Genre Favorites Blogfest and KOMF #7 Winners!

Okay, I wasn't going to participate in this, but... I decided to anyway :)

The rules are:

List your favorite genre of:

Movie

Music

Book

And guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!

Favorite Movie Genre: Sci-Fi

Fell in love with Star Wars when I was five, and haven't gotten over it since! It made me dream and wonder about space, the vastness of the universe, and exploring other worlds. I mean, really. How much more awesome does it get?

Favorite Music Genre: Rock

Four years ago, when I was in 6th grade, I came across a video on youtube of people skiing. Over the sound of the video was a song called Bring Me to Life by Evanescence, and I just loved it. I've expanded to Red, Within Temptation, Nightwish, Krypteria and Epica ever since then! The above song is one of my favorites :)

Favorite Book Genre: Dystopian/Sci-Fi

The Hunger Games really introduced me to Dystopian. I really love the concept of imperfect worlds opposed to perfect ones. (Although, what world is really perfect?) Of course, Star Wars had already introduced me to Sci-Fi, and I read a lot of Star Wars books.

Guilty Pleasure Genre: Comedy

No comedy movies are coming to mind at the moment, but I like watching shows like Gilligans Island. Mostly because they're not very thought provoking and I can write while I watch. And my brother loves that show, so everyone's happy :)

***

For those who participated in this month's Knights of MicroFiction, the winners are:

T.Z. Wallace and Sally Scribbles!

Kathy and I will be contacting the winners as soon as possible! Thanks for participating!

Happy Monday!

--Jess

Dark Night of the Soul

Dear followers,

If you like to listen to music while you write, this one is BEAUTIFUL. It's all piano and no words, and since I didn't really know what else to post today, I thought I'd share it.

Hope you enjoy!

Have a great day!

--Jess

Mozart Under the Stars

First, some news.

I just cut out ten thousand words.

Like, I needed absolutely none of it.  I can't believe I actually wrote it all in the first place!  Besides making almost no sense at all, it was just plain embarrassing to read.  Sometimes I look at my writing and think to myself, "I actually wrote that!?"

So yeah, I'm feeling a little stunned.  I mean, it's not everyday you find ten thousand useless words.

Anyway, I had an awesome weekend!  We went to this amazing concert where we got to sit outside and have a picnic while we listened to the orchestra play Mozart songs.  It was absolutely beautiful!

Me and my siblings :)  Don't worry we're drinking ginger beer.

Concert playing at night.

The theater

We had a really great time, and it was so cool because when it got dark and we looked up at the sky, we could see all these stars and even caught a glimpse of what we thought was a satellite!

What'd you guys do over the weekend?

Happy Monday!

--Jess

Cheesiness, Nerves and Violins

Deep breath.

Double check strings.

Still in tune.

Another deep breath.

Stay calm.

I press my fingers into the wood, reviewing the notes, waiting for the moment.  The moment the piano will cue me in.

It starts before I'm ready, but then, it always does.  My bow falls lightly to the string.

A soft, milky sound echoes through the cavernous living room, reverberating off the glass chandelier.  Gentle whispers of previous notes fill the pauses.  Like ghosts.

Ahem.  Er, let's just skip the cheesy details and get on with this, shall we?

Anyway, I had an informal violin concert last Friday night at my grandparents house!  I haven't played at a concert for a year or two now, so it really did me good.

I won't deny it.  I was nervous.

Unlike in skating, getting nervous while playing violin has bad effects on me.  Like, my hands shake a little. And a little would normally be okay, but, seeing that my hands need to be precisely on the right note to play it right... well... it doesn't sound as good.

Anyway, enough talk.  My mom videoed the concert and I decided to share it with you.  I play it a little too fast, and I hit some wrong notes, but overall, I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.

(Excuse my grandma for saying "let's do a retake" at the end please...) So here's me playing:

And, I think you guys have the right to hear it the way it's supposed to be played, so in case you have enough time, here's Sarah Chang playing it:

Have a great weekend :)

--Jess

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

Y is for Yearning

Y is for Yearning

I remember its every detail.  Every curve, and line in its cubic figure.

