Editing. Lots of Editing.

I'm editing Reborn now!! 66 pages done. Hooray!

I also started writing Revenge. I have the prologues written down on paper somewhere, so I need to type those in, but I started chapter 1. Going pretty well.

I cut a few characters in Reborn, so through the rest of the books I really want to find a good place to weave them back in.

Anyway, not much else to say. I got a pretty decent start on Assassin, then hit a block, so that's when I went to Reborn. I had to write a couple of papers, plus had three-hours-long-every-night play practice for a week and a half. So I didn't have too much time to write.

But, I spent winter break in San Francisco with my dad's family, lots of fun. We've been going through my grandpa's house and we found some pretty cool stuff. Got lots of ideas for my writing.

Plus we went to the Winchester Mystery House, so I know think I know what the Whispers' Mansion probably looks like, more or less. (Lol.) We also went to the Mystery Spot. Lots of fun. Big recommendation. The Mystery Spot, BTW, is in Santa Cruz. If you go, go to the beach. There's a really pretty lighthouse and a nice beach. My mom (From NY.) said the sea was on the wrong side.

Anyway, happy New Year, everyone.

A lot of things changed in 2010, but let's hope things get better in 2011.

Also, it feels a bit weird, because I based The Name of the Game trilogy in 2009/2010.

But oh well...

Cheerio, peeps!

P.S. Try Flicks, if you ever see them. So good. So sugary...

I got a sugar rush after I ate three of them. Yum!

Dystopia VS. Dystopia

I'm reading two almost entirely opposite dystopian sci-fi books right now.

Book 1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 2. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Now, you may not know this, but I'm actually not the biggest sci-fi fan. But these are both so good and kind of opposing I had to write about them.

INCARCERON: Incarceron is sort of steam-punk. I do like steam-punk. What I've seen so far is approximately 160 years before the book starts a king decides that things are changing too much, so he stops time. Everyone has to live authentically to the Era, which seems to be set in the late 1700s (Yay! I love that era!). All sorts of futuristic gadgets and such, like medicine and bathrooms (Ew.) are illegal, but the people with more money sometimes work around it. There are limits to even the strictest adherers to the Era Protocol. It doesn't seem dystopian on the Outside. But Incarceron is the prison that has been sealed for 16o years, the building living itself, with other people supposedly living in paradise on the Inside, but it's actually hell. The story follows a boy and his friends trying to escape Incarceron, while it also follows a girl on the Outside, trying to escape a prison of her own.

FAHRENHEIT 451: This world is very modern. Very modern. Everyone always watches TV and books are illegal. The firemen burn the books. People are arrested for being pedestrians and "stopping to smell the roses." (Not literally, but the expression fit there. Or maybe literally... 0.O I haven't actually gotten all that far yet.) A girl is being sent to a psychiatrist for enjoying nature.

Like I said, I haven't actually gotten all that far in 451, while I'm over half way through Incarceron. But I'm enjoying them both! Five stars for each!

High suggestions.

Cheerio, peeps!

The Dream Seer

"How do you stand it?" I asked him. "Doesn't it feel so much like prying? Don't you hate it?"

He smiled benignly down at me, where I sat on the floor, at his feet. "Of course I feel like I'm prying, Esmeralda. But it's what I am, what I do. There really isn't much more I can say to that. Besides, in people dreams, I see their fears, their hopes, their wishes... Their desires. And then I can give them what they want, and in return I will get what I want."

"But, Sir... I still don't understand why you do it..." I played with the edge of my blue dress, tugging at the lace, just so I wouldn't have to look up at him. I knew what his face would look like, though. Smiling benignly, his dark eyes placid and unreadable behind his spectacles.

"Yes, I suppose you wouldn't. For my whole life, I have been able to see into people dreams while they sleep."

"That's kind of scary..."

"I suppose it is. But I'm used to it by now, Princess."

"I guess you would be..."

He laughed at me. "Are you implying that I'm old?"

"Um... Maybe?"

Before he could say anything more, my tutor knocked on the library door. "Esmeralda, it's time for your lessons. And the queen would like to speak with you, Mr. Jakobs."

"Of course." He stood, and so did I. "Good-bye, Princess." He bowed to me.

I curtsied back. "Sir."

Liar. That's what he was. A con. He couldn't see people's dreams, he could read people. That's all. Liar. My mother made him leave the kingdom, banned him for her rein. And she didn't see any reason to ban him for longer. She was younger than him, and she expected to be living for a long, long time. But she didn't. I was the queen before my 16th year.

What do you think? This may or may not turn out to be an entirly unrelated prelude to Lee Harken. Esmeralda would be her great-grandma, or great-great-grandma.

And Halloween is next weekend!! Yay!

I'm having a Halloween sleepover with Infublo, Fay, Manya, and Samara. Sorry if you've never heard of them.

Cheerio, peeps!

My First Book Review!

I'm going to start reviewing books. Or at least I'll try.

