Short Stories, CICADA, and Pre-NaNo Craze

So it's September again. Nearing the end, albeit, but still September. The summer is over and everyone has settled back into school, watching the leaves turn (and the wind blow said leaves to afar).

With September's come, for me, at least, there is also a rise in time to be on the computer. (Ah joy to online school). This means I have more time to write during my breaks, since I have an excuse to stay where I am. I've been using this time on the computer to write, edit, and prepare a short story for publishing in Cicada Magazine.

It's really quite interesting, that mini journey that short stories take us on. As if reading (and understanding) one was hard enough, writing (and understanding) one is exceptionally harder. Anyone who has ever been annoyed by having to pick apart a meaningful short story in English class should really try writing one as such. English class is nothing to complain about. (Although to be fair, writing is much more desirable in general).

Cicada, a magazine that publishes work by teens and young adults, has rejected me before. No biggie - it was a terrible story anyway. All action and no plot. Quite silly and frivolous now that I look back on it. The story that I have now is definitely better. I took quite a lot of time editing the first draft, had it proofread by three people (one of whom is my English teacher), and then edited it again. Now I finally have the finished product. I'll look at it once or twice more before I submit, but from there, I hope things go well. And by well, I mean "I hope I get published." One more good thing to list on a query.

That said, let's look to the not-so-far future.

NaNoWriMo!

My NaNo plans are, so far, quite jerky and seem almost as if they are being sabotaged. I've sort-of settled on a plot centered around Hades' kidanpping and falling-in-love-with Persephone, which means I'll finally get a chance to write from the POV of all those ridiculously animated Greek gods. Oh boy!
On the other hand... it almost seems like a fanfiction. I want whatever I write to be original... but does this count? I am very torn.
The other three or so ideas are just as readily available to be written, but they're either "not right" or it's "not time yet"... It's a very tough Muse vs. Writer battle. And it's been ongoing. ...I need cookies...

Anyway, it's an interesting world out there. So much to do just by writing. I'll make my mark on it one way or another!

Hopefully famous one day,
~Silvermist

P.S. Check out some of my recent art! (Now all of this is original).

The Truth

The Truth

^Click the link to view the story. It's part 1 of chapter 3 for "The Truth". :)

~Silvermist

The Truth (update)

The Truth

Part 2 of chapter 2. Anyone interested?

~Silvermist

My First Digital Coloring

Yes, I am doing digital coloring.
With layers and everything.
Here it is!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So you see, I had lots of fun. It's not as perfect as I'd like, but still. I want to get better at this. :)

~Silvermist

I Won (again) [barely]

So, The Truth hit 50,000 words today, just barely inside the deadline for finishing the novel, and although I'm still not done with the story, the challenge is under my belt. *Relief*

I think this is going to be a very short story... oddly enough. It's not going to get much farther than 50k. Since my last novel was 87,000+ words, this now seems very oddly short. xD Kind of funny.

Expect more updates soon! (one, because I'm finally not writing anything [been doing that since June 1st straight] and two, because I'm now going to focus on PUBLISHING FLIGHT! WOO!)

~Silvermist

The Truth

The Truth

Check out the three new updates for my post-by-post novel, The Truth.
All part of building my online fanbase! (If it exists).

~Silvermist

A New Beginning (kinda)

Readers,

If you are still alive, or view this blog on any one out of fifty occasions, then thank you. For those of you who don't, please start. I'll try to make it more interesting, if that's the problem.

So, here's the deal.

