What I'm Doing this Summer!

So.  It's official.  I'm the world's worst blogger.  I haven't posted anything since March!

Sorry about that.  [Oh, yeah, you say...  An apology will make everything better.]  Ha-ha.  Who am I kidding?  I don't have that big of an audience.

So, updates––AKA, what I am doing this summer: Six weeks during the months of June/July/August, I will be staying up in Wyoming [for those of you who don't know, I'm a Texan] and working on a dude ranch up there as a wrangler.

Go on.  Be jealous.


I am really excited!  The ranch itself sits almost in the shadow of the Grand Teton, so the scenery is gorgeous and absolutely breathtaking!  I will have lots of pictures to post here.

[That's a picture of the mountains surrounding the ranch.]



Things I Have Done Since Last Post:

1.  Finished the first part of The Lightcatcher [ecstatic about that!]

2.  Graduated highschool [I like to think I'm ecstatic about that as well, but then I realize that maybe I don't want to be an adult and go back to drawing unicorns in my coloring book and drinking chocolate milk through a straw.]

3.  Finished with all 4-H activities [i.e., State Contests, Fair Week, and NO record book!]

4.  Um....I have an uninteresting life.

So yeah, that's about it.  Oh, and I'm kind of freaking out about packing/what to pack for WY.  If any of y'all have gone on trips and forgot something that you desperately needed, or found something that was useful, LET ME KNOW!  Any advice is much appreciated.  

[Considering that I know almost every person who follows this blog...that question might be counterproductive.  Oh well.]

So long, people!

-Newsie

Interview with Lark McCarthy

If one decided to suddenly conduct an interview with Lark McCarthy from The Lightcatcher, it would go something like this:

Me: "I'm so very glad you have decided to sit down with me today.  Thank you."

Lark: *nods*

Me: "So...first of all, let's talk about Fin."

Lark: "Why?"

Me: "Well, as we know, Fin has been getting to know you more and more lately, hasn't she?"

Lark: "I suppose so."

Me: "And...?"

Lark: "And what?"

Me: "Well, what do you know about her?"

Lark: "Other than she has a good head for heights and should never have scratched her name off the list?  Not much, 'side from the fact she's an artist and that no other idiot would put a scoop of raspberry preserves in perfectly good black coffee.  Oh, and she's a good dancer.  I hear she can't sing a lick, though."

Me: "How do you feel about her?"

Lark: "Feel?"

Me: "Yes.  Feel.  Also known as "affection".  Do you have any for her?"

Lark: "Affection can go both ways."

Me: "Fine.  Romantic affection."

Lark: "Are you asking if I have any romantic affection for Fin Devens?"

Me: "YES!"

Lark: *smoothly* "No, I don't think so.  Can we move on?"

Me: ".....No."

Lark: "Why not?"

Me: "Because you're MY blasted character, alrighty?  You do what I say!  If I want you to like Fin, LIKE HER!"

Lark: *scoffs* "Ha."

Me: "I'll cut you out!  I'm warning you...."  *Draws breath, calms down.*  "Now, let me ask you again, do you have any romantic affection for Fin?" *waggles eyebrows*

Lark: "Why would I?"

Me: "BECAUSE SHE'S YOUR LOVE INTEREST, BLAST IT!  AND YOU'D BETTER GET HER QUICK BEFORE BRIT DANIELS OR SONTY BRANNIGAN STEPS IN AND DOES IT FOR YOU, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!"

Lark: *Unruffled* "I see."

Me: "NO, NO YOU DON'T SEE.  YOU DON'T SEE ANYTHING.  YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?  YOU'RE BLIND!  YOU'RE BLIND AS A BAT, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, AND YOU'RE DRIVING ME UP THE WALL!"

Lark: "I think the interview is over."

Me: "YEAH, YOU'RE BLOOMIN' RIGHT IT'S OVER.  LEAVE.  AND GO TALK TO FIN!"

So, yeah, folks. There you go.  Lark McCarthy 101.

Cheers.

-Newsie

Character Graveyard: The Guys

So right now I'll be highlighting some supporting/side characters that I would love to develop more.

(I won't mention Warren in the Pyrate Games [co-novel with the bestie] who I killed in the prologue, because even though I would love to give him a story, he's...well...dead.  And you can't really write about dead characters.  Can you?  Maybe?  *Will have to check on that later.)

Oh, I just mentioned him?  Shame on me.

Ren Sharkey: Nineteen-year-old smuggler (not to be confused with a pirate in any sense), Maverick, lives in Salter port.

I would love to expound on Ren so much--give him a backstory, a family, a past, and a reason for his part in the rebellion.  But the book focuses mainly on Scottie and Slate Fletcher, so I probably won't get a chance to flesh him out as he should be.  He is, however, an interesting and mysterious character.