There’s no way I could forget.

Because of the longing.  Because of the hunger.

It needs to be wanted.   And once I found it, I couldn’t let it go.  For the rest of eternity, I will never be able to let it go.

***

Hm.  Well, I couldn't really think of anything today, and I just wanted to try something different, lol.

Anyway, here's a song by Evanescence, called My Immortal:

Have a great weekend!

--Jess

X is for Xenophile

X is for Xenophile

I'm not entirely sure if this is a word, since my spellchecker says it's spelled wrong.  But the definition on google says:

xen·o·phile/ˈzenəˌfīl/

Noun:

An individual who is attracted to foreign peoples, manners, or cultures.

I know I've been writing a flash fic for each day, but I have no idea what I could possibly write for Xenophile.  The only other X words that came into mind were:  Xenophobic, which is the fear of foreigners or foreign things, and Xiphias, which is the genus of the swordfish.

It was either that or Xylophone.


So if you don't mind, I'll just awkwardly creep around this letter and pretend that this post was in some way a 'success'.

Okay, and here's a cool song called Palladio, played by Escala:

Let me just say, this song is awesome to write to.  Especially to really dramatic scenes.

So there you go!!


Anyone else having trouble finding an X word?

Have an X-citing day!

--Jess


P.S.


I'm not sure how much an individual has to be attracted to foreign things to actually be considered a Xenophile, but I'd like to think that I'm somewhere in there. 

W is for Wishful

W is for Wishful

Stars rise over the horizon, trailed silently by the moon.

Despite the darkness, only light courses through my veins.  They’re coming for me.  They haven’t given up.  Not yet.

And as long as they are searching, I’ll never give up hope.

***

Okay, and here's a song that I thought sounded wishful, called, Full Circle by Loreena McKennit:

Guys, I can't believe that today is already 'W'.  We only have three more days of the A-Z Challenge!  Isn't that a little sad?  It feels like it started only a few days ago.  Sheesh! Time really flies.

Have a Whimsically Wonderful day!

--Jess

V is for Vivacious

V is for Vivacious

“Let’s go outside.”

“Um, right now?” she asks.

“Yes, right now, I have something to show you!”  I cry, excitedly.  “But you’ve got to hurry.”

She sighs.  “Can’t I see it some other time?”

“No, you have to come now or it will go away.”

“What is it?”

I smile.  She isn’t going to believe this.

***

The entire passage isn't 'Vivacious,' but the MC sort of is, so I think that might count.  And here's the song...  Ignorance by Paramore:

Maybe this isn't quite Vivacious in the 'happy' way, but I like Paramore, and this song is pretty lively.  The weird thing is, this song always reminds me of the book A Tale of Two Cities, which I  read last year in school.  It's not the lyrics that go with the story or anything, but I just used to listen to this song a lot during the time I was reading the book.

Speaking of Vivacious, I'm really excited and feeling lively today because I think I finally came up with a good title to replace The Trials.

It was last night, and I was just lying down, peacefully editing away, when all of a sudden...  it hit me.

Revelation moment.

Time seemed to slow.  My eyes widened in amazement because I was so caught off guard that I simply couldn't hide how impressed I was with myself!

The next thing I knew, I had my Google Talk screen up and (too lazy to take out my headphones and use my voice to explain) my fingers were stomping on the keyboard, giving away every little detail to my mom.  It was too good to just keep to myself!

Anyway, I wish I could reveal the full idea to you guys, it would give away too much of the story.

But!

I now call my story: The Phoenix Blade

Or, something along those lines.  Maybe that's not the official title yet, but just for the time being, it works :)

Now, the few of you who've beta read my book might be thinking, umm... what does that have anything to do with the story?

Well, it's meant to be a title that you aren't quite sure of the meaning for the first few chapters, but I'm also planning on adding stuff which will (hopefully) benefit the story and help the title make sense.

