Because it's the last day of 2009 and because I recently got a lot of new cool followers and friends on my blog who may have missed out on some of the awesome(and because it's my blog I DO WHAT I WANT) here's a list of my most epic posts--based on your comments, and what I thought you might enjoy the last day of 2009.
Have fun and yes I'm still plugging away at my revision and after the No Kiss Blogfest is over, I suppose I will let you all vote and decide which scene of Clueless you'd like to see me do.
Best Posts Where I Talk To Inanimate Objects
Dear Printer 1
Dear Printer 2
Dear Printer 3
Dear Tire
Best Post Where I Do Really Stupid Things
Pissing Off My Grad School Professor (Simon you might relate after the last story you told)
Best Posts Where I'm Actually Serious and Somewhat Inspirational
My Passion for Writing versus Dancing
On Being Thankful and Loving Your Life NOW
Your Writer Identity
My Epic Answers to Questions About Writing (Many of you requested this in a sidebar, I will get to that)
Best Posts Where I Share Really Old Things I Wrote
Carol and the Future Fish Part 1 (The epic fairy tale I wrote at age 9)
Carol and the Future Fish Part 2
Carol and the Future Fish Part 3
A Note I Passed In High School (Boys and intrigue)
Best Posts Where I Write Fake Commercials
Ninjadillo
Webcams for Writers
Best Posts Where I Must Question My Sanity
Il Primo
My Deal with the Universe
Best Post Where I Review Movies
New Moon
Best Posts Where Good Things Happen To Me
I Make Publisher's Weekly
Kevin Williamson Loves My Vampire Diaries Recaps
Best Post That Involved a Snippet From My Wippet
Kissing Day Blogfest And soon No Kiss Blogfest!!! Sign up above!
Teaser Tuesday (midnight scene)
Happy New Year Everyone. And 2010, I fully expect to own you! This year is going to ROCK!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Dear Marshalls
Dear Marshalls,
While I love your prices and your convenient locations next to daily-needs-stores like Barnes and Noble and Target, I have to say I am not so much a fan of your service.
First of all, what is up with your dressing room policy? And where do you find these crazy ladies to run them? Some people just like to try a lot of things on at once, because we're busy writers who need to edit another 8 chapters before midnight on January 1st, 2010 and don't want to go back and forth between the dressing room and the store 800 times. Also why can I only bring in 8 items? Why not 14? I mean 8 is such an abritrary number and I never know what size I am because your clothes are from 8 million different designers.
Also is it really necessary to make me place my stuff on that little counter rack and count everything twice and admonish me for wanting to bring in more than 8 things because yes I can read and I know the sign says 8 and thats why I put some items to the side and omg, do we have to count them again! I said I won't bring it all in at once!
And why do you make me do the counter rack thing when I exchanged 4-I-will-not-buy-you-items for 4 more I-might-buy-you-items! Don't you trust me to count to 4?????????
Does this look like the face of a person who wants to shop lift at Marshalls?
And I wouldn't have even come into you today because I am soooooooo busy editing my final 8 chapters before I am forced to act out an entire scene of Clueless all by myself-but it's very cold right now and I'm not retaining body heat so much and I wanted more layers and you have layers and your layers are cheap. It is so bad I'm even considering droppin as low as a snuggie! Yes! A Snuggie!
But I swear if you make me put my clothes on the count rack one more time I am done. DONE!
Also stop looking at me like I'm wierd for wanting to make small talk with the crazy count rack dressing room lady beyond how many garments it takes to get a card with the number 8 on it. I am a friendly person!
And last, if you insist on folding my clothes up for me after purchase and you want to spend 5 hours doing it, is it so much to ask that you fold my clothes in a way that actually makes sense? Otherwise just throw em in the bag! Because that's what you kind of did except that you spent 5 hours pretending not to!
Marshalls, me and you are DONE!
Also thanks for the cute dress I found and paid nothing for.
We're OVER!
Love,
Frankie
While I love your prices and your convenient locations next to daily-needs-stores like Barnes and Noble and Target, I have to say I am not so much a fan of your service.
First of all, what is up with your dressing room policy? And where do you find these crazy ladies to run them? Some people just like to try a lot of things on at once, because we're busy writers who need to edit another 8 chapters before midnight on January 1st, 2010 and don't want to go back and forth between the dressing room and the store 800 times. Also why can I only bring in 8 items? Why not 14? I mean 8 is such an abritrary number and I never know what size I am because your clothes are from 8 million different designers.
Also is it really necessary to make me place my stuff on that little counter rack and count everything twice and admonish me for wanting to bring in more than 8 things because yes I can read and I know the sign says 8 and thats why I put some items to the side and omg, do we have to count them again! I said I won't bring it all in at once!
And why do you make me do the counter rack thing when I exchanged 4-I-will-not-buy-you-items for 4 more I-might-buy-you-items! Don't you trust me to count to 4?????????
Does this look like the face of a person who wants to shop lift at Marshalls?
I don't think so!
And I wouldn't have even come into you today because I am soooooooo busy editing my final 8 chapters before I am forced to act out an entire scene of Clueless all by myself-but it's very cold right now and I'm not retaining body heat so much and I wanted more layers and you have layers and your layers are cheap. It is so bad I'm even considering droppin as low as a snuggie! Yes! A Snuggie!
But I swear if you make me put my clothes on the count rack one more time I am done. DONE!
Also stop looking at me like I'm wierd for wanting to make small talk with the crazy count rack dressing room lady beyond how many garments it takes to get a card with the number 8 on it. I am a friendly person!
And last, if you insist on folding my clothes up for me after purchase and you want to spend 5 hours doing it, is it so much to ask that you fold my clothes in a way that actually makes sense? Otherwise just throw em in the bag! Because that's what you kind of did except that you spent 5 hours pretending not to!
Marshalls, me and you are DONE!
Also thanks for the cute dress I found and paid nothing for.
We're OVER!
Love,
Frankie
Monday, December 28, 2009
Smells Like Teen Booty-Challenge Week Update +Major Arc Contest!!!
Alright so I'm sure you all saw the Challenge Donna dealt me last night--like things weren't challenging enough! But seriously this was a challenge I totally asked for. I've wanted to be done with my revisions--done meaning I can give it to gamma readers and have only minor minor nitpicky things to deal with later so I can start the query process--and I wanted to finish in December. Lo and behold...it's DECEMBER! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh!!
So giving me until 11:59PM Jan 1st is quite generous!
And HARD! GAH!!!
If only I was on normal vacation like all the other college professors but I'm working this week, so that means coming straight home and revising until I drop.
In light of this, I decided I totally needed a theme song! In fact I woke up at 5am in need of my theme song (and now that I picked one I had better sleep later tomorrow OMGZZZZZ). I can only guess what you'd all imagine my theme song for challenge week to be...given my penchant for Shakira and really horrible youtube videos---seriously if you're on twitter start a youtube war with me--it's awesome. No really.
So thus comes my theme song and you can make sense of my wacky blog title.
It's a mash up of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Destiny's Child Bootylicious called Smells Like Teen Booty by Soulwax! Ok how awesome is that? Seriously. Glee, please add that to your line up because it would rock.
Want a dose of the awesomeness and what's in my ipod right now? Check it out below.
And here's the awesome performance by inFusion Tribal BellyDance that introduced me to this mash up a few years ago. It's so cute!
Ok so here's the update....
Chapters Revised: 12
Chapters to be revised with CP notes: 3
Total Chapters Remaining: 10
Days Left: 4.5
I know you traitors are hoping to see me do this by the end of the week....
But my vote is here!
Ok try to not get that in your head, and yeah I totally know the Lil Jon Mash up:-)
Now it's CONTEST TIME!
I was hoping to reach 200 followers by 2010 and I'm totally ahead with 205 followers because you guys are AWESOME! Yay you!!! Thanks for following my blog and hanging out with me and being so supportive.
As promised I'm giving away arcs!!!
So I'm giving away6 Arcs in 3 prize packs! 6 ARCS! 3 PRIZE PACKS! WOW!!!
You will be randomly entered to win one of the following arc packages.
1) Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson + The Anatomy of Wings, Karen Foxlee
2) The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong + Prophecy of the Sisters, Michelle Zink
3) Fire, Kristin Cashore + The Stolen One, Suzanne Crowley
Those of you who have entered my contests before know I do things a little untraditionally...
Those of you who are new, here's the run down!
Leave a comment below and tell me the most challenging thing you completed in 2009 and you are entered (you must be a follower).
Want more votes? Bring a friend over to my blog and make sure they tell me you sent them and I'll give you an extra vote! For every friend you send, your name gets entered again. AND if your referral makes a referral than you get more chances from that too. So please get creative and tweet, blog, facebook, beg, bribe...ummm just figure out a way to get more friends over here so you have more chances to win :-)
And..now I'll show you how this works in case what I just said makes no sense.
So Joey follows my blog (and yeah he's kind of a douche and a model, but he loves my blog so we'll forgive him!). And he sees my contest and is like "OOOOOOOOH! Contest!" So he enters by commenting below with his entry of "The most challenging thing I completed in 2009 was perfecting my thoughtful look for my new sock campaign."
1 entry is awarded to Joey!!
But 1 entry isn't good enough for Joey, he's a model, he needs more. So he goes to Patrick.
Joey: Patrick, See that blog? That's Frankie Diane's blog. I want you to follow her and enter her contest.
Patrick: Yeah, sure Sparky.
Joey: Look, I can't win these awesome arcs unless I get more entries.
Patrick: Touching story, but not my problem.
Joey: Would you be willing to make it your problem if I provide compensation?
Patrick: You're going to pay me to follow some chic's blog? Hang on (signs online) Oh screw you're money. Frankie is awesome! She's just too gooooood to be true...
Joey: Ok stop singing!
So now Joey has 2 entries and Patrick has 1.
But Patrick wants more...
Patrick: Kat, follow Frankie's blog and enter her contest.
Kat: Why are you pushing this? What's in it for you?
Patrick: Nothing is in it for me! Just the pleasure of being able to discuss her latest post with you!
Kat: Really? It's not the fact that you can win extra contest entries for her massive arc giveaway?
Patrick: ...
Kat: Ok fine, I'll enter, Frankie's awesome.
Patrick: Kiss me!
So....
Kat has 1 entry
Patrick has 2 (1 for him and 1 for Kat)
Joey has 3 (1 for himself, 1 from Patrick, and 1 from Kat)....because all entries get grandfathered in.
Ok got it? Comment and persuade away and I'm going back to my challenge.
Oh yeah--Contest ends at midnight JAN 15, 2010!!!
So giving me until 11:59PM Jan 1st is quite generous!
And HARD! GAH!!!
If only I was on normal vacation like all the other college professors but I'm working this week, so that means coming straight home and revising until I drop.
In light of this, I decided I totally needed a theme song! In fact I woke up at 5am in need of my theme song (and now that I picked one I had better sleep later tomorrow OMGZZZZZ). I can only guess what you'd all imagine my theme song for challenge week to be...given my penchant for Shakira and really horrible youtube videos---seriously if you're on twitter start a youtube war with me--it's awesome. No really.
So thus comes my theme song and you can make sense of my wacky blog title.
It's a mash up of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Destiny's Child Bootylicious called Smells Like Teen Booty by Soulwax! Ok how awesome is that? Seriously. Glee, please add that to your line up because it would rock.
Want a dose of the awesomeness and what's in my ipod right now? Check it out below.
And here's the awesome performance by inFusion Tribal BellyDance that introduced me to this mash up a few years ago. It's so cute!
Ok so here's the update....
Chapters Revised: 12
Chapters to be revised with CP notes: 3
Total Chapters Remaining: 10
Days Left: 4.5
I know you traitors are hoping to see me do this by the end of the week....
But my vote is here!
Ok try to not get that in your head, and yeah I totally know the Lil Jon Mash up:-)
Now it's CONTEST TIME!
I was hoping to reach 200 followers by 2010 and I'm totally ahead with 205 followers because you guys are AWESOME! Yay you!!! Thanks for following my blog and hanging out with me and being so supportive.