I'm beginning to look into some serious publishing (so serious that I have my first rejection slip under my belt), and I'm starting to do various things around the internet that would help me to boost my "reputation" among writers. Here they are, if you're interested:

My DeviantArt account, which sports pictures of my OC's, as well as occasional blog posts of my activity, etc.: http://azedarach.deviantart.com

My Teen Ink account, which I'm sure you'll find interesting once I begin putting up more stuff. I have part of a novel, a fanfiction, some poems, and some pictures up. Please take note of this one especially, it means a lot to me: http://teenink.com/users/HauntMystic

My Twitter account, which has been largely inactive for a long time, but will hereforth be used to further my motive to tweet story-related stuff: https://twitter.com/Hauntmystic

My Pinterest account, which is waaaaaay much more fun than it sounds: http://pinterest.com/captainterch/

My alternate FaceBook account for Merry Johnson, who is the main character of my novel, The Truth, this month: http://www.facebook.com/ryka.novenden

Thank you all for reading this, if indeed you did. I look forward to updating all of these soon! (When I get back from work on Saturday... I'm gone all week. *Sob*)

~Silvermist/Azedarach/HauntMystic/CaptainTerch/Merry

...but mostly Silvermist

Dear Darling

Dear Darling

Check out my poem on Teen Ink, a site for teen writers. Expect novel chapters soon - I'm building up my online fanbase! (Or trying, at any rate. Give me a break). ;)

~Silvermist

A Race to the Finish

I'm a bit pressed for time, I realize.

I have to finish writing my June 'WriMo and a collab play I'm doing with a friend before August. Unfortunately it seems both will be extremely lengthy, and we only have a matter of days left. How sad.

On the bright side, my August novel is going to be really, really, really fun, and surprisingly easy. I mean, writing about writers? How much bigger of a break could anyone give me? I'm really looking forward to characterizing everyone too, because they're so awesome (and their personalities play an important role).

~Silvermist

The End of Camp

Camp NaNoWriMo June... has ended!

But my novel hasn't. 72,000 words into it, and the main villain still needs to at least come close to completing his quest, the Captain still has to face off with the General, my warriors need to regroup, and above all, the huge amazing plot twist has to take effect!
Then, of course, the big battle at the end.

It seems there's so much left to do... but at least I know it'll be as big as its prequel

---

Speaking of camps... how about August 'WriMo? I've planned my novel called 'The Truth' over at the site, and although it's not my usual cup of tea (genre-wise) I'm going to experiment with it a little. And I'll be experimenting again in April when I attempt a sci-fi comedy... wow.

Still! The Truth is probably going to be the deepest, thickest, most meaningful book I've ever written, and although it's a newbie cast, I still can't wait to dive it... so much to anticipate! x_x

~Silvermist

*POOF* ...Done

It's a bit of a jump, but I've hit 50,000 words in my June 'WriMo and am now closing in on 60k. It's one of those things I have where my novels always go 10-15k longer than the goal, but hey, go until the story ends, right?

It's exciting, too. I just hit page 100, single spacing (with my special super-single spacing), and I plan to go much farther. There's so much that still needs to happen! I'm excited. :3

~Silvermist

Total Obsession (Freaky?)

I am totally and wholly obsessed with writing.
And with this new music.

It seems lately I've been dragging along with my novels, but suddenly today I figured out that there's this new band out there (I'll never tell! Mmeeehehehehehe! Mmeehehehehe!) that really really really really gets me going... I've only listened to three of their songs and already I have one chosen for battle, one for intermediate scenes (those songs are hard to find), and one for despair/goodbye/sadness. I am so psyched about this story now, I've gone an hour over my usual time and zoomed to almost 30,000 words.

So now I'm totally obsessed.

Freaky?

~Silvermist

My Interpretation of New Novel Idea

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat
Oh em gee.
I have to do this.
Soon.
Sooner than soon.
Oh em geeeee.

And in the middle of June 'WriMo, too.

Oh em geeeeeeeee....

~Silvermist

Insert Effort Here

Novel challenges undoubtedly live up to their names, and it's always hard trying to complete a novel in a month while retaining the quality of a novel spanned over a bit longer. So this June, I'm going to try my hardest to insert a little effort on my part, and instead of focusing on getting to fifty billion words, (just fifty thousand), I'm going to focus on making it just what I envision it to be.

