Lérowen's Challenge - Days 4, 5, 6, and 7

Sorry, Lérowen, that I'm getting so ahead of the game! I won't be home tomorrow, and I don't blog on Sundays.


Day 4: A novel or author that has inspired something in your writing style.

My weakness as a writer is setting and description.  Some writers glory in taking a page or two to describe a sunset, but me? It would be easier for me to stare at a blank page for an hour.  I've grown to appreciate description more, and I'm trying to use it more in my writing, but the book that jumpstarted that was:

Just from the beautiful cover, you can tell that this is one flowery book.  But the description was actually interesting to read, which was a first for me.  I was won over, and after I finished reading the book, I spent some time working on description in my notebook, vowing to become more like Patricia McKillip.    

You can read the first line of the book, along with my review, here.

Day 5: The least favorite character you have written.

I've thought about this question for a day or so already, and I have still not come up with the decided answer.  

It might be Queen Livia from Torn Heart, because she seems like a cliche antagonist.

But I did have trouble with Perrus from Hearts Unbroken.  For those who don't know, Hearts Unbroken is a story (temporary title) I am co-writing with my friend Whisper.  Co-writing is fun, but also difficult at times.  At first, neither of us really knew what Perrus's personality was.  And then, we both started writing him different ways, which is bad.  I was writing him as a flirting, rather foolish young ladies' man, because has lots of younger sisters. But Whisper made him much more responsible (seeing as he has all those younger sisters), a family man.  While still having a touch of a flirt to his personality, he is much more serious and admirable than he was before.  I love you very much now, Perrus.

Day 6: One thing on your bucket list that has to do with writing.

Get traditionally published and go on a book tour.  I have a feeling this won't happen until I'm older and can travel around by myself... my whole family is made up of homebodies.  Besides, I wouldn't want to be separated from them for that long, and it would be too expensive to take everybody.  

Day 7: Your favorite genre to write.

Fantasy without a lot of confusing magic.  But....lately, I've found myself wanting to experiment with steampunk / alternate history.  And I've been reading a lot of realistic fiction.  Could I be...heaven forbid...changing?

'Til Monday, friends!

Ellyn

Thrifting

I was feeling whimsical today - creative, even.  Like... well, you might say I felt like spending money at a thrift store.  So my ears really perked up when my mom mentioned taking the boys to town for haircuts.  (She just got nine stitches in her finger, so she couldn't clip them herself.)

We have three thrift stores in our little town, and I hit two of them.  At one I swiped a pair of skinny jeans for $1.50.

At the other one, I got two casual shirts for $1.00 each, and two books for $0.30 each.  Deal? Deal.

i wanted a babydoll shirt like this when i was thirteen and never found one....

hail, shirt, jeans, and books.

The designing book was a real find.  And I couldn't resist Specials by Scott Westerfeld...even though I haven't read Uglies or Pretties yet.  Come on, it was thirty cents!

I'll post days four and five for Lérowen's challenge tomorrow, as I have to get offline.

- Ellyn

Lérowen's Challenge - Day 3 (My First Story)

Day 3: Your first attempt at writing.

Most writers start young.  I'm no exception.  I wrote before I could read, and I learned to read pretty fast.  Later, when I did know how to read, I wrote in a "mirror" style, meaning - all backwards.  My dad says that when he wanted to read something I'd written at age four / five, he'd just hold it up to the mirror.

Incidentally, Leonardo di Vinci wrote the same way.  Just sayin'.

Anyway, today I'm going to share with you my very first story.  I believe I wrote it in Kindergarten or 1st grade.  Sorry the last page is sideways! Computer got cranky... And you can read it in plain print under each page.

Characters: Maxgold (a worm king), and Underbeaty (his wife).

I have no idea how I came up with the name Underbeaty.

 Once there was a little worm.  And he was king of all the.  Land oh boy how his crown Shimmered in the sun

his wife underbeaty got mad and said, oh. maxgold don't you know that your crown is mixing me to a very mad mood.  your...

...crown shines more than mine she said throu the window.  underbeaty began to cry then she sigde (sighed) and said I suppose all the...

...qeens (queens) are like that she Looked for her husband but he was gone
the ligts (lights) were out and it was nigttime.  Everywone was gone

While she slept maxgold slipped to the store he bouht (bought) a new shiny crown WOW it was cristmas EVe and surprised when.

the Qeen. woke! By her Bed was a Shiny new crown. she loved it. and there was a baby the qeen had a baby

- THE END -

Lérowen's Challenge - Day 2

Day 2: Your favorite male author.

When I choose a "favorite author", I kind of make it an unspoken rule that I have to have read more than one of their series or books.  Even if one series is my favorite series, I try not to say the author is my favorite unless I've read about more than one of his created worlds.

So, Scott Westerfeld is out.  So is Kenneth Oppel.

I guess that leaves Charles Dickens.

The best compliment I ever got was when my dad told me that Charles Dickens and I would be great friends...or worst enemies.  It's because we both write character-based stuff.  Except he's a few trillion times better.

