I'm Crying.

So I just found this tonight. And I need to share it with people.

Melodious Thursday: American Authors

I just love love love music! I can't get enough of it. Not too long ago I cam across a rising band called American Authors, as far as I know they only have one EP, but it is just fantastic! They have a bit of the same sound as Imagine Dragons. I'm loving it.

Well, stop wasting your time on my blog and go look up this fantastic band!

Music while writing this post: All Eyes - Imagine Dragons

Long Time Brewing.

Alright... I've decided this post is gonna be short and sweet. Short and sweet posts I like for a few reasons. The main one is that you don't feel like you're spending your entire day reading one blog post.

Anyways, I wrote a little scene. It doesn't have any spoilers... yet it is quite intriguing. His has been brewing in my mind for a while and i finally realized the piece that made it all click.
If anyone wants to read it, head over to the little tab at the top of the page called "Writing Bits"

Thanks! Love Ya bunches.

Music While writing this post: Hit It by American Authors

My new favorite gif.

I've decided to share with you may favorite gif. simply because it makes me think of the Hush hush saga by Becca Fitzpatrick. Ohmygoodness, if you are looking for a good supernatural/romantic read. read that. SO freaking amazing!!
Well... here is it. I'm not sure why it is my favorite. I just... really really love it.

Makes me think of Patch. Despite the fact that you don't see his wings once in the entire series.

Let me just say really quickly. The ending to Finale was absolutely FANTASTIC! Ah! I love it.
Okay, I'm done.


Music while writing this incredibly short post: Didn't See It Coming by Parachute

Work Much?

Well... if you're reading this I'm assuming you've read some of my other posts... No? Well, either way I think it is a good time to tell you about the special place I like to call: work. This is no normal job, it is Cowtown. Often imitated. Never repeated.
Cowtown is a Rodeo. Well... I don't work the rodeo part. There is also a flea market open on Tuesdays and Saturdays. My only wish? Air conditioning.
Why air conditioning you say? HA! if you are any sane person then you would agree with me. Also, Cowtown being a flea market, I work at a food stand. I see soft pretzels and barbecue chicken. (If your mouth watering yet?)
Well like any job, this one comes with a few draw backs. Besides the no AC? It is impossible to work there and come home without burning yourself at least once on the job. Also, if you like annoying customers, then this job is for you! You also can't wear the clothes you wear to Cowtown anywhere else again... because even after they have been run through the wash they still smell like chicken grease. Yes. You come home smelling just... peachy.
Well I'm sure you're wondering why I even work there! Because the pay is great, it isnt every day of the week, but i am still able to have a little spending money and tuck a little money away for the future... You know... so I can support my appetite for skittles.

Well... now you know where I work! Doesn't Cowtown sound like loads of fun?!
It actually is super fun. It is quite the experience. You can get great bargains on pretty much anything, and the food is always fresh and delicious.

See you at cowtown!

Oh My Goodness My Sister.

Well. I am such a terrible blogger. I blog for almost a month straight and then quit cold turkey.
Sorry....
Well... lets kick of my re-blogging party with a little bit of a BANG! I'm going to take a moment and talk about my ridiculously ridiculous older sister. Ali. I mean you.

You suck.
Yep. pretty much.
You like to make fun of me. And then you know... i tease you...
But actually what I meant to say is...
I...

You suck.

HA! someone took over the keyboard.

I lo..

You suck.

Yeah... you do. Not my fault. Haha I'm just kidding. I'm actually overjoyed that you're home. I've missed you like crazy while you were gone, and there were so many occasions where I just sat down and thought to myself, "Man, I really wish Ali were here."
So yeah... I love you Ali. Even with all your... weirdness and mean teasing in front of your weirdo friends who listen to Hilary Duff over Skype.

Melodious Thursdays...

I'm going to try something new. And exciting!  Every Thursday(that I remember to do this), I'm going to give you an update on my favorite music! Super fun right? Well... I think it is. I love being able to share the kinds of music I listen to.
Well... Today, I'm going to start it off with a big(but not so big) BANG!

The song I'm obsessing over right now (I will always be obsessing about this though), is Photographs by Scott and Brendo. Their music is kind of a more rap version of Owl City... if you're into that. That was probably a really bad description of Scot and Brendo, but I can't help thinking that Adam Young and these guys would sound super cool in a song together!

