E is for… (+ IWSG Post)

My A to Z Challenge theme is: characters from my From the Ashes trilogy.

E is for…

The Emperor of the Imperial Alliance

The first Emperor of the Alliance was a war hero who helped unite many of the star systems following The Great Stellar Wars. He came into power in the year 0, according to the ASW (After the Stellar Wars) calendar. His name has been long forgotten, yet the people of the Alliance refer to him as The One True Emperor. The Emperor had a half-brother, Varyn, who was promoted to the commander in chief of the IA forces.

The Legend of The One True Emperor:

The One True Emperor had risen above humanity. His eyes had been opened by the power of Darkness and Light, and in that moment he saw all that ever was and all that could be. In the moment of Darkness, he saw the jealousy of his half-brother. Upon seeing this, The One True Emperor saw to it that Varyn must die. And so it was done. Yet in the moment of Light, The One True Emperor saw all Varyn's life before him, he saw that he should pity him, he saw that Varyn needed love. The One True Emperor's powers transcended the physical world, and he brought Varyn's soul back from what lies beyond.

The rule of Life and Death was broken, the soul of Varyn was not meant to return. It happened that only those who looked for Varyn could see him. He was the shadow of a cheated life, and he became the symbol of Death. His life was owed to The One True Emperor, and so he took the lives of those that opposed His Holiness. Henceforth, he would be known as The Shadow Hunter.

After the Emperor's death, popular culture would say that the soul of The Shadow Hunter would go on to serve every Emperor born of the First Emperor's bloodline. The First Emperor created The Trials and put in place a strong government, and a senate for the people of the IA. He brought upon an era of glory to better the economy, the worlds, and the people. To this day, in the year 327 After the Stellar Wars, his legacy lives on. All hail The Emperor of the Imperial Alliance!

***

As you can see, I kind of wrote this as propaganda for the Imperial Alliance, the oppressive government in the From the Ashes trilogy. This is the history and legend of the Emperor and his legacy across the centuries.

Also, today is IWSG post day, so here we go really quick

I'm honestly super insecure about being able to finish the A to Z Challenge right now. Like…I have some of my posts pre-written, but I have no idea what I'm going to write once it gets to the letter Q, I have not thought that far! No one's name starts with a Q in my story, so I'm seriously going to have to figure this out quickly. That's my biggest insecurity for this month! What's yours?

Favorite A to Z posts of the day:

1. (to be added shortly)
2. (to be added shortly)
3. (to be added shortly)

Thank you all for visiting! Today, I will add to this post my top 3-5 A to Z "E" posts, so don't forget to comment and leave a link to your blog so I can visit you! Don't forget to check out more IWSG posts, other A to Z Challenge Participants, and my new blog which needs some new followers: My Unofficial Guide To Everything.

Have a lovely day!

–Jess

Things About Me and Awards

On Wednesday I kindly received the Kreativ Blogger award from my mom, Kathy, over at Imagine Today!  Well, actually she sorta just said whoever comments gets the award, so I commented lol.

Anyway, the rules are:

1. Link back to the person who awarded you
2. Answer the questions below
3. Share ten random facts about yourself
4. Nominate seven worthy blogs for the award

Okay, let's get moving!

What's your favorite song?

I really only have favorite artists.  My favorite songs change all the time, but this week, I guess my favorite is Forever by Red

What is your favorite dessert?

Key lime pie!

What ticks you off?

Unloading the dishwasher.... (sorry, mom.)

When you're upset, what do you do?

Put in my headphones and listen to my music BLASTING LOUD.

Which is/was your favorite pet?

Padme, our turtle.  Rest in peace, Padme.

Which to you prefer to wear, white or black?

Depends.  I like both.

What is your biggest fear?

Hmm... this is a hard one.  I guess I'm afraid of not doing much in life.  Living my whole life without really accomplishing much.  Hopefully I'm on the right path :)

What is your attitude mostly?

Don't worry.  Things will work themselves if you put in the effort.

What is perfection?

Perfection is a state of mind.  The only way to achieve it is to accept that it's not achievable.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Playing video games.  To be more specific?  Any Star Wars video game, Little Big Planet, but mostly it goes to the Assassin's Creed.  That game is awesome.  Oh, and watching the TV series LOST and The Clone Wars.