As promised I'm giving away arcs!!!
So I'm giving away6 Arcs in 3 prize packs! 6 ARCS! 3 PRIZE PACKS! WOW!!!
You will be randomly entered to win one of the following arc packages.
1) Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson + The Anatomy of Wings, Karen Foxlee
2) The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong + Prophecy of the Sisters, Michelle Zink
3) Fire, Kristin Cashore + The Stolen One, Suzanne Crowley
Those of you who have entered my contests before know I do things a little untraditionally...
Those of you who are new, here's the run down!
Leave a comment below and tell me the most challenging thing you completed in 2009 and you are entered (you must be a follower).
Want more votes? Bring a friend over to my blog and make sure they tell me you sent them and I'll give you an extra vote! For every friend you send, your name gets entered again. AND if your referral makes a referral than you get more chances from that too. So please get creative and tweet, blog, facebook, beg, bribe...ummm just figure out a way to get more friends over here so you have more chances to win :-)
And..now I'll show you how this works in case what I just said makes no sense.
1 entry is awarded to Joey!!
But 1 entry isn't good enough for Joey, he's a model, he needs more. So he goes to Patrick.
Joey: Patrick, See that blog? That's Frankie Diane's blog. I want you to follow her and enter her contest.
Patrick: Yeah, sure Sparky.
Joey: Look, I can't win these awesome arcs unless I get more entries.
Patrick: Touching story, but not my problem.
Joey: Would you be willing to make it your problem if I provide compensation?
Patrick: You're going to pay me to follow some chic's blog? Hang on (signs online) Oh screw you're money. Frankie is awesome! She's just too gooooood to be true...
Joey: Ok stop singing!
So now Joey has 2 entries and Patrick has 1.
But Patrick wants more...
Kat: Why are you pushing this? What's in it for you?
Patrick: Nothing is in it for me! Just the pleasure of being able to discuss her latest post with you!
Kat: Really? It's not the fact that you can win extra contest entries for her massive arc giveaway?
Patrick: ...
Kat: Ok fine, I'll enter, Frankie's awesome.
Patrick: Kiss me!
So....
Kat has 1 entry
Patrick has 2 (1 for him and 1 for Kat)
Joey has 3 (1 for himself, 1 from Patrick, and 1 from Kat)....because all entries get grandfathered in.
Ok got it? Comment and persuade away and I'm going back to my challenge.
Oh yeah--Contest ends at midnight JAN 15, 2010!!!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
In Which FNC Donna Hijacks Frankie's Blog for a Challenge Extraordinaire
Hey Guys! It's Donna, Frankie's critique partner from the FNC.
I don't know if you guys know this, but Frankie's been saying for months that she wants to finish the current revision of her WIP* before the clock strikes 2010. Wants to, wants to, wants to, but hasn't gotten there quite yet. The woman needed a challenge--in between fighting her blog wars.. So I'm hijacking Frankie Writes to publicly challenge her to walk the talk and finish the darn thing by 11:59PM, January 1, 2010.
* By the way, her WIP is crazyyyyyyy long (468 pages long). This is no easy task.
The Terms:
If Frankie succeeds... she gets to post a vlog of me baking her a vegan cake.
- I do not bake. When I do, it's never from scratch. Premade boxed mixes and rolls of refrigerated cookie dough are my friends. Half the time the cookie dough doesn't even make it to the oven. When it does, it burns.
- I've never made anything vegan in my life. Even my salads have cheese. I do not speak "soy" or "dairy alternatives."
- I've never vlogged. And from my experience "acting" in the eighth grade production of The Taming of the Shrew, I know the camera hates me. Bad camera.
- How is this a win for Frankie, considering my 98% chance of failure? Not so sure. Probably because it ensures epic hilarity. I'm keeping a fire extinguisher handy. But maybe, just maybe, it will lead to cake.
If Frankie fails... she will vlog an entire scene from Clueless. I'm talking every character, plus Cher's monologue narration. With actual acting. I've seen her do this before, and it's ridiculous. I kind of want her to fail for this reason. It may not rank with her Shakira video Deal with the Universe, but it'll be a close second.
Either way, I think it's a win for you guys -- SOMEONE will be making an idiot of themselves for your viewing pleasure.
Now I'm going to get back to revising my WIP... because if I've learned anything from your blog wars, it's to expect retribution.
Ok Frankie---go revise!!!
Frankie's Response
Ok Donna! It's on! I'm going to do everything in my will power to start the new year with my WIP revised! Whooo. Also, expect your own challenge to be issued at the FNC tomorrow!
Now off to revise, because despite what Donna says, you don't want to see me reenact Clueless!
I don't know if you guys know this, but Frankie's been saying for months that she wants to finish the current revision of her WIP* before the clock strikes 2010. Wants to, wants to, wants to, but hasn't gotten there quite yet. The woman needed a challenge--in between fighting her blog wars.. So I'm hijacking Frankie Writes to publicly challenge her to walk the talk and finish the darn thing by 11:59PM, January 1, 2010.
* By the way, her WIP is crazyyyyyyy long (468 pages long). This is no easy task.
The Terms:
If Frankie succeeds... she gets to post a vlog of me baking her a vegan cake.
- I do not bake. When I do, it's never from scratch. Premade boxed mixes and rolls of refrigerated cookie dough are my friends. Half the time the cookie dough doesn't even make it to the oven. When it does, it burns.
- I've never made anything vegan in my life. Even my salads have cheese. I do not speak "soy" or "dairy alternatives."
- I've never vlogged. And from my experience "acting" in the eighth grade production of The Taming of the Shrew, I know the camera hates me. Bad camera.
- How is this a win for Frankie, considering my 98% chance of failure? Not so sure. Probably because it ensures epic hilarity. I'm keeping a fire extinguisher handy. But maybe, just maybe, it will lead to cake.
If Frankie fails... she will vlog an entire scene from Clueless. I'm talking every character, plus Cher's monologue narration. With actual acting. I've seen her do this before, and it's ridiculous. I kind of want her to fail for this reason. It may not rank with her Shakira video Deal with the Universe, but it'll be a close second.
Either way, I think it's a win for you guys -- SOMEONE will be making an idiot of themselves for your viewing pleasure.
Now I'm going to get back to revising my WIP... because if I've learned anything from your blog wars, it's to expect retribution.
Ok Frankie---go revise!!!
Frankie's Response
Ok Donna! It's on! I'm going to do everything in my will power to start the new year with my WIP revised! Whooo. Also, expect your own challenge to be issued at the FNC tomorrow!
Now off to revise, because despite what Donna says, you don't want to see me reenact Clueless!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Blog Wars Part 2-I Vlog Dare Shannon!
Ok I'm back! And yes I have vlogged again!!! For those of you just catching up with me after your holidaze...I'll catch you up!
Shannon and I have a habit of daring each other to do things on our blogs by using key pieces of embarassing information that we both tend to unconciously or maybe semi-consciously reveal. Well these dares have gotten so big that we are now in an all out Blog War!
Most recently, I dared Shannon to post her short story written at age 11 Earth Had a Snack and in return she dared me to post this, my epically bad short story I wrote at age 10! My story as you can tell was awful!!!! Awful!!!
But on the bright side, it's my turn now to dare! So I have decided to do it in a vlog! The war is on!
And in what is I guess becoming a tradition of mine, I couldn't make watching this vlog easy on you! Nope, you have to work for it! Last time I vlogged, I forced you to turn your head to the side or turn over your computer because the video was shot sideways. This time we shot the video right side up. But apparently, the camera we used, doesn't have a flash for video--so we also shot it in the dark. So I'm kind of hard to see this time. BUT I actually sound like myself in this video, the lisp is gone. AND...there is something special in there for Simon and Marybeth!
Also the vlog starts very seriously, but you all know I'm not a very serious person and as the vlog goes on, it becomes more and more ridiculous and silly.
Ok, that should prepare you! Here you go.
Ok Shannon, ball's in your court!!!
Shannon and I have a habit of daring each other to do things on our blogs by using key pieces of embarassing information that we both tend to unconciously or maybe semi-consciously reveal. Well these dares have gotten so big that we are now in an all out Blog War!
Most recently, I dared Shannon to post her short story written at age 11 Earth Had a Snack and in return she dared me to post this, my epically bad short story I wrote at age 10! My story as you can tell was awful!!!! Awful!!!
But on the bright side, it's my turn now to dare! So I have decided to do it in a vlog! The war is on!
And in what is I guess becoming a tradition of mine, I couldn't make watching this vlog easy on you! Nope, you have to work for it! Last time I vlogged, I forced you to turn your head to the side or turn over your computer because the video was shot sideways. This time we shot the video right side up. But apparently, the camera we used, doesn't have a flash for video--so we also shot it in the dark. So I'm kind of hard to see this time. BUT I actually sound like myself in this video, the lisp is gone. AND...there is something special in there for Simon and Marybeth!
Also the vlog starts very seriously, but you all know I'm not a very serious person and as the vlog goes on, it becomes more and more ridiculous and silly.
Ok, that should prepare you! Here you go.
Ok Shannon, ball's in your court!!!
Blog Wars! Shannon's Dare
Well Shannon has officially declared a blog war with me and dared me to post my absolutely horrid horrid horrid story "Untitled" that I wrote in the 4th grade and that is just...the most dreadful thing I've written and it was 21 pages long. So...under possibe torture and stress and a chance to procrastinate editing...I posted the abbreviated version below. And yeah I know I was supposed to post the whole thing, but trust me on this I am doing you a favor!
This story...just to warn you (epic in its badness) involves three races of little people, talking birds, killer thunderstorms, and genocidal snakes. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Ok here I go (Shannon I hate you a little right now)
"Mama?" I asked.
"Yes dear." she replied.
"Could you please pass me the learcot and salmide, please?" (what is learcot and salmide you ask? Well-I have no freaking clue! I made it up, so just go with it).
"Sure. Here you go, Mylin." (OMG her name is Mylin!)
"Thank you...this is good. Better than last year's!" (Wow are you hooked yet? Because I'm not! Do I really have to do this...ok fine...)
It was Bargainly Night, my favorite holiday (Oh I invented a holiday to go with my invented food). We have a great big feast of learcot, bylanly, salmide, careyd juice and grasshopper. Yum! (EW!) We listen to music and dance. My favorite part is the costume. Girls put their long hair up on their heads in a twist. In all the twists is a daffodil petal with pink coloring on it. We don't wear any shoes, but we wear wooly socks. They feel like stepping into a river. (AAAH OMG! Bc that is EXACTLY what I want to feel when stepping into a sock). We also get to wear gowns. Color stems are crinkled to make ruffles and the dress is made of fall leaves. Every year its happier, so we collect different leaves every year in early fall.
I'm sorry (so am I), I love Bargainly Night so much I got my tongue tied into knots (the dangers of begining in media res...). My name is Mylin Jakal (omg). I'm a Kelkin. Kelkins are little people as big as a human's thumb. We live underground. About 15 feet underground. It protects us from humans and animals or bad weather (yeah bad weather is the worst!). I live with my Mama, Papa, Grandpa, Grandma, my brothers, Celen, Chelin, Patl, Selin, Tinly, Horo, and Leaton (OMG I am dying right now--dying! Shannon I told you I'd beat Tarzano). My sisters, Copy, Sherry, Raspucan (poor girl), Malender, Pooky (aahahahaha!), Sely, Marin, Sandyall and Fily. And me, Mylin (wow her name looks normal now).
I'm the youngest in the whole family. I'm 100 years old (lol). Kelkins never die. They live forever. Unless there is danger or a human. My grandpa is, the oldest in the generation is centillion. We have pointy ears and raspberry eyes. Thin noses and golden long hair. Girls have hair to their waists and boys to their shoulders. We have rosy lips, beauty marks (ok...) and rosy cheeks.And on our foreheads is a different colored dot to indicate what year we were born. As we get older it changes. The only other people allowed to know about us are the Ferren and Dangalins. They're little people who live faraway. We only see them once a year when we all travel miles and miles for the reunion. We celebrate that we're still alive and happy (aww Kelkins seem sweet).
