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  | Thank you to Andrew and the judges for a surprising "Best Blog" win in the 2012 Quills! |
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Huge Thank you to eyestar~  for the awardicon! It's beautiful!Thank you to Thundersbeard  and the Challengers in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge"  for the second place awardicon for June 2012! The competition was much appreciated!Thanks to blainecindy-Hiatus til 09/01  and the "Blogging Circle of Friends " for the December 2012 "Blogger of the Month" award  Truly an honor.  Thank you so much to Andrew C. graduated!  , the judges of "The Quill Awards" , and blainecindy-Hiatus til 09/01 for sponsoring the "Quill Award for Best Blog - 2012!" I am beyond humbled. Thank you for this honor. "If God is a writer, he wrote a story so big that when it all ends for everyone, it'll be the biggest, most profound, and satisfying ending in all of existence." -Mr. Midnight  "Remember that guy who gave up? Neither does anybody else." "Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor." -Dr. Alexis Carrel "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." -Leonardo da Vinci "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!" "If the music's too loud, you're too old!" "Be original." "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." -Sherlock Holmes "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison "If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies." "I may not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." -Voltaire "My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, . . . But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave mental exaltation." -Sherlock Holmes A couple things you should know: 1. All this quotes  above are my favorites and I try to live my life by them everyday.2. Entries will not be everyday, maybe not even every week. I will post when I have something worthwhile to say or something that needs sayin'. 3. I tend to be very  humorous . . . read with caution  P.S. I am not a huge metal fan . . . I just thought it was a funny pic! What's hot NOW?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1Y3P9D0Bc Click here to see all past blog entries:
       Leave a comment so I know when you drop by! |
| Well, I've jumped off the deep end . . . |
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| I took the plunge. Stepped out of the pot and into the fire. I had to hold my breath as I entered "The Character Sketch Challenge" but I did it.I am a challenger.  Learn more about it here and wish me luck!:
When I decide which of my characters to sketch, I'll be sure to post here so you can watch my progress. EDIT: Here is the collection I created to put my entries. Please comment and let me know how I'm doing!:
*Deep breaths* ~Emily |
| Holy ****!! So unexpected! |
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| This will be a quick entry. I just wanted to give a huge thanks to Mike  for awarding my new Raffle/Auction with a beautiful awardicon worth a whopping 50K! Aloha from the bottom of my  . Look at how amazing it looks!:
Speaking of auctions, I just realized that I have 68K wrapped up in auction bids . . . I expect to be outbid, but I probably shouldn't bid any more. This time I'll leave you with a quote: "I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses." ~Johannes Kepler Take care! ~Emily |
| Hunger Games, DWPC, and a laugh |
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| Hi all, Welcome back! So, how many of you saw the "Hunger Games?" I saw it with my sister and was pleasantly surprised. I always go into movies with the doubt that the book will be better but I thought the Hunger Games stuck to the book really well and they managed to pull off an action packed movie that went beyond my expectations. Kudos. I finished my entry for the March round of the "Detailed Writing Prompt Competition" and entered it. So far, it's the only entry but I hope that changes. I don't like to win by default. Read my entry here if you like. Please review if you finish!  :
I finished the book online I was reading, "Broken Faith: Awakening" and the author MrMidnight and I have forged quite a bond. I'm helping him polish up his storyline and plot holes while he has taken a liking to my "Agent 38" novel I'm working on. It is fun working with him and he's a really nice guy. After I finish this entry, I'm going to check my email 'cause he is going to be sending my a sneak peak at the next volume in his series. He just wrote it so I'll be the first outsider eyes it sees . . . Literally right off the press! I feel so privilaged! My friend Mona (eyestar~ ) got some of her poems published recently. Congrats and I wish you more success in the future!
I'll leave you with a laugh: So I was in an argument with someone and he said to me, "If you look up stupid in the dictionary, there's a picture of you in it" to which I replied, "I'm not the one who had to look up stupid in the dictionary . . ." ". . . and even if I did, my dictionary doesn't have pictures in it."Thank you for reading and may the odds be ever in your favor, ~Emily |
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| RAUCTION |
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Just created a RAUCTION! What is a rauction, you ask? Well, why don't you have a look for yourself!