Anyways, their album 'And Away We Go' came out in February, and I absolutely love it. GO BUY IT!
Okay. That's it. That's my first Melodious Thursday for you.

Story Seeds.

Say you are in the middle of making your bed in the morning and suddenly barely a few seconds of an idea run through your mind. An image of a few characters doing something, saying something, expressing something... And you just feel the need to get it out. 

get it out in your best notebook.

The image continues to play over and over in your mind. It is barely a few seconds. I could give you some of my examples...
...There was an idea for:

• The Gift, actually it was one line of dialogue with a fierce expression that opened up the possibility of someone who is now one of the main characters in the story. 
• My rune story, I have this image of the two main characters standing in front of a giant abandoned building with spires that seem to stretch into the sky nearly eaten by the dark night.
• The Enchantress, one of the very first images that popped into my mind and eventually spurred the entire story was of Skyler sitting on her bed clutching a small butterfly charm that hangs around her neck... one of the few tokens she has of her missing brother.
• My light story... just the image of some epic dude standing in the middle of a mosaic like patio bathed in sunlight; pillars circle around him. Intense expression on his face and and hands spread out as he stares at something far off.
• Parallel, I have the image of someone running down the middle of the street... he is afraid of something...
• 24 hours? Just the simple image of someone sitting up in the middle of the night from a bad dream... remembering something he shouldn't. Dun dun dun!
• Swapped? A scowl. that's it. A painful look in the eyes. She's angry, about something... I don't even know what yet. (this story has a connection with Parallel)
• In the deep. Duh. The image of someone underwater, but not drowning.

Well... if you ever do get an idea like this. WRITE IT DOWN. Do not forget it!  These things are important. You can't let go of something awesome like that!

and if possible use sharpie pens. always sharpie pens.

Little epic parts, or cute little scenes from movies and books are what give us, in a fangirl term, feels. Feels. Feels. Feels. Feels.
Yes writers get them too. If you get feels while writing, chances are, someone else might as well. So, don't let go of that image or mini scene that plays over in your head. Especially if it gives you feels.

Flashbacks

So recently in my book I have switched between point of views between three or four different people. The two main POV are Skyler and Chandler. Obviously, they are the main characters, but every five or six chapters I will go into a 3rd person POV with a supporting character... No... he's more of a main character... ...Either way, he is important to the story. Anyways, because of the insane amount of back story this guy has, I feel the need to do flashbacks.

Oh look. I'm crazy.*

Flashbacks aren't a bad thing. I mean I certainly like them in books. I absolutely loved Kaladin's flashbacks in the Way Of Kings. Darrow's in Chanters of Tremaris was well done. Looking through the pensieve in Harry Potter was definitely good. 

But there is one thing that flashbacks must have: A relevance to the story.

Flashbacks must come with a purpose. You probably shouldn't just throw a random flashback at the reader if it is not relevant to the story line at all. Now it doesn't need to seem relevant at the time that the reader gets the flashback, but it does need to make sense why we learned about this past event later on in the story.

I personally love writing flashbacks for this character. It shows such a different side of him that is buried deep and hidden away in the present time of the book. It gives you a better perspective of what is actually going on in this guy's head. (Don't tell me to write him in first person because I am not that brave.)

Because this is such a serious blog post.

I want to do the same thing with another character I have. His past is... well it has a ton of holes. Right now, the reader barely knows much about what happened to him up until he meets Skyler. I want to give him flashbacks as well, but I can't decide if they will just be informative, or actually relevant.

Maybe you should just pretend you don't know me...

And then there are those scenes that pretty much all readers crave for. You know the cute little touching ones that were mentioned but never actually written? Well I have a few of those, don't worry, they will actually go in the book.

So what do you think? What are some of your favorite flashbacks? They can be from any story, movie or book. I'm simply curious.

Music while writing this post: Counting Stars by OneRebublic.

*Hey. You know you have pictures of yourself with crazy faces. I'm just not ashamed of the ones I have...

My obsessions.

Well... I've decided that in this particular post, I'm going to share with you my top ten obsessions. And when I mean obsessions... I mean my fandoms. because you know. Apparently I'm crazy and have WAY too many. Heh. (These are in no particular order by the way...)