There will be love scenes, fight scenes, death scenes... the works. If I'm going to make this novel as EPIC (WOOAOOIHIOHOEJAIUHFOWERHPRIO) as it is in my head, I'm going to have to try very hard. So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

And what's more, I'm going to juggle finals, and my job on one end of it. (Finals only last til the 6th, thank goodness). So if there's one thing you could wish me for the upcoming month, it'd be luck.

Merci beaucoup in advance,
Silvermist

P.S. I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too excited for this X.X
*run around screaming*
Like, this excited.

Big Things Coincide

You know how big things tend to coincide? Here's a few big things that happened in the last few days:

-I was taken to the beach and then a prom by an extremely over-generous friend, and I even got dressed up to go to the prom. Did I dance? It's a secret.

-I sent in my novel manuscript and query letter to my first publisher and kind of messed it up but SHHH, I handled it professionally. It's not a very long novel, only about 300 pages double spaced, and my query was gone over multiple times.

-I got sick. Yay! Such a beautiful sickness, this is. My throat burns with every swallow, my head is light and feathery and is bound to float away soon, and I can't seem to wake up as early as I could when I wasn't sick. Either I shall die a slow and painful death, or slowly and painfully recover.

-I am suffering from Writer's Block, and it's even more painful than being sick. I finally accepted that I don't have to write until June 2nd (can't do June 1st, thanks to a trip we're taking) for my first Camp NaNo '12. (I did both last year and whooped 'em). I'll have to try and muddle through life until then.

- FINALS ARE FREAKING NEXT WEEK.

So here I am, dying, with big things happening everywhere. Life is... well, life.

~Silvermist

Happy Birthday!

(Ignore the fact that I wrote this yesterday but didn't post til today).

Well folks, it's May 7th, and we all know what that means.

Today is Rozar's birthday!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! *run around screaming* He's 17! How did that happen!? Wow! Whoa! Gee! 

*twenty minutes later*

Ok, now that I'm in a straight jacket... allow me to take a moment to commemorate my very favorite and constant companion character... Rozar Altair. 

May 7th, 2010, in a chat box with a crazy friend, I created Rozar while learning to really talk to my characters (instead of letting them roam their worlds free thinking they were alone *sniff sniff*) At first I thought he was a blank - just another white piece of paper to scribble on for a while. However, he soon proved otherwise. I wanted him to teleport. He wanted to fly. I wanted it to be gravitational. He wanted wings. So far I hope you get the picture.

Not long afterward, I came up with the awesome and epic and wonderful and gorgeous and (continue for a while...) Ebony castle. I originally built it for the Companions (other characters of mine who you'll probably meet in the future), but Rozar joined me for the ride and instantly took over, becoming my companion character without even asking and adventuring with me and the Companions to all sorts of places.

Here we are, two years later. Now with countless mini adventures, two novellas, and an 82k-length novel behind him, Rozar appears today much more developed that he did at his creation.

The first picture I ever drew of Rozar (he is 15 years old):

According to that little date, this was done on August 24th, 2010.

Here he is from 2011 (16 years old):

And finally, a fairly recent picture from 2012 (no age specified because, unfortunately for you invisible, undying fans, this scene never happened):

See the development? If not, don't be disappointed. I'm not a very good artist. :|

Anyway.


Rozar is 5'7", probably closing in to 5'8", and although he's not very tall he's working on becoming buff (hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe), and he and I are improving our sword skills together. It's definitely an improvement. Here are some examples of what that's done:

December 2010 (3rd person):


"....“Over here!” Rozar cried. Myre whipped in that direction. “Over here!” he shouted from another spot.

“Just stay in one spot so I can kill you!” the exasperated elf finally roared, sick of all this unplanned jumping about and moving. Rozar, however, wasn’t thinking, and didn’t catch his drift.

“Oh? Ok!” he plopped down into the snow and stood in one spot so that he could, indeed, get killed...."

November 2011 (Rozar's POV)

"... I dodged to the side and brandished one blade, coming near to him by means of a well-timed, wing-aided leap. Claw slid to the side and swung his staff around to hit me, but I blocked expertly with one of my two blades and brought the other around to slice him up the stomach. ..."