** Image ID #1856897 Unavailable ** |
| Something that really irks me... |
| Hi all, Something about some reviews absolutely irks the heck out of me! If there was one thing I could change about other people, it would be what I am about to tell you. This story requires some lead up so here we go: So, as any frequent reader would know, I am reading user MrMidnight's book, "Broken Faith" and am really enjoying it. Recently, he set up a group ("Broken Faith: The Official Group" ) so he could have all of his fans and reviewers in one place and make it easier to relay important information to them via email. Anyway, I was glad to join and decided to take a look at some other of the group members' reviews for "Broken Faith." Size up the competition, you know? Nah, nah! I kid! Anyway, I was looking at some of the reviews and my jaw literally dropped at this one: Review of "Broken Faith: The Awakening"  . But not in a good way like you might think.You see, my reviews are an average of 5,000 characters or so. This review was over 45,000 characters. No joke. This user had done that thing where you do a full line by line. I absolutely LOVE doing line by lines for pieces I think could use a nice touch up and would benefit from them but I would never, NEVER copy and paste the entire piece into the review and then go on to clog the review with all your thoughts. Now, this reviewer is absolutely fabulous and gives terrific advice (lord knows I wish for one of his chapter scrub downs...) but copying an already long chapter into the review itself is excessive. Personally, what I do is do my review like normal, addressing all the points I want to make and then write a line by line which I then EMAIL to the user separately. I know the praise one would get for writing an obese review would be great, but seeing as most of those words aren't actually yours... Need I go on? It is plain inconsiderate to put the entirety of a user's work on the public review page. Especially for a piece that is rated 18+ (and for a good reason, multiple "F" words) it is very bad form to subject the eyes of E rated users to see that on a PUBLIC page. The reason they have their settings set lower is because they don't want to see those words but once they are public, it is possible they could accidentally run into them. Wheew. Sorry for the rant... and sorry for possibly offending anyone... On a lighter note, the 'winning' newsletters from this week are: "Mystery Newsletter (March 21, 2012)"  Overview of possible murder weapons and tons of great highlighted items that I added to my review list."Action/Adventure Newsletter (March 21, 2012)" Questions why girls are stereotypically portrayed as damsels in distress while men are most often the heroes. I summitted my story "Agent 38" with the comment that my heroine can take on any guy and come out on top.There were some great quotes in this newsletter: "For Authors Newsletter (March 21, 2012)" that I though would be fun to share. "The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." ~Anaïs Nin "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." ~Ray Bradbury "A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket." ~Charles Peguy "And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." ~Sylvia Plath "I try to leave out the parts that people skip." ~Elmore Leonard "If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ~Toni Morrison "What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers." ~Logan Pearsall Smith "Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say." ~Sharon O'Brien The author of this newsletter also summed up the reason writers write very nicely: "There is really only one reason to write. Because we must write! Because is as essential as breathing. Because (to quote a friend) if you cut us; we bleed ink." My entry for the March detailed writing prompt is coming out nicely. I will link to it when it is closer to being ready. To give you a little hint though: it is a fanfic about Dr. Watson while he was in the army. That's it for today. Have a great one! ~Emily |
| Funny Joke! |
| Hi all, This will be a quick entry. I just want to share my new favorite joke that I heard in the film Buck :A pirate ship was sailing in the ocean when the pirate in the crow's nest said, "One enemy ship on the horizon!" and the captain said, "Quick! Bring me my red shirt. That way if I am injured, the blood won't show and my men will keep fighting!" Then the pirate in the crow's nest said, "Ten enemy ships on the horizon!" and the captain said, "Quick! Bring me my brown pants!" It's funny every time! Smile! ~Emily |
| St. Patrick's day, Spring Break, To R+R, Adverbs |
