H & I are for…

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

So I missed posting on Saturday, and now I'm late posting for today, so here go H and I together today.

H is for…

Draco Haidryn

Where and when I was born matters little. I'm a self made man, and I'm rich as hell. And I'm probably the closest to royalty you'll ever get. Have you noticed my confidence? Good. It's my best quality. I'm trusted with incredibly top secret information as well. I know my ways in the Imperial Alliance. You want to know more about me? Come inside my mansion and we can talk.

***

If you couldn't tell, Draco Haidryn is a pretty boring person, and he's really just all about money and sex. Yeah, super boring. Now on to the next one.

I is for…

The Imperial Alliance

The Imperial Alliance is the most powerful nation thus far in the history of mankind (and a few other species of humanoid too). It rose from the ashes of The Great Stellar Wars, and the Emperors, past and present, lead the nation. When the nation was founded, monarchy and democracy were bound together, giving rise to the leadership of the Emperor, with suggestions from the senate.

Alliance rule is strict, and those who oppose the ideals of the Emperor tend to disappear. It is for the safety of civilization, to prevent a war as horrific as the Stellar Wars from ever happening again. The Alliance does all it can for the people. The people are assigned jobs according to genetic makeup and personality. A lucky few children can enter Gifted Schools to create a better future for the Alliance and humanity in general.

***

Sorry for being so late today, and having to post H and I together! You can definitely say I put this together last minute, so forgive me lovelies.

Dont' forget to check out other A to Z Participants here, and my new blog My Unofficial Guide To Everything, where tomorrow I will be posting about ways to channel or reduce anxiety and stress.

Have a wonderful rest of the day everyone!

–Jess

I need your opinion...

So, what do you think about pennames?

My mom thinks they're silly, but I'm still undecided.

Of course, it has it's obvious ups and downs.

Ups:
It would give me a chance to come up with something really cool to 'name' myself.  I mean, how many times does a person get to choose their own name?

If I had one, my name would have to have a nice ring to it... like Jessica Kay or something.  That way it's still sorta my name.

And, it would totally make me feel like a spy, or an undercover agent.  It's like you can be two different people!  The nerd with glasses (lol, yes, I really do have glasses), until you take them off and become..........

The superwriter!!!!!!!

Downs:
No one would know who you are.  I mean, if you're buying food at a store and my name comes up as Jessica McKendry when my penname is Jessica Kay, that's no big dealio.  Because no one knows who Jessica McKendry is.

The thing is... I'm not even done editing yet.  I'm not a published author, moreover a well-known one.  So... why exactly am I worrying about this?

Uh because... I have nothing better to do.


What do you guys think?  Do you use a penname?  Do you think it's silly to use a penname?  Or is it weird for me to be thinking about this at all?


Happy Monday!

--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