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: Character Reveal

First December character reveal anyone?

Introducing the closest thing to a legitimate villain in my very weird, unconventional novel...Professor David Bunk!

David was made at elouai.com

Age: 37 

(this is a rough estimate, I haven't exactly calculated how old he is)

Story Role: Mysterious Stranger/Intellectual/Antagonist      

Archetype: 10. The Sage

Motto: The truth will set you free

Core desire: to find the truth.

Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.

Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.

Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.

Weakness: can study details forever and never act.

Talent: wisdom, intelligence.

The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.

Physical

Eyes: Brown    Hair:  Light brown

Height: 5”8   Build: Average

Professor David Bunk is a strange and mysterious fellow, who, for the first half of the book is believed to be a psychotic stalker who is following Padraig around Europe. As it turns out, this is pretty much true. Prof. Bunk has been trying to prove for the past 25 years that leprechauns exist, and Padraig Offaly is all the proof he needs. 

NaNoWriMo Day 12: Character Reveal!

Introducing our Leading Lady, the main Female Character who is quite frankly more fabulous than I will EVER be...Barbara Peplum!

Barbara was made at http://elouai.com/

Age: 22 DOB: 2-7-1990


Story Role: Female Protagonist    

Archetype: 5. The Explorer
Motto: Don’t fence me in
Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world
Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life
Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness
Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom
Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit
Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul
The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.


Physical
Eyes: Brown    Hair:  Curly, curly, CURLY ash brown
Height: 5”5   Build: Curvy


A little bit about Barbara: Barbara is a very talented singer and actress from the Twin Cities in Minnesota. When Padraig runs into her in London, she is going throughout Europe singing to raise money for a school for disabled children back in her hometown. She is due for a surgery on her throat when she gets home, as her voice has been overused. Barbara is an independent, confident young woman, but she is troubled by how fortunate she is when the rest of her friends and family have suffered so much.

Word Count: Currently 19,301. Padraig and Stian are about to go a little crazy in the English countryside, and there will be Deep Personal Sharing, which is like my favorite thing ever.

In other news, I just packed a whole box filled with clothes in preparation for moving out sometime in the near future (nothing definite, but its amazing how much room I have now that most of my clothes are packed away). I miss my best friend (I love you!). I read 100 pages, wrote two papers, and recited a poem today. And I just ripped seven CD's to my laptop. All while writing a 50,000 word novel.

Amen.

NaNoWriMo 2012 Day Eleven: Character Reveal!

Our next character reveal just so happens to be my favorite character of NaNoWriMo 2012....STIAN AABERG!

Stian was made at http://elouai.com/

Story Role: Best friend

Age: 19   DOB: 9-9-1993

Archetype: 11. The Magician

Motto: I make things happen.

Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe

Goal: to make dreams come true

Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences

Strategy: develop a vision and live by it

Weakness: becoming manipulative

Talent: finding win-win solutions

The Magician is also known as: The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.

Physical

Eyes: Blue    Hair:  Blonde

Height: 5"11"   Build: Tall

A little bit about Stian: Stian Aaberg is an elf from Honningsvåg, Norway. When he finds Padraig Offaly in London, Stian has been away from home for about six months. He ran away from his family because of a strange magical power that he has very little control over, which he believes could pose a threat to the safety of those he loves. He is a cheerful, optimistic person and is the first to befriend the holidaying leprechaun. His scarf was a gift from his grandmother and he always wears it. Padraig enjoys dragging Stian around by his scarf, especially when Stian starts to flirt with girls. 

Current word count: I got two days behind Friday and Saturday, but I am now completely caught up and my word count is 18,377!

Also, today is my younger sister Meg's birthday!

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3 NaNo's in a row, Meg. I love you so much! Happy Sweet Sixteen!!!

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!

NaNoWriMo: Another Character Reveal?

Introducing our next minor character...Deirdre Offaly!

