Favorite Screen Characters Tag!

Well, I was tagged by one of my favorite people ever Deborah to participate in the wonderful Favorite Screen Characters tag! I actually haven't done a tag, like, ever. So, I'm pretty excited about this! It's rather hard to pick only ten, because there are so many brilliant characters out there and I love them all! But I've managed to narrow it down to a few! Here we go . . .

1. Baymax (Big Hero 6)

Okay. I couldn't resist, but can you blame me? First of all, Big Hero 6 is now one of my favorite movies of all time. The storyline is brilliant, the setting (a mixture of San Fransisco and Tokyo! What's not to love?) is incredible, and the characters are beautiful, each and every one of them. Especially that guy up there. He is Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. ;) His entire existence is to make sure others are healthy and, if not, his job is to make them feel better! I just love him to pieces. It's hard to explain, but he's so adorable and sweet and one of the best characters ever created. If you haven't watched Big Hero 6, you should totally go do that. Right now.

2. Hwang Tae Kyung (You Are Beautiful)

(So I'm into foreign television shows. Haters gonna hate.) Never did I ever imagine someone like Hwang Tae Kyung would end up in a list with someone like Baymax. In contrast to Baymax's ability to care endlessly, Tae Kyung is pretty heartless and cold. In fact, he's one of those characters you hate right off the bat, because he's a jerk to everyone and you kind of wish you could punch him in the face. With a tractor. When I first started watching You Are Beautiful (it's one of my favorite shows ever and it's hilarious and on Netflix, so I highly recommend watching it), I couldn't stand him, but, as the show went on, he kind of grew on me. Don't get me wrong, he was still a jerk, but he was actually super misunderstood and, behind that scowl of his, there was a good person, who cared, but didn't know how to show it. I wish I could explain why I love him, but I don't even know. I just do. A lot. And his smile. His perfect smile. Please Google it.

3. Rico (Twisted)

What can I say? I have a thing for underrated shows and movies. Twisted is by far one of the most interesting TV shows I have ever watched, but it's no where near as popular as it should be (granted, there was only one season, but that's a rant for another post). I thought the characters were very believable and the storyline was awesome, filled with twists (;D) and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved each and every one of the charries in the show, but my favorite would have to be Rico. He's just so . . . adorkable. There's no other way to describe him. He's awkward and he stutters and he's a victim of unrequited love. He believes in doing the right thing and he's even a little nerdy, to top it all off. I can't imagine a more perfect character. I could literally go on all day about him. Just watch the show. Then you'll understand.

4. Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

You know how most little girls watch television and root for the hero every time, how they admire a story's protagonist, without giving a second thought to the antagonist? I wasn't that little girl. I spent hours upon hours watching Avatar: The Last Airbender when I was a kid and, even from the start, Zuko was one of my favorite characters. While he was hunting the Avatar in attempt to regain his honor, I liked Zuko. A lot. And, as the years passed and his character played an entirely different role in the show, I never stopped liking him. I liked his anger. I liked his heart. I liked his determination. I liked the way his character grew throughout the series. He is by far one of the most unforgettable characters ever created. Actually, he's probably my favorite character of all time. I guess some things never change.

5. Joo Byung Hee (Shut Up Flower Boy Band)

(Also known as Shut Up & Let's Go.) You know what? I could literally have done this tag with characters from Shut Up Flower Boy Band alone. No joke. They're all incredible and brilliant and the storyline for that show is just ASDFGHJKL;. There are no words to describe its awesomeness. Like, if I could only fangirl about one thing for the rest of forever, it would be this show, this amazing show that leaves me speechless each time I watch it. There really is no way to describe it. Anyway, I think I'm getting off subject... Byung Hee is really something. He's hard to explain. And, to be honest, he might be a little insane. But he captures the insanity of writers and musicians beautifully. He's himself. He doesn't pretend to be something he's not. He doesn't care what anyone else thinks about him. And, when he loves, he loves with all of his heart. I think he's right up there with Zuko as far as favorite-characters-of-all-time go. He's adorable and crazy and, if he were real, I would totally want to be best friends with him (even if it would be a bit of a safety hazard). <3 I just love him to pieces.

