when my mum started saying it was sick, which that bit completely is). There were several spots I thought the author could put in a redemptive bit, about the whole situation showing how much we need God or something, but he didn't. I suppose the rest of the series could be where that comes in, but on its own, Scythe doesn't have that. 
The False Prince, Jennifer A. Nielsen. I love these books. Although by the third one, it gets to the point where everything goes catastrophically wrong and I just squint at Sage and mutter, 'How is this part of your plan because I know it is and you can't trick me.'
Rogue, Mark Walden. Book 6 or something? of the H.I.V.E. series - about a school for training kid villains. Which sounds worse than it is, because the main characters spend all their time stopping villains (??). Contains violence, but cartoonish violence.

Watched:  

The Great Escape. DID I MENTION I LIKE HAPPY ENDINGS WELL THIS WASN'T.

The Desolation of Smaug. A rewatch, but I wanted to see Thranduil and Legolas and Bard and of course more Bilbo. And more Thorin and Fili and Kili and Bofur and all of them. *squees* *and doesn't watch Battle of the Three Armies because nooo* *nopity nope*

Muppets Most Wanted. Only watched because my cousins were; I FORGOT TOM HIDDLESTON MAKES A 10-SECOND GUEST APPEARANCE. That was the best bit of the whole movie.

Doctor Who (season 5): Time of the Angels, Flesh and Stone. Rewatch, but the angels were still totally creepy. ...I actually just wanted to see River again.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Rewatch. Because Bucky. (And Natasha. But not together, sadly.)
Thor. Loki had the potential to be a good guy. :'( Also Thor is sweet as always (once he loses his arrogance).

Music:

At Last, The King and Ghost of a King by Grey Havens. I have been listening to these on repeat.
He's a Pirate theme, violin cover, by Taylor Davis. Great for writing. 

Agents of Shield (season 2). Borrowed it from the library and I'm trying to watch it while I write this post, which is most of the reason it's late. :P

Doctor Who (season 8). I want to give Twelve a chance, even if it's just for Clara's sake. I miss Eleven, though; he was my first Doctor.

A Time to Speak and A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes. I've read A Time to Die, and it was pretty good! Now I just have to get my hands on the other two. :)

The only real thing I have planned for May is to continue with Three Sisters. (Maybe this will be the story I finish??)

So that's April. I'm late - as usual - to the wrap-up party, but now you're here, welcome! Talk to me in the comments! About literally anything! *side-eyes Captain Literally* Almost literally anything! Not actually 'literally anything'. That would include some freaky stuff. But definitely Studio C, if you want to talk about that (I've still been binge-watching). ;)

What cool things did you do in April? How did you go with Camp, if you did that? I'd love to hear!

Second Camp update

I meant to do an update on how Camp's been going approximately every week - but I forgot. (What a surprise.) So here's an update on the middle two weeks of April.

I've spent a lot of time with family (we've had school holidays and a few public holidays here), which is, of course, good. (Except for my word count, but hey, it can wait.)

I've read nine books, thick ones, including my first Neal Shusterman novel - Scythe. Five stars. Enjoyed it a lot. I'm going to look for more of his books - once I've finished Camp, of course...

That's about all, I think? Oh, I've watched a heap more Studio C videos, too. And got my family addicted to them.

There's nothing else I'm forgetting to mention, is there?

Oh. Riiight. Word count? My Camp novel?? No one wants to hear about them, right?  

Fine.

I would be the first to admit that I am a slow writer. Things like Write or Die, or anything that gives me a rate of words per minute, they just don't work for me. (I spend my whole time watching the numbers go down, or typing random letters and erasing them to stop myself 'dying'.) I never did very well with sprints and word wars either.

But then I found... *drumroll* myWriteClub!

Something about the progress bars - that count to sets of 100, not your goal - really motivates me. Also I can see other people's progress bars (in the global sprint) and while sometimes they write way faster then me - a fact I've suspected for some time - sometimes they type slow, erase a heap, or flick between 307 and 308 words for half a minute. And I love being able to change my status to encourage other writers, or to exchange a few words with them, or congratulate them for reaching the goal they stated in their status.

I used to write about 600 words on a good day, 1000 on a quiet day with no distractions. On myWriteClub, I've written several days (some quite interrupted) of 1200-1500 words.

(I sound like a bad commercial, don't I?! I promise I am in no way being paid to say this... ;P )


But with the end of April now in sight, I'm hoping to use myWriteClub to get 1k+ every day. Which would be a great achievement for me... and something I need if I'm to catch up to my goal.

How is your Camp going? Did you pack enough mostypo repellent? (okay, that was bad. sorry.) No attacks by rabid plot bunnies, I hope? Are your characters behaving, or have they rebelled and taken over running of the story? I'd love to hear all about it!

First Camp update

Apparently I promised to give updates on my Camp progress?! *bangs head on desk*
 

Day 1: Saturday  is 'cleaning day'. Did not get started writing until 11am or so. Total: 600.

Day 2: Took advantage of my family's Sunday afternoon 'nap time' tradition to pump out a decent (for me) amount. Total: 1000.

Day 3: There were a heap of jobs to be done around the house. And cooking tea took most of the time I usually spend writing. Or something. I'm sure I have an excuse. Total: 100.

Day 4: I was working out in the paddock. All day. Total: 600.

Day 5: Had to drive someone into town; spent all day at the library. Total: 100.

Day 6: At library all day (including a preparation session for the local comic-con). Total: 500.

Day 7: At library all day (more preparation). Total: 200.

Day 8: Volunteered all day at the library's comic-con. (At the door, with a 'clicker', counting people walking in...) Total: ahhh... so far? None.

Grand total? 3100 (+today's)
What I should be on? 4000.


I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU.
*hides*


How's your word count going? (Not you, Evo. I know you're past half-way. What are your secrets?? Apart from sitting down and actually writing which I should probably try???) Have you ever been to a comic-con? (like a proper one... with actual famous people and stuff... we didn't have famous people) Do you have any tips about writing routines or tricks to boost word count? (basically I want to know how to do the 'butt in chair pen on page' thing...) (the NaNo dares forum can be good? But my new favourite is the 'NaNo ate my soul' category where people talk about arguing  with their characters - proper on-the-page arguments; and forgetting to get rid of a dead body in a car, or a sleeping-over friend, for chapters; and 'at-this-rate-you-will-finish-on' dates.)

April = Camp NaNo

Hi all!

 As 91.3% of you know, April is one of two months in which we have Camp NaNoWriMo!

Me writing. Note the crazed expression in the eyes.

This means that I - despite having a measly 15k goal (measly compared to some of you) - will not be posting very often. I'll try to write catch-ups once a week[ish] to say what I'm up to with my word count *hyperventilating here* and to cheer you all on.

Because you are all winners just for trying this crazy event and your stories will be awesome. And you have to write them so I can read them. *sends plot ninjas* *and a plot dragon* *for those times when a plot ninja isn't enough* *please don't send the dragon back* *she's been eating my shoes* *and my word count*


(And here's as good a spot as any to shout out to my Cabin - I'm the stranger in the group but they've been amazingly welcoming! Especially since I'm in a completely different time zone and that messes up the chat a bit. ;) Plus, sometimes they read my blog! - thanks, guys :D If anyone has Facebook, check out Order of the Pen - I don't have Facebook but this makes me wish I did.)

(Also, how do you like the newish look of my blog? I stayed up very late messing with the coding. I think I'm mostly happy with its appearance now, but does anyone have any suggestions? Do you edit your code yourself?)