Have you guys ever had that 'revelation' moment?  Where you get an idea that's just too good to keep to yourself?  (Or one that seems good and then in a few days sounds.... not so great?)

Have a... um... Victorious (?) day!

--Jess

T is for Tense

T is for Tense

It’s like a rope.

One that’s pulled so tightly, that it feels hard as steel.  Sometimes it’s loose.  But most of the time, it remains tight.  Oh, so tight around me.  Suffocating me.

My fingers tingle with anxiety.  Awaiting my moment.  The moment I that I can break free.

Deep breaths.

I can do this.

***

Here's the song Let Me Fall by Josh Groban:

I'm not sure if that really fits the mood, but I've been listening to it all morning.

We all know that feeling.  The feeling of tension.  We need it for our stories.  Without tension, everything would be kinda boring, wouldn't it?

In real life, tension can be stressful.  Whether it's tension between you and a friend, between two countries, or between you and a Sith Lord trying to destroy the galaxy (that last one only applies to a few of us...), our lives are full of tension.

Yet, as I mentioned, tension in real life can be stressful.  It can make people frustrated or angry.  It can motivate them too, depending on the kind of tension it is.

I have to say, I don't think I have a lot of tension in my life.  Which is a good and a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.  The tension I have mostly comes from the inner conflicts with myself and the tension I feel while writing a story.

And then, there's also tension between me, my brother and sister.  (We're usually pretty good around each other, but we have our moments...)  If you have siblings, I think you'll understand.

But without tension, life get's a little dull, too.

Just think.

A world where nothing really went wrong... A world where there's nothing left to fix and everything is find and dandy all the time.  It gets old.  Boring.

So, um... I'm not sure what my actual point was when I started this post, other than what you already know: tension is good for stories!

Now, since I can't think of a good conclusion to this post, I'm just going to end it.

Have a Thoughtful (?) 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.

R is for Revenge

R is for Revenge

Remorse.

Burning rage in my soul.

They took her from me.  I let the enemy take her from my arms.  If I had fought harder, maybe I could have saved her.  But this was not my decision to make.

These prison bars are strong, but they don’t imprison my hate.

And when I am free, they all shall feel my wrath.

***

Okay, so this little flash fic/poem thing was written from one of my characters POV in my sequel.  She's a really fun character to write... not because she's funny (quite the opposite, actually).  But it's more because she's so passionate.  Her daughter was taken away before she was imprisoned by the enemy, and she's determined to escape and then, well, pretty much destroy them.

Now, for the music and a few random things after.  This is In The Middle of the Night by my personal fav, Within Temptation:

Um... I'm not entirely sure what that picture is about, but this clip had the best sound quality out of all the other ones. So just ignore it and enjoy the music.

I'd like to apologize for posting so late today.  Fridays are our crazy days.  Not that the rest aren't crazy.  It's just that, out of all the others, Fridays are at the top.  It's our big skating day.

Speaking of skating, go check out my sister Alyssa's blog, Life is Good. Her whole A-Z theme is skating, and she's also competing in a big competition tomorrow, so wish her luck!

And if you want to know the crazy thing that happened to me yesterday, check this out. Actually, it happened more to my mom than it did to me, but still.  I would post about it, but I try not to be too repetitive-- I already do that enough in my novels!

Hope you guys have a Relaxing rest of the day (or evening, or morning, depending on where you live.)

--Jess

Q is for Quiet

Q is for Quiet

Whispers, echo in the darkness.

I’ve never seen the owners of the voices. They don’t show themselves. Not to me, anyway.

To me, they are ghosts. And even if they aren’t, the effect is the same. They torment me, and haunt my soul.

Yet they are only whispers.

And I won’t let them destroy me.

***

Wow. Q words are hard to come across!!

Now, here's a song I like called Whispers in the Dark by Skillet:

Not a very quiet song, I know. But hey, I still like it! Hope you guys enjoy.

Click here to see more A to Zers!

