Express Yourself: Fashion Flashback

Brought to you by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls!

I have had a DAY. It was long, and then I got rained on, and now it's after midnight, so I'm going to make this quick! The question this week from Dani and Jackie:



What fashion trend do you think should make a comeback?



 So when I was in high school, Backstreet Boy's "I Want It That Way" came out (sidenote: Absolutely hate that song now. They had so many better songs, but it was unfortunately the most popular). In this one scene during Kevin's bridge, they pan out as AJ slides up and sings. He has on these awesomely baggy pants with strings hanging from the pockets. I, a lover of baggy bottoms and tight tops because I thought I was Janet Jackson, knew I needed a pair of those. I'm in my thirties now, so I don't know where I would wear them, but I would love for UFOs to make a comeback.

If I had the legs for them, I would also say plaid skirts and thigh-highs, because I never got to wear those, either.

Wednesday Words: What I Need to Be Reading

I'm truly nearly done reading On Writing. I just lost momentum on it. There are so many books I have to read that I got from the library right with it. I had to return it to the library, then check it back out. Darn shame.

Did I already post about the books I checked out, or did I take a picture of them? I feel like this is deja vu...Oh, it was Instagram.

A photo posted by Deb H. (@1nonlydeb) on Jun 19, 2016 at 10:19am PDT

I also finally checked out A Girl is A Half Formed Thing. I remember normal people being angrily confused by its fragmented style, so I knew I had to give it a shot as someone who tends to have fragmented thought.

This doesn't count for the books I keep buying, either! I have at least six I need to read, and coincidentally, I'm 6 books behind on Goodreads. Maybe I should just buy On Writing so I can set it aside, but I seriously have less than 40 pages left to read. I just need to focus.

Pray for me.

Tuesday Tales: Around the House with Ghuli*

*This post occurred before I changed Ghuli's name to Jonnie*

Some time ago, I started a character Q&A for Tuesday Tales, and it continues to work pretty well for me. Last week, I accidentally said the question I found was from the Proust questionnaire. It was actually from the Gotham Character questionnaire, and so is this one! I actually think I'll be able to milk this one for a few weeks. Let's start with Ghuli.

What is in your character's refrigerator right now? On her bedroom floor? On her nightstand? In her garbage can?

What is in my what? ... Oh, an ice box? ... You have a strange name for it.

At the moment, there are several pounds of elk's meat and seaduck, sweet leaves, and apples in it for stews. I believe there is a bag of frozen sheep's milk. My nursemaids like to make Athwart Stew for me, and it needs cream instead of meat broth like the other stews.

I don't have much on my bedroom floor. Cyan would lecture me until it was bare. Howbeit, I do have a basket of my socks at the foot of my bed. I almost never wear them. Beneath my bed is a book which slipped there in my sleep.

On my nightstand are a pile of books I need to begin reading and a picture of Sir Aleksandyr, Cyan, and me. One of Cyan's nursemaids took it when I was a baby. There is also a wooden leonine half-painted white. I will finish it soon.

My wastebasket is officially used for the clothes I tear among the trees. I mend them when it is full, or when I tear my favorite pieces. My favorite sweater is in there now, so I will be mending it before bed tonight, or I won't be able to sleep.

----------------------------------------------------

(My room and my fridge are constantly a mess, so...lol.)

Express Yourself Weekly

I have to do this quickly. I was supposed to do it last night and plum forgot, but have to leave early today as well! This is brought to us by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls (links to come later), and this week they ask:

Name something you are looking forward to this Summer.

Tomorrow, I am going to Baltimore to listen to the FINAL SYMPHONY! That is the music of Final Fantasy, and it will be the music of FF VI, VII, and X, which had some of the best scores in the history of gaming! I love Nobuo Uematsu. I can't wait to hear this live!

Have a good weekend! What are you looking forward to this Summer?

Tuesday Tales: Finding a Happy Place

Hey, it's my birthday!!

But blogs need to be posted, so away I go (I've scheduled this anyway).

Some time ago, I opened up the floor for readers to ask questions of my characters. I ran out of them, and so I found a website filled with questions from the Gotham Character Course called The Writer's Toolbox. Interesting questions, so I thought I would start with this one: Where [do you go when you are] angry?

Who wants to answer?

Cyan: ...Why are you looking at me?

Brodie: I was wondering if you do go anywhere. You always seem angry.

Ghuli*: I used to lock myself in my room and throw my pillows about. It did nothing but exhaust me, and I would fall asleep.

Brodie: I like to go out and shoot at painted targets. It helps curb my need to shoot the real ones.

Cyan: I am not always angry, thank you.

Brodie: Did what I said anger you, Cyan?

Ghuli: Cyan has a short temper, but it's short-lived as well. His general disposition is more...frustrated than angry.

Cyan: I can answer for myself...'Tis a little embarrassing, howbeit...I sit in the corner.