Deirdre was created using http://elouai.com/

Age: 25 DOB: 1987

Story Role: Sister

Archetype: 6. The Outlaw
Motto: Rules are made to be broken
Core desire: revenge or revolution
Goal: to overturn what isn’t working
Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual
Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock
Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime
Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom
The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.


Physical
Eyes: Green    Hair:  Auburn
Height: 4”7   Build: Petite

A Little Bit About Deirdre: Deirdre Offaly is the eldest Offaly child. She attends Tullamore College in County Offaly where she is studying viciously to become a math teacher. She is a highly successful, dominant, and opinionated young woman who has been proposed to no less than six times. Her role in the story is complex, as she is a not entirely nice older sister to her siblings Padraig and Ruari, but has good intentions no one could imagine. 

Happy weekend, everyone! FIVE DAYS TO GO!!

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!

NaNoWriMo: 13 days to go!

I'm getting really excited! I have started creating book characters on http://elouai.com/, which is always fun. I will do some character reveals once we get closer, and I actually start writing.

One thing I'm happy to announce is I actually have a name for my main character! It comes from a minor character in a  BBC show called Ballykissangel my mother really liked for a while . It is spelled Padraig, but it is pronounced 'POOR-RICK'. I did not make this name up, just FYI. The name means 'patrician' or 'noble', which I thought was fitting for a Leprechaun.

My mom is ridiculously excited to read it when I'm done, so I'm going to strive to actually successfully write it from start to finish, which I didn't do my first two years. That was mainly because I failed to pace myself, so I'm going to write up a better story line this year, for sure.

I also have plans to sneak people I know into the book, not even as minor characters, but just as random strangers. It's going to be way too much fun.

I'm leaving for the weekend and won't have a lot of internet access, but I'm starting to do some legitimate research on Ireland so I don't look like a complete simpleton. I am Irish on both my mom and my dad's side, so I think I am up to the task!

This is going to be the best NaNoWriMo EVER.

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Priscilla Tabitha Akron

I started a story about two years ago that was extraordinary complicated called 'Things'.

The story is a complete bust; I can't develop and keep up with that many characters, and I certainly can't make a believable enchanted world while trying to keep up with the characters.

So I doubt the piece as a whole will ever go anywhere except my 'look back on how pathetic you used to be and feel better' documents box.

But...there was one character in there I vaguely remembered. Her name was Priscilla, but you should call her Prissy.

Here are the three scenes I wrote with her. I'm captivated by this character; she's kind of mean, but very vulnerable. I think she might have her own story brewing underneath the overzealous plot that has lead me to lose hope for 'Things'.  Ejoy!

Monday afternoon, Prissy sat on the railing of the front deck, wishing for cold. It was so hot, and it was only May! The summer would get hotter, to be sure. She looked down at her black top and thick purple scarf and black jeans, wondering if it really was too hot to wear that much black, and thinking she looked kind of punk to be living in a place like Well Water. She wondered if the founders of the town realized how terrible that name sounded, or if they’d meant it to be more like, Pleasant Water. Either way, she was stuck in the tiny, hot, miserable town of Well Water.

“Hey! Hey, Akron!”

Prissy looked down, and saw with disdain that it was Calvin, the annoying son of the family who came to Well Water every 4^th of July holiday to fish in Lake Well Water. He called her Akron, despite the fact she had introduced herself as Priscilla Tabitha Akron, but you should call me Prissy.

“What do you want, Calvin?” She asked, tossing her layered black hair, which was currently streaked purple. “I’m not in the mood for you.”

Calvin snickered in the obnoxious way he always snickered. “Yeah, right. Your sitting there alone and bored, and your hot and sweaty, ‘cause you’re wearing all that black, and you were just hoping I’d show up!”

“Yeah, right. Whatever,” Prissy said, rolling her blue eyes. “I would think you’d have better things to do with your time than bug me. Then again, maybe not.” After all, how enthralling could a summer of catching fish be?
“Whatever. Look, Akron, my Pop sent me over to warn you people about some guy that’s been reported around this area. He goes around and breaks into houses. He’ll probably go for yours, since it’s so ugly.”