Have a Quintessential day!

--Jess

P is for Procrastination

P is for Procrastination

The friend you wish you never had.

That friend that comes around when it shouldn’t, causing trouble for everyone. When it’s with me, I don’t really mind. But afterword, I wish it had left me alone. Because it just leaves more work for me.

I know this friend well.

A little too well.

***

That pretty much sums up my ol' pal, Procrastination. We go waaay back, it and I. Usually, it comes by when I should be doing homework, or playing my violin or unloading the dishwasher. But today, it came to me when I should have been writing this blog post at 7:30 in the morning.

I had no idea what to write about. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to come up with anything. There were a lot of good emotions/traits that started with P. For example:

Peaceful, Playful, Petrified, Proud, Pure,Powerful, Pained, Placid, or even Pessimistic.

but I didn't feel like using any of them.

I thought that maybe (with the encouragement of my unbelievably annoying friend mentioned above) if I just waited, something would come to me. But of course, nothing did.

Big surprise, right?

And finally, I realized that I had to stop Procrastinating and get this blog post done. And then it hit me, the lovely word Procrastination popped into my head, and I realized that it was a good word to use for today!

Now, there aren't many songs about Procrastinating. And if there are, I'm not sure I've heard one of those. But, there are songs that get me out of a Procrastinating mood.

Here's Bittersweet by Within Temptation:

Sorry, I couldn't find a video with just the album cover. Just try to listen to the song before you read the lyrics, because sometimes the lyrics distract me from the melody. (Maybe it's totally different with you, but just a suggestion, lol.)

Finally, I'd just like to say that yesterday I officially finished the first draft of my sequel!! I always print out my first drafts so that I have a hard copy of each one. I'm not kidding, I used up an entire stack of paper from the store. My mom bought it just for me, because she knew I was going to use it all.

Luckily, it's bamboo paper or something, so it's supposed to be more green. I just printed out the last page, which brings book two to a grand total of approximately 112,000 words and 418 pages!!

Have a Perfect day!

--Jess

O is for Oppressed

O is for Oppressed

We’re outnumbered and broken.

We lie in wait, for the day that we will be free. Saved from this hell that they call our country. Yet, it doesn’t belong to us.

We all know that if we stood up to them, we might be let go.

But no one’s brave enough to do it.

Not yet.

***

Wow, this A-Z Challenge is a lot harder than it sounded when I signed up. Luckily, I love challenges most of the time.

Also, here's a really random word I found:

otorhinolaryngology/ˌōtōˌrīnōˌlarəNGˈgäləjē/

Noun:

The study of diseases of the ear, nose, and throat.

Yeah, try pronouncing that within the next ten minutes! I had to look it up on google and then click the 'pronounce' button to figure it out! It's crazy!

Okay, here's the song Faceless by Red:

I'm not really sure if it goes with the Oppressed theme, but I couldn't really find anything else. And, I love this song. When I'm writing fight scenes, this is one of the songs I use :)

I know I asked this question a while ago, but that was when I had like, 20 followers. So, I'll ask again.

Do you guys listen to music while you write? If so, what do you listen to?

Have an Over-joyous (Is that even a word?) day!

--Jess

N is for Numb

N is for Numb

My fingertips prickle with sensation. But that’s all.

Here, it’s easy to lose feeling. Acting on them could get us killed. It’s a defense mechanism, really. Without it, I don’t think I’d be alive.

I wonder what would have happened had I tried to stop them from taking him.

Would I still be so cold?

***

And here's the song Numb by Linkin Park, which is also on my writing playlist:

And, I just thought I should share the news.

a) I hit exactly 100,000 words on April 14th! My goal was to have that word count by the 15th, so I'm like dying with excitement about that!

b) I haven't actually finished the story yet. I've got about two chapters to go, I think, if my estimation is correct.

Now, there are two people I need to thank.