We live off beetles (ah I take it back, ewwww!), ants, propo, which is a mixture of salt, water, grass choppings and beetles (ew, ew ew!!). We eat on all bugs (Ok Mylin we get it!), grass and everything up there from mother nature. We never wear shoes unless we're outside. We only get to wear wooly socks on Bargainly Night. On other nights we wear thin leaves. Now you should know a bit about Kelkins and me (oh yeah we get the picture, bug-eater).
Oh ya, I almost forgot. We have elevators that take us up and back home.
Now back to now, I was dancing wiyth Celin. I had a big stomache later (too many grasshopper legs?), so I went to bed. It was so excited. Tomorrow would be my 101th birthday. I could for the first time, go on the elevator to the outside (oooh I think this is where the plot shows up).
"Good morning!!(yeah two exclamation points) Good morning!" I screamed. "Wake up! Wake up! Today is the day. Today is the day I'm 101 years old. I get to explore the outside! I'll make history. Grandpa, wake up! You must write today down in the Jakal history of Kelkins book." (Mylin let the man rest, he's centillion years old!)
(The next scene has been cut for time, but basically Grandpa wakes up, and records her birthday in the book with a pen called a chie after Mylin spills the ink several times. And then she goes up to the outside for her 101th birthday.)
For the first time I stepped on outside dirt and saw the sun. I saw flowers and giants, they weren't humans. It was twice as big as me. It had skinny legs and could fly. I went over to touch it. It was so soft like a flower petal. I could hear it chirping. He seemed friendly (umm yeah he just let you feel him up). When I looked into his eyes, I knew we'd be good friends.
I sat down to have dinner and shared some of it with my new friend (awww). He looked at me and he talked (he is the talking bird!).
"Hi. I'm Derrick (McDreamy?) I'm a sparrow bird. What are you?"
"Hi. I'm a Kelkin. My name is Mylin. I don't mean to be rude. But what kind of a name is Derrick? Why don't you have a like Shabt, or Chelen, Casthe, or Forare (seriously?)" I asked.
"Gee, Mylin I was gonna ask you the same thing. But the names you said I sure thought were wierd (Derrick, you're not alone!). Why don't you have a name like Robert, Tifannie, Fred, Frankie (BAHAHAHAHA!)?" he asked. (Because 10 yrs olds should never be allowed to write fantasy stories!)
After awhile we knew we came from two different worlds (umm I could have told you that 200 words ago!). He figured this was my first time around so he offered me a tour. I packed my stuff in his pouch (????) and climbed on his head.
(So we have the classic scene where a characters rides fast on an animal and then Mylin learns all about clouds and cuddles with Derrick on top of one. It gets dark and Mylin has a sh*t fit because in all of her 101 years no one ever explained nighttime to her, so Derrick does and it's all good and they fall asleep. Then a thunderstorm wakes her up--Mylin also doesn't know about t-storms. This scares her and Derrick flies them back to the ground to save them. But the wind is so strong they fall and Derrick dies!)
I sat down and sobbed till dawn. When I was all done I ate breakfast and took a walk (Derrick's death clearly hit her hard). After walking around a tree I realized I was lost. (Hahahaha because she's so small!).
(The next scene has been cut for overly melodramatic purposes. Mylin cries and woes the day she was born, she is lost outside and Derrick is dead and she can't find her way home. Then she runs into Derrick's cousin, Joe. He tells her the horrible thing that happened to her family while she was outside-all of the Kelkins, Dangalins and Ferrens went to the reunion. But when they got there, they found a killer snake had crashed the party and it ate EVERYONE except Mylin's mom! Mylin's mom escaped to find Joe and tell him to find Mylin and explain everything and to tell Mylin she loves her and then...the snake eats her too! And now, she is the last little person in the world.)
That really did it! I was furious (ah the stages of grief), yet upset and very confused. I sat down on a pebble and I just sat. And sat and sat and sat without moving, blinking or eating, just sitting for three days (apparently Kelkin grief makes you a statue).
(Anyway, Mylin finds her way back home, sits there for another 6 days grieving and then the ghost of her grandfather shows up)
"Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyylin. Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyllllliiiiiiiiiiiiin. Coooooooooommmmmeeee ooooouuuut! IIIIIIIIIII neeeeeeed toooooo taaaaalllllkkkk to yooooooouuu!"
(The ghost of Mylin's grandfather basically is like hey Mylin you're totally screwed, so you have to go and find a human and be friends with them or your going to be all alone. So she goes back to the outside and climbs into a human's house and meets this guy named Mark. And then....in the most epic horrible ending in the history of the world....)
I woke up. My mom was calling me to get up for school. And I realized it was all a dream. There were no such things as Kelkins. And my family wasn't dead.
"Come on, Mark!" my mom called. "Breakfast is ready."
What a wierd dream I had!"
The End!
Yes, Mylin was really a human boy named Mark.
AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok worst story EVER!! So you know what this means, Shannon, it's time for my revenge!
Stay tuned, I'll be doing my second vlog. This blog war is on!!!
This story...just to warn you (epic in its badness) involves three races of little people, talking birds, killer thunderstorms, and genocidal snakes. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Ok here I go (Shannon I hate you a little right now)
"Mama?" I asked.
"Yes dear." she replied.
"Could you please pass me the learcot and salmide, please?" (what is learcot and salmide you ask? Well-I have no freaking clue! I made it up, so just go with it).
"Sure. Here you go, Mylin." (OMG her name is Mylin!)
"Thank you...this is good. Better than last year's!" (Wow are you hooked yet? Because I'm not! Do I really have to do this...ok fine...)
It was Bargainly Night, my favorite holiday (Oh I invented a holiday to go with my invented food). We have a great big feast of learcot, bylanly, salmide, careyd juice and grasshopper. Yum! (EW!) We listen to music and dance. My favorite part is the costume. Girls put their long hair up on their heads in a twist. In all the twists is a daffodil petal with pink coloring on it. We don't wear any shoes, but we wear wooly socks. They feel like stepping into a river. (AAAH OMG! Bc that is EXACTLY what I want to feel when stepping into a sock). We also get to wear gowns. Color stems are crinkled to make ruffles and the dress is made of fall leaves. Every year its happier, so we collect different leaves every year in early fall.
I'm sorry (so am I), I love Bargainly Night so much I got my tongue tied into knots (the dangers of begining in media res...). My name is Mylin Jakal (omg). I'm a Kelkin. Kelkins are little people as big as a human's thumb. We live underground. About 15 feet underground. It protects us from humans and animals or bad weather (yeah bad weather is the worst!). I live with my Mama, Papa, Grandpa, Grandma, my brothers, Celen, Chelin, Patl, Selin, Tinly, Horo, and Leaton (OMG I am dying right now--dying! Shannon I told you I'd beat Tarzano). My sisters, Copy, Sherry, Raspucan (poor girl), Malender, Pooky (aahahahaha!), Sely, Marin, Sandyall and Fily. And me, Mylin (wow her name looks normal now).
I'm the youngest in the whole family. I'm 100 years old (lol). Kelkins never die. They live forever. Unless there is danger or a human. My grandpa is, the oldest in the generation is centillion. We have pointy ears and raspberry eyes. Thin noses and golden long hair. Girls have hair to their waists and boys to their shoulders. We have rosy lips, beauty marks (ok...) and rosy cheeks.And on our foreheads is a different colored dot to indicate what year we were born. As we get older it changes. The only other people allowed to know about us are the Ferren and Dangalins. They're little people who live faraway. We only see them once a year when we all travel miles and miles for the reunion. We celebrate that we're still alive and happy (aww Kelkins seem sweet).
We live off beetles (ah I take it back, ewwww!), ants, propo, which is a mixture of salt, water, grass choppings and beetles (ew, ew ew!!). We eat on all bugs (Ok Mylin we get it!), grass and everything up there from mother nature. We never wear shoes unless we're outside. We only get to wear wooly socks on Bargainly Night. On other nights we wear thin leaves. Now you should know a bit about Kelkins and me (oh yeah we get the picture, bug-eater).
Oh ya, I almost forgot. We have elevators that take us up and back home.
Now back to now, I was dancing wiyth Celin. I had a big stomache later (too many grasshopper legs?), so I went to bed. It was so excited. Tomorrow would be my 101th birthday. I could for the first time, go on the elevator to the outside (oooh I think this is where the plot shows up).
"Good morning!!(yeah two exclamation points) Good morning!" I screamed. "Wake up! Wake up! Today is the day. Today is the day I'm 101 years old. I get to explore the outside! I'll make history. Grandpa, wake up! You must write today down in the Jakal history of Kelkins book." (Mylin let the man rest, he's centillion years old!)
(The next scene has been cut for time, but basically Grandpa wakes up, and records her birthday in the book with a pen called a chie after Mylin spills the ink several times. And then she goes up to the outside for her 101th birthday.)
For the first time I stepped on outside dirt and saw the sun. I saw flowers and giants, they weren't humans. It was twice as big as me. It had skinny legs and could fly. I went over to touch it. It was so soft like a flower petal. I could hear it chirping. He seemed friendly (umm yeah he just let you feel him up). When I looked into his eyes, I knew we'd be good friends.
I sat down to have dinner and shared some of it with my new friend (awww). He looked at me and he talked (he is the talking bird!).
"Hi. I'm Derrick (McDreamy?) I'm a sparrow bird. What are you?"
"Hi. I'm a Kelkin. My name is Mylin. I don't mean to be rude. But what kind of a name is Derrick? Why don't you have a like Shabt, or Chelen, Casthe, or Forare (seriously?)" I asked.
"Gee, Mylin I was gonna ask you the same thing. But the names you said I sure thought were wierd (Derrick, you're not alone!). Why don't you have a name like Robert, Tifannie, Fred, Frankie (BAHAHAHAHA!)?" he asked. (Because 10 yrs olds should never be allowed to write fantasy stories!)
After awhile we knew we came from two different worlds (umm I could have told you that 200 words ago!). He figured this was my first time around so he offered me a tour. I packed my stuff in his pouch (????) and climbed on his head.
(So we have the classic scene where a characters rides fast on an animal and then Mylin learns all about clouds and cuddles with Derrick on top of one. It gets dark and Mylin has a sh*t fit because in all of her 101 years no one ever explained nighttime to her, so Derrick does and it's all good and they fall asleep. Then a thunderstorm wakes her up--Mylin also doesn't know about t-storms. This scares her and Derrick flies them back to the ground to save them. But the wind is so strong they fall and Derrick dies!)
I sat down and sobbed till dawn. When I was all done I ate breakfast and took a walk (Derrick's death clearly hit her hard). After walking around a tree I realized I was lost. (Hahahaha because she's so small!).
(The next scene has been cut for overly melodramatic purposes. Mylin cries and woes the day she was born, she is lost outside and Derrick is dead and she can't find her way home. Then she runs into Derrick's cousin, Joe. He tells her the horrible thing that happened to her family while she was outside-all of the Kelkins, Dangalins and Ferrens went to the reunion. But when they got there, they found a killer snake had crashed the party and it ate EVERYONE except Mylin's mom! Mylin's mom escaped to find Joe and tell him to find Mylin and explain everything and to tell Mylin she loves her and then...the snake eats her too! And now, she is the last little person in the world.)
That really did it! I was furious (ah the stages of grief), yet upset and very confused. I sat down on a pebble and I just sat. And sat and sat and sat without moving, blinking or eating, just sitting for three days (apparently Kelkin grief makes you a statue).
(Anyway, Mylin finds her way back home, sits there for another 6 days grieving and then the ghost of her grandfather shows up)
"Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyylin. Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyllllliiiiiiiiiiiiin. Coooooooooommmmmeeee ooooouuuut! IIIIIIIIIII neeeeeeed toooooo taaaaalllllkkkk to yooooooouuu!"
(The ghost of Mylin's grandfather basically is like hey Mylin you're totally screwed, so you have to go and find a human and be friends with them or your going to be all alone. So she goes back to the outside and climbs into a human's house and meets this guy named Mark. And then....in the most epic horrible ending in the history of the world....)
