Announcement: Another Book?

Hello Bookworms! (Should I change this to Bookdragons? I saw something on Pinterest.)
I TOLD myself at the beginning of the year, 1 POST PER MONTH!!! And here I am, at the end of October, and I don't have a post for this month yet. Yikes! Alright, so this post should be short, but hopefully I will get back to blogging more frequently soon.

So! I am working on another book, (I know, again?) and I'm hoping to publish this one in the next few years. So. The title is: Snow White and the Mirror's Curse. Because we don't have enough of the Snow White stories circulating :). My idea is: there are plenty of Snow White stories around, but who ever told the mirror's story? So, I'm experimenting with this book, trying to figure out all the story arcs, but I definitely have a plan. This is part of a series that I started several years ago and dropped, called A Villain's Guide to Fairy Tales and it's basically my take on what fairy tales tell us, what they don't tell us, and questions I've always had. Like: are there more magic mirrors out there? Does it only tell the truth? How does magic work in that world? How do all these stories interact?

Anyway, please let me know if you want to see any scenes from that story, and what you would like me to write about next! (see, I told you this post would be short. No, I haven't forgotten what short means!) Happy NaNoWriMo everyone! Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Top 10: Songs that inspire my writing

Hello Bookworms!
I started writing this post...what, a month ago? Two? Yikes! This got out of hand. Oh well, let's jump into the topic! I'm talking about 10 of my favorite songs to listen to while writing. That's it. Nothing else. Enjoy!

#10: Footloose
There's something about this song that is just: fun. The tune is exciting, the words are slightly rebellious, and the general atmosphere of the song is that of an adventure I'd love to go on. I've never seen the movie it's from, but I don't think it's necessary to enjoy the song. This is usually what I listen to when I'm writing something fun, and not terribly depressing or tragic.

#9: Hold My Heart
This is a song by ZZ Ward and Lindsey Stirling on Lindsey's new album: Brave Enough. There were several songs on that album that I wanted to write about, but this one stood out to me. It has simple and easy to understand words, and is saying something great for writing strong female characters: just because they don't need the man to save them, doesn't mean they don't need the man. There's a fine line in writing between needy women and overly independent women. If you want to write one, fine, go ahead. Just know when that's what you're writing. (I think I got of track though. :) ) The music is very reminiscent of a 20s murder mystery, and has an air of class and mystery that I find excellent for writing complex dialogue. (All dialogue is complex, but sometimes there's a verbal sparing match happening between two characters, and you suddenly realize: wait, did he just say that?!)

#8: Pioneer
This song by The Band Perry inspires hope, adventure, and a sense of purpose. The first time I listened to it I was lost in the words and the music, but since then it has become a symbol of my wandering mind. This is the song for your dreamer character. This is a song that tells of determination and peaceful, blind hope. It's pretty calm, but near the end the music becomes very...emotion-awakening, and it still gives me goosebumps.

#7: Your Side of Town
By Maddie and Tae, this country song is full of threats of revenge, cheeky sass, and a fun sense of being fed up with people who betray us. I use this song as inspiration for one of my characters in TreasureHood, especially with the division between the pirates and the other people. (Yes, I'm working on a better name for them!)

#6: Lone Ranger
I recently watched the 2013 Lone Ranger movie, and found that the movie was excellent! (I'll be working on a post for that soon) This song I felt should have been in the movie, had it been written yet. Lone Ranger by Rachel Platten is an AMAZING song. It has a wandering sense, and feels like the Old West, but not in an overbearing manner. The song's an upbeat minor song, (which is actually not very common outside of soundtracks) and  I enjoy writing anything general. For example: if you have to write an essay. I know that's a terrible example, but seriously. This is the kind of song you listen to when writing a first draft, and just trying to get the words out there on the page. This could be for light dialogue, it could also be for scenery or history, or even a cute bunny trail like the ones I tend to write on here. Basically, this is what you listen to when you're writing what you already know, but just need to get out there actually onto paper.

#5: El Dorado
Named after the City of Gold from Aztec mythology, this song by Two Steps from Hell, (a trailer music group) lives up to its expectations. I've heard many people have different ideas from listening to this song, but I always imagine it starting out as a thief running through the streets of that ancient city, then slowly his life gets more and more complicated and entwined in the government of the city. Different people hear different things, but this song almost always wakes up a muse of mine. It's EPIC, and while all the songs by the group could be called epic, this song's quick and light pace, (At least to start with) has made itself stand out in my mind.

#4: World on Fire
Speaking of epic, this song is mostly used in fan videos on youtube, but it registers a level of despair, and forging ahead through that despair that gets to me. Most of my muses have responded to this song, but generally it's either an opening first act song, or a third act song. (Or, it's usually the 'moment where it becomes real' for the main character, or the moment of apparent defeat.) I like it, and it's very dark, and in minor.

#3: One Day More
No, I don't have to explain this one. Les Mis. Simple. If you don't know it, well, look it up. And I am very surprised at you. (also, I am very interested in learning just how you've gone so long without hearing one of the greatest songs EVER?!) So, I will talk about what this song has inspired. This song is like Pioneer, only with more desperate anger. It's inspired character who want to change the world, and it's inspired characters who want nothing to change. All in all, it's inspired a lot of dialogue. This is the song I listen to when trying to figure out the relationship between different people. So....yup.

#2: One Girl Revolution
So, Superchick has apparently disbanded, (so sad!) but I still LOVE this song by theirs. (I was in a 'women empowerment' mindset when I wrote this list, can you tell?) This is agressive, and about women being awesome even if they don't look like it. I use this song to inspire any character who does any kind of fighting: whether it's sword fighting, martial arts, kickboxing, verbal sparing, anything. This is a song for making a difference.

#1: Immortals
YES I love this song, it's awesome! My number one song for this list is by Fall Out Boy, and most people have heard it in Big Hero 6, (fascinating movie, also need to do a post about it. Let me know if that's interesting) I actually don't use this song for my immortal characters, (yes, I have a few.) but instead I use this song to inspire moments where my characters have to decide what exactly would be worth more to them than their lives. Interesting that I use a song called 'immortals' for when characters are faced with their own mortality. Huh. Maybe I need to examine my head for a sense of irony?

Anyway, please let me know what you thought, (and also if this was too long!) Seriously, other than the practice I get from writing these, I can't really get better without your comments! Positive or negative, just as long as it's constructive! I'll get back to you guys soon! Happy Fall! Scribe Ergo Quae Vidiste Vivere!

Disaster films: San Andreas

Dear Bookworms,
I recently watched the movie San Andreas with my family, and I found it to be a wonderful movie. It exceeded my expectations and inspired me to write, so I thought I'd write a review of it. (Yes, something other than muses and zombies!)