Maybe my writing style has matured, who knows. All I see is Rozar improved greatly in his plan of attack, and we owe it mostly to Terch (who happens to be part of the Companions and you may or may not meet in the future... by the way, Terch, happy new parenthood!) Anyway. 

Rozar faces his next big adventure (and challenge) in the upcoming June WriMo book 'On Wild Wings' which can be fangirl'd over and anticipated here: http://campnanowrimo.org/campers/cloud-10/novels/on-wild-wings 

Go ahead and read the synopsis. I know Rozar's portion is small, but that's so certain somebodies don't get too many spoilers. I'll just say that those 'contracts' are a lot like the ones maybe mentioned somewhere in my 'WriMo 2010 'Not Me, Not You'. So those of you who have read it have a leg up on what I'm talking about. (Don't jump to conclusions, Eliz, although I know you want to!) Also, Rozar is sharing the novel's main protagonist POV with his brother Razor, so you can expect fun there too. 

All in all, I hope you enjoyed my hyper long post about my precious, adorable, singular, winged trickster companion warrior character, Rozar Altair. Born into nobility, raised by the [spoilers spoilers spoilers], now an intrepid hero.... Yes, this is one character I'm never going to let go of. Come havoc, hail, and high water, he'll always come through at the end. (I mean seriously, what's worse than the climax of 'Jinxed'?) So there you have him. Brave, selfless, full of heart, and totally goofy, Rozar Altair - may you have many more birthdays than this.

Outlined, written in detail, and edited monotonously by the author,

Silvermist

P.S.

Test

Testing LightBox and picture viewer.

This is Lillyanna. A beautiful Avien who will appear in my June novel.

~Silvermist

EDIT: Yes! Now you can click on a picture and it gets larger. *Victory*

Script Frenzy Validated Winner!

I am now, as part of a joint team, a validated Script Frenzy Challenge scriptwriter. LE and I started at the beginning of the month and shortly afterward reached page 103 of our totally goofy and awesome co-script 'Crazy As a Coconut'. It's epic, a bit silly, but overall the best thing to come out of Script Frenzy this year since... well, I joined, I think.

At any rate! Check it out!

WOOHOO!

~Silvermist

Art

I don't have much art for this post.

I'm just posting under the title 'art' merely to inform you that as a writer (and artist), I understandably want to draw my characters, scenes, and stories. It's an urge I can't squash (like a lot of urges I get when it comes to stories) and every so often I'll crack out my sketchbook, sharpen my pencils, and set out the ink pens.

It's time to draw manga style!

I have Mark Crilley to thank for my skills in drawing manga-style so far, and you can check him out on YouTube under the highly creative username 'markcrilley' (I LINKED THAT THERE). Ahem. He's awesome, funny, and most importantly of all, informative (somebody remind me to purchase the 3rd Brody's Ghost!!!)

Second of all, I'd like to point out that I didn't start out like I am now. It took me about two years, loads of practice, and I'm still nowhere NEAR as good as Kubo Tite (y'know, the artist for Bleach?) To any aspiring but discouraged artists out there - You're not supposed to st

art out perfect! Nobody does! It takes practice!

Anyhoo. That said, here's a little comparison:

February 2011

April 2012

As you can see, there's definitely a certain amount of difference between the two pictures The first is unfinished, sketchy, the people are skinny, it's- I could go on. The second one... well, speaks for itself. (and yes, that IS Rozar Altair kissing a mystery girl.... who I didn't draw wings for DRAT. Anyhoo).

It takes practice, practice, practice! And after that, much more practice!

Of course, I didn't just rely on my skills. To have a beautifully crafted, clear, fine, easy-to-see picture, you have to invest in good materials. I got my sketchbook(s) as gifts, but I am satsified with the quality of the paper because it's thick enough not to see through, but thin enough to be flexible. You'll want to make sure the grain is smooth, for pencil drawings, and rougher for paintings or pastels (fine grain for chalk pastels).