1. Harry Potter. Harry Potter is like the mom of all fandoms. You're either a fan of Harry Potter or your life is a lie. Filthy muggle.

2. Doctor Who. Because everyone loves an alien who time travels! (oh my feels.) Fantastic. Allons-y. Geronimo. Have a catchphrase now. Catchphrases are cool.

Because Whovians always have 3D glasses on them.

 3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ The Heroes of Olympus. Because Rick Riordan is a troll... and he has my complete respect for being so. I love my seaweed brain.

 4. Anything Brandon Sanderson... Because all of his books are epic. And I can't decide if I want them to be turned into movies because then the fandom would expand. Or if the stories are so full of things that special effects just couldn't handle so the stories would be brutally murdered on screen... If you haven't read and books by Sanderson yet... well let's just say that you're wasing in the where of needing.

5. Sherlock. (Oh come on, you knew this one is a given considering the fandoms above.) If you didn't guess this then you need to turn your back because you're lowering the IQ of the entire street.

6. Merlin. Uh duh. Who doesn't love the young warlock?!..... *GASP* You don't love the young warlock?! ...You're such a dollophead.

7. Disney. I mean come on. Who doesn't love some good 'ole classic Disney?! I'll smash you with a hammer if you don't like Disney.

8. Grimm. Oh my gosh. I seriously cannot get the ending of the Season 2 finale out of my head. Just leave me to drown in my pool of emotions!

Look familiar..? heh.

9. Arrow. OH MY GOSH ARROW! Holy cow. This. Show. Is. So. Good. Go watch it. right now. You can finish reading this blog post later. Go watch it right now. You have failed this city by not watching Arrow yet.

 10: Superheroes. Iron Man. Spider Man. Batman. Superman. Wolverine. Green Lantern. Thor. Captain America. Professor X. Flash.
I grew up watching Justice League. No I don't read comic books... but I love superheroes. I find them exciting.

Hehe. Just a plus.

Okay so there you have it. My ten obsessions. I promise you. I have a TON more... but I said ten. probably because if i didn't have a limit then this blog post would never ever ever ever end.
What are you obsessing about right now?

Music while writing this post? Light It Up by Scott and Brendo

Let's Celebrate!

OH JOODNESS! I just reached my goal page view number! Now excuse me while I go do my happy dance. (I can't believe people actually love me this much!)

Music while writing this incredibly short but happy post: Now Is The Start - A Fine Frenzy

Cakes... the Rice Kind.

I have decided that I absolutely LOVE rice cakes. Especially if they are the apple and cinnamon kind. They aren't overly overbearing, so I can eat like fifty of them in a sitting... (while I'm writing of course) but maybe that is a bad thing...

 Any of those will do...

Either way. I love rice cakes. So if anyone ever wants to buy me a snack, please get the Quaker Apples and Cinnamon Rice Cakes. Mini or regular size will do. Thanks a bunch! You know I'll love you forever if you buy me some.

Music while writing this post? Up and away by Can't Stop Won't Stop.

Litte Demons.

A few days ago something extremely traumatic happened to me while I was in the kitchen of my own home. Can you guess what it was? You got it, I found a spider. Luckily my dad was in the kitchen so he started to go after it with a tissue. You know, the most reasonable thing to do when you see a spider half the size of your thumb with glowing blue eyes. (Aside from burning down the entire house...) But he couldn't get it! The little devil started to jump around like a little circus freak. I was seriously horrified that the thing was going to land on one of us, especially me.
After my dad finally got the spider into a tissue and squished it into an oblivion of satisfying guts the scariest thought popped into my head. And it got me thinking about how wonderful the world is.
This was the thought: I am so glad spiders don't have wings.

Oh. My. Gosh.
Can you imagine is spiders could fly? I would never leave my bedroom, or go anywhere without a bottle of pesticide. Gnats and flies annoy me when I'm inside or outside. I get freaked out when I see a hornet buzzing near me, but if a spider had wings... *Shudders* Lets just say I'm quite content with wingless spiders right now.Yes. We can all take a moment to be grateful that spiders cannot fly.
....
That was a nice moment.

Music while writing this post: Without Me by Eminem (Clean version of course)

Exaivier.

Alright guys...
(Everyone who has heard me obsessing about this for the past few days, you have the clearance to leave.)
I found him. I found Exaivier.
Actually... His name is David Giuntoli*...