Ten other random things:

1. I'm a writeaholic. Duh.
2. I love singing, but no one else loves my voice.  But I sing anyway :)
3. I love drawing and painting people, but I can only draw girls with accuracy
4. I'm awkward around people I don't know unless it's over email/blog/IM
5. When people ask me what my story's about, I freeze up and have no idea what to say
6. I have a secret crush on Anakin Skywalker (okay, guess it's not that secret anymore... just keep it between the 324 of you...)
7. I listen to/read pretty much every genre of music/literature including opera/non-fiction.  What would make me not like it or like it would depend on how well it's written.
8. I want to write in as many genres as I possibly can.
9. My favorite mythical creature is a dragon :)
10. My favorite colors are blue and silver

Okay!  Now that that's over with, I'll get on to my nominees.  Since I'm lazy, I'm only going to award three lucky bloggers.  And they are:

1. Kate~ Because she's awesome and creative!  We know each other outside the blogosphere and have been friends since... four years ago?  She's a great writer and I have no idea where From the Ashes would be without her help.  Thanks Kate!
2. Matt~ Because his posts have been so useful to me lately, and he's got such a creative way of analyzing fantasy!  Even though I don't write fantasy (yet) it's giving me a TON of ideas.
3. T.Z. Wallace~ Because her posts never fail to make me laugh/smile/nod-my-head-in-agreement/reflect on whatever she's posting about!

All three of these bloggers are more than worthy of the Kreativ Blogger Award.  So go congratulate them and follow them!  They will not let you guys down!

Have a wonderful weekend!

--Jess

The Hunger Games + Announcements

I saw it!

Yes, I finally did! I saw it on Monday with my best friend, and oh my gosh, I loved it. It was amazing. Now, I'm not going to go into much detail, because I'm sure you guys already know. But it was almost exactly like the book, and was pretty much how I imagined it while I was reading it.

Definitely a new favorite!

Okay, and for my Micro-Fiction buddies, I have an announcement. Since next month is April and is the epic A to Z Challenge, I'm afraid it will be difficult writing a flash fic on the last Monday of the month.

So!

Kathy and I decided that we'll hold our Micro-Fiction bloghop for the first three months of every year. That way, people don't have to commit to it all year long, lol.

The Micro-Fiction winner of this week is Stephanie, over at Word by Word! Great job, Stephanie! Kathy is choosing the other winner sometime today, so keep an eye out if you participated.

Now, being the last Monday of March, that means this is the last Micro-Fiction of this year. If you want to sign up for next year, the linky-list is still up on the Micro-Fiction page, and we'd love to have you join us!

And, I'd like to thank Fairbetty, over at Fairbetty's World for being the first person to sign up and for participating in every event! Thanks so much for all of your support!

Alrighty, I think that's all for today! So, have a great Wednesday!

--Jess

Interview with T.Z. Wallace

Hey guys, I just wanted to start with a little heads up. I'm not sure how I forget to mention it before, but we're going on a cruise tomorrow! Actually, we're going to Florida tomorrow and getting on the ship on Sunday. But still!

So, if I can't post all next week, don't be alarmed. I probably wont be able to do any blog hopping, either since I hear the internet is quite expensive.

Now to business. Today I'm interviewing one of the winners of the bloghop Knights of Micro-Fiction that takes place on the last Monday of every month, co-hosted by Kathy and me. Aldrea Alien, over at Thandrandian Thoughts will be interviewed on Kathy's blog.

Now, let's congratulate T.Z. Wallace at One Year Until Book Launch for winning an interview on my blog. Great job!

So let's get started.

***

Lights, camera... ACTION.

Hello T.Z.! We are so happy to have you here today! Look at all those nice, smiley faces in the crowd. You ready? Okay, good! So, my first question is: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I've always loved writing and always longed to 'be a writer,' but I felt uncomfortable calling myself a 'real writer'. I think I envisioned that a writer was someone who was able to make a living with their words. Then I realized that writers are really people who write... Not people who just talk about writing, or wishing they had more time to write, but real people with real lives and demands who still make time to write- because they love it... because they have to.

I'm a bit of a slow learner when it comes to shifting my mental perspective, so I didn't actually realize this until January 29, 2012. (That's the day I started my Book Launch Blog and the day that I announced to the world that 'I'm a writer' and 'I'm writing'.) That's when I gave myself permission to say "I'm a writer" without feeling like a fraud. That's when I allowed myself to believe it could be more than just scribbled notebooks tucked into a bottom drawer.

You know, it took me a while to actually let myself say 'I'm a writer,' too. I could only do it after I'd finished the first draft of my first novel which took about a year to write! Speaking of novels, I hear you're working your way through one. What's it called?