Also, although I don't generally use expensive pencils, I do tend to stick with the mechanical pencils because they don't need to be sharpened. Since I almost always go back over my sketches with an ink pen, I like having thin, light lines that are easy to erase once the ink dries.

The pens themselves I did splurge a little on. I have a pack of Sakura Pigma pens, which have nearly run out now (*sad* those are the best pens ever for manga drawing because they're thick and felt-y), a pack of Micron pens which were surprisingly cheap but leave thick lines that tend to blot (but I love anyway) and a pack of scarily expensive PrismaColor black ink pens, which are the haven of this world and I can't replace for a while. I think I have a nice array to last me a while.

Also, I happen to have the fortune of a loving grandma (who is a professional artist), who bought me an awesome pack of PrismaColor colored pencils (like whoa), and I'm being very careful with how much I use and how I keep them. They make for very nice coloring tools, although I could probably do better with them, and I keep them in the same place every day so I don't lose them.

Artistic tip of the day: TAKE CARE OF YOUR SUPPLIES

Anyway, that's probably enough from me. I have to go write a bunch more today if I want to finish this novel by the end of April. So, with all this done, you can probably expect more artwork in the near future, because I'm now in the artistic mood! Hope you all benefited from this post. (Anybody up for a drawing tutorial?)

~Silvermist

Halfway Done!

I am now officially halfway through my April novel.... 25,000+ words and still going strong. The main characters have totally taken the plot away from me by now... gar, my big plans are getting warped... but I'm sure they can take it away on their own well. Either way IT IS EXCITING.

Anyway, that was just a note.

~Silvermist

20,000 words, and 75 pages.

Here is a link to my Screnzy page

http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/user/610428

You can see that I am collaborating this time around, and more importantly, we've got 75 pages (probably more by the time you read this post) [if you read this post], and we're not planning to stop until we're done done!

In regards to the novel, I just hit 20,000 words and feel like a turtle. I dunno if it's because I've spent most of the days on the play or because the characters are too spread out, but it's going a little slow. I miss the team-ness of the original Flight. *sad* Still, I get two characters out of the mix- the siblings Sky and Demeter - and they're epic.

Anyway - MY JUNE NOVEL WILL ROCK THE SOCKS OFF... WHOEVER IS IN RANGE! I am SO excited...

~Silvermist

Quickest Blog Post of All Time

13,000+ words of my novel!

~'Mist

Thanks for readin'.

Tomorrow is NOT a joke

I am going to start writing my 8th novel (9th if you count my 60k fanfiction) tomorrow morning, and it's GOING TO BE EPIC!

I have been planning this for months!

I am so psyched out I think I'm psycho!

WAAAHHHHAAAARRRAAABLLLEEEAAARRAAAAAEEEWAAAEEEEEWEEEE!

Sincerely just a liiitle excited,

Silvermist

"Don't you ever interrupt me when I'm writin' a book!"

Going Crazy With Inspiration

I am having so many crazy ideas for my novels coming up I think I'm going to blow up or explode even though those mean the same thing!

*blow up and explode*

That said, you may be wondering... 'why is she so excited?' Let me tell you. Because I am having so many crazy awesome epic amazing ideas for three novels I'm planning to write over the summer and April.

Novel 1: Sequel to "Flight" (pic at bottom of blog). I wrote "Flight" last year, and so far I think this one is going to be called "Mind". Either that or "Fall". Which would be ironic. Heh. Anyway, it's the middle book of a trilogy, and we all know how hard it is to write middle books... Still, the characters are awesome, I'm adding new peeps, and I think overall, it's going to be one of the most epic books every written.