Ghuli: When we were younger, Sir Aleksandyr used to make me leave the room when he did that...I suppose it was because I was usually to blame.

Cyan: This is true, but I sat in corners before you were of walking age. It has always helped me clear my head and calm down.

Brodie: ...Is that why you were sitting there the other day?

Cyan: You were why I was sitting there the other day.
-------------------------------------

They're quite a pair.



*This post occurred before I changed Ghuli's name to Jonnie*

Fast Five & Express Yourself Friday

It is Friday, and it is LATE Friday. I'm supposed to remind myself at night to do these, but ah well. These two Q&As are done by the Cover Girls, Dani and Jax. They work tirelessly to bring us questions to answer. Join in if you like!

For this week's Fast Five Friday, the ladies want to know: 5 Things you wish you knew then that you know now.

1. You weren't fat in high school.

2. You're going to gain more weight than you did in high school.

3. Getting published isn't as easy as writing The End and putting your work in a manila envelope. There are levels.

4. Don't forbear your loans back to back. You'll run out of chances.

5. You need to get out more.

For Express Yourself, the ladies want to know: If you could try one occupation for a day, other than your current job, what would you choose?

I used to want to be a firefighter (childhood), so maybe that...But I'd also like to be an actor for a day.

Tuesday Tales: Brodie Takes Over



I'll have to double check, but I believe I'm at the last question for my characters provided by readers. Thank you all so much for the questions! It's been fun. To keep it going, I'll probably search the web for more things I can ask them, but feel free to ask more questions, too!

Heather Holden's last question for Brodie is: What made you want to join the Watch?

My dad was a watchman. When I was a just learning to walk, I would sit in the yard and watch him train even on days when he didn't have training. He was an excellent marksman and a craftsman, really. This was one of the last guns he fashioned before his death. Hundreds of marksmen are carrying his rifles. You will know by his carved initials on the butt. He had horrible handwriting, but he could carve letters legibly.

To be honest, I was supposed to train solely for the Scholarship, as my mom's family did, but I never had a love for it. After my dad died, she had to force herself to do it daily until...well, until she couldn't any longer. I told myself I wouldn't let that happen to me, so I drew up the courage to defy my eldest sister and joined the Watch. It was the best decision of my life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again everyone!

Fast Five Friday x2

Happy Friday!

I haven't done a Fast Five in a while, and I realized I missed one last week! These are brought to us by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls! They ask us a question in 5-form, and we get to answer them in list-form. :) Here we go.

July 1 – 5 favorite things you like to wear

1. screen tees

2. pajamas

3. ballet flats

4. my sister's knit caps

5. Target clothes

July 8 - 5 TV characters (past/present) you'd love to spend the day with

1. Ross from Friends

2. Sinclair from Living Single

3. Garnet from Steven Universe

4. the Gilmore Girls

5. the cast of Firefly

Give these a whack for yourself! I'd love to see what you come up with.

IWSG (A Day Late)

Brought to us by Alex J. Cavanaugh,
sensei and founder of the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

I just realized I forgot to post TWO days in a row. Ironically, I had a post drafted for my usual Tuesday post and had stuff to actually say for IWSG yesterday. I need to set aside time to do these at night now. I honestly wasn't even doing anything but watching Gilmore Girls last night! I just forgot to do anything else with my life.

I jumped back into contests this year, for which I was both nervous about and skeptical of. I had a disappointing experience with one last year, not because my story wasn't picked, but because the judges I picked had said they would send feedback to those who submitted to them, and even after I let them know I didn't get anything back, I still got nothing. I know they don't have to do it, but when they say they will...they just should.

Also, I don't know what it is with my beta readers' lives falling apart when they have my work, but I feel like I'm a jinx. At this point, I've fallen on relying on my own editing/proofreading background to look over my work and hope that will be enough to at least get me a "Can I see more pages?" from someone.

On a good note, my #SFFPit tweet was liked by Rena Bunder Rossner! I'd looked at the Deborah Harris Agency before and was curious, as they're based in Israel, but I couldn't pass up the chance to query her!

I'm trying to jump back into reading and writing after a long break, and I still haven't figured out the pattern of doing it at home. I'd been doing it all at work for so long, my equilibrium is thrown off. How do you guys do it!?

Okay, on to work, I go! I'll be visiting other blogs some time tonight.

Final Fantasy Friday: Nostalgic Nuggets

I watched the 2nd episode of Final Fantasy XV yesterday, and it focused on a little bit of backstory for the supporting character Prompto (God, I hope I can change his name). They're driving away from a blockade, and an injured pup is in the road. Prompto pulls over and goes to care for it, sending us into his thoughts for a flashback of an overweight teen Prompto who cares for an injured puppy. He learns it belongs to a girl who knows Prince Noctis (the MC), and he gets up the nerve to speak to Noctis. Everyone's scared to talk to him. Prompto is clumsy and awkward, so he trips over a barrier. Noctis, who goes to help him up, tells him he's heavy, so Prompto worked to lose weight so he could talk to Noctis again (awkward logic). Secretly, you could tell Noctis wanted Prompto to talk to him whenever he saw him, because literally NO ONE else would.