Plot (pacing): 
The pacing of the film felt very natural. The set up didn't take too long but emphasized the importance of the earthquakes, giving meaning to some of the concepts that would be introduced further on in the plot. The middle built up towards the finale of the 2nd act, (using the 3 act format) and the ending was not only well played out and one of the tensest moments in the series, but it threw a surprise in that I didn't see coming,  and definitely appreciated, and it reminded me that the finale doesn't have to be the biggest event, just the most personal.

Characters: 
I won't go into much detail in this, but through most of the film my mom was commenting: "That's what you should look for in a guy!" I think they balanced the heroism of the men with the intelligence of the women, and gave each a chance to save the other. I found that none of the main characters were 'just plot devices' and each of the characters had a unique role to play. Unlike most disaster films where the children just give the main characters something to fight for and the audience a sense of danger, the kid in this film actually had a very important role in the survival of the main characters.

Disaster Scenes: 
The main reason that anyone watches a disaster film: the scenes. This film had incredible jaw-dropping cinematography, and while it was noticeable that a few scenes were CGI, the disaster scenes were usually visually realistic. It wasn't just earthquakes, there were...well, I don't want to spoil anything, but it showed some epic shots with a great deal of variety in the destruction.

Accuracy: 
There are two sides to this one. On the side of science I've heard that this film had some scientific inaccuracies. I'd have to agree. Here's the thing: writing isn't about accuracy. Writing is about telling your story, and entertaining the audience. If they wanted accuracy they could go watch the History Channel. Though I'm honestly not sure if that would be any better. :) (I've seen some good stuff on the History Channel, but also some REALLY bad stuff.)
On the flip side, their portrayal of human reactions to traumatic situations seemed to be rather accurate. (I cannot fully say, this is just based off of what I've heard.) The way they showed blunt force trauma and how humans respond to stressful situations seemed to be more accurate than most films I've seen. So, spot on.

Story Telling Elements: 
Finally, the different elements in this movie were fantastic. They had tension, of course. What disaster film would be complete without it? They also had romance, but it was in its place. The romance was secondary to family. The main romantic interest was more focused on saving his younger brother than on saving the girl. That didn't mean he didn't care, of course he did. But his first priority was his brother. As it should well have been. Finally, it included a lot of something that several disaster films don't have: humor. I understand, if life as we know it is coming to an end, there's not a lot of chances for snarky one liners. But then a movie becomes bogged down and the audience loses interest in the story, and also looses sight of how terrible these events are. By adding in some more light-hearted moments, the narrators were able to pull the contrast on the darker moments and show them for what they were without being graphic. Excellent story telling.

Honestly, I don't know why this movie was as poorly rated as it was. Sure, there's some brief swearing. If I was in that situation, I'd be swearing too. Probably a lot more than they did, and they kept within a PG-13 rating. Anyway. Any other movies you want me to comment on? Anything you want me to write about? Please let me know!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Writing Block Corner: The Muse Pt. 2

Hello Bookworms!
It has come to my attention that my previous conclusion about muses is...incomplete. So, here are 10 more muses that you might come across! Have fun reading?

1: The Research Muse
This muse has ideas, and want to know if it could happen before it's written down. This muse doesn't lead to a lot of writing, but it is the one that makes sure you've got everything right. It wants to make sure you're getting every detail of your story right. It's unpredictable in its nature, and can show up at the strangest times, then last for anywhere from a few minutes to several days, asking the questions you don't honestly have the answers for at the moment, because who want to deal with that editor muse anyway?

2: The Editor Muse
If you haven't run across this muse yet, you haven't been writing long enough. This muse will come up to you at some point in time and yell at you to go back through all of your writing and fix everything wrong. This word doesn't make sense, you shouldn't use that pronoun in that sentence, and you've got an entire paragraph you need to rewrite. No, scratch that, an entire chapter. Well, why not the entire book while you're at it? This muse won't let you live down a mistake, only live it up. It's annoying as anything, and gives you massive insecurity about your book. Unfortunately it's impossible to fully get rid of, as it is necessary. Sorry, but someone needs to tell you to go back and fix your spelling. It just needs to learn timing. Really, dialogue is hard enough without the wrong voice in your ear!

3: The Auditory Muse
This muse is most helpful with dialogue, but really it can help with anything. This is the muse that has you speak your words allowed, and doesn't really like coming out in public. You speak the words allowed and find yourself pouring more emotions into the words than you had originally planned. This is the muse that lets you play out your situations, understanding how long it really takes to speak a paragraph! And if you give your characters the voices of certain actors, well, that's just par for the course.

4: The Actor Muse
I am not even joking when I say that this muse has taken up a large percentage of my Pinterest pins, and entire board. This is the muse that sees a picture of an actor, and suddenly a completely rounded character appears. Fully grown, and on his horse. The problem: this character has no story. Oh, the character has a story, but there's no story that the character belongs to. We're not just about to write an entire story for one character, are we? We're not that big into his previous works.

5: The Copy Muse
We're that big into his previous works. This muse is the muse that is tired of working with original stuff, and wants to see what it's like to experiment with other characters. This is the muse whose works we fondly keep in a drawer and pull out sometimes when we're sentimental. This technically isn't our own work, but hey. We wrote it, and we learned important lessons while doing so. And yes, it might be called fan-fiction, but we prefer to call it a nowhere story.  Besides, did you hear the music for that film? Awesome!

6: The Music Muse
This is the muse that loves music. Not every writer has this muse, but for those who do, they find that they do more writing with music in the background than without it. Music is what gives this muse a sense of purpose. An emotion to key in on during a scene. A sense of epic purpose to help you transform your book for words to adventures. This muse works surprisingly well with other muses, which isn't honestly that common.

7: The Muse Clique
This is a group of several muses who never go anywhere without each other, and it's very hard to write one without writing all of them. These muses will copy each other's emotions. They are very difficult to break up, and usually become very upset if you manage it. Eventually you're just going to have to either try writing all of them at once, or take one of them out at a time and give them each your undecided attention for long enough that it no longer feels the need to band with other muses. Even the principal muse has difficulty ratcheting down on these muses.

8: The Principal Muse
If your mind is a school, then this muse is its principal. This is the muse that oversees the rest of them. Or at least tries to. Your principal muse is the means of communication you have with your other muses. If you have writer's block, it's typically because this muse isn't feeling well. This is one of your most helpful muses, until it decides that you should be writing, only none of your other muses are even awake. You're stuck with a desperate urge to write and no outlet, meaning that you generally end up stuck examining the morph.

9: The Morph Muse
You know one thing about this muse. Whether it's a character, or a general arc, or a world, or maybe even the way three characters interact. But other than that, nothing is known. Everything changes. Is it a Western? Is it a Sci-Fi? Is it in the past or the future? Nothing is known. Everything is suspect to change. It's a very difficult muse to write, and also one of the most addicting. You just want to examine every aspect of it, peel away the surface, get underneath its edges, carve away at it...

10: The Constructive Muse 
Unlike constructive criticism, this muse means constructive in a very literal term. This is the muse that works best when you're using your hands for something else. Whether it's drawing, cooking, building, blowing things up, this muse wants you to see that you've done stuff. This muse is also a very logical muse. Not everyone has this muse, but it's a very polite muse to have. Well, polite for a bit of a control freak.