Novel 2: I think this one is going to be called "Flame" or something of the like. It's a sequel to my NaNoWriMo '11 novel "Jinxed", (in a way) and is going to be entirely epic in such an epic way you'll never see it coming. It's a love story, you should know, but that's ok. I'm .... fairly good with love stories. EXPECT WEREWOLVES TO APPEAR! 8D (June 'WriMo)

Novel 3: My August 'WriMo project! This is going to be the sequel to the sequel of Jinxed, so it's going to be a sort of 'threequel' if you wanna put it that way. It goes back in time and is kinda the in-between book for the present day chapters I'm doing and Rozar's past outlined in Jinxed (you remember Rozar, right?) So... it's going to be a bit... if-ish, because I think there's a scene where the bad guy is revealed... in a certain way... Heh...

Anyway, there's that thing thar that I'm going through that I think is labeled 'Writer Craziness' because honestly... I'm a crazy writer right now. I have SO many awesome scenes planned for all the three novels above, including big explosions, werewolf attack-fights, flying action scenes, and ROMANCE.

Of course.

That said, I must go collab crazily before nine.

~Silvermist

Band Comic #2

My attempts to put together a band from my characters are not in vain! I discover an unlikely winner for my vocal lead:

I hope you can click on it to enlarge.... and sorry the bottom was cut off! (drned paper is too big for scanners).

~Silvermist

Screnzy Approaches, a Mad Dash for Sanity, and Guitars

Well folks, it's that time of year again.

Those hectic, amazing, rush-of-air-in-your-face weeks before the first of April, when NaNoWriMo's first non-November challenge runs up with a big axe to tries and kill you.

For me, the month of April means more than just 20,000-some words of 100-page screenplays or scripts. To me, it's the month of the almighty DOUBLE CHALLENGE!

*much chaos*

The Double Challenge is a self-administered addition to the Screnzy challenge. It began last year, when I realized I wanted to do more than just a screenplay.

"I need another novel," I thought, and promptly had a weird dream about sheds and flying, which prompted me to write the April novel "Flight". (LOVE THAT BOOK).

Now it's those rush-of-air-in-your-face weeks again, and I've been planning the "Flight" sequel for a while now. Not only that, but I'm also going to co-write my first screenplay with the insane Lady Elizabeth. It's going to be nutso.

Also, it appears as though I'm going to have to run in a mad dash for sanity this month. As my challenge start date approaches, my Writer's Block decided to retire for the time being, and suddenly I'm swamped with ideas, projects, and overwhelming WILL to do it all. I finished my August 'WriMo in a spurt of random awesomeness, I'm suddenly close to finishing my July 'WriMo (with an epic twist, whoa), I'm formatting my 2010 NaNo for publishing, all at the same time I have to work on studying for my AP exam and SAT!

HELP!

...that said, I'm also going to draw some hilarious pictures/comics of Me putting together a band with my characters. Here's the first one:

(I'm assuming you click to enlarge...)

Crazy in the most awesome and mind-blowingly exhausting way,

Silvermist

Pudding Makes Everything Better

I put pudding mix into a 'from-scratch' bowl of cake batter and it came out (while not so light and fluffy as a boxes mix) so fine and so moist...

Mmmmm. I wonder if I can have any for breakfast...

Three cheers for random thoughts,

Silvermist

Another picture

This one is from my NaNo '11 novel, "Jinxed". The climax happened in this dungeon, and it was very intense. This picture took me over 2 hours in all, and although it's only my first try at a dungeon, I think it's pretty good.

This is Blackmist (my nemesis) and Rozar, my best friend (who you may have met).

~Silvermist

Romanticalness

I just thought you guys would like to see the picture I drew yesterday. (Many thanks to Mark Crilley and his book 'Mastering Manga'!)

Enter: Razor and January

Romance is in the air! ...I just have to write this part. Don't kill me!

~Silvermist

Google Chrome, Noodle Updates, and ABNA Apprehension

I just downloaded Google Chrome - it's insanely fast, and it's making me very happy. Bye-bye Internet Explorer! You may have nostalgia attached to you, but you still suck!

That said, I've been noodling!

...that's code for 'editing'. And yes, it is true. I have been noodling last April's novel, "Flight" for a while now, and I'm up to the 80s pages. It's only 115 pages long, but I plan to change that after my first grammar-and-syntax check. I plan to add scenes and everything. >8) It's making me hyper.