Look. He even has a sword.

But this guy is probably the closest I will ever come to Exaivier. It actually really truly blows my mind how close he is to Exaivier. Just saying...

 So I'm just going to post the pictures I have found of this guy with the perfectly perfect Exaivier expressions. Because there are a few of them, and those of you who know the character might know what they are.

But I mean really though. This really excites me! 

Just as a side note... I wonder how actors and actresses would feel if they knew how excited I get when I place THEIR face to one of my characters...

*I do know that he is from the tv show Grimm. Where do you think I found him?

Music while writing this post? Selene by Imagine Dragons (Who else?!)

Oh horray!

Well, it took forever. But I finally chose on one of the reading prompts left for me. Except... I sort of wrote a little for all of them. I'm only going to show you one now... because I only finished one completely. 

But... Here is the one I chose: What if they're on their way to the campsite and they wander through a town (not on the map) that is TOTALLY empty. Basically, anything not connected to the ground is gone––food, vehicles, furniture, animals, PEOPLE. The next morning (after they've left the creepy village), they notice things missing, and this pattern continues, so that each morning when they wake up, something is missing. Until, after x amount of days, they wake up and… a person is gone! So then they only have one day to stop whatever is happening because another person might disappear the next morning!! Victoria Johnson was the one who gave it to me. Thanks Tori!

 So first, before I start, I just want to give you a picture* to help with the imaginings of the area... This was the closest thing I could find to what I imagined.

This kind of captures the eerie feel I wanted...

...Okay. So you don't have to read it. But if you do I'll love you forever. Enjoy!

-->

“Tell me again why we are walking to the campsite?” Skandar asked Exaivier, “There were four perfectly capable horses. Or, here’s an idea, we could just teleport.”

Exaivier shook his head, “Skandar, not even I have been to the place we are going, and it would be dangerous to bring a horse through these trails.”

I looked around at the vast canopy of leaves above me, rays of sunlight poked through sparingly. It was the middle of the day and the forest around us was still relatively dim. The trail we were walking along had protruding tree roots and half buried rocks with every other step.

“What is that?” Skyler asked, pointing in the distance.

“Skyler,” Skandar said to his sister, “you should know by now, that the only one who is capable of knowing what you see is Chandler. Mine and Exaivier’s eyesight is not as… capable as yours and his.”

Skyler looked at me, “Can you see it?”

I looked in the direction she was pointing, squinting slightly. At first I thought I didn’t see anything, but after tuning out my hearing for a moment I was able to make out a small building about a mile away from where we were standing.

“What is it?” Skandar asked as I blinked slowly and let my hearing return to normal.

“It looks like a house,” I said slowly.

Exaivier raised an eyebrow, “We aren’t near anything on the map…”

“Maybe there is a secret civilization living right under our noses,” Skandar said with a wide grin.

“Its more likely that it is someone’s private cabin,” I replied, thoughtful.

“Well there is only one way to find out,” Skyler raised her eyebrows and skipped ahead of us.

Exaivier rolled his eyes, Skandar eyed him; “You’re probably wondering why she is the Enchantress, aren’t you?”

Exaivier shook his head, “Of course not. If Skyler were as boring as I am then Altedaron would surely be doomed.”

By the time we caught up with Skyler, she was already in front of the building she’d spotted. It was much bigger than a schoolhouse, and by the looks of its condition it hadn’t been visited in some time. The roof sagged a bit, and half of the windows were cracked or shattered. Green moss grew along the outer walls helping the small building blend in with the trees.

“Do you recognize this?” Skyler asked Exaivier, he obviously being the oldest of our group, was the most likely to have seen it before.

Exaivier shook his head, his brown and gray eyes narrowed, “I haven’t ever been in this part of the forest, but it has the same structure of a house that stood in my hometown a few hundred years ago…”

“You think its that old?” I asked, “just by looking at it?”

“It’s only a guess,” he said simply.

Skandar stepped forward cautiously, peering into one of the windows, “The entire place is empty…”

“Maybe whoever lived here took everything with them.” Skyler offered with a teasing smile.

“There are more houses,” Exaivier said, his eyes scanning the area.

“More?” Skandar asked, turning.

Exaivier was right, along with the small house, twenty or so more buildings stood scattered around the area. A few houses had trees growing out of them, and two of them had completely collapsed from decay.

