GUTGAA Meet and Greet! (better late than never :)

Today is the long awaited start of GUTGAA, (Gearing Up To Get An Agent blogfest) hosted by Dena Barnhart! If you'd like to know more or sign up, click on the link to her blog!

Alrighty, here I go.

Short bio:

I'm 15 years old, and am the oldest my two siblings. I've lived in 7 different states and moved a grand total of 15 times! I love to travel, read, and listen to any music by Evanescence, Within Temptation or Red.

I've been writing ever since I could hold a pen. There's nothing as rewarding, frustrating, and fun in this world than being able to write. The ability to create worlds, and people that come to life with the stroke of a pen or tap of a computer key is utter magic.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

Well... I'm in California at the moment (hence the lateness in my posting this), so I can't do that. But the first thing I'd see is probably my notepad. Even though I type everything on my computer, I keep my notepad updated in case I need to write something down when I can't use my laptop.

Favorite time to write?

Definitely the morning. I'm really not a morning person, but I've sorta forced myself to be. It's the quietest time of day.

Drink of choice while writing?

Coffee or hot chocolate or tea! Any of those work :)

When writing, do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

Definitely music! Sometimes I'm forced to write without my headphones in, but there's never really complete silence in my house. So I prefer music to noise :)

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

It was definitely a mix of things, but it first came to me while I was playing the free online game called Poptropica. In the game, there are all these 'islands' that have... problems. And your character has to go around and make things right.

The second wind of inspiration came to me while reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and then reading 1984 by George Orwell.

The third, and probably most important parts came as a mix between a level in the video game called Little Big Planet and reading the book Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams.

In the video game, your character has to find all these magic crystals located in various places. Then, you had to go shine light through the crystals to defeat an evil dragon-like thing that was wrecking havoc on the nearby towns.

In the book Fatal Alliance (a Star Wars book), the Sith and the Jedi are forced to work together to defeat a greater enemy. The book is written from 3rd person POV, so you really get to see sides of both Light and Dark that we're not used to seeing.

That book was probably my biggest inspiration.

What's your most valuable writing tip?

Never give up.

That phrase is cliche and definitely overused, but it's 100% true. To be a great writer, you can't let anything stand in your way.

Thanks!!

--Jess

Things I Fear

I have the weirdest irrational fears.

Well, I guess they're not all irrational.  But I feel like they are.

For instance: I'm scared of being completely alone.

Like last week, my mom and two siblings all went to the store together and I decided to stay home so I could write.  But the kitchen started making really weird noises and the dishwasher creeped me out.  I had to turn on my music at top volume to drown out my fears.

Another example:  Grammar Tests.

I should mention (you'd know if you've beta read for me) I don't have very good grammar.  Actually, that might not be entirely true.  I can tell when a sentence is written wrong.  Like, I'd never say "Were going into the Trials today.  Its going to be difficult.  They is going to win."

Grammar that bad just makes me shiver.  Yuck.

Not to mention, those are probably just about the three most boring sentences I've ever written.

But sometimes, here and there throughout my book, as my fingers type in perfect rhythm with my train of thought, sometimes I forget an apostrophe.  Or add an extra comma.  Or add in a poorly constructed sentence so I can hurry it up and move on to the next one.

The thing in grammar that scares me the most is all those words.

Yeah.  I'm a writer.  Words should be the LEAST of my fears.

But when I come across something like this:  "Name the direct object that's modified by the first adjective that comes before the predicate nominative and the antecedent."

 I have no clue what the heck that means.

That sentence probably doesn't actually mean anything.  That's just what all the questions sound like to me.

(Yes, this is my actual grammar textbook I've been using this year.)

What are you guys afraid of?  Do you have an irrational fear of grammar?

--Jess

P.S.

For this entire post, I kept spelling 'grammar' as 'grammer'.  Yes, with an 'e'.  Maybe I should add that I have the irrational fear of spelling too?

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. 

11 Random Questions... Go!!!

Thanks Lady Gwen for tagging me in the Platform Building tag of 11 questions! Here are the questions she gave to me:

1. What is your secret weapon of choice?
Definitely a lightsaber ;)

2. If you could sit down for coffee with any historical figure, who would it be?
Hmm... that's a tough one. There's so many people to choose from!! I guess I'd have to go with the Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

3. Any "famous" figures in your ancestry? Who and what did they do?
Maybe Alexander Hamilton but we aren't sure, lol. He was the Secretary of the Treasury when the U.S. became a country.

4. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Either China or Italy.

5. What was the #1 song the day you were born?
Um, I have no idea.

6. What is your favorite genre to read and why?
Hmm, I think for me it mostly depends on the book. It's hard for me to choose any one genre! But I guess it would have to be dystopian or sci-fi.