6. Shi Woo (My Lovely Girl)

Let's choose to ignore the fact that Myungsoo is my darling and I will marry him someday. Ahem. What, did someone say something? I didn't hear anything. ANYWAY, this is Shi Woo. He's not the friendliest cow in the pasture, but he's a sweetheart, underneath all the heartbreak and angst. I originally started watching the show because of my love Myungsoo and I wasn't sure what to think when I realized how angry his character was. I mean, I have no doubt that he can pull off playing an angry character (we'll talk about that in a minute), but I was a little disappointed, because this was a new show and I was hoping to see him play a different type of character. AND HE WAS DIFFERENT OH MY GOSH. His role in My Lovely Girl was nothing like I imagined it to be. Shi Woo was a super sweet character, who had been pushed aside countless times in life. He started off pretty angry, but his character grew so, so much throughout the story and it was a beautiful thing to watch. There were moments when he was super confident and then times when he was insecure and you could see past the walls. Characters like this are just so real, to me. The writers captured a lot of beauty with his character and I truly adore him. And Myungsoo. Always Myungsoo.

 
7. Peter Pan (Peter Pan)

For as long as I can remember, Peter Pan has been one of my absolute favorite characters. Sure, he's pretty irresponsible and the only thing he's serious about is never growing up, but THOSE THINGS ARE WHAT MAKE HIM SO LOVABLE. There is truly no greater fairytale than being able to live in a place where no one has to grow up. I love a lot about Peter, to be honest. I like that he's a leader. I like the way he's not afraid of anything. I adore his friendship with Tink and his relationship with Wendy. I like the fact that he believes in rebelling and staying young forever. I like that he's happy. I guess that's the best part about Peter Pan. He's happy, and he's free. Gosh, there are just too many reasons to fangirl over him! ^___^

8. Rapunzel (Tangled)

What can I say? Tangled is an incredible movie. All of the characters are beautiful and hilarious, but, if I had to pick a favorite, I'd definitely pick Rapunzel. She wasn't at all like a damsel in distress, living in a tower and waiting for a prince to come rescue her. In fact, when her prince showed up, she didn't hesitate to knock him in the head with a frying pan. Name one princess in the history of princesses who has done that before. I adore the way she is so curious about the floating lights, the way she's loyal to a fault, the way she keeps her promises and gives others chances. Perhaps my favorite thing about her, though, is the fact that she doesn't fear adventure and, even when faced with fear, she refuses to give up. Gah, she's just so AWESOME. ^___^

 

9. Lee Hyun Soo (Shut Up Flower Boy Band)

Like I said, I could go on forever about Shut Up Flower Boy Band. There was no way I could only mention one character from the show in this post. Even (slightly) more than Byung Hee, I liked Hyun Soo. And no, Myungsoo had nothing to do with that (I was a fan of SUFBB before I was a fan of him, so ha!). At first, he didn't really stand out to me, but, as the show progressed, I realized there were so many wonderful things about this character and he couldn't be ignored. He was another angry person (why do I have a thing for angry characters?). He wasn't exactly thrilled about the hand life had dealt him and he wanted to do something about it. It was amazing, watching him grow and blossom, watching truths come to light and watching him realize where he truly belonged. He was just altogether intriguing and it was super fun to watch his story unfold. And those eyes. THOSE EYES.

10. Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid)

Last, but definitely not least, is Mr. Miyagi. I was a kid the first time my parents asked me to watch the movie and I thought it was the most horrifyingly boring film ever created (was it about waxing cars or something?). But, when I got older, I decided to give it another chance and oh, my gosh. The Karate Kid is one of my favorite movies of all time now. Every single one of the characters are absolutely brilliant, especially Mr. Miyagi. For those of you who haven't seen this movie (has anyone not seen this movie? o_O), Mr. Miyagi is a wise, old, maintenance man who works in the apartment building Daniel LaRusso moves into at the beginning of the film. He's super sweet and compassionate, although he doesn't say much, and he's also secretly a karate master. In fact, I won't even say more about this character, because he really speaks for himself. Suffice to say that he's amazing and one of the greatest characters ever.