I am also still planning the sequel for this April's Screnzy challenge (knowing me, I'm doing a double challenge - a screenplay and novel in the same month!) It's a very exciting sequel idea, and what with the same lovable characters as the last book, and the new faces, new powers, and new plot, I'm really really excited.

It's dangerous, with all this excitement!

I'm also waiting for tomorrow's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award first round results. I NEED TO SCREAM AAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Thank you. Now, you have probably realized my novel is entered. It is. I'm scared. It's thrilling. I will die either way tomorrow, if I make it or lose it, so prepare for a funeral.

That said, I'm off before I get too crazy.

More noodling!

~Silvermist

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy day of the Valentines!

I send a very warm and hearty greeting to all my friends, regretting to have not sent you Valentines, but seeing as all my friends are girls (like me), it would be a tad awkward. Needless to say, Happy Valentine's Day all 'round, and I'm making heart-shaped cookies for it too!

For characters, this day can either be a blessing and a gift, or a horror and a curse. For many of my characters, it's both, because I'm also making PLANS FOR THE APRIL NOVEL! *CACKLE*

...ahem. At any rate, have a gorgeous day, full of love, surprises, flowers, chocolate, etc. <3

~Silvermist

April Approaches

Author at work. Viewer discretion is advised.

---

As April draws nearer, my excitement grows, for April marks the beginning of an adventure only I can undertake. One of plots! Settings! Characters! NEW characters! NEW BEGINNINGS!
And only I will survive, dragging a team of tired characters through the end of an epic climax, struggling through the opposition, pushing against the wind! Sword drawn! Guns loaded! COMING OUT ON TOP! *insane cackling*

Not only that, but it all is enclosed in thirty days! Thirty precious, breakable, fragile days that only I can control, warping the bonds of time and pumping out thousand and thousands of words per day! I will prevail! I will throw my heart into this, and not only will it win, it will get stronger!

ZOMG HOW LONG IS IT NOW?!

*explodes
---

You have just witnessed an author at full whacko. If medical assistance is required, call an ambulance. I claim no responsibility.

~Silvermist

Writing. Writing! WRITING!

I had a recent round of the Writer's Block, and this time it took me hard. I didn't write for a while and I literally started to feel unwell as a result. I had the blues and possibly the blacks (if you catch my meaning) and Thursday night it got so bad I knew I had to do something or I'd end up in a strained condition, most likely hunched over the sink and hurling.

So when I realized not writing could hurt that bad, I got a little scared, and went 'zomg I must write or the world will end'. Lo and behold, I wrote nearly 4,000 words Friday morning, released my pent-up tension, blew out my stress, and even got in a few laughs. It was such a relief to know I still had it in me.

~Silvermist

Stop Internet Censorship

Please click the link in the box to the right and send Congress an email to stop the SOPA bill, which will censor your Internet usage wherever they feel like it.

This is a democratic country, and this could interfere with private business advertisement, freedom of speech, and many first amendment rights. Don't let them do this.

Protest now!

~Silvermist

Character Obsession

I discovered the other day that I've been fangirling over one of my OCs a whole lot lately. It just seems that every time I sit down to write it has to be about him, and every time I pick up a pencil to draw he comes out as the end result. Then, in between both (i.e. school) I'm always thinking about him and chatting.

It's like I'm obsessed or something.

Wait.

I probably am.

But anyway! The fact stands that I am now the official #1 fangirl of Rozar Altair, the 16-year old winged Avien warrior who serves as head scout and one of the Ebony Guard in Ebony Castle, headquarters for my KF stories. Here's a little more about him:


Here is half his face which I drew for a video that isn't done yet.

Here is an excerpt from his profile:

Gender: Male
Race: Avien
Age: 16
Date of Creation: May 7th, 2010
Birth date: May 7th, 2010
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
Hobby: Being tricksty
(Twist): Very twisty. Very twisty indeed.
Status: Healthy

Here is a picture of him with his wings:

Please ignore my lack of ability to draw swords.

