Tuesday, September 4, 2012

GUTGAA Meet and Greet! (better late than never :)


Today is the long awaited start of GUTGAA, (Gearing Up To Get An Agent blogfest) hosted by Dena Barnhart! If you'd like to know more or sign up, click on the link to her blog!

Alrighty, here I go.

Short bio:

I'm 15 years old, and am the oldest my two siblings. I've lived in 7 different states and moved a grand total of 15 times! I love to travel, read, and listen to any music by Evanescence, Within Temptation or Red.

I've been writing ever since I could hold a pen. There's nothing as rewarding, frustrating, and fun in this world than being able to write. The ability to create worlds, and people that come to life with the stroke of a pen or tap of a computer key is utter magic.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

Well... I'm in California at the moment (hence the lateness in my posting this), so I can't do that. But the first thing I'd see is probably my notepad. Even though I type everything on my computer, I keep my notepad updated in case I need to write something down when I can't use my laptop.

Favorite time to write?

Definitely the morning. I'm really not a morning person, but I've sorta forced myself to be. It's the quietest time of day.

Drink of choice while writing?

Coffee or hot chocolate or tea! Any of those work :)

When writing, do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

Definitely music! Sometimes I'm forced to write without my headphones in, but there's never really complete silence in my house. So I prefer music to noise :)

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

It was definitely a mix of things, but it first came to me while I was playing the free online game called Poptropica. In the game, there are all these 'islands' that have... problems. And your character has to go around and make things right.

The second wind of inspiration came to me while reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and then reading 1984 by George Orwell.

The third, and probably most important parts came as a mix between a level in the video game called Little Big Planet and reading the book Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams.

In the video game, your character has to find all these magic crystals located in various places. Then, you had to go shine light through the crystals to defeat an evil dragon-like thing that was wrecking havoc on the nearby towns.

In the book Fatal Alliance (a Star Wars book), the Sith and the Jedi are forced to work together to defeat a greater enemy. The book is written from 3rd person POV, so you really get to see sides of both Light and Dark that we're not used to seeing.

That book was probably my biggest inspiration.

What's your most valuable writing tip?

Never give up.

That phrase is cliche and definitely overused, but it's 100% true. To be a great writer, you can't let anything stand in your way.

Thanks!!

--Jess

15 comments:

Kyra Lennon said...

Yay for coffee drinkers! I always need a caffeine fix before I get working!

Nice to meet you! :D

Jambo said...

Hi Jess
I can see you are going to far in this world and age is just a number for you. I don't know that many 15 year olds with such a passion for what they want to do in life. Great to meet you and I will look forward to reading your query.

You can find me over at blog number 152 when i grow up i wanna write a kids book, but I think the answer is actually to never grow up, cheers Julie

Kelley Lynn said...

Hi LOVE where you get your inspiration from. Its so true that there are so many aspects that help us create a story. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Hot chocolate FTW! I swear, I should just buy stock in Ghiradelli, I drink so much of their cocoa.

Video games (and comic books!) have some of the most interesting plotlines. Great source of material!

Carrie-Anne said...

Glad to see you onboard for GUTGAA!

Stephsco said...

How fantastic that you've started writing so young! Not that you are too young to write. Dream big! You are so lucky to have so many great YA books around. :) Best wishes.

Jeannette said...

I'm super impressed with your focus and passion so young! Don't lose it, and you'll blow by us old farts in no time. :) Good luck with GUTGAA!

Angie Sandro said...

I was an Airforce brat, so I know the feeling of moving every two years. I kind of miss it now. I liked being able to invent myelf whenever I moved. Anyway, this may stem from the fact I've lived in California for the last 12 yrs. Love your writing advice.

Good luck with GUTGAA. Please, stop by and say hello if you haven't already. http://anjeasandro.blogspot.com/

Bonnee Crawford said...

Yay for inspiration and not giving up! :)

John Krissilas said...

Hey Jessica,

Just dropping by to say hi and that it's great to meet you, too. I'm also a huge star wars geek (prequels and all) and sometimes use the soundtracks of the movies to inspire me while writing :)

One of my favourite star wars books is Shadows of the Empire - it's a prequel to Return of the Jedi and really gives you a look at what's happening from the Empire's POV.

Cheers and have fun with #GUTGAA!

John

Unknown said...

Hi Jess,
stopping by to say hi and nice to meet you. Good writing tip. Good luck with the contest.

S. T. Lakata said...

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your "second wind of inspiration" books are some of my favorites. I hope you have fun with GUTGAA. It's nice to meet you!

Jessica L. Celaya said...

Wow you've moved around a lot. Awesome that you are such a young writer. You're story idea was inspired by so many different sources, I bet it's awesome. Nice to meet you.

Dr Margaret Aranda said...

How sweet that you are only 15 and participating in GUTGAA! Your writing is amazing, as is your blog! I'm a Stanford-trained doctor who was a trauma patient...turned writer. Or am I a writer who was in a car accident? Like you, I think writers are always writers, no matter what else they do. Muaaah!

Dr Margaret Aranda
www.drmargaretaranda.blogspot.com

Reiko said...

I could almost picture you answering these questions, Jessica! Love, Grandma

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