~ * ~ * ~

Well, there you have it! My favorite screen characters! I highly recommend watching all of the shows listed above. You Are Beautiful, Twisted, Shut Up Flower Boy Band (known there as Shut Up & Let's Go), and The Karate Kid can all be found on Netflix. You can watch My Lovely Girl for free on Drama Fever (you can find all of the Korean shows there for free, actually) and the rest can most likely be found on DVD. Just sayin'. ;D

To be honest, I've yet to meet a lot of bloggers, but I'm working on that! Most of the bloggers I know have already been tagged, but I shall tag a couple who haven't done this, I suppose. XD

I tag:

Alexa @ Summer Snowflakes

Matt @ Oh, the Humanity!

And anyone else who might read this and wish to participate! :D

The rules are to pick ten favorite screen characters and then tag ten bloggers (or, you know, two bloggers and eight invisible ones :P). So, yeah! I hope y'all enjoyed the tag! And now I have another one to get to since a certain writer tagged me again . . . ^_^ Have a wonderful day!

Beautiful People: The Parental Unit {June 2015}

Greetings! I suppose I should find it odd that I only participate in Beautiful People linkups every other month, but the last (and first!) few I've participated in have just been so exciting! There was the Valentine's Day edition, the sibling edition, and now the parental edition! It doesn't get much better than that! ^___^

Anyway, I was super excited to find out that this one was about parents. Why, you ask? Because my characters actually have them this time! It's nice writing YA again. I kind of missed my sweet charries having families in the picture. I kind of miss writing about families in general. It's a beautiful thing. <3

Speaking of beautiful, if you haven't heard of the Beautiful People linkup yet, you can learn more and even participate this month by clicking here. It's a writing meme hosted every month by these lovely ladies: Sky at Further Up and Further In and Cait at Paper Fury. (I might or might not have been stalking their incredible blogs over the last few days...)

 

This month, I'll be writing about characters from my newest novel (OH MY GOSH I'M STILL SO EXCITED ABOUT IT), titled A Thousand Wishes. It's a YA novel revolving around two siblings who have never met, Jordan and Eloise Forde. I haven't written a lot of it yet, only a couple excerpts, but I can't wait to delve deeper into their story and find out more about who the characters are! In fact, I found myself wondering about their parents yesterday, so this linkup came just in time. ;)

I'm going to focus mainly on Jordan and his parents, because his back story is still pretty unclear and I'd love to know more about him (silly, secretive character). I might try this with Eloise as well, though. I guess we'll see. Anyway, Jordan, unlike his sister, has never actually met his family. Not since he could remember, at least. (I shared an excerpt of the novel in this post, where Jordan meets his dad for the first time.) So, here are the charries and then on with the questions!

~ * ~ * ~ 

Robert Forde

Jordan Forde

Marilyn Gerrard

1. Do they know their biological parents? Why/why not?

Jordan actually knows neither of them. He hasn't seen his father since he and his mother left, when he was four, nor does he remember the man. He lived with his mother until he was six years old. She abandoned him then, placing him in the foster care system just before she disappeared. He hasn't seen her since.

2. Have they inherited any physical resemblances from their parents?

He shares his father's nose and brown hair, but he has his mother's height and crystal blue eyes.

3. What is their parental figure(s) dress style? Add pictures if you like!

Robert refuses to wear casual clothing of any sort. T-shirts? Tacky. Jeans? Hideous. And sweat pants? A gigantic no-no. He prefers wearing more formal clothing - khaki pants, dress shoes, button-up shirts (no plaid, ever). He also tends to wear a watch and even a suit and tie, on special occasions.

I haven't really given a lot of thought as to what Marilyn looks like. I imagine she differs drastically from Robert in style, though. Like, first of all, she is obsessed with jeans and even jean jackets (every now and then). Perhaps this is because Robert hated them so much and wearing them is her indirect way of spiting him, although she hasn't seen him in years. I also imagine that she enjoys wearing dresses - not the ones worn to dinner parties, or wedding receptions, but the dresses you'd wear out and about on a sunny day, dresses that make you feel happy and free. I doubt she likes jewelry that much. Except for earrings. She loves earrings. (Poor Robert. He only got a small paragraph. My little fashionista isn't so fashionable, after all.) 

4. Do they share any personality traits with their parental figures? And which do they take after most?

Jordan tends to be rather distant, which is unintentional and he gets it from his father, who also has a habit of keeping everyone at a distance in fear of getting hurt. The two are pretty laid back and it takes a lot to anger them. They also love people and the life and craziness that comes with each and every individual. Opposite of Eloise and Marilyn, Jordan and Robert enjoy being in the company of others, whether close friends or complete strangers.