Alright, so please! What experiences do you have with muses? Would you like for me to continue talking about muses? Or is there something else about the insanity of writing that you'd like me to go into?
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Shady Friday #22

Hello Bookworms!

I've been....busy. So, several of my muses went from comatose to highly caffeinated in a short period of time, so I've been busy writing and doing things.
Today's post is from...wait for it...Mildly Normal Insanity! Yup, I'm still writing it, and it's still giving me grief about how little I write! Oh, and the name of the book has changed. It's currently going by See Us, and now I've run out of things to say. Please read the small snippet from the book, and leave a comment! This is told from the perspective of Basil, a character who I'm still developing. He's a modern adaption of Agamemnon, so if you know a better way to adapt Agamemnon into the modern era, please let me know!
~

I swore as a cacophony of screams erupted from the other side of the plaza. I saw people running as quickly as they could away from the northwest end, and I immediately ran for a lookout post. I found it in the form of the clock tower in the middle of the plaza. I made my way through the swarming masses of people until I could reach the door to the tower and slam it closed behind me.

I was silently grateful that the guards had abandoned their posts to flee with the rest of the crowd, and quickly climbed the tower to find a lookout position after bolting the door behind me. It took me a matter of seconds to climb to the top of the tower and stare down at the plaza.

I could see the cause of the riots then. There were about ten of them, and a whole line of people who were in various states of shock left behind. The creatures were practically tearing down the slowest of the mob, and I swore as I saw the wanton destruction of bleeding bodies left behind them.

“Please watch your language around a lady, sir.”

I turned around quickly, and realized that I wasn’t the only person with this idea.

“Sorry, I thought I was alone.” I thought for a moment. “If you don’t mind me asking ma'am, why didn’t you run with everyone else?”

“Just because everyone else decided to run around screaming and drawing attention to themselves like perfect idiots doesn’t mean that I have to do the same.” She stated, and I nodded.

“You from Britain?” I asked, turning back to stare out the window.

“I am.” She nodded. “And you? You're from America?” I nodded. “Very well. What’s your plan?” She asked.

“Wait for the creatures to chase everyone else, then get the hell out of here.”

“I thought you were going to watch your language.”

“That was me watching my language.” She snorted, and you’ve never heard someone insult you until you’ve heard someone from Britain snort at you. “So what’re you doin’ here in Switzerland?” 

“I was attending a fashion show.” I turned to stare at her. While she looked the part, with some kind of jacket, a modest skirt, and heels that would make me wince, something didn’t really make sense.

“Sorry if I’m reading into things that are none of my business, but I got the impression you had more common sense than that.”

She snorted at me again. “I take offense at that. Several people I know have an incredible amount of common sense and love fashion shows.”

“But not you?” I asked. She sighed.

“It was a different type of fashion show.” I took my turn to snort, but apparently I did it the wrong way. “Is something I said amusing to you?” She asked.

“Sorry, I was just wondering when Switzerland was known for its fashion shows.”

She squared her shoulders and stared out the window with me. “Like I said, it was a different type of fashion show.” And she wouldn’t say more on the matter.

“Basil.” I said, offering her my hand.

She looked at it almost distastefully, but shook it eventually. “Hera.”

“Nice to meet you Hera.”

“Nice? Amidst the screams coming from the plaza as creatures kill and mutilate everyone in it aside from us? I hardly think so.” She turned back to the window, and I did too. There were some people that you just couldn’t talk to. 

~
So, thoughts? I'm changing perspectives through every chapter, so it's really fun writing from the P.O.V. of so many characters. Still, some of the characters are tricky to write! Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope to have another post soon!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere! 

Writing Block Corner: Character Arcs

Hello Bookworms!
A friend of mine who has been a writer for a while asked me for this post. (Please ask me for specific posts!) So, I figured I could share what limited experience I have in this with you! Mostly I'm just sharing some of the various arcs I've seen. Have fun reading! (Oh, and spoilers for the ending of shows and movies, so be warned! I won't go into details, but I do say where characters end up.)

#1: Redemption Arc
I'm sure this is the one you're most familiar with. Example: Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He started out as a villain, but an understandable one and a redeemable one. Over the course of the show the writers portrayed him as struggling with his desire for something other people tell him is necessary, and battling external and internal expectations, and reconciling his own actions with his sense of justice. They showed the corruption of his justice, and how he slowly got it back, along with all his lapses in judgement, and how they each weighed on him until he eventually decided to join the right side. Even then it wasn't easy for him, but he eventually managed to get there. This was an excellent example of the struggles of overcoming something that's both external and internal.  Redemption arcs take many forms, but this was one of the best I'd ever seen done.

#2: Trauma Arc
I don't have much I can say on this arc, as I haven't seen many good ones. (Probably because as a rule I tend to avoid movies about sports.) One was Fitz on Agents of Shield. He started out normal, and something (I can't say what!) happened that caused him to sustain major damage to his mind. Over the course of the second season he is seen struggling with being 'damaged' and learning where he finds his own value, and having everyone else start treating him like a member of the team again. It was an excellent way of showing several different ways in which people who've been through mental or even physical trauma find value despite their injuries. I think too many people ignore the fact that a lot of people are 'damaged', or if they allow people to sustain injuries they don't show how it impacts their life. Tell their story too.

#3: Unwanted Responsibility Arc
There have been several examples of this arc, because it's a fairly common one. The main character is destined for something, (typically to become king,) and he doesn't want the responsibility. It's usually because he's afraid that he might disappoint the people he has a responsibility to. It could be a girl facing this responsibility, but I've typically seen it in male characters, such as Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia, or Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. The character starts to see how they might actually be able to accept this responsibility, but also has moments, especially near the end of the story, where he doubts himself again. It's a constant struggle between whether or not he is capable of accepting this responsibility.

#4: Character Regression Arc
I have only identified this ONCE. I'm sure if I went back over some things I've seen before I could find more examples of this, but the only example that I recognized when I read it was Napoleon in George Orwell's Animal Farm. It has an EXCELLENT line that I loved. (Major spoilers!)
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
And that is how the book ends. Throughout the book the pigs, especially Napoleon, hated humans, and wanted to be clear that animals were above humans. As the book progressed however, they end up compromising their rule to have no interactions with humans, and eventually the pigs become the very beings they had claimed to hate so passionately. It was chilling to read, and I highly recommend the book.

Bonus: Flawed Arc: Introvert to Extrovert
DON'T WRITE THIS ARC, PLEASE! Being an introvert isn't a flaw, and it doesn't need fixed! Please, all you writers out there, don't write this arc! Extroverts don't seem to understand, we usually aren't scared of people, we just don't like them. And have you seen people? They're scary! Anyway. Being an introvert, or shy, or quiet, isn't a flaw. Please stop writing characters as if it is.