I don't have a working title. Unless you count 'My Book' as a working title. I'm horrible at creating titles and put it off until the very last minute in the hopes that inspiration will strike and save me.

Since this is part of a trilogy, I want to have a title that reflects that and serve to unify the books... but no pressure. (Maybe I should have my blog followers decide on a title for me so I can quit stressing over it. Is that permissible?)

I know exactly what you mean! I still haven't really thought of a good name for my overall trilogy... Sorry I interrupted. Please continue. Tell us about your novel. Can you give us a short summary?

As to what the book is about: I've always been enamored with dystopian concepts and am also intrigued by the workings and possibilities of time and space. Somehow, between those two fascinations, this story was born. It is the first in a trilogy that centers around a sixteen-year-old girl, Emma Cale, who must cope with the murder of her father.

During this time, every sixteen-year-old is required by law to submit themselves to the government for service to the war-ravaged society. People are starving and the use of many modern conveniences are severely restricted. Since Emma's mother is adamant that Emma will not offer herself for service, they seek refuge with Emma's aunt in an ancient house tucked in a tiny valley away from the political chaos. But (of course) they can't get away that easily... the government officials seek out Emma due her late father's role in the rebellion efforts.

Meanwhile, Emma's mother seems to have the life literally draining out of her, leaving Emma and her... um, "just a friend"... Saul to unravel the years of built up secrets that seem to have settled in the valley. Emma and Saul have to try to protect each other-- and the whole community-- from the unnatural powers that linger there, as well as from a government that's desperate to harness that power...

Wow. You've got me on the edge of my seat! It definitely sounds like a book I'd read! Dystopian books are awesome :)

Anyway, What are you goals for this year?

My goal is to finish this novel and have it available for purchase (via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords) this summer. I also have a few short stories (or at least, what I'm anticipating will be short stories) rattling around in my head that I hope to write and make available for free via Amazon later this year as a way to give back to those who are being so encouraging and supportive of my work. And I really want to continue to meet and get to know more writers... to encourage them and support them in their craft.

Awesome goals! I'd kind of like to know why you so readily chose self publishing. I don't know much about it, myself. But more of that another time!

How long have you been blogging and how has it improved your writing?

I started my first blog (a personal blog) back in the summer of 2009. I think blogging gives me a sense of community and accountability. Writing is really solitary work, so it's nice to find people that you can interact with, root for, and learn from.

I have also realized that I tend to write more when I have the delusion that people are waiting expectantly and, since I suffer from an over-developed sense of guilt, I feel like I 'owe' it to my readers (current and future) to get off my back side and get some words on paper and then to polish it like crazy in the hopes that it will resemble something worth reading. My followers, their encouragement, and their comments are really what keep me moving forward during those times when I still feel like a fraud.

I couldn't agree more! And everyone is so supportive and nice! It's great having people who can cheer you on as you write. Now, what do you like to do when you're not writing?


I love to read. I really like finding out more about science, astronomy, physics and nature. I like to spend time outside and get back in touch with myself. Since I spend so much time in front of a computer, I have to reconnect with nature or I get cranky.


I also like to explore. When I go for a drive and pass by a dilapidated shack, I'm always compelled to pull over and peek in the windows, slide through the hole where the tree crashed in and scour the wreckage for signs of its past.


I have a well-charred antique door knob on my book case that I found when I examined what was left from a house fire at a long-abandoned home in a tiny town where I spent my summers as a child. I stood in the ashes with the wind whipping around me. I could have sworn I heard voices trickle through time... When I look at it now, I think about how many hands turned that knob... and it makes me want to tell those stories.


Ooh I know what you mean about finding about science, astronomy and physics! I love reading about things like that.


Now for our final question: is there anything else we should know about you?


Um... I have a staggering number of food allergies.


I also have a crazy number of phobias (I recently made a list of them... not that I'm likely to forget).


Also, it's been mentioned to me that my family history tends to read like some Southern Gothic novel (a novel my mother keeps urging me to write, but I've found that when you live Southern Gothic it's not nearly as entertaining as when you read it.) Honestly, you don't really notice that you're family is... rather, er, colorful... until you're retelling all those family stories and realize the room has grown quiet and everyone's staring at you.


I'm also superstitious*... wildly so.


And I hope that I can continue to find and connect with writers and readers who are passionate about books and stories and characters. (*knock on wood)


I don't think you'll have too much trouble with finding connections with other writers. *turns to audience* Right guys?


Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today. We're so glad you could stop by today, T.Z.! Good luck with you're novel :)


So go over to T.Z. Wallace's blog and follow along!! Let's have a big round of applause for T.Z. Wallace!


Aaaaaand cut.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

--Jess

KOMF Winners & Awards :)

The Knights of Micro-Fiction (KOMF) is steadily growing in ranks! Thanks to everyone who participated! If you missed it this month, go here to add your name to the linky list.

Kathy and I had a really hard time choosing winners! You guys all did such an awesome job! Unfortunately, we could only choose two people. Now to our lucky winners!!

Congratulations Aldrea Alien over at Thardrandian Thoughts!
And congratulations T.Z. Wallace at One Year Until Book Launch!
Great job! You two lovely ladies will be receiving an email from Kathy and I so we can feature you on our blogs for Friday's post.

Once again, thanks to everyone who participated! We hope you had fun :)

Now, moving on!

I've been tagged by W. Chaser for some awards! First is the Sunshine Award!

The rules are, 1) thank the person who gave it to you. 2) write a post about it. 3) Answer the questions below. 4) Pass it on.

Answers to questions:

1. Favorite Color? Blue.
2. Favorite Animal? Wolf.
3. Favorite Number? Five!
4. Favorite (non-alcoholic) drink? Pineapple juice or Coffee or Pink Lemonade. Any of those work :)
5. Facebook or Twitter? Neither. I have an account with both, but they both keep me from getting my work done.
6. My passion? Writing of course!
7. Getting or Giving presents? I want to say giving but I'm not sure how true that would be...
8. Favorite pattern? I couldn't care less.
9. Favorite day of the week? Wednesday.
10. Favorite flower? Lotus.

And then the second award is the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Okay, now I'm supposed to list seven interesting things about myself. Um, is it a bad thing that I can't really think of anything?

I'll think a little harder. Seven interesting things about me...

1. I used to hate novel writing. I'd tried it a few times but couldn't continue after the first 50 pages. I only wrote poetry up until I was 12 or 13.
2. I like European music. Like, modern European music. (Example Artists: Within Temptation, Epica, Nightwish)
3. I've moved 15 times and lived in 7 different states.
4. I hate crying. I never cry in front of people.
5. I have a really strong gag reflex. No really, when I was a baby I used to choke on Cheerios.
6. I am terrified of Lady Bugs!
7. I'm really daring when it comes to skiing and rock climbing and a bunch of other stuff, but I'm afraid of the dark. I will not go into the basement by myself!

So there you have it!! Now I'm just going to pass these on to three people because I have to get to my work.

1. Rena @ Dr. Faerie Godmother
2. McKenzie @ The Ubiquitous Perspective
3. Fairbetty @ Fairbetty's World

Congrats, guys!

Have a great day! And don't forget to stop back on Friday to read an interview with one of the two lucky winners of the KOMF!

--Jess

No, I Usually Don't Post Twice In One Day, But...

Today is an exception. Mostly because I've got a ton of stuff going on this week. I'll talk more about that later, though :)

Anyway, I accidentally (well, not quite accidentally) signed up for the Get Fired Up Blogfest hosted by Melissa Sugar. And the deadline for that blogfest is Wednesday. I hadn't quite thought about how busy I already am this week but I really wanted to do this. Well, at least try.

So, that's why I'm posting twice today.

The point of the Get Fired Up Blogfest is to help other awesome writers who don't have as many followers get more followers.

Anyway, for the first part of this blogfest, I'd just like to say that the following people are awesome. So please check out their blogs and follow them!

Fairbetty at Fairbetty's World
       Rena at Dr. Faerie Godmother
          T.Z. Wallace at One Year to Book Launch
                  Alyssa at Life is Good
                       Aldera Alien at Thardrandian Thoughts

These guys are super cool and I think you'd love them! I'll do more with this on Wednesday, but for now just go give them some support! Thanks :)

--Jess

(P.S.) Still trying to win the popular vote for the First Challenge of the Campaign so if you'd like to read my entry you can go HERE. And then go HERE to vote (if you like it. I'm entry #19)

Dream Launcher Award

Hey guys! Today I've been awarded by Rena, over at Dr. Faerie Godmother with a new award she came up with. It's called....

The idea of this blog award is to thank people who have helped you become the writer you are today. In other words, you give it to people who have helped 'launch your dreams'. So, here are the lucky five people I'm tagging:

1. Angela Brown @ In Pursuit of Publishness
2. T.Z. Wallace @ One Year Until Book Launch
3. Kris Yankee @ Adventures That Score
4. Kathy McKendry @ Imagine Today
5. Fairbetty @ Fairbetty's World

Thanks so much for inspiring me and helping me out! So, please go check out their blogs and follow them!