I woke up. My mom was calling me to get up for school. And I realized it was all a dream. There were no such things as Kelkins. And my family wasn't dead.
"Come on, Mark!" my mom called. "Breakfast is ready."
What a wierd dream I had!"
The End!
Yes, Mylin was really a human boy named Mark.
AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok worst story EVER!! So you know what this means, Shannon, it's time for my revenge!
Stay tuned, I'll be doing my second vlog. This blog war is on!!!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
My First Vlog and Awards!
Ok, so I finally did it-I vlogged. It's not the most exciting video ever...but I really wanted to do something special today because someone did something very special for me, so Southern Princess this was all thanks to you. THANK YOU! You sent the sweetest package ever! I loved it. I squeeed I loved it so much!
So just to warn you before you watch, my sister was filming and there are random close ups-- also at some points I sound like I have a lisp or there's static or something funky going on and in real life I am lisp-less and non-staticy. Just thought you should know.
So just to warn you before you watch, my sister was filming and there are random close ups-- also at some points I sound like I have a lisp or there's static or something funky going on and in real life I am lisp-less and non-staticy. Just thought you should know.
Oh...and my face is VERY expressive... so don't freeze frame the video, because you will get all kinds of crazy images of me.
OH and...it was filmed sideways, so you have to either tilt your head all the way to the side or tilt your computer. Hey you know, I never said I'd make this vlog easy on you!
OH and...it was filmed sideways, so you have to either tilt your head all the way to the side or tilt your computer. Hey you know, I never said I'd make this vlog easy on you!
OK! Here you go!
All right, hopefully that wasn't too painful. Readjust your necks, massage out the cricks and get ready for awards!
First up is The Silver Lining Award from Sara at The Babbling Flow of a Fledgling Scribbler. Thank you, Sara!!
This award is for blogs that uplift you and make you smile and see the silver lining in any situation (though usually you don't need to contort your neck sideways to see it).
I'm passing The Silver Lining Award onto:
5. Desperately Searching for My Inner Mary Poppins #windinmyhaaaaaaiiiiir
And next, I recieved The Blogging Writer Award from Carolina at Carol's Prints. Thank you, Carolina!!!
I'm passing this award onto Heather Zundel!
The Most Romantic Books of 2009 and WINNER!
Thank you so much to everyone for all of the lovely comments on my Official Kissing Day Snippet from my Wippet--the sheer number of comments (I'm currently at 56 though a few are my responses) combined with their sweetness is making my head spin! You all have made my week! Thank you!
Second, I am so pumped for The No Kiss Blogfest--I'm going to have a ton of fun picking that scene, since my WIP involves forbidden love, the No-Kiss Kiss is my specialty. If you haven't signed up for it yet (even if you're not a writer you can participate by posting a scene from your fave book movie or show) Go sign up right now! What are you waiting for?
Second, I am so pumped for The No Kiss Blogfest--I'm going to have a ton of fun picking that scene, since my WIP involves forbidden love, the No-Kiss Kiss is my specialty. If you haven't signed up for it yet (even if you're not a writer you can participate by posting a scene from your fave book movie or show) Go sign up right now! What are you waiting for?
And now without further ado the winner of The Dark Divine arc is....
who's most romantic book she read in 2009 was Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas!
Funnily enough, Shannon was the first person to enter the contest, so I guess there is something to being the early bird. Congrats Shannon! Yay! Send me your address and I'll get that book right out to you!
And now let's check out the other most romantic books of 2009 according to you!
You all listed some really romantic books and I love a good romance so my TBR pile is growing thanks to your recommendations, but there were a few romances that stood out with multiple votes behind them.
In first place with 4 votes: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (this would have my vote too)
Sigh....does it get any sweeter than this?
In second place, we have a tie, both books earning 3 votes: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and Perfect Chemistry by Simone Ekeles.
In third place, we have a three way tie (yes Im totally amused by 3 books tying for 3rd place, just as much as I'm amused by there being 2 books tied for 2nd), all earning 2 votes, The Time Traveler's Wife, Hush, Hush, and The Hunger Games.
Thank you everyone for entering! And don't forget to sign up for the No Kiss Blogfest!
If you didn't get to enter the contest, tell me in the comments, what was the most romantic book you read in 2009? And I'm curious, what romantic books are you looking forward to reading in 2010?
Monday, December 21, 2009
The No Kiss Blogfest is Coming!!!
I think that we can all say Sherrinda at a Writer Wannabe did a fantastic job creating and hosting the first ever Official Kissing Day Blogfest!I had so much fun posting my kissing scene, reading your comments and visiting your blogs to check out your kiss scenes that I got an idea...
Totally inspired by Sherrinda, I'd like to announce The No Kiss Blogfest! We'll be posting scenes from our WIPs, favorite books, movies, and tv shows that show the almost kiss-- the rising, crushing, excruciating, longing, tension that comes from when two characters get oh-so-close to kissing that you can just feel it....and then...they don't!
No Kiss Blogfest Jan 2, 2010!
Things You Should Do To Prepare For The Ultimate Non-Kissage Festivities!
1) Sometime between now and Jan 2, 2010 write a post about the No Kiss Blogfest to let everyone know you are participating and that they should too. Why? Because it's awesome!
2) Sign up for No Kiss Blogfest by filling in the Mr. Linky below. Because Mr. Linky is awesome.
3)Tweet about No Kiss Blogfest, using the hash tag: #nokissblogfest because #hashtagsareawesome
4) After you've recovered from New Years Eve and are over the shock of not being able to write 2.0.0. for the year...but must now start all dates with 2.0.1. write a blog sharing your Almost Kiss, No Kiss Blogfest entry (either one from your WIP, one you just wrote, one from a book, movie or tv show)and post on January 2, 2010!!! Because reading your posts are awesome!
Yay! I'm so excited!!! Are you?
Add yourself to the Mr. Linky, and get ready for No Kiss Blogfest 2010! See you all on January 2nd!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Happy Official Kissing Day Blogfest!
Woohooo!!! Today is the Official Kissing Day Blogfest, hosted by Sherrinda at A Writer Wannabe make sure you check out the links of all the bloggers participating with their swoon worthy posts today and send a big Thank You to the awesome Sherrinda for dreaming up this day and hosting.
So as promised, I have a Snippet from my Wippet (oh man I never get tired of saying that), and one of the best kisses from 2009....
First up--my snippet is one I shared back in October--so some of you may have seen this, but a lot of you have not--so I hope you enjoy (sorry I can't give too many kisses away) the first kiss between my characters Lilliana and Tristan.
Kissage from The Seven Sisters Brandywine Brandywine Rose Lily
STOLEN!!!
Sorry guys--snippet removed from internet 2/14/10--thanks for all of the comments!!"No one really needs me," he says, and there's no self-pity in his voice. It's trye his family doesn't need him. They will mourn him, as will a handful of friends. But they will get on. I realize only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me.
"I do," I say. "I need you." He looks upset, takes a deep breath as if to begin a long argument, and that's no good, no good at all, because he'll start going on about Prim and my mother and everything and I'll just get confused. So before he can talk, I stop his lips with a kiss.
I feel that thing again. The thing I only felt once before. In the cave last year, when I was trying to get Haymitch to send us food. I kissed Peeta about a thousand times during those Games and after. But there was only one kiss that made me feel something stir deep inside. Only one made me want more. But my head wound started bleeding and he made me lie down.
This time, there is nothing but us to interrupt us. And after a few attempts, Peeta gives up on talking. The sensation inside me grows warmer and spreads out from my chest, down through my body, out along my arms and legs, to the tips of my being. Instead of satisfying me, the kisses have the opposite effect, of making my need greater. I thought I was something of an expert on hunger, but this is an entirely new kind.
Happy Kissing Day!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
What Is Your Writer Identity?
One quick announcement! Monday is the Official Kissing Day Blogfest, hosted by Sherrinda at A Writer Wannabe which means I'll be posting a Snippet from my Wippet all full of kissage-and so will a lot of other talented bloggers--Monday is going to be fun times!
So there's been a lot of talk lately on the internet about author branding-where you create your author identity/brand--the thing that everyone can expect when they visit your blog, or your website, or read your books or stalk you on twitter--it could be snarky humor, self deprecating, inspirational, straightforward, philosophical, whimsical, pop-culture obsessed, Frankie is Awesome ;) and 100 other things, but whatever it is--it's you.
Well, I'm not going to talk about that.
What I'd like to know is your author identity/brand in the real world and life. I just discovered two of my fellow online writer-bloggers whose blogs have been picking up a lot of steam in the short time they've been online have not actually told anyone who knows them in person that they're a writer.
I don't know why but this totally shocked me--because it's the total opposite of my world.
I will admit that I wanted to be a writer for years and I never told anyone. I worked on my book in secret, and spent a few years world building before I ever had the guts to mention it to anyone other than my mom and sisters. But once I made the decision to write this book (after I graduated from college) I stopped holding back--I was going to write this book--> I was writing this book--> I was a writer--> and I didn't care who knew.
Now, I might get asked about my book/how the writing is going/what chapter I'm revising/etc around 10xs a day. It's really common for someone to walk up to me and ask how I am and how the book is going in the same breath. Everyone who knows me knows I'm a writer and it seems like everyone knows where I'm at in my quest for publication-either from talking to me or reading my blog or both. This extends from my close friends to co-workers to coffee barristas and random people at Barnes and Noble...yeah the random people at Barnes and Noble know me and know I'm writing...
And you know what? I love it! Being a writer is a huge part of my identity--no it is my identity--I'm a writer, that's who I am and its fun being able to share that with everyone in my world. I was talking to Donna yesterday and she said something that struck a chord--she called me 100% Frankie--I'm always me, all the time. It fits.
I also like the accountability it brings--people are expecting me to finish my revision--online and in real life. It's like a constant reminder wherever I am to reach for my goals and give me an extra little push whenever things get tough.
So I'm curious about all of you. Which of you are writers in the closet? Who is living out loud as a writer? If you're not telling anyone you're a writer-why not? When will you? Or won't you?
For those of you who are like me, what do you think about everyone knowing about your goals? Does it help you, inspire you, or make you nervous? Anyone have an experience that's in between?
Basically, what is your author brand in real life? Who are you? I'm so curious now. How does your online identity mesh with your online one? Do you ever plan to mesh the two?
Let me know:-)
So there's been a lot of talk lately on the internet about author branding-where you create your author identity/brand--the thing that everyone can expect when they visit your blog, or your website, or read your books or stalk you on twitter--it could be snarky humor, self deprecating, inspirational, straightforward, philosophical, whimsical, pop-culture obsessed, Frankie is Awesome ;) and 100 other things, but whatever it is--it's you.
Well, I'm not going to talk about that.
What I'd like to know is your author identity/brand in the real world and life. I just discovered two of my fellow online writer-bloggers whose blogs have been picking up a lot of steam in the short time they've been online have not actually told anyone who knows them in person that they're a writer.
I don't know why but this totally shocked me--because it's the total opposite of my world.
I will admit that I wanted to be a writer for years and I never told anyone. I worked on my book in secret, and spent a few years world building before I ever had the guts to mention it to anyone other than my mom and sisters. But once I made the decision to write this book (after I graduated from college) I stopped holding back--I was going to write this book--> I was writing this book--> I was a writer--> and I didn't care who knew.
Now, I might get asked about my book/how the writing is going/what chapter I'm revising/etc around 10xs a day. It's really common for someone to walk up to me and ask how I am and how the book is going in the same breath. Everyone who knows me knows I'm a writer and it seems like everyone knows where I'm at in my quest for publication-either from talking to me or reading my blog or both. This extends from my close friends to co-workers to coffee barristas and random people at Barnes and Noble...yeah the random people at Barnes and Noble know me and know I'm writing...
And you know what? I love it! Being a writer is a huge part of my identity--no it is my identity--I'm a writer, that's who I am and its fun being able to share that with everyone in my world. I was talking to Donna yesterday and she said something that struck a chord--she called me 100% Frankie--I'm always me, all the time. It fits.
