Another NaNo Excerpt

This one is a little different. My human character accidentally finds out that the two guys she's been traveling Europe with are really an elf and a leprechaun when a somewhat mad professor corners them in Germany. It's a kind of funny and lighthearted scene, but, unfortunately, this is where I've gotten stuck. Enjoy!

Barbara was reading the pamphlet. “Oh my gosh. Do you really have an extra toe?”

Padraig blinked. He opened his mouth, glanced at Professor Bunk, and replied, “No, but I believe my sister does,”

“So that’s an uncommon trait?” the professor said, looking surprised.

“Very,” Padraig replied.

“Well…I heard once that one in every hundred human babies is born with an extra digit,” Barbara murmured. “If that makes you feel better,”
“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” Padraig said.

“It also says that you can… pop?” Barbara said, raising her eyebrows.

“Nope. That would also be my sister,” Padraig said. “I’ve never… erm… popped, in my life,”

“Go to the part about wishes!” Professor Bunk cried, practically crawling across the table in excitement. “Read! Read! That’s what makes Padraig special!”

Barbara’s eyes flitted back and forth as she searched for the portion the professor was talking about, and then she found it and kept reading. Her lips parted a little bit. Her eyes grew wider and wider. Finally, she frowned, and sat back, blinking. 

Padraig and Stian simultaneously took her hands, gazing at her worriedly.

Barbara slowly turned to Padraig, still blinking more rapidly than usual. “What?” she said.

David Bunk looked utterly delighted. “Wondrous, isn’t it?”

“Wait—what all did you write about me?” Padraig asked, snatching the pamphlet away from Barbara.

He read it quickly: Certain very few leprechauns have the ability to create gold. This in itself is remarkable, but what is more remarkable still is that even fewer leprechauns are sometimes born with the ability to make magic gold. This gold, when given to another, contains a small amount of magic specifically cast to grant one possible wish to the recipient. This gold does not grant a wish to leprechauns, and it is unknown if there are any other creatures who are immune to the wish magic. This magical gift is extremely rare; less than a .0001% of leprechauns, even in local legend, have possessed. It is believed that such a powerful gift has strange physical side effects; particularly that when a leprechaun should grant a wish, he should flee from the person he has granted the wish to for an indeterminate amount of time. Other side effects known to have occurred are lightheadedness, nausea, and trifling headaches.

“Hm. Surprisingly accurate, considering your stupid illustrations,” Padraig said encouragingly to the professor. 

“No, wait!” Barbara interrupted. “Wait!” She slammed her hands down on the table, rattling the china and causing half a slice of kugelkopf to bounce onto the floor.

“Stop, just stop!” she insisted. She turned and glared at Padraig. Padraig leaned away from her in terror as the full fury of a woman scorned washed over him. She just glared at him for about two minutes. “Well?” she said.

Padraig sighed heavily, and leaned back towards her. “Okay. Here you go. You want proof, Barbara Peplum? Here you go.” He showed her his right hand, than balled it into a fist. He opened his hand slowly to reveal a small, shiny gold coin that had the words DHÉANAMH MIAN printed on it.

Barbara stared down at it in shock for a moment, and looked up at Padraig’s face. “So it’s true. It’s true. You’re… you’re a leprechaun. You’re for real,”

Emily Appreciation Post

So, the lovely Emily of findingaquietcorner.tumblr.com gave me a most wondrous Christmas present. She drew little illustrations of my NaNoWriMo book characters, and here they are!!

I can't actually express how much I love these drawings. Barbara and Padraig are absolutely perfect. This is actually one of my favorite things...when people draw my book characters? Yeah. Best thing in the world. 

So yes, Emily is awesome.

NaNoWriMo 2012: The Nineteenth Chapter

This is the entire nineteenth chapter of my NaNo Novel, Leprechaun Holiday. It is one of my favorite scenes in my novel, because its a really heartfelt piece, for both me and Padraig Offaly.
At a certain point a few days before NaNoWriMo story started, I got this idea in my head called 'The Superman Complex'.
Superman has a lot of amazing powers, but whenever he uses them, he vanishes. No one ever gets to thank the hero, and they never truly understand him.
One of the biggest plot points in my novel is that my Leprechaun grants wishes, and every time he does, he runs away. He has a Superman Complex. So this is the scene that I wrote embodying that whole idea. It is set at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. It is early December.
Enjoy!

The Nineteenth Chapter

The Leprechaun and the ‘Superman Complex’

Padraig needed some fresh air. He left the apartment late during the evening, around 9:30 p.m., and walked to the Eiffel Tower. It was not something he had planned on doing, but everything had gone so completely and unexpectedly wrong, he figured it might be worth trying something completely unexpected. On his way there, he bought a tall bottle of beer.