“More like because it’s the only house in this whole town that has anything valuable in it,” Prissy said smugly. “I doubt your family has much in that camper of yours, if you vacation in a place like this,”

“We’ve got tons in our camper!” Calvin retorted, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Sure,” Prissy said, smiling. “Like, mountains of stuff from curio shops and fishing tackle, right?”
Calvin wrinkled his nose at her. “You look so ugly when you smile like that, Akron,” And he raced off in the direction of the lake, leaving Prissy to wonder a little about the burglar going around. She slipped off the porch railing and went inside to tell her mother.

The heat wasn’t much better inside, and Mrs. Akron didn’t seem too concerned. “Yeah, I heard about that,” She walked around Prissy with the Dirt Devil. Their many cats didn’t’ like vacuums, and trying to pick up cat hairs with an ancient, powerless Dirt Devil was somewhat of a thankless task. “By the way, your father and I are driving up to Carmen tonight, for a date,”
“Mm hm,” Prissy said. “Sure,” A night of uninterrupted television and whatever food she could find. Awesome.

 Prissy sat sideways in the arm chair, her legs dangling over one side, three cats sitting in her lap. They were watching an old Disney movie from the 60’s. The cats seemed to be enjoying it more than Prissy they were purring so loud. “That guy is cute, don’t you think?” Prissy said, stroking Willow’s ears. “He’s probably like, in his nineties now. But he’s still cute,” Peaches and Patches purred in agreement.

Prissy yawned and stretched. It was nearing ten, and her parents wouldn’t be home till after midnight. They were having dinner with some friends and seeing a Broadway show in Carmen. The movie ended abruptly about twenty minutes later, and it was pitch black outside. Prissy gently lifted the three cats off of her and went to the kitchen to get a snack. She flipped on the light, and froze.

There was a guy standing in the kitchen. He was tall, wearing all black…and a ski mask. Prissy’s heart stopped and started again a few times, as she remembered what Calvin had said about a burglar going around the area. All the blood drained from her face as the guy turned around and saw her. He took a step towards her, and Prissy screamed.

“Shh! Quiet!” He clamped a hand over her mouth. “Calm down, ok? This is probably not what you think,”
Prissy stared at him over his hand on her mouth, her eyes wide.

“Be quiet,” He repeated, and removed his hand from her mouth.

 She sagged against the wall, shaking. “What are you doing here!?” She breathed.

“What do you think?”
“Robbing my house?” Prissy replied, shrugging. “Are you gonna kill me? My mom will just freak if you do…and I don’t think I’m insured…” She realized that she was rambling senselessly, but she couldn’t stop.

“I’m not robbing your house, ok?” He said. “I needed to find you,”
Prissy blinked. “Well…ok…why?”

“I can’t tell you. Can you be in Cade Center tomorrow?” He asked.

She blinked again. “Um…maybe…why?”

“It’s important,” He paused. “You are Priscilla Akron, right?”
Seemed a little late to ask that. “Yeah,”

“Your father is Professor Akron?”

“Yeah…why?”
“Be at the library in Cade Center at one tomorrow. It’s important.” He headed towards the door, and paused. “Don’t tell your parents about this.”

And he just…left. He opened the kitchen door and slipped out. Prissy let herself sag down the wall till she was seated on the kitchen linoleum, and didn’t even notice that seven cats were swarming around her, purring and meowing and begging for attention.

“Oh…boy…” She breathed.

Prissy stood in the doorway of her parents’ room, twisting the hem of her pajama shirt. She wished she knew what to do. She was scared, but curious. She hovered a few more seconds, watching her amazing mom’s shoulders rise and fall, her beautiful golden hair falling down over her face. She looked at her dad, snoring softly, his face a little scruffy, murmuring softly once in a while. Prissy took a deep breath, and stepped quietly over to the side of the bed her father was on.

“Dad?” She said softly.