I also like the accountability it brings--people are expecting me to finish my revision--online and in real life. It's like a constant reminder wherever I am to reach for my goals and give me an extra little push whenever things get tough.
So I'm curious about all of you. Which of you are writers in the closet? Who is living out loud as a writer? If you're not telling anyone you're a writer-why not? When will you? Or won't you?
For those of you who are like me, what do you think about everyone knowing about your goals? Does it help you, inspire you, or make you nervous? Anyone have an experience that's in between?
Basically, what is your author brand in real life? Who are you? I'm so curious now. How does your online identity mesh with your online one? Do you ever plan to mesh the two?
Let me know:-)
Friday, December 18, 2009
I want your flash fiction!
Ok guys so I went to Barnes and Noble tonight to do some editing and as usual--something totally bizarre happened. What you are about to read is a totally true story--I could not make this stuff up.
So I'm at BN with my sister editing and I got up at one point to go to the bathroom (don't you love it when I tell you about these things) and I pick the one stall that has an abandoned pair of slippers in them. Yes, slippers!
These aren't just any slippers though. These are slippers that someone painted green!
And...stuffed an origami swan into.
AND...wrote on the origami swan's wing, "Open me!"
I just stared at it and had no idea what to do.
Now, normally I'm quite the adventurous type when it comes to weird things like this...as Southern Princess discovered by blog stalking me over in Lisa and Laura's comments--I one time pushed my dance partner's butt through the basement window of a church while standing tip toe on an upside trashcan--and waited for her to race upstairs to punch in the code to turn off the alarm before the cops came--we weren't really breaking and entering into a church. I just lost my key---yeah I'm Jewish, but I totally had the keys to a church for a few years--that's where we had dance practice.
But I totally got off topic.
Anyway, I did not open the origami swan like it asked me to. I mean, who knows what was in there? What if it had been poop? Or worse?
But...wondering about the truth behind the origami swan in the painted slippers abandoned in the Barnes and Noble bathroom is going to keep me up all night wondering--what if I had opened the swan?
SO...your task should you choose to accept it-is to flash fiction what happened when I didn't chicken out and opened the swan in the comments section below. Ready...go!
---If you're not a flash fictiony person just tell me what you think might have happened.
So I'm at BN with my sister editing and I got up at one point to go to the bathroom (don't you love it when I tell you about these things) and I pick the one stall that has an abandoned pair of slippers in them. Yes, slippers!
These aren't just any slippers though. These are slippers that someone painted green!
And...stuffed an origami swan into.
AND...wrote on the origami swan's wing, "Open me!"
I just stared at it and had no idea what to do.
Now, normally I'm quite the adventurous type when it comes to weird things like this...as Southern Princess discovered by blog stalking me over in Lisa and Laura's comments--I one time pushed my dance partner's butt through the basement window of a church while standing tip toe on an upside trashcan--and waited for her to race upstairs to punch in the code to turn off the alarm before the cops came--we weren't really breaking and entering into a church. I just lost my key---yeah I'm Jewish, but I totally had the keys to a church for a few years--that's where we had dance practice.
But I totally got off topic.
Anyway, I did not open the origami swan like it asked me to. I mean, who knows what was in there? What if it had been poop? Or worse?
But...wondering about the truth behind the origami swan in the painted slippers abandoned in the Barnes and Noble bathroom is going to keep me up all night wondering--what if I had opened the swan?
SO...your task should you choose to accept it-is to flash fiction what happened when I didn't chicken out and opened the swan in the comments section below. Ready...go!
---If you're not a flash fictiony person just tell me what you think might have happened.
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 ofThe 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
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 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
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Win The Dark Divine ARC by Bree Despain!
Hey Guys, I was lucky enough to recieve another arc of The Dark Divine in my mail box, and because I love to make other people happy-especially my readers aka The Cool People--my luck is now your good fortune!
I'm giving it away to one of you! Because you are SO cool! (And rock my world with awesome comments and support-thank you!)
So here's the deal--if you want to win, comment below by telling me about the most romantic book you read in 2009. I'm very curious to hear your responses.
All of my followers who comment will be entered into the drawing.
Want more votes? Bring a friend over to my blog and make sure they tell me you sent them and I'll give you an extra vote! For every friend you send, your name gets entered again. AND if your referral makes a referral than you get more chances from that too.
I'll show you how this works in case what I just said makes no sense.
Ok so....Cher reads my blog and sees this contest and she gets SUPER excited and enters below with her comment "The most romantic book I read this year was Romeo and Juliet--Cliffs Notes"
1 entry is awarded to Cher!
But then Cher sees that if she can get Dionne to follow my blog and enter my contest she will get 2 entries! (She REALLY wants to read The Dark Divine)
So she calls up Dionne.
Cher: Di, you have got to follow Frankie's blog.
I'm giving it away to one of you! Because you are SO cool! (And rock my world with awesome comments and support-thank you!)
So here's the deal--if you want to win, comment below by telling me about the most romantic book you read in 2009. I'm very curious to hear your responses.
All of my followers who comment will be entered into the drawing.
Want more votes? Bring a friend over to my blog and make sure they tell me you sent them and I'll give you an extra vote! For every friend you send, your name gets entered again. AND if your referral makes a referral than you get more chances from that too.
I'll show you how this works in case what I just said makes no sense.
Ok so....Cher reads my blog and sees this contest and she gets SUPER excited and enters below with her comment "The most romantic book I read this year was Romeo and Juliet--Cliffs Notes"1 entry is awarded to Cher!
But then Cher sees that if she can get Dionne to follow my blog and enter my contest she will get 2 entries! (She REALLY wants to read The Dark Divine)
So she calls up Dionne.
Cher: Di, you have got to follow Frankie's blog.Di: Who?
Cher: Frankie! She is awesome, she writes these really funny blog posts, they're hilarious I burn off the calories of 7 M&Ms reading them.
Di: 7 M&Ms? Oooh that does sound good.
So Dionne comes to my blog and loves it (of course) and enters my contest too.
So now...
Cher has 2 entries and Dionne has 1.
But Dionne REALLY wants to win The Dark Divine so she tells Tai about my blog.
Di: You have to read Frankie's blog! It's amazing! You burn off the calories of 27 M&Ms just reading it (amazing how the story changes each time someone tells it!).
Tai: Ok, you think Travis would like Frankie's blog?
Di: Tai! What did we tell you about Travis!!!???!! Yeah he'd totally like her blog. K, I'm audi!
So Tai enters my contest and now....
Tai has 1 entry
Di has 2 (1 for her and 1 for Tai)
Cher (because she's awesome has 3) 1 for herself, 1 from Di, and 1 from Tai....because all entries get grandfathered in.
OK????
So use whatever kind of persuasive techniques you can dream up to send friends here and get you more entries. Contest ends at midnight December 22, 2009---Good Luck!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Final Round!!! Questions and Answers Part 3- Whewwww!!!
I know this is what you've all been waiting for--the last round of questions you asked, including some late additions and Shannon's extra special revenge on me for the now infamous round of Harry Potter questions that seem to be slowly making their way through the internet.
But first I have an EPIC SNIPPET FROM MY WIPPET up at the FNC today-so go check it out and show it some love (you know...if you want to...)
Ok so if you're just joining me and need an explanation of why I'm answering all of these crazy questions--go HERE and check out Round 1. Need to catch up with Round 2? Go HERE!
And now...the FINAL ROUND!!!! Round 3!
Shannon Messenger asked in the most epic round of revenge questions ever....
Okay- time for Frankies Favorites of 90's Pop Culture!
(Are you excited--because I AM!!!!!)<---Shannon's words, not mine....I'm kind of scared right now...
To begin-the Early 90's
-Favorite Grunge Band-Nirvana!!!!
-Favorite Grunge Song-Smells Like Teen Spirit and no one better tell me that this isn't their favorite!!!
-Favorite Flannel Color-For girls I loved red, but for boys....there was this color.
-Favorite Season of The Real World Hmmm I think it's season 5 when they're in Miami with Flora who was nuts and then there was the night that the one girl and guy and some other random girl had a threesome in the shower and Danny tried to push Flora through the bathroom window and then her butt broke the glass...that moment OWNS every other Real World for life---though I stopped watching after the season with Colin and his on again/off again shenanigans with Amaya and Ruthie had to leave because of her alcohol problems--that was in Hawaii yeah---oh but I'm also partial to Seattle with Nate and Irene-they were too funny. But yeah we'll go with Miami and Flora through the window.
I just tried to find the ultimate clip on youtube and I couldn't find the most hilarious part but there was this, which brought back so many memories and is pretty fun in and of itself--now I really want to watch all of the Real World on DVD-but only old school Real World--the new stuff is lame and I can't keep track of anybody.
-Favorite Supermodel-Cindy Crawford! Because she was like such a babe--also because I don't think I knew too much about super models back then and she was the most famous.
-Favorite Episode of My So Called Life--AAAAAH you are going to torture me to pick a favorite! Ok...I'm going to go with... On The Wagon-the one where Rayanne joins Jordan's band after Tino quits Frozen Embryos and they sing The Ramones song I Wanna Be Sedated and can't be Frozen Embryos anymore so they go on as "Between Names" and then Rayanne screws up worse than Ashley Simpson lip synching on SNL and runs off and Jordan has to sing and it's the sexiest thing ever when he does!!! And no one is allowed to argue with my choice because picking a favorite My So Called Life episode is like having to pick your favorite child.
-Favorite Character in My So Called Life--Rayanne! She totally cracked me up.
-Favorite Scene in My So Called Life -This is kind of random, it's not the best scene, but it used to make me laugh SO hard, when Rickie explains what happened with the gun, but then he has his big bonding moment with Angela and it's so sweet! I just love Rickie soooo much! So here you go...
Although this scene is also pretty EPIC--as well as the dance I'll be doing at my wedding when I finally meet the love of my life FYI. So all you single guys, I hope you can shoulder shimmy!
And yeah totally cheating but I have to leave you with one more clip-the one that gives you butterflies in your stomach. I'm sorry but life does not get more EPIC than this...
Do you not just die when he grabs her hand? OMG!
-Favorite Storyline in My So Called Life
Tino! He was never there, he never appeared in every episode yet he was the most talked about character-classic!
-Favorite line of dialogue in My So Called Life
Jordan: Are you...Brain Krakow? LOL-it's not funny that Jordan can't read, but this still makes me laugh.
Also this-
Angela: I couldn't stop thinking about it. The, like, fact that - that people - had sex. That they just had it, like sex was this thing people had, like a rash. Or a - a Rottweiler. Everything started to seem like, pornographic or something. Like, Mrs. Krysanowski has sex. So does Mr. Katimsky. They both have sex. They could - have sex together. Like right now.
[groans]
I am, like, the sickest person.
And...the mid 90's
-Favorite Alicia Silverstone & Aerosmith Video--I'm nervous about embedding too much in my page but hands down-Cryin' which was also one of my favorite songs in the 90's too!
-Favorite Character in Clueless--Cher!! I LOVE Alicia Silverstone-she's so funny and pretty and vegan!
-Favorite Scene in Clueless--When Cher and Christian go on their first date to that club and Josh follows along and you know he LOVES her and then Tai shows up and falls down the stairs and can't figure out how to wear her shirt--it's hilarious!
-Favorite Line of Dialogue in Clueless--
Heather: It's just like Hamlet said, "To thine own self be true."
Cher: Hamlet didn't say that.
Heather: I think I remember Hamlet accurately.
Cher: (laughs derisively)Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did.
-Favorite Teacher in Clueless--Ms. Geist! Sure her slip is always showing and she gets more lipstick on her teeth than on her lips, but...
-Favorite Cheesy Dance Song--You already know the answer to that-I've admitted this before and already have the song playing up above--it's Haddaway's What Is Love.
-Favorite Friends Character--Ross---he was always so adorable.
-Favorite Bush Song--Machine Head!
