Z is for Zestful

Z is for Zestful

“So, now what?” he asks.

I shake my head.  “There’s another challenge coming up.  Not quite like the last one, but still.”

“How do you think we did?”

I laugh.  “We survived.  That’s about all I’m concerned with.”

He lightly pushes me away.  “Come on.  We did better than that.”

“Fine,” I smile.  “We won.”

***

Since this is the last letter of the Alphabet and the last day of the A to Z Challenge, I'll play the song that's last on my playlist.  Well, actually it's not last, but it's the second to last song.

Here's Abraham's Daughter by Arcade Fire:

Yes, that is the last song played for The Hunger Games credits.  But, I love it.

I still can't believe I made it this far without missing a single day.  A few times I was sure I was going to forget to post or miss a day and get behind, but thankfully, those situations were avoided.  (I'll admit that a few of the days I posted really late, though...)

To all my new Jedi Followers:  Thanks so much for following!  I'll get to following back as soon as I can :)

Now, maybe I never got behind as far as posting goes, but everything else is a mess.  There have been only a few blogs I've made time to check had time to check over the last few weeks, and I feel pretty bad about that.

Just don't get sad because I haven't checked your blog in a while.  I'M NOT IGNORING YOU!  I PROMISE!  I'll make it back to you, okay?  Okay, good.  Glad we got that out of the way!

ANYWAY.

I'm feeling a complete mixture of victory and exhaustion right now.  It will be so nice going back to posting MWF again.  What used to take a ton of work will now seem like a piece of cake!!

How are you guys feeling on this last day of the challenge?

Have a Zany day!!

--Jess

S is for Sleepy

S is for Sleepy

The soft sunlight shrinks over the western horizon.

Cool darkness approaches from the east.

My eyelids flicker closed, but I open them just as fast. I can’t afford to fall asleep right now. Not with the rest of them out there. Waiting for me.

Stars poke their heads out of the sheet of black in the sky. Watching me.

A few minutes couldn’t hurt.

I close my eyes, and let myself fall asleep.

***

I'm really tired today. I've stayed up too late for the past three nights, and it's really getting to me. I woke up at 10:30 this morning and I'm still exhausted!

Okay, and here's a song called Hello by Evanescence:

I think it sounds a little sleepy, don't you?

Okay, now onto some random stuff.

Lately, I've been having so much trouble finding a title for my MS. It's been called The Trials for quite a while now, but it's really only been a working title and nothing more. I've seen so many books with great titles. Titles that really fit the story, and titles that draw people in. And, The Trials just isn't working for me.

So, I got to thinking. How do authors come up with the name of their books?

Well, they call it what their book is about. Like, The Hunger Games.

That was one of the titles that really drew me in. When I saw that title in the bookstore, I had to know what it was about.

For me, it's pretty easy to understand why the title The Hunger Games was chosen for the book. a) Katniss is in The Hunger Games for the majority of the story. b) It makes people curious, like it did to me.

There was another one I read called So B. It by Sarah Weeks. It was about this girl who's mom had disabilities and she could only say a few words. Her mother called herself So B. It and the MC wanted to find out who her father was. I read it so long ago, I don't remember all the details, but the title made me unable to forget the basics of the story.

Unfortunately, all of this analyzing didn't do me much good. I still haven't found a good title, yet. It's been bugging me so much that I even dreamed about searching for a title last night. Not kidding.

So, how do you guys find a title for your MS? Do you have as much trouble as I do?

Have a Superb weekend!!

--Jess

P.S.

Star Wars starts with S :)

And I'm mentioned on THIS blog today :)

Go check them out.

Yep. It's Finally Here.

Guys.........................................................

As of today, The Hunger Games movie is OUT.

I probably won't be able to see it today, but I'm super excited! For those of you who do go to see it, have fun and enjoy!

As far as writing/editing goes, I guess I'm doing pretty well. My CP's are giving me great advice and if all goes to plan (which it usually doesn't....) I'd kind of like to have my book out before I turn 16. Of course, by telling you my goal, I probably just jinxed it... we'll have to see.

It's an ambitious goal, I know. But when something seems hard or nearly impossible, if I'm focused and intent on doing it, I usually find a way to work things out.

Anyway, I'm going to be busy this weekend. I haven't had much time for bloghopping lately. Been working hard to keep up in my school and get lots of writing done. Blogging takes up a big chunk of my day, and I've been struggling to post every MWF. But I promise I'll visit more of you over spring break!

Have a great weekend, everyone :)

--Jess

Sparkfest Day 4: World Views

Today is the second to last day of Sparkfest! Thanks so much, Christine Tyler! I have been having so much fun with this!
The third question is:


Is there a book or author that changed your world view?


There are so many amazing books I've read, it would be hard not to give credit to only one. But of course, that isn't the question. And if I had to choose one book, only one, I would have to say it goes to The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom. (Click on the link to read the summary of the story).


I read this book when I was eight years old. It was the book that helped me transition from little chapter books to the ones I read today. I'm not exactly sure if I understood everything I was reading at the time, but it changed me.


It may not have had such a big effect as Star Wars or The Hunger Games had on me, (I couldn't have written another post about those two!) but it is a story that will stay with me forever.


And then there's my story. It's strange to think that something I write could affect people all over the country (if it actually turns out to be good, that is). Could someone possibly stumble across my writing one day, then be changed for the rest of their lives?


Was there a book or author that changed your world view?


--Jess

Sparkfest W.I.P. Inspiration

The second question in the Sparkfest is:


What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work In Progress?


Let's see. I started my novel last November (not exactly knowing what I was getting myself into) when I was a little bored doing school work. I pulled up a Google Docs (I don't have the current Microsoft Word on my computer) document and began typing.

(Source)

I didn't exactly have a plan right then, mostly because I had no idea that it would turn into a full scale YA novel! So I'm not sure what inspired that. The more I wrote, the more I learned about the story and the characters (which is also why the beginning of the story is terrible!), and only then did I find inspiration.


First there was The Hunger Games. We all know that there will never be another Hunger Games. How can another story be like the Hunger Games without the reader going 'hey this is too much like the Hunger Games'? Don't worry though, it's not like the Hunger Games. (It has a few aspects of it though.)

(Source)

Second, there was Star Wars. (I give waaaay too much credit to that darn story, don't I?) The futuristic setting in Star Wars was a pretty good inspiration for where my story was to evolve. Who doesn't get inspired by a place where people can move things with their minds?


And then of course there are the random snippets of inspiration that people get without warning. I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I even got inspiration from the online game called Poptropica. In fact, that might have been my first inspiration for the actual story! It didn't have a huge influence on me but there was enough to make the story what it is right now. Another big inspiration was Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I found inspiration in that after I had the story pretty much down. And how could I forget Ice Skating? Maybe it wasn't a big inspiration, but strangely enough, I managed to mix the Hunger Games aspect with the skating aspect of it all. Come to think of it, I have no idea how those two came together.


Anyway, those are my inspirations!


What inspired your current W.I.P.?


--Jess