“This was a village,” Skyler said with amazement, “Who would live so far away from everything else?”

“Thieves,” Skandar replied, “or perhaps omas… depending on how old the village is.”

I spun around as a twig snapped behind me; Exaivier raised an eyebrow in curiosity as I began to move around the house.  I wrapped my fingers around the hilt of my sword as I rounded the corner, holding my breath.

I didn’t know what to expect, but was relieved when I only found more trees. I turned to rejoin the group but jumped slightly as I ran straight into Skyler.

“Skyler…” I exhaled, “please…”

She laughed softly, “What are you looking for?”

I shrugged, “I thought I heard something.”

Her blue and green eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief as she laughed again, “You get spooked easily?”

I shook my head and moved around her, “In situations like this?” I turned the corner and she followed, “Absolutely.”

Skyler continued to smile at me, amused that I was easily spooked by being in a ghost town. I didn’t understand why she found it so amusing, there was nothing amusing about a ghost town, even if it was small.

“Why don’t we just stay here for the night?” Skandar suggested with wide playful eyes, I groaned inwardly.

Exaivier shrugged and looked to Skyler and me for agreement to Skandar’s idea. I said nothing but Skyler nodded, “We could all use a good ghost story.”

“I’m sleeping with my sword under my pillow,” I muttered.

Skandar laughed and clapped me on the back, “It will be fun Chandler.”

“I don’t know about that,” Exaivier said slowly, “but I won’t deny it will be interesting camping in the middle of an abandoned village.”

“Chandler is afraid that an army of undead soldiers are going to attack us while we are sleeping,” Skyler told Skandar and Exaivier with a small shrug.

I stared at Skyler incredulously, “I didn’t say that, I only said that staying here is little ominous…”

Skandar pulled off his backpack and then laid out his bedroll on one of the less uneven parts of the ground, “If I die before tomorrow morning, then you can say ‘I told you so.’”

I nodded, “Comforting.”

“Maybe we should just have Exaivier send a thick blanket of magic into the air,” Skyler said, putting her bedroll down a few feet away from Skandar’s, “It will make all of us giddy.”

“That is not a good idea,” Exaivier countered Skyler almost instantly.

I dropped my pack to the ground and laid out my bedroll. As soon as I was seated on the thin cushion of blankets Skandar announced, “I’ll be back. I’m going to see if I can find any dry wood for a fire.”

“I’ll help,” Exaivier said, rising to his feet and joining Skandar.

Skyler and I watched the two of them walk away; as soon as they were out of earshot Skyler said, “It isn’t that bad, Chandler.”

I nodded, “I know… I just don’t like the feeling I get here. Its too quiet.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Skyler asked.

“I can’t hear… anything.” I said after a moment, “Birds… insects… even wind.”

Skyler looked around, she seemed to catch on. “I suppose it is a little strange.”

“Well as long as I’m not the one who dies,” I said, “We can stay here as long as we want.”

The next morning started slowly, considering none of us knew what we wanted to do. Exaivier had planned for us to camp a few miles away at an actual campsite. It surprised me that no one had heard of the eerie town, considering how close it was.

“Exaivier,” Skandar said, digging through his belongings, “Did you do anything with my sword?”

“Skandar, I have my own. Why would I take yours?” Exaivier replied.

“Not to mention his is hard to use,” Skyler uttered to me.

“I heard that Skyler,” Skandar said with a flat stare.

I laughed softly; Skyler was right, of course. Skandar’s sword had a blade on both sides of the hilt. It was one of the first weapons he learned how to use, so he could swing it as naturally as a normal sword, but it wasn’t something that any of the rest of us tried to use often.

“Where did you leave it?” Exaivier asked.

“It was strapped to my back when we set up camp last night,” Skandar replied, “I didn’t take it off until I went to sleep.”

“Where did you put it when you took it off, Skandar?” Skyler said.

“Right next to me,” he exclaimed. After a moment of staring at the three of us he began to chuckle, “Come on, give it back. I know one of you took it.”

I shook my head, “I didn’t take it.”

Exaivier rolled his eyes and continued to mess with the fire, “Skandar, you don’t know me well enough if you believe I actually hid your weapon.”

“Sky,” Skandar said in a playfully warning tone, “Where did you put my sword?”