-Favorite No Doubt Song--Sunday Morning! And I've seen No Doubt in concert twice!! They rock!
-Favorite Spice Girl--Ok...so I ran a dance troupe from the time I was 12 until I was 24--it started off as a bunch of girls doing choreography I copied from MTV performing at local functions to a pro belly dance duo with me and my old dance partner-but, one year we danced at my mom's annual banquet to the Spice Girls' Wannabe. There were five of us and we each dressed up as a Spice Girl for the show--I dressed up and danced as Ginger.
-Favorite Spice Girls Song--Wannabe! Classic.
And...the late 90's
-Favorite Boy Band--NSYNC
-Favorite Girl Pop Star--Britney Spears
-Favorite Backstreet Boys Video Everybody--where they all turn into creatures of the night!
-Favorite *NSYNC Video--totally the original--I Want You Back
-Favorite Member of Backstreet Boys-Brian!
-Favorite Member of *NSYNC--My favorite NSYNCer was actually Wade Robson--their choreographer--but inside the band, JC.
-Favorite Britney Spears Song--OOps I did it again--also performed this with my dance troupe, hehe.
-Favorite Christina Aquilera Song--Genie in a Bottle
-Favorite MTV VMA performance
Me and this performance=true love! And yeah...I totally performed to it.
-Favorite Band from Making the Band--Was O-Town a Making the Band band? Yikes, I actually never watched this show...
-Favorite Jessica Simpson Song--I Wanna Love You Forever---back when she was so cute and innocent and not scandalized by her father.
-Favorite Ricky Martin Video--She Bangs! nuff said!
Wow...music kinda went downhill in the 90's, didn't it? Um no! It was awesome!!!
Lisa and Laura asked...
How long have you been a Vegan? I've been vegan for I think now 3 and half years before that I became vegetarian when I was somewhere around 11/12 years old.
Don't you ever miss cheeseburgers and leather boots? LOL-no never miss cheeseburgers--but that's because I never ate them. Let's see...I had cow a total of 2 times in my life and I didn't like it either time-once was a piece of steak and once was a piece of burger at a bbq. I gave up fish when I was five-the idea of them swimming in the ocean--the ocean being where they also pooped grossed my kindergarten self out too much and I was done. So that left me with only chicken and turkey on Thanksgiving-so I can't say that it was too big of a deal for me to make the switch.
As for leather boots---well I do still wear some leather boots--not my favorite thing to do--I will buy vegan whenever I can, but its very hard to find vegan boots in person--sometimes online shoe shopping is dicey and I'm a busy girl--so basically with the boots thing--I pick my battles. I'm not perfect--but I do the best I can whenever I can and I'd say I do a pretty perfect job 99% of the time. I have my beliefs (mine=they are what I believe and not what you have to believe--I HATE proselytizers they are my biggest pet peeve in life) but I'm realistic about them--will I eat something non vegan if Im absolutely starving? Yes-if there is no promise of vegan food in the nearby future (though this realistic rule does not apply to meat-I can't stomach it at all). Will I buy leather boots? Yes if it means saving me 100 hours trying to find a good vegan pair. But at least my Vampire Diaries knock off jacket is 100% cruelty free!!! So there you go.
Shannon O'Donnell asked...
- favorite pet name? Like for me? Or for a pet? Or for your boyfriend? I'll just say what people tend to call me for a pet name--Frankala.
- favorite girl scout cookie? No can do the girl scout cookie thing, but I think I used to like mint
- favorite ice cream flavor? So Delicious Mocha Almond Fudge Coconute Milk Ice Cream
- favorite person to hate? OMG...hmmmmm Hitler?
- favorite blog ever (my name is Shannon - I had to have one evil question! Mwa-ha-ha) ;-)
Hahaha this IS an evil question because how could I pick one and I'm guessing I can't pick my own...but I have thwarted your evil plans and I pick The First Novels Club, because it's not just mine...so there!
And finally Sara asks....
Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving! I can't wait to host it myself one day-tofurkey for everyone!
What are you most indecisive about? What to title my book!
If you could pick one celebrity to date, who would it be? OOOOh Michael Goorgian! He used to play Justin on Party of Five-he was always SO adorable and smart and nerdy but in a cute cool way and he directs and acts in spiritual movies now like Illumination which I love and he is probably too old for me, but I have the hugest crush on him so Michael, listen, if you are single and you can shoulder shimmy to Haddaway, I think we should get married--just saying...
Favorite winter sport? Ice Skating, because it's the only one I can do. You know when Bridget Jones goes skiing in the sequel---that was me the only time I ever skiied. I started rolling down a hill before the instructor even started his lesson and he started screaming "Frankie STOP!" and I was like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH You never taught me how!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kerplunk!
Eagles or Steelers? (Oh God, please don't say Eagles...) I don't know what to say...Eagles are my home team so I feel like I need to say Eagles but truthfully I've never watched a game and I don't really care, so we can still be friends?
Favorite outfit? At the moment it's what I'm wearing in my profile picture--sheer shirt over a tank with cordoruy mini and boots.
Favorite paint color (for walls)?hmmmmmmm I've always wanted a living room with either olive green walls or a very neutral sort of desert kind of purple.
Dream car? My car is my dream car-it's a red toyota camry-I don't know anything about cars, but I know that mine is red and it gets me everywhere I need to go, thus it's my dream car.
Favorite texture? Hmmmm no one has ever asked me this before. Ummmmmm I'll go with fleece-like those super soft fleece blankets you can get around this time of year. Yeah snuggly fleece.
Ok WOW! I am seriously questioned out! OMG-I bet you guys are too. Anyway I hope you enjoyed and now I am passing this Gnome Approved Award onto Mireyah Wolfe who earned it the minute she threw my own Harry Potter questions back at me--I am now adding a rule to this award--you must answer the Harry Potter Questions AND invite your readers to ask more and answer them all and I know you already have this planned, but there it is in writing from me to you! :-) So thanks Shannon for awarding me, Marybeth for creating the award, all of you for answering and still actually wanting to read my blog and....good luck Mireyah!
And now....back to editing! WHEW!
But first I have an EPIC SNIPPET FROM MY WIPPET up at the FNC today-so go check it out and show it some love (you know...if you want to...)
Ok so if you're just joining me and need an explanation of why I'm answering all of these crazy questions--go HERE and check out Round 1. Need to catch up with Round 2? Go HERE!
And now...the FINAL ROUND!!!! Round 3!
Shannon Messenger asked in the most epic round of revenge questions ever....
Okay- time for Frankies Favorites of 90's Pop Culture!
(Are you excited--because I AM!!!!!)<---Shannon's words, not mine....I'm kind of scared right now...
To begin-the Early 90's
-Favorite Grunge Band-Nirvana!!!!
-Favorite Grunge Song-Smells Like Teen Spirit and no one better tell me that this isn't their favorite!!!
-Favorite Flannel Color-For girls I loved red, but for boys....there was this color.
Was I drooling over uber-made-up R Ptaz two days ago? Puh-lease excuse me while I drool...
Still drooling....
Stilll....
Ok I'm better now. Next question!
-Favorite Season of The Real World Hmmm I think it's season 5 when they're in Miami with Flora who was nuts and then there was the night that the one girl and guy and some other random girl had a threesome in the shower and Danny tried to push Flora through the bathroom window and then her butt broke the glass...that moment OWNS every other Real World for life---though I stopped watching after the season with Colin and his on again/off again shenanigans with Amaya and Ruthie had to leave because of her alcohol problems--that was in Hawaii yeah---oh but I'm also partial to Seattle with Nate and Irene-they were too funny. But yeah we'll go with Miami and Flora through the window.
I just tried to find the ultimate clip on youtube and I couldn't find the most hilarious part but there was this, which brought back so many memories and is pretty fun in and of itself--now I really want to watch all of the Real World on DVD-but only old school Real World--the new stuff is lame and I can't keep track of anybody.
-Favorite Supermodel-Cindy Crawford! Because she was like such a babe--also because I don't think I knew too much about super models back then and she was the most famous.
-Favorite Episode of My So Called Life--AAAAAH you are going to torture me to pick a favorite! Ok...I'm going to go with... On The Wagon-the one where Rayanne joins Jordan's band after Tino quits Frozen Embryos and they sing The Ramones song I Wanna Be Sedated and can't be Frozen Embryos anymore so they go on as "Between Names" and then Rayanne screws up worse than Ashley Simpson lip synching on SNL and runs off and Jordan has to sing and it's the sexiest thing ever when he does!!! And no one is allowed to argue with my choice because picking a favorite My So Called Life episode is like having to pick your favorite child.
-Favorite Character in My So Called Life--Rayanne! She totally cracked me up.
-Favorite Scene in My So Called Life -This is kind of random, it's not the best scene, but it used to make me laugh SO hard, when Rickie explains what happened with the gun, but then he has his big bonding moment with Angela and it's so sweet! I just love Rickie soooo much! So here you go...
Although this scene is also pretty EPIC--as well as the dance I'll be doing at my wedding when I finally meet the love of my life FYI. So all you single guys, I hope you can shoulder shimmy!
And yeah totally cheating but I have to leave you with one more clip-the one that gives you butterflies in your stomach. I'm sorry but life does not get more EPIC than this...
Do you not just die when he grabs her hand? OMG!
-Favorite Storyline in My So Called Life
Tino! He was never there, he never appeared in every episode yet he was the most talked about character-classic!
-Favorite line of dialogue in My So Called Life
Jordan: Are you...Brain Krakow? LOL-it's not funny that Jordan can't read, but this still makes me laugh.
Also this-
Angela: I couldn't stop thinking about it. The, like, fact that - that people - had sex. That they just had it, like sex was this thing people had, like a rash. Or a - a Rottweiler. Everything started to seem like, pornographic or something. Like, Mrs. Krysanowski has sex. So does Mr. Katimsky. They both have sex. They could - have sex together. Like right now.
[groans]
I am, like, the sickest person.
And...the mid 90's
-Favorite Alicia Silverstone & Aerosmith Video--I'm nervous about embedding too much in my page but hands down-Cryin' which was also one of my favorite songs in the 90's too!
-Favorite Character in Clueless--Cher!! I LOVE Alicia Silverstone-she's so funny and pretty and vegan!
-Favorite Scene in Clueless--When Cher and Christian go on their first date to that club and Josh follows along and you know he LOVES her and then Tai shows up and falls down the stairs and can't figure out how to wear her shirt--it's hilarious!
-Favorite Line of Dialogue in Clueless--
Heather: It's just like Hamlet said, "To thine own self be true."
Cher: Hamlet didn't say that.
Heather: I think I remember Hamlet accurately.
Cher: (laughs derisively)Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did.
-Favorite Teacher in Clueless--Ms. Geist! Sure her slip is always showing and she gets more lipstick on her teeth than on her lips, but...
-Favorite Cheesy Dance Song--You already know the answer to that-I've admitted this before and already have the song playing up above--it's Haddaway's What Is Love.
-Favorite Friends Character--Ross---he was always so adorable.
-Favorite Bush Song--Machine Head!
-Favorite No Doubt Song--Sunday Morning! And I've seen No Doubt in concert twice!! They rock!
-Favorite Spice Girl--Ok...so I ran a dance troupe from the time I was 12 until I was 24--it started off as a bunch of girls doing choreography I copied from MTV performing at local functions to a pro belly dance duo with me and my old dance partner-but, one year we danced at my mom's annual banquet to the Spice Girls' Wannabe. There were five of us and we each dressed up as a Spice Girl for the show--I dressed up and danced as Ginger.
-Favorite Spice Girls Song--Wannabe! Classic.
And...the late 90's
-Favorite Boy Band--NSYNC
-Favorite Girl Pop Star--Britney Spears
-Favorite Backstreet Boys Video Everybody--where they all turn into creatures of the night!
-Favorite *NSYNC Video--totally the original--I Want You Back
-Favorite Member of Backstreet Boys-Brian!
-Favorite Member of *NSYNC--My favorite NSYNCer was actually Wade Robson--their choreographer--but inside the band, JC.