However, Jordan takes after his mother in terms of his flighty nature. He is not accustomed to a stable lifestyle, therefore he finds himself getting nervous when things start becoming too comfortable. He is used to moving from place to place and he refuses to get too attached to anyone. He is also prideful to a fault, something he blames solely on his mother. Overall, he takes after both of his parents in many ways, but perhaps he is slightly more like his father.

5. Do they get along with their parental figure(s) or do they clash?

Due to the fact that the lifestyles of Jordan and Robert differ greatly, they tend to disagree on many things. For instance, Jordan is rather free spirited and has a habit of doing things his own way, without concern for how others feel or are affected by his actions. This worries Robert to no end, for he is used to his way of living and losing control of his own life is something he fears most. It is often these diversities that cause the two to clash, creating disagreements about what is and isn't acceptable. Outside of values, however, they tend to get along with one another. Jordan is grateful to have a dad and Robert hopes to make up for lost time.

Marilyn has been nonexistent in Jordan's life for the past fourteen years, therefore she and Jordan possess no relationship at the moment. However, if she were to return, I'm sure Jordan would resent her for abandoning him and destroying the life they could have had. Their relationship would probably be strained at best.

6. If they had to describe their parental figure(s) in one word, what would it be?

Marilyn: Absent

Robert: Distant

7. How has their parental figure(s) helped them most in their life?

Marilyn, despite her many shortcomings, managed to help Jordan the most. She taught him to be self sufficient, resourceful, and capable of handling himself. Her absence, as well as his time in the foster care system, taught him to grow up quickly and rely on himself. He will never admit it to anyone, but, in spite of everything, his mother did one thing right: She helped him realize the type of person - and even parent, someday - he didn't want to become.

Unfortunately, he has yet to spend too much time with Robert, so there hasn't been a lot of time for father/son bonding, but he supposes the Fordes offering him a place to stay was pretty helpful, especially since he was homeless when they met him.

8. What was their biggest fight with their parental figure(s)?

He never really fought with his mother much. I'd love to see a fight between he and Robert, though, just because their lifestyles and perspectives are so different. Actually, there's a pretty big fight coming, I think, but I have a feeling it's too spoiler-y to mention here, so . . . >:D

9. Tracing back the family tree, what nationalities are in their ancestry?

This is such a great question, but I don't knooooow. I'm thinking his father has some Irish family waaay down the line and perhaps his mother has some Native American family members, going even further back, but his immediate family is American.

10. What's their favorite memory with their parental figure(s)?

His favorite memory with his mother would definitely have to be when she taught him to ride a bike. She was often a frustrated person, who never paid him much attention, but she looked so happy that day, happier than he had ever seen her. Her hair was pulled back, away from her face, and she spoke kindly to him, helping him keep his balance for a while, and even holding him as he cried after skinning his knees on the cement. It remains one of his happiest memories.
 

Again, he hasn't spent too much time with Robert yet, but hopefully that will change. Right now, we're still at the I-just-met-you-oh-my-gosh-this-family-dinner-is-awkward stage, but things are looking up!

~ * ~ * ~

Well, that's all! I went into this knowing very little about my babies, but now I know so much and it just makes me love them more! Beautiful People is such an amazing thing and I'm happy to be participating in it! I'm relieved to have at least some of Jordan's past unraveled at last and I'm excited to see what else this book has in store for me!

So, what about you guys? How are your relationships with your parents/families? Do you often write about characters with parents, or do prefer a few Lost Boys (or girls!)? What's your view on family in fiction/YA? Any favorite fictional parents? Tell me all! I wanna know! ^___^

Oh! And I might have gotten a Pinterest account over the weekend . . . And pinned too many things and spent way too much time fangirling. So, um . . . Yeah. This is a thing now. ;D Feel free to check out my boards and suggest some I should follow! I'm kinda in love with Pinterest at the moment. XD

The Many Ramblings of an Excited Author

Guys. Exciting news. Like, really exciting. Seriously, you'll never guess what it is.

I STARTED A NEW NOVEL.