Have a great weekend!

--Jess

Campaign Entries I Loved

Well, the Campaign entries are finally over. All we've got to wait for now are the results. So I thought that today, since it's late and I'm feeling a little lazy, that I would just show you my five favorite entries:

1. Angie at Live to Write~ On the Beach
2. Rance at The Action P(r)ose~ All Gods Pilgrims
3. David Powers King's Ghost by the Seashore
4. Avery at Creative Type~ Purgatory
5. Jocelyn Rish's Party Girl

All of them I think have a dark flair to them, which I tend to love. So, go check out their entries and 'like' them on Rachael Harrie's site if you get the chance!

--Jess

P.S.

Apologies for the super short post (with not much content, as my dad would put it). Hopefully I'll have time for a longer one tomorrow or Thursday!

Meme Q&A Thing

Hello everyone! First of all, I can't believe the last time I posted was Monday!! Jeez I'm really behind! Now before I get too far into this post, let me just clarify one thing. I have no idea what a Meme is. If anyone else knows what it means, please tell me because I feel really stupid!

Okay, so recently my lovely friend Laura, over at The Daily Dodo gave me this Meme thingy to answer. Thanks so much Laura!!

So here are the questions and my answers.

If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?

I was taking a three week summer program at Northwestern University in Creative Writing two years ago. I'd relive the night where my roommate and I stayed up all night long laughing and trying to avoid getting caught by the hall monitor. It was scary, but fun :)

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

It would be to focus on writing at an earlier age.

What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?

I'm not sure if it's up to me to say but I'd like to go with Princess Leia. I'm strong willed, and passionate and hopefully just as pretty!

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would you choose?

Hmm... this is a toughie... hate to be cheating this question but I honestly have no idea.

Name one habit you want to change in yourself.

Not be so messy. I mean really. My room doesn't stay clean for a day and neither does my desk. What's up with that?

Why do you blog? (Answer in one sentence)

Because anything that has to do with writing is completely awesome!

Name at least 3 people to send this to:

1. Nick Height over at Writing Fire
2. Liz over at Laws of Gravity
3. Angela over at Live To Write

All three people I met through Rachael Harrie's Third Campaign Challenge. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's posts (yes, I have actually read everyone's, and I'm trying to stay up to date)! So, go visit their blogs and give them a nice big 'Follow'! Because they are all really awesome!

So have a great weekend!

--Jess

P.S.

Actually, all of you guys are awesome!

Really Late Awards!

I just realized that I've got three awards that were awarded to me quite a while ago! I knew I was behind but so behind I couldn't write a quick post for awards? Ahh! This isn't so good!


As you know, I've already gotten the Versatile Blog Award a few times. So instead of enlightening you with seven more facts about me, I've decided to just be lazy, I'll make it easier for me everyone. Here's a link to my old post if you're really dying to know.


The rules for passing on the Versatile Blog Award (and I'm also passing on the One Lovely Blog award with this) are:

1. Thank and link to the person who awarded you
2. Share seven random facts (which I already linked to)
3. And pass this award on to 7 recently discovered blogs

So, I'd like to thank Mel Corbett for giving me the Versatile Blog award and Sheri L. Swift for both the Versatile Blog Award and the One Lovely Blog Award. Thanks again guys (sorry it took so long to pass it on!)

Okie dokie so I'm passing on these awards together (hopefully that's okay) but you can pass them on separately or however you want.

Now, the people I'm passing these to are:

1. 1000th Monkey~ Because I loved her flash fiction piece for the First Campaigner Challenge
2. Cheri Chesley~ Over at 'From the Other Side of the Mirror'. Go check out her review of the book The Armor of Light by Karen E. Hoover.
3. Julie Fedderson~ Over at 'Gypsy In My Soul'. I loved what she had to say for Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group
4. Rayna Iyer~ Over at 'Coffee Rings Everywhere'. First of all, she's got the word 'coffee' in her blog title and I love what she has to say.
5. Jani~ Over at 'Life Debatable'. Check out her contest for figuring out what to do with about 50 fliers!
6. Griffinclaw~ Over at 'Pen and Chocolate'. Give her a nice big 'hi' and lots of support!
7. Raz Darnell~ Over at 'Raz Berries'. Read an awesome excerpt from her Journal from Peru!