“I didn’t put it anywhere,” Skyler replied with a small laugh, which practically undermined her claim.

“If I run into a bear,” Skandar said, “and I don’t have a weapon to defend myself. My blood is on your hands, Skyler.”

Skyler widened her eyes and laughed loudly, “You are more dramatic than my lab partner from my sophomore year!”

“Who?” Skandar asked, “Michaela? Give me a break, Sky.”

I chuckled, “I only knew her for a few weeks… but she seemed to cause drama just by walking into a room.”

“I’m not that dramatic,” Skandar said, “Besides, you two obviously put my sword somewhere… We will just have to go find it.”

I rolled my eyes; Skandar wasn’t going to give it up. 

He continued to search for a good portion of the morning. He managed to look through every building and around each of their corners by the time noon had come and gone.

“What did you do?” he asked Skyler as he finally sat down in front of the fire, defeated. “Did you burry it?”

Skyler stared at her brother, “Skandar, I didn’t take it.”

Exaivier glanced at the three of us, “Well someone did. You want my best guess? Skandar is trying to fool us all into believing a ghost took his sword.”

I grinned, “That is what makes the most sense if you ask me.”

Skandar frowned, “That is taking it a bit too far.”

Skyler shrugged “I would not put it past you, Skandar.”

Skandar shook his head; “This is what I get for being the one of the four who likes to laugh the most?”

“I’ve known you since you were sixteen years old,” Exaivier said, “You have tried to pull pranks on me and whoever else is around during any time of the day.”

Skandar looked around, his expression a bit serious, “Not this time.”

It was safe to say, that none of us believed him.  Skandar had probably strung his sword up into a tree above his bedroll to retrieve after convincing us all of what happened.

àààà

Skandar was right. It had taken three more days for him to prove it. But by then Exaivier’s cloak, Skyler’s dagger, and my sword as well as Skandar’s were all missing. Each morning we would wake up, and something else would be gone. Now that more than just Skandar’s sword had disappeared all of us knew we couldn’t leave until we retrieved our things. My sword and Skandar’s especially.

After another day of searching all of us decided that if another one of our belongs went missing then it would be worth it to get the sleep that we’d been lacking for the past forty-eight hours.

Despite our worries, I fell asleep within five minutes. The night was soundless, quiet, and went by too quickly. After what felt like barely an hour I felt something kicking me lightly in the side.

“Chandler,” it was Skyler’s voice, her foot was continuously tapping my rib cage. “ Chandler, get up.”

I opened my eyes and suddenly shot up, “What happened? What was taken?”

“Nothing that belongs to me is missing,” Exaivier said behind Skyler.

Skyler nodded, “Nothing of mine is gone either; we need you to check your things, make sure everything is there.”

“Nothing is missing,” I announced as soon as I was done thoroughly searching my bag. “Did Skandar check his things yet?”

“He’s out getting firewood,” Skyler said, “I haven’t seen him yet.”

“You haven’t?” Exaivier asked her, “I thought you said you knew where he went.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Skandar woke up before both of you?”

“He was gone when I woke up,” Skyler replied, “You and Exaivier were still asleep though. I assumed he’d gone out to get wood to fuel the fire enough to make breakfast.”

“He has been gone for too long to be collecting firewood,” Exaivier said, “He should have been back by now.”

Skyler and I stared at him, I could tell by Skyler’s expression she feared the same thing I was thinking.

“Let’s not worry just yet,” Exaivier said, “but it wouldn’t hurt to go look for him.”

I let out a small sigh, “I am never going camping again.”

 So there you have it! This is typically how my four main characters get along. Though Skandar was abit more serious. Probably because someone stole his sword... (No one messes with Skandar's sword. No one.) Let me know what you think in the comments! I'd love your thoughts.

*I do not own this picture. But I thank whoever is the one who posted it on the internet. If you don't want me to use it, all you need to do is contact me.

Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf.

I'm tired.

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like an evil witch summoned demons from the underworld for the soul purpose to ruin your life? Well... I'll tell you what, I definitely have those days.

So I would just like to say, if you never have bad days, then you are a stinkpickle who has been inhaling to many pumpkin bubbles.

So... go away if everything is always fine and dandy. When everything in your life is boring you have nothing to learn from.
Okay those are my thoughts. 

Music?

When someone says the word music I kind of perk up a bit.