Alright! So, thoughts? Do you want me to write about more arcs? Is there an area in writing you're having difficulty understand? Please leave a comment, and let me know what you think!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Top Ten: Crazy words

Hello Bookworms!
I haven't been blogging in a little while, so today I'm doing a very fun, very simple post. Basically, I'm writing 10 of my favorite words, and explaining why I love them. Simple, short, and it gets me back into the routine of blogging. Plus, who knows? Maybe they'll help expand your vocabulary!

#10: Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Despite what spellcheck says, this is a real word! It means fear of long words. I simply love saying it and wigging people out, but it's also ironic. People get scared because I can basically say it in one breath, but they generally end up laughing when I explain what it means. It's just something I like.

#9: Eclectic
This is a lot like eccentric, but eccentric implies a higher level of insanity. Eclectic simply means using a little of the best of everything. I think it's a beautiful word, and it describes my writing style beautifully.

#8: Abscond
DON'T ask me why I fell in love with this word, but I did. It means to run away with. I sometimes like to say that my muses have absconded with my sanity, and have been informed that only writers use words like that. Okay, so I know exactly why I fell in love with this word! It's one that I like. So...nothing else to say. Moving on.

#7: Catalyst
I have never seen this word used in normal writing, which really stinks. Science doesn't get to claim our words, people! So, according to the dictionary, a catalyst is someone or thing that precipitates an event or change. Basically, it makes things happen. In simpler terms, it's a plot device. But it makes me feel smart to say it. :)

#6: Asinine
Why do I love this word? To start off with Harry used it in The Flash. Wait, I need another reason to love it? Oh, all right. It's a great insult. There. You sound intelligent as you call someone an idiot.  Perfect reason to love the word.

#5: Photosynthesis
Another sciency thing. Wait, sciency isn't a word either? Wow, spellcheck is picky! Alright. I love photosynthesis because it's a very fun word to say. Photosynthesis. It sounds like someone likes taking pictures of themselves, while in actuality it has something to do with sunlight and plants. If you are interested in learning more: check out a book on plant biology. I'm a writer, not a scientist.

#4: Psychosomatic
I PROMISE I'M NOT A SCIENTIST! I really love the words psychosomatic, firstly because it's used in BBC's Sherlock. (Yup. I'm a fangirl. Hello everyone!) Secondly, because it's a fascinating principle. Someone can hear of symptoms and their neurological pathways will tell them that they're experiencing those symptoms? That's amazing!

#3: Harmony
Why do I love the word harmony? Because it is a very peaceful, calming word. It seems so calm, so simple. So easy to spell! Also, it's a very musical and respectful word. You can almost imagine yourself in a Gothic cathedral listening to the music of the Reformation whenever you hear the word. Harmony. (Yes. I have issues. Feel free to talk to me about it in the comments!)

#2: Tariff
Basically it's a fancy word for taxes.(Not entirely, Tariff has to do with a specific tax, but close enough.) Still, it sounds a lot better to say you're going to go do your tariffs than your taxes. Perhaps it's just me, but I feel more like I'm in Sherwood when I use the word Tariff. It's nice!

#1: Pity
Alright, so this one isn't complicated or anything, but his is one that I really want people to understand! All the time, in books, TV shows, and movies, these really strong characters say: "I don't want your pity." And we're supposed to like them for it. I looked up the definition. Pity is another word for showing compassion. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PITY?! Refusing pity doesn't make you stronger, or braver. It makes you a jerk and an idiot. What's wrong with letting someone look at you and say: your life is hard, I'm sorry you have to go through what you're going through. That is what pity is. So, reason I love this word: it's misunderstood. Please, oh writers out there who read my blog: show someone accepting pity and it NOT BEING SEEN AS A PATHETIC THING!

So, those are 10 words I really like. Please leave a comment, they really help me know what you're thinking! I hope I'm back to blogging, but I really don't know.
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Writing Block Corner: the muse

Hello Bookworms!
Today I am doing another writing block corner. It seems that those are actually mildly helpful for people! Today I am talking about the ever present, ever invasive: muse. This is a term which has been used by several people, and I'm not sure who first coined it for writing, but it was a Grecian mythological creature. The teller of tales. The inspiration for writing. So, I have labeled the insane inspiration which comes to me and tells me to write: my muse. I have a different muse per each book. Sometimes the muse has the same name as the book. Sometimes it really doesn't. Anyway, on to my advice!

The muse is the foundation and the downfall of a writer. It will give you ideas, show you how things will happen, and be a great friend. It will also annoy you to death while you're trying to focus on anything else. As far as I can tell, the muse goes through several stages, in no particular order:
1: Awake.
This is the peaceful muse, who will give you story ideas when you ask for them, and will leave you alone for the most part otherwise. If this is the state your muse is in: you're new to writing. Don't get used to it, it won't last.
2: Comatose.
Your muse hasn't talked to you in a while. It hasn't given you anything to work with for a couple of months. Your muse is asleep, indefinitely. This muse is rather commonly misdiagnosed as writer's block. In my experience writer's block is when all of your muses go on strike, but I'll get to multiple muses later. The comatose muse will wake up when it wakes up. Leave it alone and go find another muse to talk to.
3: Sleepy.
Maybe your muse has just woken up. Or, maybe your muse has been awake for a while, and wants to go to sleep. It will give you an idea here or there, and for the most part will leave you alone, but it won't care when it talks to you. If you are trying to talk to it, it will be testy and make little shooing motions at you. If you are busy doing something else, it will collapse on you, and spout out some random piece of information, maybe two or three, then leave you alone. This muse is trying to decide whether or not to go get coffee, or go to sleep.
4: Caffeinated.
This muse is awake, it knows it, and now you know it. It will give you story ideas on Pinterest, while you're at your desk, while you're writing, while you're taking notes on something, while you're cooking. It will take a lot for this muse to leave you alone. The muse has found its coffee. It will probably make you write a whole chapter in one day, then maybe leave you alone for a week or two, maybe even a month or two if you're lucky.
5: Highly Caffeinated.
If the previous muse had coffee, this one just got about 10 shots of espresso. This muse will not leave you alone. This muse will refuse to let you sleep. This muse will keep you up at night, wake you in the morning, and pester you through the day. The caffeinated muse could write a chapter in one day. This muse will write two in one day, then come back and pester you to do the same thing tomorrow. You cannot work, you cannot sleep, you can barely eat without the muse yanking on your shoulders, pulling you back to the desk. This muse is impossible to deal with. Find something to act as a sleeping pill for the muse, and get it to shut up.
6: Napping.
This muse state usually goes along rather well with the caffeinated muse. After your muse has made you write about a chapter or two, it will decide that it needs time to think, and so will take a nap for a few days, maybe even a week or two. This is a nice break. While it is napping, you can catch up on all the normal life things you could have been doing while your muse decided to nag your ear off about writing.
7: Stubborn.
This muse is awake, it knows it, and it doesn't like you. Everything you see makes you think: Oh! This would go great in the story! And every time you go to write your muse turns its head, shakes it deliberately, and gives you the ultimate silent treatment. This muse is temperamental, and should change in a few days to a week or so.
8: Dead.
Yup. This muse is dead. It's gone, it won't be coming back. The story has died, and there's nothing you can do about it. This state usually occurs after you have found plot hole after plot hole, and the story no longer seems worth writing. The story hasn't been worked on for at least a year or two, and there's nothing there. You have no ideas. The characters have abandoned you, and you can't change it. Goodbye muse.
9: Ghost.
The dead muse has come back. It gave you a random story idea, and suddenly there's something there. But, like every ghost, it won't stay still long enough for you to see it. This muse will hover about your shoulders, whispering random ideas into your head, and waiting till it drives you mad. Mad enough to pick up the pen and start writing it again.
10. Zombie. (Contributed by Esther.)
This dead muse comes back in the form of letting its characters invade other stories. Sometimes, believe it or not, a zombie muse can be a good thing. Most of the time it just tries to take over the planet and makes a mess of a perfectly decent storyline. Beware of the zombie muse.

