I've Been Tagged!!!!

OMG I was trying soooooooo hard to lay low and not be tagged, especially after answering 3 days worth of questions--3 days!!!!!!!!!!!! But then I was tagged, not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES! Three times----that's some karma there, I'm not going to mess around--I'm answering these questions.

So thanks to the wondrous Kelly Lyman, the clever Heather and the sneaky Mireyah Wolfe who tagged everyone who read her blog--don't be tricked by her shenanigans --or do, because if she gets a few more followers she'll let us torture her with questions--I am now going to do the tag!

Before I start, don't forget to enter my contest for an arc of The Dark Divine. Because that book was rockin!

QUESTIONS:

1) What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?


The last thing I wrote was this blog :-) Or my WIP of The Seven Sisters Brandywine Brandywine Rose Lily STOLEN!!!! Most most most recently, I finished editing chapter 8 and I'm in the middle of fixing up chapter 9 as we speak--this very moment--or like 5 minutes ago before I started blogging.

The first thing I ever wrote...hmmmm I used to write a lot in 1st grade--we had these yellow journals and when we filled them up, we got fancy little white books that were made out of cardstock or something that felt kind of hard so it made it like a real book and you could put your 8 best stories in there--I had more white books than all the other 1st graders!

Ooooh it's the first thing I ever wrote that I still have (reading comprehension is good!)--WELL...I do happen to have my story Carol and the Future Fish (written by Frankie age 9) on the blog--A fairy tale about jealous queens, bad fairies, polygamy, clumsy princes with no life ambition, and fish that talk. I shall link you to its epicness.

Carol and the Future Fish Part 1

Carol and the Future Fish Part 2

Carol and the Future Fish Part 3


2) Write poetry?

Nope--If I did it would be very very bad. But there is one poem in my WIP--though its more of a prophecy poem than actual poetry. Sometimes I also rewrite song lyrics and belt them out in my car--they all have angsty themes--my favorite one was about the night I didn't win a costume contest on Halloween at a bar--set to the tune of Aha's Take On Me. But no...my WIP is 470 pages long-me and succint have not been introduced.


3) Angsty poetry?

Hahaha no. My angsty poetry as a teenager was funny actually-funny in how bad it was.


4) Favorite genre of writing?

Young Adult Fantasy/Paranormal/Urban Fantasy/Paranormal


5) Most annoying character you've ever created?

Ummmm is this like a character who is actually annoying? Or a character who annoys me? Because sometimes characters annoy me when they aren't behaving or when they keep secrets. Ryan used to piss me off like crazy because he was so hard to get to know, but we have an understanding with each other now ;) As for an actually annoying character I guess my MC's aunt--she's the head of the school board, her daughters are the equivalent of demon spawn and she does things like refer to my MC as the bad egg, all while wearing horrible bussiness suits with 80's shoulder padding. Blech!


6) Best plot you've ever created?

The one I'm writing, duh! I love it! And if the plot you are currently writing isn't the best one you've ever created than you need to start a new one, because you should always be at your best and getting better and better.


7) Coolest plot twist you've ever created?

I think the twist that arrives at the end of book 3 is pretty cool-everyone who knows about it is always like OMGodzillaz! NOOOOOOOO!!! And so I'll go with that. Though I'm also pretty happy with the twist at the end of book 1 which so far has outsmarted 100% of my readers. YESSSS! Even Shannon hasn't figured it out yet and she figures out some really scary things with her mad reading comprehension skillz.

8) How often do you get writer's block?

I don't get writer's block--I get stuck. And when I get stuck, I go back to the beginning and work through my WIP until I have solved my problem and gotten unstuck. Usually it's a plot hole problem, and I need to fill in the hole. You go back, see where the threads are loose and you tighten or add. And everytime I say this now it makes me giggle because I think about this scene in the Princess Bride. Back to the begininng...




9) Write fan fiction?

I tried once in college, I got rejected. I stopped after that. No-I'm not bitter. But in hindsight, it was REALLY bad and no you can't see it because I deleted it.


10) Do you type or write by hand?

Type. My handwriting is atrocious. I can barely understand it. If I handwrote my story it would end up reading like Once up a dangling brush of wild, there was a toe shoe who licked the treesicles ... and you'd all just go home and unfollow my blog. So typing is a good thing.

11) Do you save everything you write?

Hmmmm mostly. I don't obsessively save every single version of my draft --but mostly. I've found that the right words will come when I need them and sometimes I'll write a sentence and think "Ooooh cool sentence" and then realize I already wrote that sentence before (hence its coolness) so its not really necessary for me to save every single thing--revision wise.

12) Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?