-Favorite Britney Spears Song--OOps I did it again--also performed this with my dance troupe, hehe.
-Favorite Christina Aquilera Song--Genie in a Bottle
-Favorite MTV VMA performance
Me and this performance=true love! And yeah...I totally performed to it.
-Favorite Band from Making the Band--Was O-Town a Making the Band band? Yikes, I actually never watched this show...
-Favorite Jessica Simpson Song--I Wanna Love You Forever---back when she was so cute and innocent and not scandalized by her father.
-Favorite Ricky Martin Video--She Bangs! nuff said!
Wow...music kinda went downhill in the 90's, didn't it? Um no! It was awesome!!!
Lisa and Laura asked...
How long have you been a Vegan? I've been vegan for I think now 3 and half years before that I became vegetarian when I was somewhere around 11/12 years old.
Don't you ever miss cheeseburgers and leather boots? LOL-no never miss cheeseburgers--but that's because I never ate them. Let's see...I had cow a total of 2 times in my life and I didn't like it either time-once was a piece of steak and once was a piece of burger at a bbq. I gave up fish when I was five-the idea of them swimming in the ocean--the ocean being where they also pooped grossed my kindergarten self out too much and I was done. So that left me with only chicken and turkey on Thanksgiving-so I can't say that it was too big of a deal for me to make the switch.
As for leather boots---well I do still wear some leather boots--not my favorite thing to do--I will buy vegan whenever I can, but its very hard to find vegan boots in person--sometimes online shoe shopping is dicey and I'm a busy girl--so basically with the boots thing--I pick my battles. I'm not perfect--but I do the best I can whenever I can and I'd say I do a pretty perfect job 99% of the time. I have my beliefs (mine=they are what I believe and not what you have to believe--I HATE proselytizers they are my biggest pet peeve in life) but I'm realistic about them--will I eat something non vegan if Im absolutely starving? Yes-if there is no promise of vegan food in the nearby future (though this realistic rule does not apply to meat-I can't stomach it at all). Will I buy leather boots? Yes if it means saving me 100 hours trying to find a good vegan pair. But at least my Vampire Diaries knock off jacket is 100% cruelty free!!! So there you go.
Shannon O'Donnell asked...
- favorite pet name? Like for me? Or for a pet? Or for your boyfriend? I'll just say what people tend to call me for a pet name--Frankala.
- favorite girl scout cookie? No can do the girl scout cookie thing, but I think I used to like mint
- favorite ice cream flavor? So Delicious Mocha Almond Fudge Coconute Milk Ice Cream
- favorite person to hate? OMG...hmmmmm Hitler?
- favorite blog ever (my name is Shannon - I had to have one evil question! Mwa-ha-ha) ;-)
Hahaha this IS an evil question because how could I pick one and I'm guessing I can't pick my own...but I have thwarted your evil plans and I pick The First Novels Club, because it's not just mine...so there!
And finally Sara asks....
Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving! I can't wait to host it myself one day-tofurkey for everyone!
What are you most indecisive about? What to title my book!
If you could pick one celebrity to date, who would it be? OOOOh Michael Goorgian! He used to play Justin on Party of Five-he was always SO adorable and smart and nerdy but in a cute cool way and he directs and acts in spiritual movies now like Illumination which I love and he is probably too old for me, but I have the hugest crush on him so Michael, listen, if you are single and you can shoulder shimmy to Haddaway, I think we should get married--just saying...
Favorite winter sport? Ice Skating, because it's the only one I can do. You know when Bridget Jones goes skiing in the sequel---that was me the only time I ever skiied. I started rolling down a hill before the instructor even started his lesson and he started screaming "Frankie STOP!" and I was like "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH You never taught me how!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kerplunk!
Eagles or Steelers? (Oh God, please don't say Eagles...) I don't know what to say...Eagles are my home team so I feel like I need to say Eagles but truthfully I've never watched a game and I don't really care, so we can still be friends?
Favorite outfit? At the moment it's what I'm wearing in my profile picture--sheer shirt over a tank with cordoruy mini and boots.
Favorite paint color (for walls)?hmmmmmmm I've always wanted a living room with either olive green walls or a very neutral sort of desert kind of purple.
Dream car? My car is my dream car-it's a red toyota camry-I don't know anything about cars, but I know that mine is red and it gets me everywhere I need to go, thus it's my dream car.
Favorite texture? Hmmmm no one has ever asked me this before. Ummmmmm I'll go with fleece-like those super soft fleece blankets you can get around this time of year. Yeah snuggly fleece.
Ok WOW! I am seriously questioned out! OMG-I bet you guys are too. Anyway I hope you enjoyed and now I am passing this Gnome Approved Award onto Mireyah Wolfe who earned it the minute she threw my own Harry Potter questions back at me--I am now adding a rule to this award--you must answer the Harry Potter Questions AND invite your readers to ask more and answer them all and I know you already have this planned, but there it is in writing from me to you! :-) So thanks Shannon for awarding me, Marybeth for creating the award, all of you for answering and still actually wanting to read my blog and....good luck Mireyah!
And now....back to editing! WHEW!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
You Asked, I Answered, Get Ready for Part 2!!
Yesterdays Q&A was epic!!! If you missed it click HERE to get the full story of WHY I am doing this. And if you are still reading, then wow.
Two things before I get down to bussiness.
1. A few of you have commented that you missed getting to ask me questions in thetorture session Q&A, and since there was no limit on when I'd stop taking questions--feel free to ask and I'll add that to the Q&A Part 3.
2. I've been getting crazy spam comments on one post from November--I don't know why the spammers love that post but they do and so to save me time I've had to add a comment wor verification--which I didn't want to do, but I guess this blog is big enough for the spammers to show so sorry--make sure you do the word verification below.
And now....More Questions, More Answers!!!
Southern Princess asks really hard insightful questions....yikes!
1.If you could 'be' any character from any book who would you be; why?
This is tricky because there are characters that I like that have cool lives and hot boyfriends and go to cool schools, but then all sorts of crappy things happen to them. And then...there are characters that I totally identify with and feel like I AM them and the author was inside my head when writing them and man are they awesome, but then...crappy things happen to them. Basically if you find yourself the main character of a novel, chances are, at some point you're going to be screwed! Unless you end up in a safe novel, then your life is kind of boring....so hmmmm be bored or get screwed?
OK...I'm going to have to say...crap, I really want to answer someone easy with a happy life but that's boring. So...truthfully, I'd be my main character, Lilliana Brandywine, because I'm already living in her head all the time and her life really sucks and is VERY stressful, but...her love interest is dreamy enough to make it worth it, plus she has an awesome tower bedroom with a balcony that I wouldn't mind. Ok, so there!
2. In reference to question number one - would you have made the same decisions that character made?
Hmmmm that's tough because I wrote her decisions for her, but...well if I were sixteen like her I probably would make a lot of the same decisions she makes which are mostly based on her jumping to conclusions way too fast before she has all of the information she needs. I'd probably think things through a little more now. But I love her, she jumps into things and she is really brave.
3. When you decided to write the tentatively named "Roselily" did the characters keep you up at night or did 'plotlining' take up more of your time?
Hehe today its called STOLEN. Ummm hmmm I mean in a way both because my characters will wake me up to be like---soooo I want to do this, or go here, or punch her and just thought you should know and I'm like really, do you really want to punch her in the face/kiss him when you know you can't/sneak out when you know there is demon alert in effect/wear that dress even though that color doesn't flatter your skin tone... and they're like YEAH! Basically my characters are kind of bossy, especially Lilliana who was supposed to be a simple main character going on an adventure and then she decided to do all these things like breaking and entering into places and stealing things to discover secrets about herself and then I planned out five books and I'm just along for the ride.
4.What song makes you sing from the top of your lungs and your heart pound?
Oooooh this is a good one. Back at Cornell my guy friends used to make these mix cds called Screaming CDs and they existed for the sole purpose of screaming your lungs out on road trips--so there are a lot of songs I'll scream along to, but if I have to pick just one...ok this is really lame but I have a lot of memories of screaming this song out in my car with my friends one summer and just go listen and try not to scream along!
5.What sight makes you inhale so fast that you have to remind yourself to breathe?
The sight of my last few chapters. Oh you probably meant beautiful scenery right? I'm particular to trees. I love being deep in the forest when there are rays of sun streaming in, also when its snowing thick heavy chunks of snow, but it's not that cold out (because it's not that cold when it snows--its cold after) and the snow is falling slowly and its sparkling on the ground...this doesn't happen often in Philly, but this was my world when I was in college--Ithaca, NY has some of the most beautiful snow moments, and when it wasn't completely miserable, it sometimes felt like you were walking in your own magic snow globe.
6.Is there one singular point in the universe that you would give everything up in your apartment, leave your purse on the counter, forget your classes, the food on the stove to be at this very minute?
I'd throw everything down to be at a moment when I am in love with someone who loves me too. I bet you expected me to answer with the moment I get my book deal...but that's something I believe in my heart will happen and it's a goal I can work towards. Love though...that's a lot more unpredictable, spontaneous and out of my control--so yes, that's where I'd love to be right now.
7.In your past what one moment made you feel like you were defined? (it does not have to mean that it truly defined you, just that singular moment where you felt you truly understood what life was mean to be like)
This is such a hard question to answer, wow. I don't know if I've had one moment like that, or if I have it's not really jumping to the front of my memory. I feel like there are so many parts to me that I'm still working with and I'm not fully realized yet. But I'll share with you a defining author moment--which might not make sense to people. But basically I was hanging out at a raw food potluck dinner and there was this kid there who you knew had been dragged by his parents and so didn't want to be there and hated raw foods and was shy and miserable and man--poor kid. BUT...the whole time, he was perfectly content with himself, because he had a book with him--it happened to be Cornelia Funke's INKHEART and I just had this moment where I looked at him and I knew that having that book saved him that night and I had this flash of "This is why I'm a writer."
8.What season do you let creep in under the door, beneath the windows, into your fingertips, along your memories and beyond your natural sight?
FALL! I love fall!!!! I love the colors and the holidays and the food and the new begining and the crisp cool air and how everything suddenly feels cozy and you can wear gloves and scarfs, but you don't really need a jacket yet, and there's spiced cider at Starbucks and apple picking and....love it!
9.Life always seems to throw me a curve. Which curve, so far, twisted you up and had you rethinking the fastest?
A curve ball? Hmmm I don't think I've had any major life changing moments yet where suddenly everything switched on me--though I'm sure I will at some point. My life feels more like one where there is a constant tide ebbing and flowing and I just hit the waves and see where it takes me.
10.What is your favorite thinking spot in Philly?
Any bookstore is where I love to think. WOW-those were intense, I hope I answered ok.
Carolina Valdez Miller asked...
1. Favorite horned animal?
Unicorn!!!
2. Favorite food to eat with your hands?
Mango-also just my most favorite food ever.
3. Favorite book title? Oh noes I don't want to talk about book titles for awhile...but--I really love Shiver and Hush, Hush---those titles are just so cool to me (as are the words inside).
4. Favorite plot twist? Dimitri turning Strigoi in Vampire Academy--I knew it was coming, but it still gutted me in the stomach--I like a plot twist that not only turns everything on its head, but one that also has emotional resonance and changes the character and the way they see the world beyond "OMG I didn't see that coming"
5. Favorite Harry Potter magical gadget? The Time-Turner definitely I NEED one of those like yesterday!
6. Favorite paranormal/fantasy being/creature? Ooooh another tough one--I'll go with witches because I'd love to have powers but not be like doomed to eternity or forced to drink blood or live somewhere wierd like most paranormal/fantatasy creatures.
7. Favorite kissing scene from work of lit or movie?
Well right now my favorite kissing scene from literature is actually a kissing scene in my WIP (now called STOLEN aka the WIP previously known as Rose Lily) so sorry--that doesn't help a lot of people. But I think my favorite onscreen kiss is...oooh I hope I can find it....oh man youtube is not being helpful--ok, it's the first kiss between Danielle and Henry in Ever After: A Cinderella Story--they're chilling with the gypsies and Danielle says something like "your job comes with a lot of responsibility" and then Henry smiles and she's like "Oh I'm sorry, my mouth has run away from me again." And he's like, "No, no, it's your mouth that has me hypnotized." And then they lean in and kiss and....that's one GOOD kiss!