This is just my experience with muses. Do any of you other writers out there have different experiences with muses? What terms have you come up with to describe your inspiration? How have you coped? I've found that there are triggers for what makes my muses change temperaments, but I can't figure out what the triggers are. Anyway, please let me know if this helped!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Shady Friday #21

Hello Bookworms!
Two posts in one week? Shall I jinx myself by saying: I'm getting back to blogging? Yup. Jinxed myself. Oh well, I'll still try to keep up with the blog!
Today's Shady Friday is from Mildly Normal Insanity. (If any of you can think of a better title, I'm all ears!) So, my book woke up big time. It has several P.O.V.s, (Point of Views, as a friend of mine pointed out that she didn't know what I was talking about when I said that!) and Athena, due to the nature of her insanity, now sees the world in 3rd person. However, Eros, (who has a VERY important role in the book) is now speaking in 2nd person. Or at least his P.O.V. is in 2nd person. I'm still working on him. He's crazy. Anyway, back to the story at hand. A lot is going on, and I can't explain much, but here's a scene. This particular scene is told from the perspective of Hades. (Hades is a good guy in this. Yes, that's spoilers, but in the original mythos he was a perfectly normal person. Well, perfectly normal god.)
I don't think you need to understand too much about the plot other than the fact that Aph. is short for Aphrodite, Ode is short for Odysseus, and Poison is short for Poseidon. Have fun reading!
~
 Aph. had some difficulties talking about the zombies after that. I can’t really blame her, they looked so human. It was like looking at the last twinges of an animal our cats brought in at the farm. It was clearly gone beyond all help, but it still looked so pitiful. You wanted to reach out and help it, it looked so damaged. But trying to help wouldn’t do any good, and if the thing had rabies, or in this case a dangerous neural anti-agent, you could get seriously hurt. Then again, with the topic they had changed to, getting hurt was likely to happen anyway.

“What about you, Ode? Did you have any family?” I shuddered, not wanting to remember mine. Not remember my parents, my brothers, my sister.

“I had a girl back home, actually.” Ode replied, leaning back. A part of me was curious, and another part realized what a dangerous path this was. Talking about what could never be again, that was tricky ground to cover. “She was something else.” Ode smiled as he thought of her. I wondered what she looked like. Where was she from? Was she an American, or was she from oversees? Had she had a simple job before this, like waitress or secretary? Or was she something exciting? Had she served with him in the military? Had she been a secret agent?

“What happened to her?” I asked, despite myself.

Ode just smiled. “I don’t know. And for that I’m glad. She was developing early onset Alzheimer’s when I left for my last tour. Then this happened. I can only hope that she made it out alive, but that’s better than knowing otherwise. I’ll never know, and right now I think it’s better to believe a good lie than know a tragic truth. It won’t make a difference one way or the other.”

“Alzheimer’s? How old are you?” Asked Poison.

Ode laughed. “56, why? How old do I look to you?”

I gaped. “You’ve given over half your life to the military?!”

Ode smiled at me. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Yup. Joined up in ’83. Got my degree while serving. Met her there too. Penelope was her name, but we just called her Nelly. I fell in love the day I met her.” He sat forward. “’course it took longer for her to feel the same way ‘bout me. But once she did, well…” His smile grew fond, and I could tell the rest of the conversation was carrying on in his head. I still couldn’t shake it. All the way out here, there were still people who held to their convictions. Their morality. Their love. Maybe, if Ode could find a way to make it, then so could we. 

~

So? Thoughts? Some of my characters are still sorting themselves out, and some I know where they're going. I'm trying to not include too much that will probably get changed, but this is a brief example of what I've got at the moment. I have a few more posts in my head to get out, so I'll be working on those! 

Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere! 

Writing Block Corner: Villains

Hello Bookworms!
So, a friend of mine actually requested that I do another writing block corner, so here I am! Today I'm covering a little something I've learned about villains. This isn't applicable to everything, but it's something to keep in mind while writing whoever ends up being the antagonist of your story.

There's a saying: a hero is only as good as his villain is evil. I think I can expound upon that. Well-written antagonists tend to be almost a flipped-coin version of the protagonist. They have gone through similar experiences to that of the protagonist, or they have similar goals, or they care about people the same way. They have to relate to each other in such a way that makes you realize that the hero could very easily become the villain. If the hero had taken a different path, or if different people had been in his life, then he would have been just like the villain. Possibly worse. That's what makes it an interesting story: seeing the dynamic of what could have been, and what prevented it. Seeing how thin of a line there actually is between hero and villain. What makes an amazingly sympathetic villain however, is seeing that in the same circumstances, we ourselves as the audience could be just like the villain. But there's a fine line between making the circumstances understandable, and excusing them. Horrible actions are still horrible, you just have to know where the blame actually lies, and make sure the characters reflect that. Finally, some of your villains might be totally not understandable at all. There are some great, crazy villains who don't have any sympathy whatsoever. (Examples: Moriarty. Need I say more?) If you know what you're going for in a villain, great. Have fun writing your first draft. If you don't though, try looking at your hero. Find what makes him or her the hero. What if they didn't have that? What if they were almost exactly the same, but they didn't have that one thing? What would be different? Would they become something terrifying? Show the audience. And show yourself.

Ok, so was this helpful? Please let me know! And if you have any requests, please let me know! I actually have a few ideas, so we'll see how this goes!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Writing block corner, cliches.

Hello Bookworms!
Ok, so a friend of mine recently started writing, and so I decided now would be a great time to share some of my 'gathered knowledge about writing'. I'm sure that to some of you this is all going to be stuff you already know, but to others this might prove really helpful. So, if you think your story has cliches, please read! And let me know if this was helpful!

