The First Look Challenge

OH HAI PEOPLE!!!

I know. I haven't posted anything in forever. THINGS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING. Not good, writing-related-on-sub things. More like teachers-don't-understand-that-they-can't-expect-us-to-do-five-hours-of-homework-a-night things. So.

This week, I was tagged by the lovely Patrice Cadwell for the First Look Challenge. Basically, you have to find the word look in your manuscript and share the surrounding scene. The one below is from the manuscript I'm currently revising, tentatively titled BENEATH THE DISQUIET STAR. Y'know, the hot chocolate one?

This is a scene from the beginning-ish, from the POV of the male MC, who disappeared seven years ago and has just returned to the town of his childhood. He's watching an execution in a place that was meant for sacrifice, and is about to fall in love. And as I mentioned, it's being revised. So I apologize in advance for general suckiness.

***

The sun rains dusty light over us, and the haze bends time until I am seated between Million and Holloway again, younger and afraid of smaller things. Before my eyes, only my eyes, it is the Day of Disquiet, and the stadium is only noise and fire. I remember a burning star, a blue-gray fenrisulfr, a terrified dead man, an entire town watching. Million is on his feet with the rest of the crowd, but I have stayed seated, and Holloway’s hand is on my shoulder.

I ask him, why?

And he says that when the star fell and the monster wolf was born, someone had to fight it. Or the wolf would turn on the town and eat everyone. This is the only way.

I ask, but why do they cheer?

Then his face is grim, and he answers, “Because they want to live, lad. They are cheering for mortality, because it means they will not die this year.”

The stadium was built to be a place of sacrifice, but it contains more than the fire of the Disquiet Star now. It’s become a place of blood, because this town takes Finigal and makes it ugly. Men were meant to die here. But not like this.

I look around at the blur of faces, a sea of open mouths and words. I wonder what they cheer for now, when no one has to die.

Million has waited for this event for months and I had no wish to stay in Holloway’s store alone. But here I can feel a thousand pairs of eyes on me, and it makes my heart quiet and uneven. There are so many sounds echoing within this circle of stone, breaths and coughs, whispered words and shouted ones, and I am unused it. I left Finigal’s monsters for Finigal’s men by returning, but in this stadium of sacrifice, my eyes have yet to adjust to the difference between them.

***

Oh, and:

Mark O'Brien Writes

Olivia's Opinions

The Incessant Droning of A Bored Author

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Y'all have been tagged!

Be Inspired Blogshop Meme!

Hiya, everyone! This week, the lovely Silent Pages at Pro(B)logue tagged me for the Be Inspired Blogshop Meme! *cue confetti* Yay! So, I was trying to figure out which project to do this about, but then school started and I got distracted by the fact that 5 x 5 = 30 in Chemistry and my schedule was screwed up and I didn't have pre-calc first semester, and I totally forgot about this until last night. So. I think I'm going to do this one about the MS on subs right now. Because. I can't stop thinking about subs. So.

1. What is the name of your book?

WILDFLOWER

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?

Hmm. Let's see. I was on a mission trip when I first got the idea for WILDFLOWER. It was in the mountains of Arizona, and it was dry and hot and my nose was constantly bleeding and I was dehydrated and there was only one toilet between twenty-five girls and it's highly possible that I was hallucinating slightly. I was lying awake in the middle of the night and someone was snoring across the room, and I was trying really, really hard to fall asleep because we had to wake up at four. See, when I need to fall asleep, I do this thing were I imagine things. By then, I'd already written one (very terrible) manuscript, and I think I'd been considering a revision when suddenly, this boy with a scar appeared in my head and told me that he had a story.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?

Definitely YA Fantasy.

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?

Erm...I...dunno...I think maybe Ian Somerhalder for my MMC, Aro, because he has that arrogant, secretive look. Only, his jaw is too extreme. As for my FMC, Faye, I really don't know. Hmm. I'll have to think about that one.

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.