Eh, if I need to-it doesn't happen often, and if I'm returning to the idea, there is something different about it now, it's been completely reinvented or used in an entirely different way. If I abandon an idea--there's a reason why.


13) What's your favorite thing you've ever written?

My WIP-STOLEN! I'm kind of in love with it and want to marry it and make WIP babies--or you know like a sequel and a third book and a fourth and fifth...all of this is dependent on my Epic Deal with The Universe.

14) What's everyone else's favorite story you've written?

My WIP-STOLEN:-) Man who said these questions were hard? WIP is the answer to all of them. No seriously, so far the response I've been getting from my readers is thrilling. A few people have told me they stayed up all night thinking about it--and one of my readers, Lucas (yeah boys totally like my books too), was calling me from his first semester at college to tell me he's rushing back to his dorm from the dining halls to get back to the scene where they're at the dance---now if that's not love for my WIP I don't know what is.

15) Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

Why yes! It's called STOLEN. The romance and angst and drama are spilling over every page. I love that stuff.


16) What's your favorite setting for your characters?

This place called The Temple-its the schools non-denominational church/synagogue/mosque etc. There is a very cool scene between Lilliana and Ryan that happens in there in the middle of the night and it's a very atmospheric place with a lot of history and meaning behind it.

17) How many writing projects are you working on right now?

Just one. I'm very tunnel visiony.


18) Have you ever won an award for your writing?

Yah. I won a poetry contest in 6th grade for a poem on the Holocaust. Also, my flash fiction story Fight Master won the contest at Shannon's blog where her mom was the judge! :-)



19) What are your five favorite words?

Frankie is the best writer. :-) LOL-you know what, I have no idea what my five favorite words are-I like different words for different things.



20) What character have you created that is most like yourself?

Definitely Lilliana Brandywine. She is very impulsive like me, though her impulses are more like bursting out of her room to punch people in the face. Mine are like "Oooh I'll be a college professor now." She is also very protective of her family, like me and overanalyzes things. I gave her my hair texture too.


21) Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

I don't know. They just kind of decide who they are. Lilliana especially--I mean I created her so some of me went into her naturally, but I never set out to write someone impulsive or as determined as she was, she just came out that way. She totally demanded I write her a different story than what I originally planned and she demanded a sequel and now there are 5 books for her. She's a saucy minx.



22) Do you ever write based on your dreams?

Totally-my entire WIP came from a dream I had that haunted me all day. I wrote part of the dream into the story as a vision to Lilliana's sister. Later in the book Lilliana dreams the full dream, though slightly altered to fit the story.

Basically I saw this girl walking through the forest, trying to follow the sound of voices crying in the wind. She kept walking until the voices were as loud as they could be and she came to a tree and discovered that all of these girls have been buried alive beneath it and she is able to free them, and they all crawl out of the ground.

My story came from me asking who were these girls, why were they buried there? Who put them there? How come the girl searching for them wasn't with them? I combined with another fantasy world I'd been building (also based heavily on dreams) and then I got STOLEN. Other factors of my world building came from dreams too.



23) Do you favor happy endings?

I do, but I believe an ending has to fit the story, so if that means not getting a happy ending, I'm ok with that, but I do think no matter what there needs to be a sense of hope at the end, unless this is an all out tragedy like Romeo and Juliet. Really, I just need my catharsis. Make me happy or make me cry my eyes out, but don't give me a story where nothing happens and then it was all for nothing and nothing changed and there was no hope at the end and no point because it will make me feel impulsive like Lilliana and want to punch you in the face--I wont--I'm a very peaceful person--I'm vegan, but I'll want to. So yah, happy endings are nice when warranted, otherwise catharsis me, or give me hope.



24) Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

Not while I'm writing the first draft. I mean I'm aware of spelling and grammar and will consciously write things as accurately and correct as possible, but I like to think that I literally barfed this draft onto paper--I know, I'm so gross. But it was like that-I just had to get it out and was writing at a warped speed--almost 500 pages in 6 weeks.


25) Does music help you write?

No. But it helps me plan scenes and figure out the right emotions and tones for different parts. I have to have a soundtrack for my book and I listen to it when I'm not writing it and it always gives me ideas, and I can listen sometimes when I'm editing, but for actual writing I can't have music playing.



26) Quote something you've written. Whatever pops in your head.

How about I direct you to my sneak peak over the FNC? I have part of my synopsis posted and a scene between Lilliana and Ryan.


Ok so since I've been tagged three times I'm going to tag three people!

1. Simon Larter at Constant Revision
2. Rhiannon Hart
3.Sara at The Babbling Flow of a Fledgling Scribbler

Hmmm did I say 3? I changed my mind. I'm tagging 4 people. Look out!

4. Southern Princess