Alright, so there are several things about writing cliches that should probably be mentioned. First: Cliches are Cliches for a reason! I know this might not make sense at first, but the reason something is a cliche is because it is so overused. The reason that it's overused? Because it's actually a really good plot point! But people have used it so much that it has become predictable. So, if you are going to write something cliche, just know that it's cliche going in. Don't expect to surprise your audience with it. You don't have to write something that the audience has never read, you don't even have to make them think that they've never read it before. Your job as the writer is simply to make them not care that they've heard it before because your work is so entertaining. I didn't come up with this myself. I got it from a fellow writer, who got it from someone else. I'm not that smart.

Secondly: if you can, point out the cliches. This can be expanded to an even better principle: have a mediator character. SO many movies and TV shows these days lose audiences because there's no one for the audience to truly relate to. No one is saying what the audience is saying, and they can't find someone who feels exactly what they feel. There's no emotional connection to these characters, and as such the audience has no reason to stick around. Now, pulling it back to what I was originally saying, have your mediator character point out the cliches. Yes, there is nothing wrong with using cliches. But if your audience can say mid-sentence: "That's such a cliche!" then you should probably have on of your characters be able to say it too. Unless it's a terribly stressful scene, but you have to be careful. If the audience knows where it's going, then their tension will already be decreased. It's a fine line, and I don't know everything there is to know about it.

Third, (and last): put your own twist on it. If you're writing a cliche, then you might end up boring yourself. Throw something random in that you didn't see coming. Remember: second drafts are when you go back through and make all the random, crazy out-of-nowhere stuff have some degree of foreshadowing. Have fun with it! Your audience your first time round is yourself. Remember: "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." (Terry Prachett.) It's from a pin I found on Pinterest, I honestly have no idea who this person is. Still, it's a good thing to keep in mind. So, have fun writing!

Alright, would you as my audience like for me to write more advice based upon the advice of my fellow writers in my community and the limited experience I have? And if there's something else you would like for me to write about, please let me know!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Shady Friday #20

Hello Bookworms!
Okay, so I'm working on a post that isn't a Shady Friday, but I managed to complete this recently, and I decided that I needed to post it. This is in my book TreasureHood, and for me it is inspired by people who have betrayed me. In relation to the book it is inspired by a love interest who betrayed a main character, but it can be applicable to just about anyone. Okay, so maybe I listened to a few too many country breakup songs while writing this one. (Oops!) It's called I should have seen you coming. Enjoy!
~
It was there, before my eyes,
Should have seen through all your lies.
Trusting men will never pay,
But I looked the other way.
Said you'd stay through all your days,
Now I guess I've learned your ways,
I should have seen you coming.

You were there when I fell down,
Without you I thought I'd drown.
Raised me up when I was weak,
I was bold but now I'm meek.
I know better than to trust,
Empty lies will turn to rust.
I should have seen you coming.

You had me kept on a shelf,
Now I'm running from myself.
Hiding from the pain I see,
Now I live in agony.
Still I cannot help but hope,
You had stayed to help me cope.
I wish I saw you coming.
~
Okay, thoughts? I'm not really sure what type of tune to use, but that's not going to have much to do with the story. Any suggestions for what I should post about next? If not, I do have a few ideas that I'm working on. NON Shady Fridays. Anyway, I hope to be posting soon!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!

Shady Friday #19

Hello Bookworms!
Wow! I finished my first short story! OK, for those of you wondering, I looked at the premise of Shady Friday #6, and erased that paragraph, and turned the whole thing into a short story. Warning: it's rather dark. My muse woke up, and she didn't want to be cute, at all. So, mildly dark short story ahead! Anyway, please read! I hope you enjoy it! (Oh, and I really don't know anything about how diseases work, so I have no idea if what I wrote is scientifically accurate!)
~

Veloces Mortem.

The lights were on in the hallway were Kyra was hiding. It was the first thing she heard. It’s funny how the brain works when it’s panicking, isn’t it? Instead of seeing the lights, she heard them. Their phosphorescent hum was about all she had heard since the stampede of people had rushed out of the building 15 minutes ago. She had hidden, instead of running with them. She wasn’t a fast runner, and knew better than to get caught up in a stampede where she might get crushed underfoot. She had instead elected to hide, and wait until everyone had left. She would have left at that point herself, except she had to find Carol. She walked carefully through the hallway, trying not to make any sound that might disturb whatever had scared all those people.

“It would be a moose again, wouldn’t it?” She muttered under her breath. “Last time a moose got loose in the hospital they wanted to declare a national emergency.” She kept walking, making her way to the lounge outside of the room where they kept the coma patients. “And of course, it’s during a crisis I would forget the name of where she works.” She came to the doorway of the lounge, and stopped. The lights in the ceiling of the lounge weren’t on, the lounge had windows and the sun was up. Still, it wasn’t the lights that had made her stop. It was the scared man standing there, with a gun to Carol’s head. He noticed Kyra standing in the doorway, and grabbed Carol’s arm, pulling her closer to him, still with the gun to her head.

“Who are you?” He asked, obviously panicking. Kyra tried to analyze him from what little she knew about psychology, but she couldn’t come up with much. She had mostly been studying what choices people made with their personal appearance, and that wasn’t helpful. He had Brown hair, Brown eyes, a scowl, and was wearing a hospital gown. Of course, he was a coma patient. She recognized him. He was their resident John Doe. Apparently he had woken up and stolen a gun from an individual in their understaffed military guard. Unfortunately, his stance told her that he knew exactly how to use it.

“I’m Kyra Wall, I’m 15 and a freshman in high school. And you know that girl you’re holding at gun point? She’s Carol Wall, she’s 13, and about to go out to her first dance. She’s really nervous about dancing, she’s not very good on her feet and wants to make a good impression on the friend who invited her to the dance. She’s my little sister. We don’t want to hurt you, so why don’t you explain this to us?”

He laughed, the fear evident in his voice. “Explain? Oh I get it, that’s one of your techniques. To get me to talk. That won’t happen, I know how to keep secrets. I won’t talk! You can’t make me!” His voice was nearly cracking. His grip on the gun tightened, and a tear fell from Carol’s eye. It took all of Kyra’s composure not to run forward and punch the brown-haired jerk in the face for making her sister cry, but she composed herself, taking a deep breath and forcing her shoulders back into a neutral posture. She continued talking in a calming voice, the one she had used with the nursery children who wouldn’t stop crying.

“Alright, you’ve had training? Well I can’t help but notice you seem scared.” Kyra inquired.

 He grit his teeth at her. “That’s because I’m dying thanks to your sister!” he spat out.

“It was an accident!” Carol cried. His hold tightened and she bit her lip, trying not to talk again. Kyra took a small step forward.

“Is it alright if I hear this? I don’t know what happened. Please, I want to hear her side.” He thought about it for a minute, then nodded.