My first:

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M. M. Blume

Description: Eleven-year-old Cornelia is the daughter of two world-famous pianists--a legacy that should feel fabulous, but instead feels just plain lonely. Then glamorous Virginia Somerset moves next door with her servant, Patel, and a mischievous French bulldog named Mister Kinyatta, and Cornelia discovers that the world is a much more exciting place than she had originally thought.

(I don't feel that it's a sufficient description, but that's just me.)

Time to read: About one day

Pages: 261+3(Acknowledgments)

Rating: 5

Review: I love Cornelia Street Englehart. She found some of the best word books ever! She's so lonely in the beginning, I felt horrible for her. I love the way the Blume describes all the characters, though. She makes each one seem real, and nearly all of them are very like-able.

Some parts are a little bit confusing, though. It was written in third person, but Virginia is almost always telling stories, so there were a few parts where it would say 'Virginia said,' but it seems like she said it at the time the story was taking place, not just while she told Cornelia the story.

I cried from about 240 to 252.

My absoloutly favorite is page 252, and a little before;

"Virginia," she said softly.

"Yes?"

Cornelia swallowed. "Are you afraid of dying?"

For the first time in their friendship, Virginia's eyes filled with tears.

"A little bit, Cornelia." She took a deep breath. "But you have to remember that I have done a lot of living in my seven and a half decades. And Alexandra, Beatrice, and Gladys have been gone for many years now. I miss them with all of my heart. Maybe I'll be with them again when I leave this world, and we'll have the biggest adventure of all." She was quiet for a moment. "You just never know what's going to happen."

Just at that moment, the record player finished playing and the old phonograph clicked off. Yet they could still hear the soft sound of Mozart playing. After a minute, Cornelia realized that it was Lucy playing the piano in the apartment next door.

For a long time, the two friends sipped tea and quietly listened to the faint music together through the sky-colored wall of Virginia's Indian bedroom.

Lesley M. M. Blume, p. 251-252-Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters

I cried there...

My suggested age group for this book is anywhere from 10 to... 14? I don't know. They use a lot of big words, but they always have the definition.

Anyone above about 10 can read it, really. It would also be a nice read-aloud book for younger siblings.

Enjoy your readings!

Cheerio, peeps!

New Manuscript

Since I had to wait for a while to edit Reborn, I started a new manuscript that I'd been thinking about for a few months, since May, I think.

It's kind of sci-fi, but not really... If that makes any sense. It's futuristic, but also in a different world, post-apocalypse. It's very different than anything I've ever written before, both the narrator and the story, and I'm throughly enjoying it. :-)

It actually starts by giving away the climax. I tell you what to expect in the first paragraph. But it's still a very interesting read, I have to say. Or it will be, one I finish. And the chapters are actually some of the longest I've ever written. Hmm...

It's just the way Lee, the main character, speaks, I guess. She has a kind of fun mix of words like weird and cool, and more modern(?) words and then some longer, more sophisticated words.

The story goes from when she's 12 to a little past 15.

It takes place in a country called Amgear (Pronounced Am-jeer), which is pretty much America, but because it isn't actually America, I can make all the little changes I want. Like they have a prime minister instead of a president, and such.

New music:

I love the band The Hush Sound

Not Alone by Darren Criss (He played Harry in A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel!)

I looked for the lyrics, but I couldn't find them.

SO here's the scene from A Very Potter Musical:

But, yeah. I love that song.

Okay then. That's pretty much all I wanted to say...

Bye!

Cheerio, peeps!

Oops...

Silly me! I missed my blog's birthday!

SO, then...

Happy birthday, blog! I have had it for one year now. But no one comments. :-(

I would appreciate it if you DID comment, then people!

Thanks!

That's all I had to say.

Cheerio, peeps!

I've Done It!!!!

I can't believe it! Last night I ACTUALLY finished the first draft of Reborn. All 200 pages.

OHMYGOD!!!

Now on to editing. Since I finished a month before my goal (End of August, I finished at the end of July!) I'll probably be quicker with editing than I thought. And I have two superb people to help me with editing. Liza and Infublo. Yay!

Well, yeah... It got pretty depressing/creepy at the end there... I'm also kind of sad at how a chunk of it turned out. I made the main character a little bit meaner than I had meant her to be. Ah, well. It'll turn out all right in the end!

In other news...

A VERY POTTER SEQUAL JUST CAME OUT!!!!! :-D

As you can tell, this has made me extremely happy. It is very much as good as the first one.

And they are both "totally awesome!"

Watch them both and you will understand the line above. IN ORDER!!!!

StarKidPotter's YouTube channel. [Link]

Don't ask why I did the above. It's a joke for myself, in my book. In about two or something years, if I get published, you'll find out why. (It will probably take that long for the book to come out in stores.)

Sorry, I'm a bit tired. I spent most of the last few days in the car...

Cheerio from a person who has written a whole book, peeps!