First of all, my mom for letting me sit around on the couch all weekend to get there. And because she got me Scrivener. Ever since I got it, I've been hammering out three thousand words a day without much problem. A few times I've hit eleven thousand. In a day. It's simply awesome. No other way to put it.

And last, but definitely not least, I have to thank T. Z. Wallace for making the suggestion for me to get it.

Thanks so much, everyone!

Now, have a Nonchalant(?) day!

 --Jess

M is for Mysterious...

M is for Mysterious

Purple fog swirls before me. Dewdrops sparkle on the misty trees, like pearls of light.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“We’re home,” she replies.

Mountains circle the valley, keeping all outsiders out. And all insiders in. I asked her to bring me here, but now I’m not so sure.

“Is it safe?”

She smiles. “That depends.”

***

Do you think that was mysterious enough?

Okay. Now a song. I couldn't find the real music video for this, but I still really liked the song. This is Lion by Rebecca St. James:

I thought it sounded mysterious....

You wanna know who else is mysterious?

Can you name him?*

Have a Marvelous day!

--Jess

K is for Knightly

K is for Knightly

It is not fire that puts out fire.

Only water can do that.

You can’t be cold to those who are cold.

Only warmth will melt the ice.

It is not war that ends a war.

Only love can be your savior.

You shan’t receive if you do not give,

Only you can release your soul.

***

If you're wondering what that little flash fic/poem has to do with the word Knightly, I mean it in the 'brave' sense of the word. Like, brave and chivalrous. And sometimes it takes courage to end a war or be kind and giving.

Oh, I also found this really interesting K word.

Definition for kleptomaniac:

Web definitions:

someone with an irrational urge to steal in the absence of an economic motive.

I just thought that was weird!

Once again, I was having a really hard time finding a song that fit the theme, so, I might have stretched my own rules a little today.

But, the word Knightly made me think of knights and for some reason, this song reminds me of knights and fighting and all that sort of thing.

Played by an electric string quartet, I present the song Requiem for a Tower played by Escala.

Have a Kooky day!

--Jess

J is for Joy

J is for Joy

The stars are singing.

It’s a song too quiet to hear, but just knowing makes a difference. The sun shines through the clouds. I can’t see it, but I feel the rays on my skin.

Raindrops fall, like seeds of hope.

And I smile.

For the first time, I know that everything will be okay.

***

I'm sorry, guys. I just have a really hard time writing, well... happy things. I guess that's why the end of books are the hardest for me to write. Luckily book 1 of The Trials is only book 1 so it didn't have to end that happy.

Anyway, I'm really joyful today because yesterday, I hit 85,000 words in book 2, currently titled Light of the Dark! So yeah, I'm really really excited!! Maybe it's because it's a sequel, but writing this book has been a lot easier than writing book 1. It took me 10 months to write the first one. (I'm talking first draft.)

I started this book in November. (November!) And six months later, I'm almost done. That's like a four month improvement!

Now, as for the song. I don't usually listen to Jordin Sparks. I really only listen to European music. People like Within Temptation, Epica, Krypteria, After Forever... you know.

But.

I really like this song. Mostly because it sort of reminds me of writing. I guess it could be for anything, really, but it means more to me because that's what it reminded me of. So, give it up for One Step At A Time by Jordin Sparks.

Because, writing can be frustrating sometimes. But we've got to keep pushing on, even if we're not exactly sure where we're going.

Have a Joyful day! And happy writing!!

--Jess

P.S.

My sister's middle name is Joy, so go check out her blog. She's also participating in the A to Z Challenge!

I is for Ignorance

I is for Ignorance

The root of pain and suffering.

Born from the lack of knowledge and truth.

It’s a choice that we all must make; to be ignorant or to see behind the lies. Lies that we’ve set ourselves up to believe.

Many will choose ignorance. Because it’s easier.

Simpler.

But ignorance is the seed of all evil.

***

Here's another song I love to write to. And if you look up the lyrics, I think it's sorta kinda about ignorance. It's called See Who I Am by Within Temptation:

Have an Interesting day!

--Jess