Here's what I've read of his:

• Great Expectations
• A Christmas Carol
• Oliver Twist
• Little Dorrit

Granted, his books can get kind of dull, over descriptive, tiresome.  But the way he ties all the characters together is amazing.  His characters are great - some funny, some downright creepy, some not what they seem, and all intermingle at the end.  

If you want to read something by him, I suggest watching a movie or TV series about it first, to increase suspense.  Two I can recommend whole heartedly are Little Dorrit and Bleak House, both by BBC.  I haven't finished Bleak House yet, but Little Dorrit is amazing.

And if you read the book afterwards, you'll be amazed at how much the same the characters are.

l-r: frederick, fanny, amy "little dorrit", william, tip

Tomorrow, the challenge is to post "your first attempt at writing", and I know exactly what I'm going to do for that! Stay tuned.

- Ellyn

Lérowen's Challenge - Day 1 (And Pinterest)

Lérowen from Eat...Sleep...Write is hosting a fifteen day writer's challenge, and I've decided to join in for hopefully most of it!

Day 1: Who is your favorite character you've written?

Hmm...
I've written many characters and I think I will have to give you two - a boy and a girl.

The favorite boy is definitely Grailyn.  He's so analytical and exacting, and in the new rewrite of Seaspear, he's going to be so much more mysterious.  You met him here, as well as the other Seaspear characters.

The favorite girl is a little harder to choose, but after some dithering, I choose Haiven from Hearts Unbroken.  I've been told I write her really well, and I find her fun because she's just so sweet.  Sweet, naive, and organized, yet smarter than what everyone takes her for.  Haiven is sixteen years old, and small for her age, which results in everyone treating her like a kid.

via - no, her hair is not this red.

Any strange questions about my characters? Ask away, please!

P.S.  This is random, but does anyone else have a Pinterest account? It was raining today and I spent oodles of time on my new account.  Let me know so I can follow!


 - Ellyn

A Little Bit of Small Town Flavor

Today, my family and I paid a visit to the event of the summer - the county fair.  When we moved about two years ago, we switched county fairs.  I like this one a lot.

4-H-ers almost dominate it, which means lots of horses, drill team performances, and barns full of livestock, photography, Lego creations, and other products of hard-working young minds.  Our family is not part of 4-H, but we enjoy marveling at the creativity and skills of others.

Not that those good qualities passed us by or anything... 

sarah on raisins

One of my favorite things to do at the fair is people watch.  I take in everyone - the groups of young teens giddy at newfound independence, the wispy-haired kids silently marveling the soft fur of a bunny rabbit, and the old ranchers - hats clamped over balding heads, spurs polished and secure on clunky boot heels as they sit back to watch the youngsters ride. 

county fair talent contest

Of course, we all enjoy the cool thickness of a smoothie on a hot summer day and the greasy contentment a french fry bucket can bring.

vendors hawking their wares

I loved watching my friends in a timed O-Mok-See horse show.  I miss you, Grace!

grace on mariah

And then there's the colorful world of the midway - where stray tickets fall underfoot in the hurry to board the Tilt-a-Whirl and Tarantula.  Kids form lopsided lines, jigging in excitement while they wait to pop balloons, chuck rings, and send their stomachs up into their throats.

my least favorite part of the fair :)

Yeah, honey, I'd take a horse over the ferris wheel myself.

little girls, big dreams

I was surprised how many people I recognized at the fair, from other social activities / classes in town and such.  I'm pretty good at remembering faces, but still...that's a small town for you!

a random cowboy on a pretty horse

Are you a regular guest at your county fair?

Love from a tremendously tired,

Ellyn

Hot and Foggy

Have you ever seen clouds on the ground?

I have.  But nothing like how it was last night, as my mom drove me home from Whisper's house.  It was as if we were looking down at clouds from an airplane, except we were on the ground.  The dewy hayfields had become misty seas.  The lake was amazingly clear before it faded into a wall of fog.  

I wished I could have gotten a picture, but the camera wasn't cooperating.  Maybe it had heatstroke.

taken a couple weeks ago, on a cool morning.  how i loved it!

It is so humid here that every morning we can't see out of our windows because of the moisture on them.

Not even rain gives relief.  My cheers at the brief shower yesterday didn't last long - it just made things steamier.  Like the Amazon rainforest.

I was weeding the garden in the shade and came in dripping.  From sweat.

It's too hot to ride.

Too hot to play badminton with my brother.

Too hot to walk the dog.

Oh, how I long for a good thundery storm.

photo by someone else in my large family

Or some homemade strawberry pie...

unedited!

Or an adventure that doesn't involve any type of annoying, winged bug.

Then again, maybe I'll be content to curl up inside with the air conditioning and my computer.  And a pile of books.  Later, maybe I'll douse myself with the hose and go over to give the horses the same treatment.  

my new look for book trapper! check it out!

On another note, I turn sixteen in seven days! Hurrah! I'm praying that God will give me a special birthday wish and make it less than eighty degrees.  With faith, you can move mountains! (And the mercury in thermometers.)

How's your weather? I envy those of you who get dry heat instead of wet heat.  I've never experienced dry heat - ever!

Love,

Ellyn