Sid Brooks: Nineteen, soldier, solo balloonist, loner, witty and quick with sarcasm.  Deserter.

I'll be introducing Sid in The Lightcatcher, but I don't think I'll talk about him enough.  The main focus is on Lark and Fin, so Sid will not get the attention he deserves.  I will try, though.

Jakey Riddle: Thirteen years old, pickpocket, thief, lock artist living in the backstreets of Malstan.

So, Jakey.  I think he'll probably be one of my favorite characters to write, since he's just a little spitfire. I introduce him in The Starkeeper's Gate, when Will Russell is thrown into the future and wanders into Cheapstreet and sees a crowd gathered around the local stocks.

But I won't say too much about him here, seeing as his story really gets started in the second book of the Halfblood Riders Trilogy.  ...Which I haven't even started writing yet.

Sep Woods: Fifteen, already a good pilot, works with the Sky Force.

Well, the main reason I haven't thought more about Sep is because he really doesn't have a story yet.  I hope that will change once I finish Flyboy.  But, alas, I don't know if he'll get the thought he really needs, because I'll be mainly writing about Kit and Jacey.

So there...  A peek inside my mind, or more specifically, my Character Graveyard.  On second thought, I think this is really just a post in which I complain about not being able to make my supporting characters the main characters.  But then, I would miss my main characters.  '

So I can't really do anything about it.

Oh, and can anyone tell me why this post has all guys?  Where are all my girls like Skeeta Nelarky, Meg Leiston, Terry Henders, Emmy Lou Brenns, and Natley Brooks?

Perhaps they'll just have to get a post all of their own.

-Newsie

A Writer

A writer is someone who writes, and suffers, and writes some more.

A writer is a person who reads endlessly.

A writer is somebody who stays up late at night, slowly going blind from the glow of their computer.

A writer is a being who understands their own fictional characters better than they do normal people.

A writer is someone who is very esoteric.

A writer means having your stomach growl at midnight because you're still awake writing a scene that has to be finished.

A writer sometimes means being more social with people on the internet than in real life.

To be a writer is to be a dreamer, a reader, and a romantic.

To be a writer means getting injured and thinking, "Now I can write about it realistically."

A writer is a person who draws on inspiration from rainy days, sunny skies, and beautiful landscapes.

Being a writer means listening to copious amounts of music.

Being a writer means downing obscene amounts of caffeine and tea.

Being a writer is explaining to other people that writing actually can be a means of supporting yourself.

To be a writer is to find the small joys in life and capture them in black words upon white paper.

A writer means planning out endless scenes and little pieces of dialogue in your head.


Above all, a writer is someone who writes tirelessly, over and over––discouraged that their writing is horrible sometimes, but pressing on again, determined to make it better.

-Editor

Once Upon a Time

“Once upon a time, there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered, and everything was possible. A stick could be a sword, a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle. 

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field, from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was queen and he was king. In the autumn light her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark, and they parted with leaves in their hair.

"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”

-Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

That is so beautiful, I don't even want to think.  It makes me shrivel up inside because I will never be able to write something as gorgeous.  

-Editor

Pinterest

Oh, yes, Pinterest.  Actually, I should probably refer to it as The Black Hole of Procrastination.  TBHP from now on.  It is very effective for getting out of schoolwork and inspiration for my novels.

Yes.  Inspiration.

Most of my boards a chock full of lovely story inspiration, beautiful pictures of foggy landscapes, misty crags, sunny fields...  Oh, the things you can find in TBHP.

So–you know me, putting the pro in procrastination–I made a board for The Lightcatcher.  It has been quite fun, and I am hoping to add more pins as time goes on.  Or as I accumulate more and more schoolwork.

THE BOARD OF AWESOMENESS...sort of

Anyway, thought y'all might be interested.  And if not, then...well, then that's fine too.

Cheers.

Dance

Today I'm really sore from dance last night (and also ashamed that I haven't posted anything in a long while) and I have decided I needed to post something.  I'm very terrible at that.  Sorry.  I'm proud to say that my splits have much improved since when I first started doing them several months ago.  I can nearly go all the way to the ground now.

Also, for tap recital, I get to go as one of The Village People.  How cool is that?  I mean, it's epic.


So today I'm deciding to spam you with some random dance pictures.

Converse

Step Dancing

Stretching

Young Gelsey Kirkland

Dirty Dancing <3

Pas De Deux

Ginger and Fred

Tap

Talent

Billy Elliot

So, there you are.  And I am off!  Will post an update on The Lightcatcher soon.  I promise.

-Newsie