“I didn’t know it was the disease! Honestly!” She sobbed out, tears streaming down her face. “I thought it was a sedative! I would have checked, but he was acting wild and I didn’t know what to do! I swear, I would never put someone in danger like that on purpose! You know me, I-“

“That’s enough, you’ve told your side,” he was calming down a little, but Kyra was still on edge around him. “I don’t care if I die, I won’t reveal information about my country.”

“No one’s asking you to. I just want my sister back. Can I ask her a few questions?” He tensed, clearly against the idea, but again he nodded. His tight on Carol was tight though, not willing to risk her escaping.

“Carol? What was the disease?” Carol was nearly in hysterics. “Carol, take a few breaths. In, hold, out, repeat. Now tell me, what was the disease?”

“V-veloces mortem. It’s an experimental disease they were working on.”

Kyra thought for a moment, then shook her head slowly.  “I don’t remember you talking about that at home. Is there a cure?”

Carol nodded. “It’s outside, the guards have it. They took it with them.”

 A thought struck Kyra, and suddenly there was something else to worry about. 

“Carol, how was this disease transmitted?”

Carol thought for a moment. “Um…It was airborne, I think.” Her breath sped up. “Kyra, are we safe? Will we get sick too?” 

The man seemed to be in a state of shock. “Oh no. What have I done?” He breathed out. It seemed like he was talking to himself, so Kyra focused on her sister.  

“We’ll be fine, okay? We won’t get sick.”  The man shook his head, and lowered his weapon, letting Carol go.

“No, you won’t get sick, you’re sick already. What have I done?” It took all of Kyra’s self control not to rush to her sister, but she pulled herself back reminding herself that the man was still armed and sudden moves were a bad idea. Still, she walked as quickly as she could to her sister and pulled her into a tight hug. She had never noticed until then how much taller than her Carol was becoming, or how her hair smelled of lavender. Or maybe it was the disease, affecting her senses.

“Carol?” She asked calmly, though tears were forming in her voice. “What are the symptoms?”  

“I…..I don’t know. Okay? I don’t know!” Carol was growing angry, but it seemed to be with herself. “I wasn’t in charge of this! I’m an assistant in the coma ward, for crying out loud! I don’t get involved in the military side of things! I’m just supposed to be doing this for service club! All I know is what it’s called, that it’s airborne, and it takes an hour. Okay?” She fell to her knees, sobbing. “This is all my fault…” She whimpered.

Kyra nodded again. “Okay, it takes an hour to kill people? How long since we were infected?”

“43 Minutes.” The man spoke up from the corner. He was still holding the gun, but it was held loosely in his hand. They would all die soon anyway, there was no point in shooting anyone now.

“Thank you. 43 minutes? That gives us 17 minutes left. If we head out those doors, we can get to the cure, right?” He looked down. He was calm now, as if somehow resigned to his fate. 

“You have 17. We have less. You were probably infected when the stampede of people came running through. That was 43 minutes ago. I was injected 7 minutes before that, and she was infected within moments of it. We have less than 10 minutes left. If you want to make a run for the cure, go ahead. It should take you three minutes to get out of the building, but if you’re fast you can make it in two. That would give you about 30 seconds to get the cure in you before you’re too far gone.”

 She stood, shocked. “What?” She managed to gasp out.

“And with that time lapse, you’ve passed the opportunity.” Kyra shook her head, not wanting to believe it, so he elaborated. “Diseases have a point of no return, understand? With a disease with such a short incubation period, the point of no return is about 15 minutes before death. Your sister and I are past that point, so a cure wouldn’t help us. You’re about one minute away from that mark yourself, and you can’t get to the cure in that time frame. We’re too far inside the building.”

“H-how…” She stammered.

“How do I know? “ He sighed. “I was in the military. Fighting your country, actually, but politics doesn’t really matter right now. I was in a special branch, dedicated to fighting biological warfare.”

Kyra nodded. “You were an army doctor.”

He nodded, as if just accepting it himself. “To put it simply.” She was silent for a moment, Carol’s hysterics having calmed down.

“What is your name?” she asked. He smiled at her.

“Colin. Colin Masson. Don’t you have any family you want to say goodbye to? I’m sure there’s a phone in the nurse’s office you could use.”

She shook her head, then decided to explain. “Actually, I don’t let people know this, but we’re orphans. Our parents died a few years back.”

“Don’t people notice? What if you get a report card? How do you live without parents?”

“I stay under the radar. I don’t get excellent grades, but I never get awful ones either. And as for funding, our parents left us an inheritance. Not much, but enough to live on.” She glanced at Carol, who had fallen asleep due to her hysterics. “At least she’ll be asleep for it.” She sat down with her back against the wall, silent for a few minutes. “How much longer do we have?”

“I’ve got about 4 minutes. You’ve still got 11.” She sighed, leaning her head against the wall.

“What about you? Any family or friends?” He shook his head. “My family’s dead, and my friends were all soldiers in the war. Those who survived have probably assumed me dead. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been gone for?” She shook her head.

“All I know is that you were in a coma when we came here, and that was a few years back.” She thought for a moment. “What war did you fight in?”

“The American-Canadian war,” He replied.

 She stood up. “But that wasn’t a war, it was two battles! It was decided when a Cornel, Cornel Mason-“ She stopped short. “You. It stopped when you won us the battle.” He stood straight up.

“I won you the battle? We’re on the same side?” She nodded.

“You were a war hero. No one knew what happened to you after the battle. All this time, you were here: a tiny hospital in the middle of nowhere.” He smiled at her, shaking his head.

“All this time, I was fighting a war that I’d already won. I really am an idiot….” He collapsed to the ground. She was at his side in a moment.

“Are you ok?” She asked. He snorted.

“I’ve got 45 seconds left.” She took a shaky breath.

“How do you feel?” She asked, tears finally staining her face.

“Weak, but other than that I’m fine. I’m joining my comrades. I’m going home.” She smiled at him, and his eyes lost their focus. She caught her breath. She hadn’t seen someone die since her parents had passed away three years back. She closed his eyes, and moved back over to her sister. She didn’t want to check if she was dead yet or not, She had to be, but she could pretend otherwise. She sighed, laying down next to her sister. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

Less than half an hour later a tactical team made its way into the hospital, checking to see if anyone was alive. They had cleared the surrounding area, and were kitted out in biohazard suits. They made their way to the main lobby, and looked around. There were three bodies lying on the ground. The men looked at each other. The assignment had only mentioned two.

“Anyone alive?” the leader called. A few moments later a voice called over to him

“It looks like patient zero made it, but not the other two.” There was silence, then the leader called again:

“Arrange for funerals for the other two. But bring patient zero outside. Get the ambulance.”

Once outside, they checked for infection, then the leader took off his helmet.

“As suspected, patient zero shows no sign of infection. We’re safe.” The rest of the team took off their helmets, and proceeded to take off the rest of their biohazard suits. One of the younger soldiers, the one who Colin had taken the gun from, came up to the leader.

“Sir, what should we do with the building once the bodies are removed? Is it safe? Or should we burn the whole thing down?” The leader shook his head.