I don't have any pictures of me dancing... so I'm just going to use screenshots from a recent Skype conversation with yours truly and her weirdo sister Ali.

If you were going to ask me the last time I went an entire day without listening to any music... I would not even know. Music is in my soul. I'm pretty sure that it is what keeps the blood flowing inside of me.

So I've decided to share with you pretty much my everyday playlist. You know... the music I listen to while I... clean, read, write, relax, ect. Just my general first pick songs.

Okay so here it is. I hope that these songs go on to inspire your life in ways that no one can imagine.

• Bleeding Out - Imagine Dragons. Why? Because it is just beyond epic. Just the whole song in general grabs you right from the beginning and makes you want to scream the lyrics in your own personal jam session.
• Somewhere Only We Know - Keane. Why? Honestly... because it fits in perfectly with a certain situation in my book... And so whenever I listen to it, it makes me think of that certain situation and I smile because of it.
• We'll Be A Dream - We The Kings (feat. Demi Lovato). Why? 1. Because this song is just one of those songs where you just... jam... in a mellow not fast kind of way. 2. Demi is my home girl.
• C'mon - Panic! At The Disco (With Fun.) Why? This song makes me happy.
• Sooner Or Later - Mat Kearney. Why? Because its an uplifting song. You can get through those trials. And you can reach your dreams. Keep going.
• Plant Life - Owl City. Why? Because Adam Young's lyrics actually make me feel like a rainbow, despite the fact that most of the time they are super cheesy. That's what makes them so special.
• Float On - Modest Mouse. Why? Because The tune is uber awesome and the message in the song is good.

Okay so those are the songs I listen to on a regular basis. But if you ask me what kind of music I listen to while writing..? Well... my writing playlist in particular normally does include all of these songs. but recently I have found a new love for instrumental music. It leaves your mind to explore, and I like to pretend it is the score for my book. Even though most of the songs will never be anything close to what would appear on the actually score of my book if it actually does get sent into a publisher and accepted one day.
Okay Boys. Now you know. If you ever ask me to dance again. now you know what kind of music I like. because these genre(s) above are what I prefer.

P.S. Did you leave a writing prompt for me yet? Go on! You're running out of time before you can! (Plus you get some background info on my book characters that aren't actually in any of the books... I think.)

What Exactly is THE GIFT?

The Gift... The Gift... The Gift... Well if I tell you exactly what it is then I would simply have to kill you.
But I'm sure you could make a few guesses...

Soot covered hands.

FIIIIRRREEEE!

Is that a person?!

 I don't know how much you are actually going to get from that... Obviously being Gifted has to to with fire... But that is only the half of it... Go on and guess in the comments below, I want to know what you think!

Oh hey! have you left a writing prompt for me yet? You should do so. I'll love you forever!
 

Miserable Situations!

A few months ago, me and a few friends went to meet one of the most epic authors of the time. Brandon Sanderson. Duh. The guy is a genius with words. (Really though, I can't understand how he comes up with such wonderfully amazing stories and magic systems...) Not to mention he pumps books out like nobody's business, and they are always uber long.

Hehe uber... That's a funny word. If I were a Time Lord then that would definitely be what Geronimo, Fantastic, or Allons-y is to the Doctor. Just saying.

Sandi just looks so much happier than me next to him!

Our glorious group. We were the youngest people there!
Sorry about the blurry-ness of the picture,
everyone was too impatient to take more than one group picture.

Anyways, the ride to the Free Library in Philly was quite long, so there was a lot of book talk going on. (My favorite kind of talk!)We talked about all of Sanderson's epic stories and the possibilities of what could come. We talked about everything from superheroes to our favorite miserable situations in books and movies. I might just mention that one of the favorites mentioned was Kaladin's from The Way Of Kings. I'm not sure if I agree... probably just because it is way TO miserable for me to enjoy it... but it is a really good miserable situation. I can't come up with a certain single situation at the moment, but I do have a small list... (They don't give anything away.. its just names. those who have read these books will know what I am talking about.)