7. Who is your favorite literary character and why?
Anakin Skywalker. In the books, not the movies. He's my favorite because he's a very deep character who struggles with the pain of losing his mother and the fear that others he loves will die. In real life this isn't such a good thing but for an author, turning your MC to 'the dark side' to save the ones they love is a pretty brave thing to do. It might destroy your character but it makes them very realistic!

8. Besides reading and writing, what is your favorite pastime or hobby?
Figure skating or playing the violin. Ooh, or Image Editing and Design. I use this free program called GIMP to create/edit pictures and that's always fun :)

9. If you could switch places with one person for 24 hours, who would it be? Why?
I was going to say the President of the U.S. but by the time my 24 hours would be up, I'm afraid the world would be destroyed. So instead, I'd like to be some neurological scientist. I guess I can't name any names (because I don't know any) but it sounds like a cool thing to be.

10. What is the area you live in most famous for?
Probably the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

11. What are the top 5 programs you watch on television?
Um... we don't have cable. We got rid of it four years ago so we'd have more time to read and do other things. But the TV shows we watch through Netflix and Apple TV are:
LOST, GLEE, THE OFFICE, 30 ROCK and last but definitely not least, STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS.

So there we go! Okay, now here are some Campaigners I'm tagging:

1. Melanie Stanford @ Daydreamer to Writer
2. Alexandra Shostak
3. Andrew @ Lost Realms
4. The Golden Eagle @ The Eagle's Aerial Perspective
5. Alyssa McKendry @ Life is Good
6. Megan @ Paws, Fangs & Smiles
7. Stephanie Allen @ My Personal Fairytale
8. Sarah F. @ Inklined
9. Jay Noel @ Writer on Fire
10. Kate @ The Scribbling SeaSerpent
11. Marcy @ Creation and Compassion

Now here are my 11 questions:

1. What's your favorite song?
2. How old were you when you started writing?
3. What's your favorite movie/book?
4. If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be? Why?
5. If you were the main character of a book, what genre would it be?
6. What is the coolest thing you've ever done?
7. If you could be a character from any book, who would you be? Why?
8. What genre do you write in?
9. What's your favorite thing to do, other than write?
10. If you could meet one historical figure, who would it be?
11. Is there anything else we should know about you?

Feel free to leave a link to your answers in the comments! Have fun :)

--Jess

Favorite Fonts

There aren't very many times that I take a moment and look back at everything I've done. It feels like only yesterday that I couldn't focus on writing at all. I was probably only nine years old. I would write parts of a story, then get distracted by the formatting of the page.


I didn't like writing in only black letters. Every five minutes, I'd change the color of the words. When I got really bored, I'd change the colors of the individual letters. Okay, big waste of time, I know, but whatever.


The funny thing is, to this very day, boredom of formatting tends to distract me. Not as much as it used to, (thank goodness) but if I'm not writing in a font I like, I can't write. Well, I can, but the writing doesn't tend to be as good.


I love the font Calibri. I wrote my novel in Calibri.


I like Trebuchet and Helvetica. I also like Arial. Only if it's small, though.


Those are fonts that are pretty easy for me to write in. Of course, there's the other side of the story.


I can't write in Times Roman. Or Times New Roman. Or Times. Those three are almost exactly the same, so I can't write in any of them. Unless I'm writing non-fiction. For some reason, if I'm writing non-fiction, like a report or something, I can use those.


I really don't like Verdana or Courier. They both remind me of what kids my age call 'the olden days' where people only had typewriters.


The funny thing is, my mom (over at Imagine Today) cannot use Calibri. She only writes in Times New Roman, which I totally don't get. It turns off my creative process. Like a brick wall or something. So far, my favorite is Calibri.


(This sentence is in the font Calibri. The next one is too.)


I think Calibri is my favorite font, mostly because it got me through an entire novel and helped me through my second one.


It seems silly, I know, but somehow it makes a difference.


Do you guys ever get distracted with formatting? Do you have a favorite font?


--Jess

Stargazing

Last night, was perfect. It wasn't all that cold outside, it was really dark out, and the skies were crystal clear. The moon was huuugggee and just beneath it, was a small point of light.


I was a little surprised when my dad got home from work and he suggested we go outside and use the telescope that I got for my birthday a few years ago. We don't use it a lot, and I was kind of in the middle of writing a super intense scene. But how could I possibly pass up looking at the moon and stars through a telescope?


So my dad, my brother (Ryan) and I all went outside. The lenses of the telescope were pretty dusty, but the sky was so clear that it hardly mattered. Through the scope, you could see the shadows of the craters on the edge of the moon, and it was amazing. We could have just stared at the moon all night, but I started to become curious about what the tiny point of light was under it.