In a world where everyone carries knives, Faye knows she should never be surprised to be stabbed in the back--until she's captured by Aro, a quiet, enigmatic soldier from the enemy kingdom who makes her realize that keeping her heart locked away won't be enough to save her life.

6. Is your book already published?

Sigh. It's still on subs. You guys will know if anything happens. I promise.

7. How long did it take you to write your book?

Well, it took me just about three months to write the first draft. I rewrote and revised thirteen times, though. So, all in all, about a year and a half.

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?

Well...hrmmm...I think it could be compared to Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief, because it's set in a similar world. Like, epic-ish fantasy without the dragons and elves, y'know? Make sense? No?

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?

E.B. White, who wrote the first book that ever made me cry. J.K. Rowling, who made me fall in love with words. Lemony Snicket, who taught me that letters, when they are arranged correctly, have the power to break your heart. Frances Hodges Burnett, who taught me to see the beauty between the lines. L. M. Montgomery, who made me laugh when I was alone. And then there are the authors who made me want to keep writing...I could go on forever.

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.

I drew a map for it once! Wanna see? I posted it once a long time ago, but I'll paste it again. It's not the most recent version, but...hey, this is the land where the story takes place. :)

11. Tag five people!

Mark O'Brien, my fantabulous critique partner, who's writing this new story that is so beautiful and emotional and GAHHHH-inducing I just. Can't. Even.

John Hansen, who's writing a new sci-fi that sounds absolutely wonderful.

Ari Susu-Mago, because she rocks AWL TEH SOCKS OFF.

And...I don't know who else to tag. Everyone I was going to tag was already tagged earlier this week :\ So...have some cumin. Love y'all!

Summer Highlights

Guys. GUYS. You know what today is? It's the last Saturday before school starts on Tuesday. LAST. SATURDAY. Sad story, ain't it? So that's why I've been mysteriously absent for the last few weeks. I WAS blogging, just for AP English instead of here.

ERGH. Teachers don't let you sit in a closet all day and write. Can you imagine? Sooooo not looking forward to it...so, let's relive summer a bit, shall we? Here, in no particular order, are the highlights of my summer, to prove to the world that I accomplished a few things (I know, weird, right?).

• Hanging out with friends. Just in general. From shopping to bonfires at the beach to getting kicked out of Walmart at four in the morning (because I guess it's frowned upon to stick your friend in a shopping cart and push him down the isles...who knew?). Just being a teenager, I guess. Doing idiotic things. Laughing about them later. Getting grounded. Y'know.
• Tennis season. So, I made varsity this year. Then three of our seniors decided that they DID want to play this year, after all...and so I got pushed off. Sigh. But I seriously love this sport so much. Like, I've never been a super-athletic person. I'm definitely not cross-country or track material. But still, I get to letter this year which means that I'm in line for captain next year which means that my design for sweatpants might actually be realized (I want them to say KISS MY ACE across the back).
• Buying a new house. And it's big and beautiful and I have a Narnia in my room. Seriously.
• Writing. Drafted a new manuscript and revised an old one and outlined a few ideas. I sat in my closet and in my bathtub and on my roof and in my other odd writing nooks and got lost in words. And it was wonderful.
• Reading. I read and reread so many wonderful books this summer. I laughed and sobbed and remembered why I first fell in love with words (but I did a lot of reading outside, and outside=mosquitoes. Did I mention that I'm allergic to mosquito bites? Like, severely?)
• Eating deep fried cookie dough on a stick. I KNOW, RIGHT?
• Critiquing. I have such a talented critique group, guys. Seriously. I'm so lucky to have the privilege of reading for them. It's like getting AARCs in my inbox.
• Interning. I got internship for a literary agent this summer, and it's been wonderful. I get to read full requests and I'm just like DUDE I WONDER IF SOMEONE WAS DOING THIS WHEN I WAS QUERYING THIS IS SWEET GAHHHH.
• My mom is making crown roast for dinner. Legit.
• The agony and ecstasy of being on subs. That is all. GAHHHHHHHHHH.