And of course, I've got one final thing to pass on. Thanks to Tara Tyler I've been included in the game of Blog tag. So here's five random people that I'm tagging.

1. Anita Laydon Miller
2. Jessica Love
3. Alyssa McKendry
4. Isis Rushdan
5. Kelley

Phew! Hopefully I didn't miss any awards people gave me, and if I did, I'm really sorry! Anyway, have a great rest of the week/weekend and congrats to all the winners!

--Jess

Favorite Campaign Challenge Entries

Hey everybody! In case you didn't stop by over the weekend, I had a figure skating competition on Saturday and to tell you the truth it went pretty well! I skated my best out there (I didn't land two of my jumps though) and had lots of fun! And I got fifth place out of six, so I didn't get last! (The funny thing is, we went skating again yesterday and I was able to land my jumps fine! Oh well, I guess that's just how it goes...)


I've also been developing new story ideas, and I'm so excited! This whole thing is just so new to me! I wasn't exactly sure if I'd be ready to start another story for a while after finishing up with editing for my current one (I'm not done with that yet, don't worry). Turns out, I've been getting ideas everywhere and need to take a notebook wherever I go or I'm going to explode with too much information inside me!


Anyway, I'd like to share with you my favorite Campaign Flash Fiction entries, and make sure to 'like' them on the Campaign First Challenge if you really like their flash fiction piece! (There were so many great entries and so many that I loved, but of if I tried to make a list of all my favorites I think you guys might get bored. Congrats to everyone who participated!)

1. The Soulless over at Imagination to Publication. This one seriously creeped me out but I loved it!
2. In the Closet over at Feel of Something New. I thought this one was a little creepy too, but I liked how the feeling of the passage was different than most of the other ones I read (I guess it was the 'feel of something new'!)
3. Animate over at The Lobster Tank. I really liked the passion in this passage and I loved the sad hope that the person feels!
4. The Open Door over at Niiganab. I love rhyming poetry! I can't get enough of it! I thought this was a very great poem for the challenge!
5. The War over at Jessica Love Writes. This one reminded me of Middle School (LOL) and it made me laugh.

Hope you enjoy!

--Jess

Campaign and Awards!

I have been having so much fun these past few weeks! I've been able to edit quite a bit of my novel and have actually found some time in my day to read! I've been playing my violin more often and all of those blogfests were awesome! I'm also signing up for the blogging Campaign over at Rachel Harrie's site! Signup closes on the 31st, so be sure to go over there to meet new blogger friends!

Also, I have been awarded by Laila Knight these two awesome blog awards:

They both came from Laila Knight over at the Untroubled Kingdom of Laila Knight! Go stop by her awesome blog and give her a nice 'hi'. Thanks so much Laila!


I should probably pass these on now. The rules are:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominates you
2. Share seven random facts about you
3. Pass this award to five new blogging friends
4. Contact and congratulate the awarded bloggers

Okay so seven random facts, here I go!

1. I love Japanese food. I'm like, obsessed with it. (I wonder if it's because I'm a quarter Japanese...) My least favorite food is fried onions. I can eat plain ones, as long as they're not cooked in any way!
2. I am a very artistic person. I love to write (duh), paint, draw and play violin. By the way, I love any kind of music. (All of the kids at my old school thought I was crazy because I actually liked Opera.) It really just depends on the song for me.
3. I'm TERRIBLE at writing romantic scenes. And they're not even kind of good, they are actually terrible! It's really funny :D
4. I used to like a guy in 6th and 7th grade and ever since then I decided that I would wait until college before ever having to go through that again. (That's probably why my romantic scenes are so bad!)
5. I don't really follow any particular religion. I just choose the good things from each one and that works pretty well for me. (As long as you're a nice person it shouldn't matter too  much right?)
6. I love dreaming! I don't care if the dreams are scary or fun... as long as I'm dreaming! More than once have I found inspiration for my stories and poems in my sleep!
7. I'm in love with science. I want to be an astrophysicist when I grow up (as well as a writer of course!) but any kind of science I think is awesome!

The five people I'm giving this award to are:

1. Anna Saikin at http://annasaikin.blogspot.com
2. Teralyn Rose at http://teralynpilgrim.blogspot.com/
3. Ellie Garrett at http://elliegarratt.blogspot.com/
4. Isis Rushdan at http://isisrushdan.blogspot.com
5. Alyssa McKendry at http://lifeisgood-forever21.blogspot.com

So go check out those awesome blogs! Hope you enjoy :)

--Jess