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| Happy St. Patrick's day my friends! So, Spring Break for me started yesterday and I am so excited to finally have a little time to myself. No worries, until April that is.  I started reading Stephen King's 11/22/63 and man, that man can write! It is so good and another one of my highly recommended books. Check it out for sure! Besides finishing 11/22/63 there are a couple other things I want to get done during break: 1. Finish MrMidnight's Broken Faith 2. Indulge in one of my childhood favorites and catch up with the Ranger's Apprentice series. I will borrow them from the Library. 3. Finish 11/22/63 (did I say that already?) and start Game of Thrones. Everyone I know is obsessed with the series and I think the time has come for me to be as well. I also found a couple pieces here on WdC that I want to add to my "To R+R List":
I think I will create some sort of Static item where I can store the items I want to review. After I write this I will go about making that. EDIT: I made that static and here it is:
For a long time, I have been aware of Stephen King's (the author of 11/22/63 as well as many others) quote that "The road to hell is paved with adverbs" but recently I came across another one from Mark Twain. He said, "When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them -- then the rest will be valuable." I've always been under the impression that ALL adverbs are evil but now I think I will pay more attention to where I use them rather than the quantity of them. Maybe it is more the precise placement of specific, story enhancing adverbs that bring the story to another level. Here is my own quote, "Use adverbs like condiments; too much and you smother the story, too few and the story is weak." Well, I'm off to make my "To R+R" page. Thanks for reading and, once again, Happy Patty's Day!  ~Emily |
| Big News, Inspired Quotes, and more "To Review" |
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| Hi all, Big news! I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Thundersbeard for hosting the "Detailed Writing Prompt Competition" and for graciously awarding my story "One More" with first prize for the month of February! I am so grateful for the stunning yellow awardicon as well. You rock! 
Last week, I subscribed to all the WDC newsletters (I had only been subscribed to "Action/Adventure" and "Contests/Activities" before) just to see what each had to offer and ended up adding the "Mystery" newsletter and the "For Authors" newsletters to my weekly subscriptions. In the "For Authors" newsletter was a nice quote referring to poetic justice that I thought I might share with you: "It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning." - Calvin about Moe, Calvin and Hobbes Speaking of quotes, I saw an interesting one in an interesting location the other day. It was actually graffiti done in chalk on the road. It said: "Passion it Forward." Meant to be a play on "Passing it forward," I had never seen graffiti that was that inspired before. I found a couple more items to add to my "To Review" list. Most of them were featured in the newsletters that I subscribed to last week. Here they are:
Well, I guess that's it for me today. Take care everyone! ~Emily |
| Quick Update, How can a villain be that EVIL? |
| Hey all! I'm just writing a quick update to wish ~ A.J. Lyle ~ so tired!  a very happy second Anniversary!Last night I finished reading Tick Tock like I said I would. OMG. The ending was so intense! AAAAHH!! I was literally swearing at the villain in the book. How can Patterson write such a vile villain? I also started watching the TV series, White Collar on Netflix instant view. On episode four and the concept is nice. Recommended! Working on my review for MrMidnight's chapter four. I have a feeling I'll break some sort of record with this one. I ramble way too much... Well, that's about it for this short update. I will try to finish my homework quick so I can start 11/22/63. Talk to you later! ~Emily |
| Cruz, What I'm Reading Now, and Ponderous lyrics |
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| Hi, So I did end up finishing the story about Savanna before the end of February. Here is the final product:
I really like how it turned out and I want to expand it to enter in the "Oceanic Vista of Words" Competition for Teen Ink I mentioned last post. I was thinking I would just add to this story and upload it as a separate static item. I started to write a little more (please read the static above before you read the continued bit I am copying below. I don't want you to be confused! )The cacophony of canons all going off at the same time was deafening, but Cruz relished in the sounds of battle. She would never back down, never surrender in a fight, and she didn't plan on committing anything less than murder in this one. The King's men began to board her vessel. The stiff suited soldiers swung like wingless gulls across the choppy water between the hulls. One of them crashed his heeled boots onto her deck with the grace of a beached whale and teetered for a second trying to regain his balance. Quick as a dolphin in the wake of her mighty ship, Cruz blasted the soldier