We shifted the telescope and I got it into view. It definitely wasn't a star. It was much too close to be a star. But it was so bright that at first we thought it was Venus. This is about what it looked like: 

After a few seconds of looking at it though, I knew it couldn't be Venus. Venus doesn't have any moons. The tiny points of light around the planet are. I ended up narrowing it down to either Jupiter or Saturn because they both have a ridiculous amount of moons. And then Saturn has rings (at least, rings that we can see), so I decided that it had to be Jupiter.

When it turned out that it actually was Jupiter, I was pretty impressed with my astronomical object identification skills! As far as planets go anyway...

Then we got busy with the iPad, pointing it up at the sky and identifying the stars. (Seriously, there's this really awesome app. that allows you to point the camera at the sky and it will tell you what the object is! How cool is that?!!) We got to see Vega, the Ring Nebula, Altair (seeing that star was awesome because not only is it a very bright star in the night sky, it's also the name of one of my characters :) ), and even our lovely neighboring galaxy, M31 aka the Andromeda!

(Jupiter)

(Ring Nebula)

(Altair :D )

(Andromeda Galaxy... how inspiring is that!?)

All in all, it was a wonderful, inspirational night!

--Jess

Goodbye and Hello

Well, the day has finally come and the adventure begins! We're finally moving to Seattle. And we're driving all the way there. The plan is to take eight days and explore the countryside on the way out which will be so much fun because I get lots of good writing ideas in long car rides!


Now, a lot of people wouldn't really be as 'okay' as I am with moving, so here's a quick back-story/explanation.


I was born in Rochester, Michigan, but I can't call it in any way home because we moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when I was four. We lived there for two years and I loved it. After that, we moved to Vermont, then to New Hampshire. We lived in Vermont for such a short time that I don't remember the difference between the two states. Then we moved back to Pennsylvania, (this time it was to York, which is right around Harrisburg). We lived there for about two years then decided to move to Connecticut! Finally, after about six months to a year, we moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. And here I am, sitting at my computer, just about to move to Seattle, Washington.


This is really the longest we've ever lived anywhere. When you're moving at least once every two years, living someplace five years feels so... weird. But then of course, there's friends, and the people we will be leaving behind.


Saying 'goodbye' is always the hardest part. Even though we're coming back in November for a few days, any 'goodbye' is hard. I'm not a person who cries in front of people (no, really, my mom thinks I'm a robot or something) but I came really close in the past few days as we gave people hugs and exchanged emails to keep in touch.


So why am I 'okay' with this? Well, an old Jedi (Yoda) once said "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." And even though it's sad to end this amazing adventure we've had here in Ohio, I know that a new one is just about to begin.


--Jess
P.S.
I'll be visiting blogs over the weekend (hopefully more than I've been recently!) but probably not posting because we're driving all the way there, so HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!! It's nice I don't have to say 'goodbye' to all of you guys!

Be Prepared!

First of all, thanks to all my new followers from the campaign and for all the wonderful comments on my flash fiction post!

Alrighty, with that statement out of the way, I can tell you some exciting news! I have a skating competition tomorrow! (In case you didn't know, yes I'm a figure skater.) I usually don't get nervous until I'm actually at the ice rink, awaiting my turn to be called in front of the judges, but I'm not exactly sure how prepared I am for this one. I've got two jumps in there that I can't land consistently and a spin that doesn't exactly spin very well. So, with that being said, yes, maybe I am a little nervous right now.

Me and Alyss after one of our many competitions!

I'm not really someone that preforms well under pressure either. My knees get a little shaky and I constantly feel like I need to take a trip to the bathroom. Not to mention, the past few weeks I've been much more interested in my writing than in my skating (which I guess isn't a terrible thing because writing is my first favorite thing ever), but it isn't so good if I want to have a winning chance.


So, I'm sure you've made this conclusion already, but no, I'm not exactly prepared for this competition. I've got a little bit of an idea of the people I'll be competing against, but to be honest, I could lose miserably, or take first place. I've got no clue how this is going to play out.


And here comes the catch. Maybe I'm not the most physically prepared person there. But from a mental perspective, I very well could be. Not because I can land my jumps or do my spins, but because I'm prepared to lose. I'm prepared to skate hard then walk away with nothing but a green ribbon saying "Honorable Participant". And I can be happy with that.


How can we take this into writing perspective? Well, we need to be prepared. We don't exactly know what we're up against. We could luck out with our manuscripts, and just happen to send it to the right place, reaching the right person at the right time! And that's awesome! But more often than not, we get a nice rejection letter (if we're lucky).


Writing can be rough and sometimes even ruthless. But we can be tougher than that! We've got to look beyond rejection and see that it's all part of the journey. People will knock us down and honestly not like what we write. But what matters, is that we'll get back up and try again! And sometimes, getting that rejection can make getting published in the future all worth while!


Have a great weekend!


--Jess


P.S.

I updated my 'Poetry' page so it's got all of my recent poems. I also got a few new story ideas, so I'm excited!

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