Anyway, he's also a skilled sword fighter, is great at mid-air fight scenes, can be a goofball, and according to the temporary Sims character my sister suckered me into making, he's a great kisser.

But I can't personally vouch for that. I don't think anyone can, but I plan to change that in the future.... *evil laughter*

So, there you have it. A brief overview of my favorite winged trickster. Brave, loyal, dashing, heroic, hilarious, and always there. A great character, a great friend. :)

~Silvermist the Obsessed

Friday the 13th

The day of bad luck draws to a close, and I reflect just how lucky I am.

- I got a 40-something % score on my poetry unit test. Luckily, it was worth like nothing and my grade remained the same.
-I wrote a paper that outweighed the test and it's killer.
-I studied for my Government midterm by playing jeopardy with my classmates and my team won.
-I missed an English lesson only to discover it was canceled anyway.
-I received points back on a hard math test.
-TODAY IS FRIDAY.
-TOMORROW IS SATURDAY.

In all respects, I seem to be luckier than unlucky. Which is weird, considering that my finals are all coming up and I shall there forth promptly die. As long as I don't choke on dinner and die a heartless death, today will be a relatively good one.

Except I have writer's block.

Oh, cruuuuuuud.

~Silvermist

What I Do In My Free Time (wait, I have free time???)

Writers aren't always writing.





Ok, well it's a rare thing, but you can still find writers doing other things than writing. On occasion. Every once in a while.


At any rate, I have some things I do or turn to when I'm not writing (which is uncommon).


As you might have guessed, each thing I do is either creative, or gives me ideas/inspiration in its own way.

• Piano - I am a self-taught player and have played for almost 3 years (almost). My youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/DistractedFirefly?feature=mhee so feel free to stop by and check out my mostly Evanescence-oriented piano pieces, some odds and ends from Linkin Park/Cryoshell/a recent one by Clint Mansell. There may be an original piece, but it's not supposed to be in there...
  


• Bleach - the manga, not Clorox. I read it every Thursday or so as the updates roll out, and I tell you it's addicting. O_O I'm a Bleach addict! Help! ...aaanyway, sometimes that's a good thing, because Kubo Tite, the author, is extremely talented at coming up with interesting, moving characters. Like Riruka. Where does she get off being awesome?
  


• Baking - cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, cupcakes, brownies... *go on long list*
  


• Reading - occasional, yes, but I do find time to read my friend's stories, school-assigned novels, and the spare other book every once in a while.
  



• Blog - obviously.
  

What do you guys do, if anything other than write?


Anyway, I must run now if I am to write before school. It is necessary to survival for us writers! *runs for Word document*







~Silvermist

Wasp

I mentioned in my last post that I keep a list of my character's birthdays. Well, today is one of them. January 4th happens to be the 18th birthday of my female April-Wri-Mo character 'Wasp' (Chloe). She co-starred as a minor FC in my April double challenge novel 'Flight', in which she was a teen girl with the power to control and communicate with insects.

Wasp is sometimes stubborn and strong-willed, and tends to keep her emotions on the contemptible side, but in reality she is a loving, tender, caring person who looks after her long time, France-native, friend (and boyfriend, if you don't mind my saying) Lucas.

Since she is officially an "adult" today, I decided to feature her in my blog. Here is her year-old portrait (sadly, I have no more recent photos):

Today is a fun day, especially since her friends are treating her to whatever she wants. (We can guess that it includes bugs).

At any rate, it is especially fun for me because it serves as a reminder that on April 1st (and until April 30th) I will write the sequel to 'Flight' in all its wonderful superhuman glory. I have absolutely no idea what to call it, but that's ok because it's going to start with, you guessed it, a bang. I wonder if I should call it 'Flight, the Seqe- *BANG*'.... forget it.

At any rate, Harpy Earth Day, Wasp! (private joke, don't ask). I hope you have many more (considering the April novel is dangerous).

Tootley oo,

~Silvermist