Immediately, his eyes opened. They fixed on Prissy, and he smiled. “Morning, Honey. Something wrong? It’s a little early,”

Prissy bit her lip, and her father sat up. “Come here,” She sat down next to him and let him hug her. “Now, what’s the matter? You look upset,”

Prissy sighed. “Um…well…somebody was here last night while you were gone,” She said quickly.

“What do you mean?” Her father asked.

“Um…” She quickly described the scene in the kitchen the night before, and she started to tremble at the thought of it. “And then he asked if you were my dad. And…he told me to come to the library in Cade Center today…at one,”

“Hm.” Was all her father said.

“I…I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. So I came to you,”
Her father put his arms around her. “Oh, Prissy. I’m so glad you did. It’s nice to know you’re still my little girl,”

“I’ll always be your little girl,” Prissy said, wrapping her arms around him. Her dad always made her feel so safe, she wanted to be his little girl forever. She knew he wanted that, too. “So…what should I do?”

“You should go to the library in Cade Center today at one,” Her father replied. “I think I know who that was who came here. Listen to me, Prissy,” His hazel eyes met hers, serious and concerned. “If this is about what I think it’s about, you need to trust me. Say yes. I love you, but this is so important, it’s a risk I’m willing to take, if you’re willing,”

“What do you mean?” Prissy asked.

“I can’t tell you. Do you trust me?”

Prissy looked up into her dad’s eyes, and wondered how she could not trust him. “Absolutely. I’ll say yes, to whatever the question. But…what about Mom?”

“I’ll talk to her, Honey,” He said, kissing her forehead. “Go get dressed. I’ll take you to Cade Center on my way to Carmen,” He was a professor at the university there.

Prissy nodded, and left for her room. She tingled with excitement, wondering what was in store for her. It was going to be amazing, she knew that much. Her dad was sure of it.

My Hero

Long ago, in 2010 when I first entered NaNoWriMo, I wrote a story called My Hero. It was random, spur of the moment, never finished, and frankly...terrible.

But many people told me the prologue was good, and my friend and I liked the name Peach. 

So here you go...enjoy :)

cover made by the lovely Kayla 

Prologue

Peach saw herself; small, blonde, large blue eyes, dressed in a white hoodie and jeans, standing in black, surrounded by swirling white mist.