The tower looked just like it did in all those romantic pictures of Paris at night. There was hardly a soul around for once, and Padraig went up to the left front support of the tower and sat down on the steps tiredly. A small line of people was going in at the ticket counter, but Padraig didn’t feel like going up just yet. So he just sat in the glow of the Eiffel Tower, drinking his beer, and thinking, for a long time.

He thought about what his life had been like five years ago, and before that fateful day. The day Edwin died.

As he followed his gloomy, nostalgic train of thought, for some reason he started to think about Superman.  He remembered being seven years old and thinking Superman was the greatest thing in the world. He would watch the old cartoons with his dad on Saturday mornings. But what he was really thinking about was this; I’m just like Superman. I have an incredible gift, but I’m the only one. And whenever I use it to help anyone, I have to leave. I just run away. I never let anyone thank me. I never let anyone really know me. Because I’m the only one. No one can help me. No one can show me who I am. I’m the only one with super strength and heat vision. No one will ever understand how it feels.

But every time Superman saved Lois Lane, even though he flew away and she never got to thank him, he always saw her again. Once upon a time, that had been Padraig, too. He’d grant a wish, need to run away, but he could return. All the times he’d granted Edwin one more little wish, just to help his best friend one more time. All the mornings he stuck a coin in Mrs. Walsh’s mailbox for her to find, just so she could pay the rent one more time. All the Sundays he dropped a little gold coin in the offering plate, knowing Mr. Doherty, the parish treasurer, would put it to good use.

All that had stopped after Edwin died. The Superman Complex had changed dramatically. He still ran away; but these days, he never came back.

Now, his ‘super powers’ were more like his personal kryptonite than anything else.

“Superman was really lucky,” Padraig murmured softly to himself. “I think that’s the big difference between him and me,”

But, there was one thing about Superman no one could ever deny. No matter what, he did the right thing. He kept his promises, he paid for his mistakes, and he always managed to save the day.

Padraig finished his beer, and got up to throw the bottle in a waste bin. Then he went into the ticket office, and bought a ticket to the top of the tower. He took the elevator up and just stood up there for a long time, staring out at all the glittering, golden lights of Paris. If he leaned forward and held out his arms, it was like he was flying.

At 10:45, someone came up to him and explained that the tower was closing in fifteen minutes, and he needed to head down. Padraig did, and then just sat down on the steps again. He thought about everything and everyone. He thought about poor missing Deirdre. He thought about Leal and Sandrine. He thought about Stian and his amazing magical powers. He thought about his parents; his mother who understood him too well and his father who didn’t understand him at all. He thought about Barbara Peplum, especially her huge head of curly hair and the way it bounced when she moved. He thought about Edwin. My goodness, he hadn’t thought about Edwin so long and hard in many, many years.

And he thought about Superman.

By morning, Padraig had made up his mind. It was time to be Superman. It was time to do the right thing, even if it hurt, and especially because it would mean making a sacrifice. 

NaNoWriMo Day 16: BOOK TRAILER

Well, instead of actually writing, which is what I should have been doing, I made my NaNo Novel a trailer. 

It was a lot of fun, so I figure it was worth getting a little behind on my word count to finish up. Unfortunately, I have no way of posting it to this blog, but I was able to post it to my tumblr, and here is a link for it! Feel free to watch it and tell me what you think! 

My family loves it, and my mom is pestering me to let her read the book as soon as December 1st gets here. I have agreed to this only because I need someone to edit it for me. 

My current word count is 24,329, and it should be at least 26,672, but I have a quiet house today, so I'll be working ahead, hopefully enough that I won't have to write so much during the Thanksgiving holiday, as we're having a lot of company over!

Would anyone care for an excerpt to go with their trailer? Note that 'eejit' is the Irish pronunciation of 'idiot'. Enjoy!

Finally, it was time for Padraig to be on his way. He hung the pink/red plaid duffel over his right shoulder and held his suitcase in his left hand. That was all he had, and, hopefully, all he’d need. The suitcase was heavy. His back pocket seemed even heavier, holding that bleedin’ Visa card with who-knew-how-much money just waiting for him to spend all over Europe.

Gosh, his back hurt.

He stood in front of his family’s tiny white cottage with its gray roof, surrounded by meadows where the ship grazed. He just stood there, waiting to start off down the road.