“It’s not safe, but burning it down would just make this thing spread. No. We need to quarantine the building, and check back every few years to see if it’s safe yet.” He glanced over at the ambulance. “It looks like patient zero is coming around. You can let her friends through, she’s safe.” The soldier was about to leave, when the leader spoke again. “Oh, and don’t mention how she survived. It’s probably best that they don’t know that she’s immune because we were developing the virus from her to begin with.” The soldier nodded, then ran off to let the people through.

“Carol, Carol!” called Kyra’s friend Earl as he ran up. She looked around confused.

“Earl, I don’t understand, what happened?”

“I don’t know. Are you ok?” She nodded shakily.

“I’m fine but…Kyra, she’s…..” She broke down in tears, and Earl hugged her tightly.

“I’m so sorry for you.” He muttered, wondering how any of this could have happened. 

~ 

OK, that was rather long. What did you think? Do you want me to write another short story? Was this one too dark? Oh, and thank you to my friend who helped me edit this! That really meant a lot! Anyway, I'll try to keep up with blogging! 

Scribe ergo quae vidisti vivere!

Book Ideas-Black Zone: Patient Zero

Hello Bookworms!
Tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of when I began blogging, but since I reserve Sunday for God, I am posting today. I came up with yet another book idea recently, and I am posting about it today. This is mostly an idea based upon a lack of stories like it, and I figured it was about time.

Alright, so I know I already have a zombie book that I'm working on, but this one is completely different. This is a book combining three areas of the apocalypse that I think not enough people talk about. First of all: the first child born after the apocalypse. For some reason no one ever talks about the people who grew up knowing nothing but the apocalypse. This could be for the exact same reason as number two though. Secondly: no one talks about the end of the apocalypse. They talk about the beginning, and the middle, but very few talk about the very last days of the apocalypse in a lot of detail. Maybe because by that point in time the people you have an emotional attachment to are no longer in an environment which they find unfamiliar or uncomfortable. Thirdly: patient zero. While some of the apocalypse books and movies talk about the first person infected, not a lot of people go into it. Usually it mentions something in passing, and the 'outbreak' is usually seen as a giant mass of zombies surging towards the protagonist. It doesn't claim the beginning to have been like that, but usually it doesn't go into the very first zombie. I say usually. I do not claim to have seen all the zombie movies out there, and a few of the ones I have seen had a few similar elements. But usually they gloss over these details.

Black Zone: Patient Zero takes place 18 years after the apocalypse broke out. In the initial outbreak over 3/4ths of the world's population was turned, but the rest were able to survive by making it to islands, ships, and anywhere else with controlled environments. The people slowly began expanding, and taking out the zombies on other islands, then inhabiting them. Eventually they managed to reclaim most of the world, leaving just one continent with Zombies left: North America. However, Patient Zero, the first zombie, was somewhere in North America and the governments of the new world have located it. Somehow, due to the random way in which I have decided to design the biological structure of zombies in this book, if they manage to take out Patient Zero, then it acts as a hive effect, (Is that what it's called?) and will take down all the remaining zombies. So, the first person who was born after the apocalypse broke out has been recruited by the new government to lead a team into North America, labeled the black zone, to kill Patient Zero. Only problem: that first one born is the youngest on the team, and hasn't fought in 10 years.


So? Thoughts? I know, I post too many book ideas. Still, they all get my attention somehow. Well, I have my next post planned! I FINALLY got done my first short story! So, I will do some editing on it, and I should have it up as my next Shady Friday! To those of you who have followed my blog these past two years: How did you do it? And thank you so much!
Oh! Before I forget! The Latin phrase at the end of my posts this past year means, (Loosly) "Once you've started, you're halfway there." So please, start writing! Starting is one of the hardest parts. Continuing is the other.
New phrase time!
Scribe ergo quae vidisti vivere!

Disney shorts: Get a horse!

Hello Bookworms!
Wow! I got an actual request! (Sort of) And I am writing again so close to the last time I posted! And this is my 50th post! WOW!!!
Ok, well I am writing a post about an excellent Disney short, which I absolutely loved. It's called Get a Horse, and it's based off of Mickey Mouse. Basically, it's Disney Breaking the fourth wall.
Ok. The short begins as a typical Mickey Mouse short, in black and white with the obvious romantic interest, friends, and villain.(I'm sorry, but I really don't know their names!)  Girl gets abducted by villain, Mickey tries to fight villain, and then Mickey ends up thrown through the tv screen and into a theater. They essentially shattered the forth wall, or screen, and started playing with it.
As I found out when the sound stopped working, the sound is very important. It's mostly sound effects, and very little dialogue, with typical Disney music and a cell phone. But the sounds add a lot of texture to the overall story.
What it means: Who knows? I think it's really just one of those crazy Disney Shorts that is for the purpose of having fun. If that was its goal, then it definitely succeeded.
I know that this was a short post, but I'm working on some other posts. I personally felt that this was one of the most fun shorts. I will try to continue with another short that I found adorable soon! If there is something you want me to post about, please let me know!
Demidium facti qui coepit habet!

Disney Short: Lorenzo

Hello Bookworms!
It has taken way too long to write this post! Well, a few months ago my sister and I watched twelve Disney shorts, and I was inspired by most of them. So, today I am writing about the one which I think was best written, and most definitely had the best surprise: Lorenzo. Now, I've been working on no spoilers, but I will do a summary of the style itself.
The story starts with a rich cat, who is uncharitable, unsympathetic, and taunting. He sees a mysterious black cat who has no tail, and makes fun of that cat while flaunting his own excessive tail. The black cat then possesses the rich cat's tail, and the rest is spoilers. Honestly, I never knew Disney could be so dark!
Lorenzo doesn't have any words, however the sound still plays an important part. The music supplements what is happening beautifully, and does an excellent job at foreshadowing, and setting the mood of the scene.
The artwork was excellent at implying stereotypes that were helpful to understand the story line, and the personalities of the characters themselves. Plus it lent itself to expressing the darkness of the story.
The plot itself held my attention utterly, and honestly left me speechless. While definitely the darkest I have ever seen Disney go, the final implications were staggering, and impressive. This is not a simple, cute Disney short. This is thought provoking, and dark. I suppose one might say, (to use fandom references) that Lorenzo compared to the rest of Disney is like CW's Arrow, in comparison to CW's Flash. They may be from the same universe, but one is much darker than the other.
As to what it means: I can only speculate. However, as that seems to be the entirety of what I do on this blog, I shall speculate away. Due to the phrase: fat cat, it could be that they were making a semi-political statement. Beware of the underdogs: they hold more power than you think. It's also possible that it was just a lesson on why making fun of people is a bad idea. Who knows?
Anyway, I loved the short, it was one of my favorites. Would you like for me to write about the rest of them? Is there something in particular you want me to write about? Oh, and is there a Shady Friday that you want me to continue? Let me know!
Demidium facti que coepit habet!
P.S. Sorry this one took so long!