I'm dreaming, she thought subconsciously, but it didn’t really register, or matter, especially after what happened next.
The black morphed into one of those stereo-typical, terrifying forest paths, where the trees are dark, bare, straggly and gloomy and the sky is gray/brown, and the air is cold as death and has the scent of something horrible coming after you. She staggered, terrified, through trees and dark and mist. She didn’t know what she was running from, or even why she was running at all. Than, she saw them. Shadows. Shapes. Slipping in and out of shadows and changing, flashing, nothing clear, but the shapes so horrible Peach knew she was running from them. They looked like monsters, animals…beings Peach didn’t know she could imagine.
“Help!” she cried, her voice hoarse and whispery. She must have been yelling for help all her life. Why did she keep trying? The things got closer, and she ran faster.
Up ahead, all she could see was more of the same…straggly bear trees, cold mist, black. Black. The black made her want to turn and run back…except of course for what was chasing her.
“There’s no hope,” she gasped, her words coming out in little puffs of mist. “No one can hear me. I’m doomed!”
She slowed enough to turn around, which was her biggest mistake. One look, and her heart, her body, her thoughts all froze in terror. She didn’t even know what she was seeing…there was nothing there. Maybe that was what was so horrible.
“No!” She screamed, horrified. “Help me! Someone! Please! Save me!”
Suddenly, she was stumbling…she flew forward and scraped her face and chest on the hard ground. She cried out, unimaginable terror washing over her. She flipped onto her back, and saw dark shapes flapping towards her. They were too big to be bats, and every one of them was screeching like it wanted to rip her apart.
She scrambled to her feet, and found herself unable to see clearly. Everything was a blury haze, and the forest path was melting into black. The mist stayed put. The black squirmed and swirled. Everything that had been chasing her was melding together into a world of darkness, fear and pain. And it was going to suffocate her. She whirled around and around, but there was no escape. The mist that had assured her she was still at least in a real world suddenly flitted away, like the flame from a candle.
Peach screamed, her hands flying up to ward the black away from her face. “Why didn’t you save me!?” she sobbed, but she had no idea who she was yelling to. She dropped to her knees, knowing it was over.
Suddenly, there was a noise like wind ripping through a paper bag, only it was deafening. Peach’s eyes flew open, and she saw…light.
Light, beautiful, pure, blazing light ripped through the black, blinding her.
There was a beautiful yet horrible wind, and Peach covered her head with her arms as it rushed over her. She felt…hands…grabbing at her. She cried out, but the hands were wrenched away. Nothing touched her.
She was safe.
The rush of wind passed, and Peach hesitantly looked up. She gasped. Where there had been darkness, now there was light. She was surrounded by light. It was warm and beautiful and horrible at the same time. It was unbearably wonderful. It hurt her heart in a way she didn’t understand.
“Where am I?” she wondered aloud, her voice quavering.
And than, through the light, there came a dark silhouette. It looked like a man…a strong, broad, tall man. She stared at the person. Whoever it was, even through their form was dark, they seemed to make the very light around them look dim. The light was coming FROM them.
“Peach,”
The voice was beautiful, warm, and deafening.
“You owe your life to someone,”
“Wh-who!?” Peach stammered, sounding hysterical in her own ears.
“You remember, Peach. They saved you. You couldn’t be alive right now if they hadn’t. You owe them your life. You owe them your love.”
Peach stared at the silhouette, her trembling body starting to still. “I…I remember?”
“Yes. And you need to be grateful.”
 
The next thing Peach knew, her eyes were open and she was staring up at her ceiling. Her heart sped up by about three hundred beats and she sat up, sweat running down her face. “WHOA!”
She looked around, panting. Her bed, her pale blue sheets messed up and her flowered bedspread rumpled over her shaking legs. The room was unchanged. The walls were dark, the shades were drawn. It was clean. The rug was wrinkled from where she’d launched herself into bed last night. Her desk had five or six books on it, and her closet door was closed. The fan whirred quietly on the ceiling. The green letters of her alarm clock read 3:37.
Peach slowly looked down at herself. She hadn’t changed either. Purple ankle socks. Black sleep shorts. Pink sleep tank top. Her brown/blonde hair hung in tangled lumps around her face.
But…she had changed. Something was different. She could FEEL it. I shouldn’t be here.
I SHOULDN’T BE HERE.
“I should be dead.”
A shiver went through Peach. The voice in the dream said she remembered. But she didn’t! She didn’t even understand! She took five breathes one might expect froma beached whale rather than a rather small fifteen year old girl. Than she let her head collapse back against the pillow, trembling slightly. She closed her eyes.
“I should be dead,” she repeated, whispering into the dark. “But…somebody saved me. I have a hero.” She paused, tears of awe welling up in her eyes. “A hero. I have a hero.”
She opened her eyes, her jaw setting in determination.
“And I need to be grateful.”

NaNoWriMo: Day 18, CHARACTERS!!

Charlotte Worth, 16 (and The Frog)

Toby Worth, 23

These characters were created at Elouai.com, and they turned out absolutely amazing! My only complaint is Charlotte's hair is not quite how I imagine it, and I had no way to make Toby look older/taller than his younger sister, but ah, well. Since I just couldn't get them to look right drawing them, I'm very pleased with this. More characters in the future? Possibly...not sure yet. These are the two main characters, anyway. 

Things are going well still! Word count is 29,186...but I haven't even reached the climax yet. Oy. So I'm thinking I'll have to start writing scenes rather than just go in chronological order, otherwise November will end and I won't even have a complete skeleton of my novel! 

That's it for now...I'm off to bump my word count some more : ).