He looked at his family, who were eagerly taking pictures of him and giving last-minute advice. Ruari finally remembered to say, “Get me something everywhere you go! It doesn’t matter what, just get me something, as long as its not really made in China! Promise me!”

Padraig sighed. “I promise Ruari.” He set his duffel and suitcase down, and opened his arms up. “Come here,”

Ruari took and running start and tackled him, which was surprisingly painful considering she only weighed about thirty-six kilograms. He held his baby sister tight, his heart pounding painfully inside his chest. He was going to miss the little devil so much. She talked his ear off and made him promise all sorts of ridiculous things, but he didn’t mind. He even forgave her for sitting on him at 7:30 in the morning.

Next he hugged his dad one more time, though they said nothing to each other.

Then he hugged his mother tight, nodded at everything she said, and assured her he’d be better when he got home. Better. Maybe that was a promise he could actually keep.

Finally, he opened his arms up and smiled at Deirdre, but she just looked at him, her eyes filled with anger and worry. “Bye, Porry,” she said.

“Didi,” he said. “Don’t I get a hug?”

Reluctantly, she went to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Eejit baby brother. You better be happy when you come home. I miss the happy Porry,”
“I’ll try,” he said. She tried to pull away, and he hugged her tighter. “Deirdre,” he whispered. “Are you really okay?”

Deirdre shook her head. “No. But you’re leaving. It’s not your problem, Padraig. Go and get better. Go.”

She pushed him gently but firmly away and walked back into the house.

Padraig watched her go, than saluted weakly to his parents and Ruari. Then he picked up his bags and turned his back on Slieve Bloom. He walked quickly, listening to Aoifa call out after him and Ruari singing him The Parting Glass, but he didn’t look back once. He didn’t look back, because he knew if he did, he would start crying and he might never stop. He hadn’t cried in five years and he didn’t want to ever do it again.

He had a three day walk ahead of him and a tight schedule, and his back was killing him. 

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 4! And Election Day!!

I would like to say that in light of the coming presidential election, this seems kind of trivial. I am praying for our nation, that the will of God will be accomplished. My dad recommends that we pray and fast as we are able, and I will definitely be doing what I can!
Keep both presidential candidates in your prayers, too...they're running all over the nation in some last-minute campaigning. 
It kind of stings that I'm too young to vote by only about 5 weeks, but I am praying that the candidate who will best carry out God's will for our nation will be elected. 
As small as my little speed-written novel is in comparison with the fate the United States, I can't deny I am enjoying myself and trying to give glory to God in what I write. So I thought I would give a status report on my NaNo Novel!

WORD COUNT: 6,700

STORY FEELINGS: GOOD!

A FUNNY LINE TO SHARE: "An hour later, Ruari had punched Padraig in the nose, and he was curled up on a ball on the floor, attempting to get his nose to stop bleeding."

I love NaNoWriMo so much. My mom actually tells me to 'go write', which gives me the most amazing sensation of creative POWER. I've been staying up late, but I've been following my story outline like a Bible. 

How is it going so far?

Well, I think it's going well. I have, as I said, six thousand and seven hundred words. BOOM. I love writing this story; naturally, my main character has been a whiney brat all 6,700 words, but he'll improve. This is all part of the plot. Trust me. 

I would like to thank Google Earth, from the bottom of my heart, for letting me take a virtual stroll along R440 in County Offaly, Ireland. The accuracy of my book deeply appreciates it. 

I will have another character reveal soon...maybe even a novel excerpt! God bless you all! 

NaNoWriMo 2012 Day 1: MAIN CHARACTER REVEAL...

Introducing: Your main character and lovable leprechaun, PADRAIG OFFALY!

(made at http://elouai.com/)

(Recall that Padraig is a fun Gaelic name pronounced Porrick)

Story Role: Protagonist 

Age: 23  DOB: 2-7-1989

Eyes: Blue    Hair:  Black

Height: 5”   Build: Small

Archetype:  4. The Caregiver

Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself

Core desire: to protect and care for others

Goal: to help others

Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude

Strategy: doing things for others

Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited

Talent: compassion, generosity

The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.

A little bit about Padraig: Padraig Offaly is a modern-day leprechaun who was born and raised in the Slieve Bloom Mountains of County Offaly, Ireland. He is the second of three children. His sisters are Deirdre (Deer-dra), 25, and Ruari (Rory), 17. His parents are Aengus (Angus) Offaly and Aoifa (Ee-fa) Offaly. He is the first leprechaun to ever become genuinely depressed, so his desperate family forcibly sends him off on 'holiday' for a year to help him recover. 

I am absolutely delighted to start writing his story...I promise its going to be a fantastic one!