Marybeth Poppins (who is awesome and also created the Gnome Award and is essentially the reason I have to answer these questions!) asked...
So um...what's your favorite...
-Mini Edward? The one with or without glasses? Or do you prefer the new one in the sports coat?
Sunglasses Edward definitely and I especially enjoy the people who take pictures of their mini-Edward in funny situations or take him traveling--I love it that this little plastic toy gets around more than me.
-Lip Smackers Flavor? Wow I haven't had any lipsmackers in forever--I was more of a Bonne Bell girl, but I always loved strawberry
- Chinese food dish? Vegan general tso's chicken--yummy!
- Elephant? I don't know, this is so random--but I DO LOVEEEE Elephants!!!! I even had a cedarwood candle shaped like an elephant.
- You Tube video? This is a dangerous question--you've clearly never played#youtubewars with me, but I'll leave you with this gem! Don't worry it's safe to click on--I promise.
- SNL Skit? Not a skit officially, but still SNL and awesome!
- Mary Poppins song? Oh no....I can only remember A Spoonful of Sugar..
LK Gardner-Griffie asked..
1. What is your favorite thing which hasn't happened yet? (and I expect a lengthy well thought out response to this one)
Lengthy well thought out response, huh? Well I think this is the same as my answer to Southern Princess' question above about where I'd drop everything to be and that is with someone I love--that's probably the one thing I want the most in life....major 3 book deals can't hug you.
2. Who is your favorite character you haven't written about yet?
Ok this is easy!!! I introduce a knight named Aidan in STOLEN Book 2/BOUND/The Sequel/Scattered Petals/The Next Book I Will Write. Aidan is a Master level Knight, he's from England is totally obnoxious and calls everybody Love. He is so funny in my head and he is going to butt heads with Lilliana in the WORST way --they are going to absolutely abhor each other and the fights will get physical--and that's all I can say without giving too much away.
3. In your masochistic quest to have others torture you, what is your favorite moment so far & why? Well I'm not finished with this quest yet and I'm sure that there will be plenty of other moments like these in the future, but so far....well having Shannon throw the Gnome award to me would count especially because it then led to ALL of this!
4. What is your favorite moment of sadism inflicted on someone else & why? Did you giggle for minutes, hours, or days?
When I asked Shannon all the Harry Potter questions but then it backfired. I giggled until then. Now I'm not giggling...
OK! I hope you all enjoyed! Are you really still reading?????? WOW! See you tomorrow!!
Two things before I get down to bussiness.
1. A few of you have commented that you missed getting to ask me questions in the
2. I've been getting crazy spam comments on one post from November--I don't know why the spammers love that post but they do and so to save me time I've had to add a comment wor verification--which I didn't want to do, but I guess this blog is big enough for the spammers to show so sorry--make sure you do the word verification below.
And now....More Questions, More Answers!!!
Southern Princess asks really hard insightful questions....yikes!
1.If you could 'be' any character from any book who would you be; why?
This is tricky because there are characters that I like that have cool lives and hot boyfriends and go to cool schools, but then all sorts of crappy things happen to them. And then...there are characters that I totally identify with and feel like I AM them and the author was inside my head when writing them and man are they awesome, but then...crappy things happen to them. Basically if you find yourself the main character of a novel, chances are, at some point you're going to be screwed! Unless you end up in a safe novel, then your life is kind of boring....so hmmmm be bored or get screwed?
OK...I'm going to have to say...crap, I really want to answer someone easy with a happy life but that's boring. So...truthfully, I'd be my main character, Lilliana Brandywine, because I'm already living in her head all the time and her life really sucks and is VERY stressful, but...her love interest is dreamy enough to make it worth it, plus she has an awesome tower bedroom with a balcony that I wouldn't mind. Ok, so there!
2. In reference to question number one - would you have made the same decisions that character made?
Hmmmm that's tough because I wrote her decisions for her, but...well if I were sixteen like her I probably would make a lot of the same decisions she makes which are mostly based on her jumping to conclusions way too fast before she has all of the information she needs. I'd probably think things through a little more now. But I love her, she jumps into things and she is really brave.
3. When you decided to write the tentatively named "Roselily" did the characters keep you up at night or did 'plotlining' take up more of your time?
Hehe today its called STOLEN. Ummm hmmm I mean in a way both because my characters will wake me up to be like---soooo I want to do this, or go here, or punch her and just thought you should know and I'm like really, do you really want to punch her in the face/kiss him when you know you can't/sneak out when you know there is demon alert in effect/wear that dress even though that color doesn't flatter your skin tone... and they're like YEAH! Basically my characters are kind of bossy, especially Lilliana who was supposed to be a simple main character going on an adventure and then she decided to do all these things like breaking and entering into places and stealing things to discover secrets about herself and then I planned out five books and I'm just along for the ride.
4.What song makes you sing from the top of your lungs and your heart pound?
Oooooh this is a good one. Back at Cornell my guy friends used to make these mix cds called Screaming CDs and they existed for the sole purpose of screaming your lungs out on road trips--so there are a lot of songs I'll scream along to, but if I have to pick just one...ok this is really lame but I have a lot of memories of screaming this song out in my car with my friends one summer and just go listen and try not to scream along!
5.What sight makes you inhale so fast that you have to remind yourself to breathe?
The sight of my last few chapters. Oh you probably meant beautiful scenery right? I'm particular to trees. I love being deep in the forest when there are rays of sun streaming in, also when its snowing thick heavy chunks of snow, but it's not that cold out (because it's not that cold when it snows--its cold after) and the snow is falling slowly and its sparkling on the ground...this doesn't happen often in Philly, but this was my world when I was in college--Ithaca, NY has some of the most beautiful snow moments, and when it wasn't completely miserable, it sometimes felt like you were walking in your own magic snow globe.
6.Is there one singular point in the universe that you would give everything up in your apartment, leave your purse on the counter, forget your classes, the food on the stove to be at this very minute?
I'd throw everything down to be at a moment when I am in love with someone who loves me too. I bet you expected me to answer with the moment I get my book deal...but that's something I believe in my heart will happen and it's a goal I can work towards. Love though...that's a lot more unpredictable, spontaneous and out of my control--so yes, that's where I'd love to be right now.
7.In your past what one moment made you feel like you were defined? (it does not have to mean that it truly defined you, just that singular moment where you felt you truly understood what life was mean to be like)
This is such a hard question to answer, wow. I don't know if I've had one moment like that, or if I have it's not really jumping to the front of my memory. I feel like there are so many parts to me that I'm still working with and I'm not fully realized yet. But I'll share with you a defining author moment--which might not make sense to people. But basically I was hanging out at a raw food potluck dinner and there was this kid there who you knew had been dragged by his parents and so didn't want to be there and hated raw foods and was shy and miserable and man--poor kid. BUT...the whole time, he was perfectly content with himself, because he had a book with him--it happened to be Cornelia Funke's INKHEART and I just had this moment where I looked at him and I knew that having that book saved him that night and I had this flash of "This is why I'm a writer."
8.What season do you let creep in under the door, beneath the windows, into your fingertips, along your memories and beyond your natural sight?
FALL! I love fall!!!! I love the colors and the holidays and the food and the new begining and the crisp cool air and how everything suddenly feels cozy and you can wear gloves and scarfs, but you don't really need a jacket yet, and there's spiced cider at Starbucks and apple picking and....love it!
9.Life always seems to throw me a curve. Which curve, so far, twisted you up and had you rethinking the fastest?
A curve ball? Hmmm I don't think I've had any major life changing moments yet where suddenly everything switched on me--though I'm sure I will at some point. My life feels more like one where there is a constant tide ebbing and flowing and I just hit the waves and see where it takes me.
10.What is your favorite thinking spot in Philly?
Any bookstore is where I love to think. WOW-those were intense, I hope I answered ok.
Carolina Valdez Miller asked...
1. Favorite horned animal?
Unicorn!!!
2. Favorite food to eat with your hands?
Mango-also just my most favorite food ever.
3. Favorite book title? Oh noes I don't want to talk about book titles for awhile...but--I really love Shiver and Hush, Hush---those titles are just so cool to me (as are the words inside).
4. Favorite plot twist? Dimitri turning Strigoi in Vampire Academy--I knew it was coming, but it still gutted me in the stomach--I like a plot twist that not only turns everything on its head, but one that also has emotional resonance and changes the character and the way they see the world beyond "OMG I didn't see that coming"
5. Favorite Harry Potter magical gadget? The Time-Turner definitely I NEED one of those like yesterday!
6. Favorite paranormal/fantasy being/creature? Ooooh another tough one--I'll go with witches because I'd love to have powers but not be like doomed to eternity or forced to drink blood or live somewhere wierd like most paranormal/fantatasy creatures.
7. Favorite kissing scene from work of lit or movie?
Well right now my favorite kissing scene from literature is actually a kissing scene in my WIP (now called STOLEN aka the WIP previously known as Rose Lily) so sorry--that doesn't help a lot of people. But I think my favorite onscreen kiss is...oooh I hope I can find it....oh man youtube is not being helpful--ok, it's the first kiss between Danielle and Henry in Ever After: A Cinderella Story--they're chilling with the gypsies and Danielle says something like "your job comes with a lot of responsibility" and then Henry smiles and she's like "Oh I'm sorry, my mouth has run away from me again." And he's like, "No, no, it's your mouth that has me hypnotized." And then they lean in and kiss and....that's one GOOD kiss!
Marybeth Poppins (who is awesome and also created the Gnome Award and is essentially the reason I have to answer these questions!) asked...
So um...what's your favorite...
-Mini Edward? The one with or without glasses? Or do you prefer the new one in the sports coat?
Sunglasses Edward definitely and I especially enjoy the people who take pictures of their mini-Edward in funny situations or take him traveling--I love it that this little plastic toy gets around more than me.
-Lip Smackers Flavor? Wow I haven't had any lipsmackers in forever--I was more of a Bonne Bell girl, but I always loved strawberry
- Chinese food dish? Vegan general tso's chicken--yummy!
- Elephant? I don't know, this is so random--but I DO LOVEEEE Elephants!!!! I even had a cedarwood candle shaped like an elephant.
- You Tube video? This is a dangerous question--you've clearly never played#youtubewars with me, but I'll leave you with this gem! Don't worry it's safe to click on--I promise.
- SNL Skit? Not a skit officially, but still SNL and awesome!
- Mary Poppins song? Oh no....I can only remember A Spoonful of Sugar..
LK Gardner-Griffie asked..
1. What is your favorite thing which hasn't happened yet? (and I expect a lengthy well thought out response to this one)
Lengthy well thought out response, huh? Well I think this is the same as my answer to Southern Princess' question above about where I'd drop everything to be and that is with someone I love--that's probably the one thing I want the most in life....major 3 book deals can't hug you.
2. Who is your favorite character you haven't written about yet?
Ok this is easy!!! I introduce a knight named Aidan in STOLEN Book 2/BOUND/The Sequel/Scattered Petals/The Next Book I Will Write. Aidan is a Master level Knight, he's from England is totally obnoxious and calls everybody Love. He is so funny in my head and he is going to butt heads with Lilliana in the WORST way --they are going to absolutely abhor each other and the fights will get physical--and that's all I can say without giving too much away.
3. In your masochistic quest to have others torture you, what is your favorite moment so far & why? Well I'm not finished with this quest yet and I'm sure that there will be plenty of other moments like these in the future, but so far....well having Shannon throw the Gnome award to me would count especially because it then led to ALL of this!
4. What is your favorite moment of sadism inflicted on someone else & why? Did you giggle for minutes, hours, or days?
When I asked Shannon all the Harry Potter questions but then it backfired. I giggled until then. Now I'm not giggling...
OK! I hope you all enjoyed! Are you really still reading?????? WOW! See you tomorrow!!
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