between his eyes with her double barreled pistol and seized the rope from his lifeless hands. A running leap sent Cruz sailing across the gap between the hulls. She relished in the brisk air whipping her face and knew there could be no ending to this endeavor besides triumph. Or she would die trying. Why hadn't the Mage cast any spells yet? He must be waiting for the perfect moment to strike is all, Cruz told herself. She would make sure he never got that chance. The new Detailed Writing Prompt is up for March though the winner from February hasn't been announced yet. Here is the prompt. I think I may try to write something for this one too: March's Detailed Writing Prompt is all about discovering things: things, places, events and characters. The process of discovery should begin with discovering (or defining) the characters of the story. The characters are what tie a story together. Characters have a relationship with each other, with the places they inhabit, the things that surround them, and the events they experience. The Prompt Last month was a story structure prompt, this month is a story elements prompt. Two brothers rescue another fellow in battle. They say they are fleeing a land as one of the brothers was accused of a crime he didn't commit. The rescued fellow feels he has to pay his debt to the brothers before returning to his own home. Only thing is, the accused brother isn't innocent. SOME SETTINGS TO PONDER: FANTASY. The dictionary defines fantasy as “fancy, mental image; caprice; hallucination”. Fantasy always includes events that are unlikely, if not impossible, in real life. It usually contains unrealistic settings, characters and events. Fantasy is a broad term that can encompass a range of different categories including fairy tales, myths, fables, science fiction, and others. HISTORICAL A story of two brothers in a strange land need not be a fantasy setting. The prompt can easily apply to an historical setting. The setting could easily be a western, a civil war story, or one set in the french revolution. MILITARY Whether set in lands alien, fantastical, or closer to home, a military setting lends itself well to this prompt. Soldiers returning home or Soldiers returning to battle, the fates of men often play out on a battlefield. I've been told I should do a "What I'm Reading Now" section of this blog. So.... Here we go! What I'm Reading Now!: IRL (In real life) I am reading Tick Tock , and am trying to finish it this weekend (that shouldn't be too hard; it is really good) so I can start Stephen King's 11/22/63 which also looks wonderful. Everyone I have asked about it have said it is great. I haven't read much of King's books because I'm not really that into horror, but this new book of his is actually a time travel/historical book. I'm excited!  The book I'm getting into that is from a member on this site is "Broken Faith: The Awakening" . I told him I'd give his book a little plug so here I go! It is set in a futuristic world and we follow the main character, Pedro as he embarks on a journey spurred from the start by the loss of a job but soon becomes something so much more. I'm on chapter four right now and need to write a review for it. His chapters have inspired me to write some of my best reviews. For my review of his chapter three, I wrote the longest review I have ever done! (Review of "Broken Faith: The Awakening" ) Granted, I did talk about adverbs for an obscenely long time, but still.A long time ago, a friend of mine of this site, Kurt (aka Emailman  ) showed me this list he compiled of ways to show rather than tell. I think I may share it with MrMidnight:
I already shared this with him, but now I want to share it with you as well!:
I was listening to some more old songs and came abroad some intriguing lyrics. The first is from MIKA's song, "Relax, Take it Easy": Took a ride to the end of the line Where no one ever goes. Ended up on a broken train with nobody I know. I always thought it said: "Took a ride to the end of the nightmare..." or "Took a ride to the end of the night Where no one..." Though the lyrics are still cool, I thought they would have been cooler with one of my versions... Oh well. The next comes from Billy Joel's song, "The River of Dreams." I always thought this was a song full of metaphors and symbols and this lyric (along with the rest of the song) definitely proves it: I know I'm searching for something Something so undefined That it can only be seen By the eyes of the blind In closing, here are the things/people I want to review next: "Saphire" : Though this user hasn't been online for nearly a year."Invalid Item" : Detective Monroe stuffAlisea Ovrebo   : I still have not properly thanked her for her kind review. I actually wrote another chapter of Agent 38 on the high her review gave me. On that high note, thanks for reading if you have gotten this far! ~Emily |
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