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 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! 

9 Days till NaNoWriMo: First character reveal!

Lady's first! The first female character to appear in the story will be...RUARI OFFALY!

Ruari was made at http://elouai.com/

First of all, you might not be certain how one says Ruari's name, but this one isn't hard...in English, it would be spelled Rory, but it is pronounced the same. Her name comes from the Irish 'rua' which means 'red-headed king'. source

Story Role: Comedy relief/Sister

Age: 17 DOB: 3-4-1995

Archetype: 9. The Jester
Motto: You only live once
Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment
Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world
Greatest fear: being bored or boring others
Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny
Weakness: frivolity, wasting time
Talent: joy
The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.

Physical
Eyes: Green    Hair:  Red
Height: 4”8   Build: Petite

A little bit about Ruari: Ruari is the youngest member of the Offaly leprechaun family. She has two older siblings, Deirdre and Padraig. Her parents are Aengus and Aoifa Offaly. She is a minor character, but she will be very present in the story because she writes to her older brother frequently while he is on holiday. All leprechauns naturally love mischief, but she is a troublemaker.

I know some people are going to be curious as to whether or not Ruari is going to be an Irish leprechaun version of me, and the answer is: I sure hope not. It might happen naturally since we're both redheads and almost the same age. But no, I am nothing like the Ruari in my mind is; Ruari is not entirely considerate of other people, and she is far more amusing than I am.

Nine days to go, and I am bursting with excitement! I'll get another character reveal going as soon as I can, but right now I'm just trying to get the WHOLE story plotted out so all 30 days of NaNo-ing will basically be expanding one plot point at a time until we have a novel!