KOMF Prompt and Support

It's the 13th of the month, so guess what that means...

It's time for Kathy and I to reveal the Knights of MicroFiction prompt.  The KOMF is a bloghop hosted by Kathy and me on the 15th of every month.  We came up with it as a way to meet new friends, help build the blogosphere, and (hopefully) spark your creativity.

To join in on the fun, just post your entry before 11:59 p.m. on the 15th and leave a comment on one of our blogs with a link to your post.  Then go check out as many entries as you can!  By the 17th, we will choose two winners to be featured on our blogs.

So, here's the lovely prompt:

Write a 200 word or less flash fiction beginning with this phrase: Her eyes shot open...
You are free to change the gender and POV if you'd like.


Have fun!  I can't wait to see what you come up with :)

On another note, please check out these other lovely/awesome blogs if you haven't already:

Kate the Novelist

Matt's Writing Lair

Fairbetty's World

Doctor Faerie Godmother

They all have under 100 followers, and I'd really like it if you showed them some support.  I'd love to help anyone with under 100, so if that's you, feel free to send me an email if you want me to mention you/your-blog in a post.

Anyway, have a wonderful 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

E is for Elation

E is for Elation

The sun is rising.

The night has finally passed and the skies grow brighter with every heartbeat. There’s a sense of freedom in my soul. Coursing through my blood to the rhythm of the universe.

And I feel like I can do anything.

Excitement surges through the air.

The world is in my hands.

***

Hmm... okay. Definitely not one of my best, but I'm anxious to get back to writing my ol' sequel.

Anyway, I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to my 300th follower, Susan Kane over at The Contemplative Cat.

Thanks so much, Susan! I am truly ELATED to have hit 300 within the first (*counts on fingers...*) nine months of this blog!

Of course, I couldn't have made it this far without the rest of you! Thanks to all of you! You guys are awesome :)

Okay! Now, as promised, here's the song.... Good Life by OneRepublic!

Have an Excellent day!

--Jess

Last Day of November

Well, today is the final day of November. No, I didn't meet my goal for NaNoWriMo of 50,000 words. But hey, who can say I didn't try? I'm at thirty three thousand something words, so there's no way I can turn back now.


Anyway, I'd like to let you know that my editing has suddenly taken a HUGE leap forward! I'm hoping to be done with my second and third drafts by December 10th, and will be hopefully be asking for beta readers soon after! I'm really excited!! That also means I'll have less time do other stuff, but I'm really close to being ready to query, so I've got a ton of work to do!


Also, I've got some fun news! I'm interviewing Author S.R. Johannes (aka Shelli) on Friday! I've never done an interview before, so this is pretty exciting! Her book Untraceable just came out yesterday so go give her a big 'Congratulations' at her blog! Here's a summary of her book:

16 year old Grace was reared in the wilderness. Her first pet was a bear named Simon. Her first potty, an oak tree. And, her first swing, a forest vine. Grace has lived in the Smokies her whole life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her everything he knew about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival. But when Grace's dad goes missing on a routine patrol, unlike everyone in her sleepy mountain town, she refuses to believe he’s dead. When a Cheetos bag and stolen government file materialize, Grace is convinced she’s one step closer to proving all the non-believers wrong.

Then one day while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from imminent danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent, that’s definitely not from her neck of the woods, and a secret. Grace has never felt a connection like this before, certainly not with her ex-boyfriend, the adoring, but decidedly unrugged Wyn. 

Now with renewed confidence, Grace travels deeper into the wilderness that has always been her refuge only to learn that her father's disappearance is not a mere coincidence. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kickass heroine to emerge from an epidemic that’s spreading like wild fire, threatening everything and everyone she’s ever loved.

I'd also like to thank Fairbetty for her awesome support throughout all of NaNoWriMo! She visited my blog and commented every day I posted in November, so thanks Fairbetty! You can visit her blog here at Fairbetty's World.


Finally, today is my official inauguration back into the blogging world! Despite my huge amount of editing I have ahead of me, I am back and looking forward to reading everyone's posts! November has been an awesome month! I just can't believe it's almost December. This year has gone by so fast!


Any new exciting news? Plans for December? (Hope to see you on Friday :) )


--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

Library Fun

Hey! Sorry I'm posting a little later than usual today. Me and my mom were editing all morning and having all kinds of fun with that.


Now, I don't know about you guys, but when I was in the drafting stage of my novel, I really didn't have time for anything else. (Well, that's if I wanted to get any writing done.) Unfortunately, that meant using up my precious reading time at night to write instead. In fact, I think I only read two books over the entire summer! Whenever we'd pull up to the library, I never went in, knowing that even if I picked out a book, I wouldn't be able to finish it.


That has changed. Ever since I finished my first draft, I have had more free time (not a lot more, but still, more)! So anyway, when me and my family went to the library over the weekend, I decided, 'hey, why not? I'm not drafting anymore, I can spend the time to read a book.' When I walked in and looked at all the books, a strange realization hit me: all of them were written by other people!


Now, wait just a second. I knew that all of the books were written by people before (no I'm not that clueless!), but it never really hit me! Now that I know how hard all of those people had to work to just get the first draft out of their heads, it all meant so much more! To think that they had to deal with the same things I did was amazing and exciting! That was probably the best experience I've ever had at a library!


Of course, I've got all of you guys to look up to and learn from, but realizing that there are that many people out there on the same journey that the rest of us are... it was unbelievable!


And who ever thought I could have that much fun?


--Jess