• Marsh - Mistborn Trilogy (tear tear :'( ) by Brandon Sanderson
• Kaladin Stormblessed - The Stormlight Archive (uh... duh.) By Brandon Sanderson
• Dezra Young - The Opal Trilogy (Hehe)
• Severus Snape - ...if you don't know what series he is from, then I disown you right now.
• Darrow - Chanters Of Tremaris Trilogy (Mainly Book 3 'The Tenth Power') By Kate Constable
• Dinosaur - All My Friends Are Dead, By Avery Monson & Jory John (Har har har har)

 So, because authors tend to be heartless with the way they treat their characters... I decided: HEY! If professional authors are throwing their characters to the sharks... I'd might as well try it.

Apparently I like miserable situations too much. The one person who introduced the idea of a miserable situation to me, is now saying that I am way too mean to my characters. But of course, in her own special way, she's says that I am a genius. Even when i told my cousin/neighbor/best friend one of my more recent (and most heartless ideas I've ever had)she said, "Amber, that is so heartless. but at the same time..." she pauses here to hold her hand up to punctuate her words, "it is pure genius." 

Oh yeah. My heartless idea is pure genius. Watch out potential fans, this girl has an idea that will break your hearts. Maybe if my horrible writing is actually accepted by a publisher then I can clarify which idea that is.

Just remember my fellow writers and story imaginers, putting a character into a miserable situation, sets that character up for development and excitement from the reader. People eat up the miserable situations. I'm not saying you should do it because that's what audience wants... do it because you think it is something that will help your story, and because you truly relish the idea.

In any case, Farethewell! I must continue with my conjuring of miserable situations.

OH! One more thing, if you do make a miserable situation, be sure that the character at least comes out with a slightly different outlook on things... what would be the point of throwing a character into the Pits of Hathsin, or making him a slave to carry bridges across great distances, if they don't go through any development whatsoever? There wouldn't be a point. So make sure your character develops a little bit from that trial.

Oh hey! Did you leave me an idea for a writing prompt yet? If not please do it! :D

The Eyes?

Well. In case anyone does not know. the main stories I am working on right now... all of the magic systems involved in these stories all have something to do with the eyes. 

Why? You ask. Because... well, 1. All of these stories are interconnected and take place on the same world. 2. Because eyes are hands down my favorite feature. Just saying.

So... What exactly do the eyes specifically have to do with the magic system in each book?

Well... I'll tell you.

Not the blue liner. Just the eyes color. It is the closest thing I could find. Trust me I looked HARD.

First I'll tell you about The Enchantress. Or rather... The Opal Trilogy. This picture happens to be a very very very close concept to what Skyler's eyes look like. Blue and green. 

When someone has eyes like this, (two eye colors), it means they have the ability to use magic... Well most of the time. Some times it means you can just understand the language that goes along with using magic.

She sees into your soul.

Next I'll go with the Gift. The people who have the Gift don't actually walk around with glowing gold eyes... but when they start to use the Gift... (You'll find out what exactly what is in a bit) their eyes begin to fade from green, brown, blue, ect. to gold. It is a good way to recognize someone with this ability... Which can be considered a bad thing for the Gifted in this story... considering having the Gift makes you an outlaw... hmm..

Oh my goodness!

Next? My Rune story. I don't actually have a name for this yet... so that is what I'll be calling it up until I actually figure out a name for it... Perhaps Sage Runes? I was thinking about that name... but it doesn't roll of the tongue as easily as the Enchantress... 

Anyways, as you could have guessed, the magic in this story involves what? Runes! Well... As far as I know right now... when a Sage learns a new rune, and truly knows its meaning and all that exciting stuff, his eyes shift to silver for only a few seconds. They also tend to shift to silver when they are writing the runes or using their abilities... that sort of thing.

Piercing...

Okay, so I saved the least developed for last. All I know about this story are a few characters faces, small scenes that replay in my head from time to time, and the magic system. No actual plot line yet... Lame right? Well, coming up with a good story to tell is hard work. It is fun. But hard.

So the way this works is when someone with this specific magical ability gets close to a power source... (Not electricity. No technology will be involved in any of these books...) (Well... at least not when they are on this certain world.) When they get close to a power source, like I said before, the person's eyes don't exactly change... They just... glow. The color intensifies, and sort of gives off this eery light. Almost like a glow stick! Wow that was a really bad example. but you know what I mean... right?

Okay so there you have it! There are my four main stories. I have more... but as far as I know they won't be connected with these ones.

Hey, hey hey! Did you leave me a writing prompt yet? If not? Well come on! Do a girl a favor!