I say this to say I found one of these nostalgic moments in my own story the other day, and it felt good to see the parallel. Make those parallels where you can. They're fun.

That is all. :)

Have a Happy 4th of July!

Wednesday Words: Am Reading Laura Brown's Signs of Attraction

Happy Hump Day!

I'm still reading Stephen King's book, but I started reading this next book because it's on my phone, and I can read while I'm on the machines at the gym with this interesting app called BookShout. That book is Laura Brown's Signs of Attraction!

This e-book was released just a couple of weeks ago, and the paperback is soon to come, too! I had the honor of sensitivity reading for one of Laura's next projects, and I hope it will be on my phone as well soon (no pressure, Laura).

Anything I have to say about this book so far will probably jack it up, so here is the blurb as seen on the website. Visit Laura's page for blogs, vlogs, and more!

Do you know what hearing loss sounds like? I do.

All my life I’ve tried to be like you. I’ve failed.

So I keep it hidden.

But on the day my world crashed down around me, Reed was there.

He showed me just how loud and vibrant silence can be, even when I struggled to understand.

He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever known. His soulful eyes and strong hands pulled me in before I knew what was happening.

And as I saw those hands sign, felt them sparking on me, I knew: imperfect could be perfect.

Reed makes me feel things I’ve never felt. It’s exciting…and terrifying.

Because he sees me like no one else has, and I’m afraid of what he’ll find if he looks too closely.

The only thing that scares me more than being with him? Letting him go.
-----------------------------
Laura brings us into the life of deaf/hard-of-hearing characters, and every time I read the dialogue, I wish I had stuck with learning ASL as a child. Hopefully there's still time to learn. I still have a book around this house somewhere.

What are you reading this week?

Tuesday Tales: Andyrsn Takes Over!

Happy Tuesday. Can you believe in 3 days, it will be JULY?

For the past few weeks, I've been blessed to have many questions to answer for my characters from my blog mates. We're coming down to the last ones that I've received so far, and I hope once I build my momentum back up, others will visit and ask questions, too.

Heather Holden asked a list of great questions, and today, we'll be revisiting Andyrsn to learn more about his love of pranks.

For Andyrsn: Have any of your pranks ever backfired on you? Has anyone ever pranked you?

Hi!

Ah, well...they can't all be jewels. My friend Donovan and I were great at herding tiny animals into things. This one time, we got these water beetles into a crate. We thought it was impenetrable...It wasn't. We had to go back to the temple for lunch and ended up needing to leave the crate in the woods. On our way back, all we could hear were some little girls screaming their heads off. They'd been playing on top of the crate, and one's foot went through. The beetles were all over them. They're harmless, but little girls and bugs don't get along often, you know? We got the switch to our legs when Donovan's mom found out, and then she sent me home to my brothers, and I got the switch again.

My nieces are turning into little pranksters. I've come home to a lot of my clothes turned inside out or gone to leave and my boots were filled with honey. When they get older, I'm gonna be in trouble. Couldn't be more proud.
-------------------------------------------------------

Next week, we have one more question for Brodie.

Tuesday Tales: Laris Takes Over!

*This post occurred before I changed the WIP title.*

Happy Tuesday!

So a while back, I put out the call for questions for my characters from The Crystal Bearer to answer, so I could get into their heads and hone my writing a little more. I've had some great questions and am having a lot of fun answering them. Click here to read back on previous ones!

Today, I have Prince Laris back to answer a question from Heather Holden: What are some of your favorite stories to tell? Are there any stories you'd refuse to share with others?

Ooh, another question for me? How nice!

Hello, Lady Heather Holden! For as far back as my mind will let me remember, I have always loved a good adventure tale. Have you a genre in your world called magical realism? 'Tis fun to tell tales of other imagined worlds or tales from our history; howbeit, I love to watch a child's face illumine at the thought of hidden magics greater or stranger than we already encounter in Teorre. A childhood favorite I enjoyed reading to my baby brother Ariel was The Sprite Child's Epic. 'Tis set within a hidden layer of Teorre where the trees and waters actually speak to the main character Lenne and guide her back to this side of Teorre after a faeriefly bite splits her consciousness from her physical body. Ariel and I spent many days talking to the pines of our woods just hoping one would reveal a hidden face to us and send us on a magical journey. Howbeit, you do not want to be bitten by a faeriefly. 'Tis easy to believe our fear is what kept us from that magical layer.

Are there stories I would refuse to share? Well, I admit I do know a randy tale or two, but I haven't spoken of them since I was a young teenager. I am sure the young he-Sprites still tell them in the bath halls and snicker to themselves. To be young again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laris is 26, mind you. lol Thanks again, Heather! Next week, Brodie tells us why she chose to become a watchman.