Okay, okay. I know. How strange is it that I - a writer, mind you - would start a new novel? How odd is it that I, of all people, would insist on writing more than one book in my lifetime? (Please take note of the sarcasm here.)

To be honest, maybe this isn't huge, exciting news for everyone else, but for me, it's like I'm getting my muse back. I was kind of starting to feel like I'd spend the rest of my days as a writer working on Pro Deo et Patria. (Fun fact: Do you know how long writers tend to write? Forever, that's how long. So, in other words, I was beginning to think I'd spend forever working on that one novel.) I felt like those charries had forced all other charries out of my head and I was just stuck with them. And only them. Forever. O__O

Of course, like any author, I love my characters, all of them, and I had a great time working on that novel. But inspiration fades when you work on one thing nonstop for - what - two years. Yeah... I needed a break.

AND I FINALLY GOT IT AND I'M SO EXCITED AND HAPPY OH MY GOSH.

Ahem. All right. I suppose you're wondering about the details of this new story (or not; either way, I'm about to tell you). I was debating on a title the other day when, suddenly, something came to mind! This rarely happens, since titles tend to give me a lot of trouble. However, this one sounded like it could work (and it was even in English this time!), so I was perfectly happy with it.

The Truth About Forever. Yes, it did sound like the title of a book. And a good one. I was proud of myself. In fact, I was so proud, I even dared to think, "Hey! That kind of sounds like the title of a book Sarah Dessen would write!" And she's one of my favorite authors. So I was super happy. It still sounded familiar, though, like a title I'd heard before, so, in order to put my mind at ease, I decided to Google it, just to make sure there was no such book out there. Lo and behold, there it was: The first result, on Amazon. The Truth About Forever is indeed a book. And by who? None other than Sarah Dessen herself. Oh, suddenly everything made sense.

For a moment, I sat there in disappointment. The perfect title was not even an original one, merely something I had read in a list of books by my favorite author at some point. However, this agony was short-lived, because that was when I remembered something my little sister had said the day before. We'd been driving by a field of dandelions, all of them a beautiful, bright yellow. "There are so many of them," she told me, "and one day, when they're the kind you can blow, we'll come back out here and make a thousand wishes."

It was a simple statement, but, to me, it held such depth. The thought of returning to this field with her and actually making one thousand wishes on each of those dandelions was beautiful, something you would see in the movies, like thousands of paper airplanes being thrown through the air, or dozens of origami swans being dropped into a pond. To me, the imagery was incredible and I couldn't imagine anything more perfect. So I wrote it down in a notebook. Maybe I'd need a title in the future.

Turns out the future arrived quickly and there I was, in search of a new name for this book. So, yeah. My newest novel officially has a title. And not one stolen from the cover of a Sarah Dessen book.

A Thousand Wishes is the name and I couldn't love it more.

The first thing that surprised me about this story was that it was not a fantasy book. Pro Deo et Patria and its sequel were the first fantasy novels I'd ever written, but I fell in love with the genre - creating new worlds, where perilous adventures and kingdoms at war were okay, filling them with dragons and elves and fairies. I thought I'd never go back to writing about anything else. I adored this genre. It was creative, fun, enchanting. Who needed regular ol' YA fiction now? I had fantasy on my side!

But no. This book decided it did not wish to be a fantasy novel. It wanted to be a young adult novel, with no dragons or fairies or worlds with names I can't pronounce. It was an odd feeling, returning to my first love in that way. It felt kind of like I'd gone on a long, far away trip, to someplace unfamiliar, and then, after countless months had passed, there I was, coming home. Familiarity surrounded me and I felt this overwhelming nostalgia. It was amazing, to be perfectly honest. I guess YA is my home, in a way.

And, as if this novel hadn't already thrown countless curveballs my way, it decided it did not want to be written like a normal book. No, if I was going to write, it was going to be something completely different and out of my comfort zone. It was, for starters, in first person. I never write in first person. Ever.

And that wasn't enough. Noooo. A Thousand Wishes refused to follow my rules. In fact, it insisted on breaking every last one of them. Meaning? "No, that's all right. We don't need to start at the beginning like a normal book. Let's just begin right here at this nice spot in the middle, when you don't know who the characters are or why they are or what they're doing. That works, right?"

It had to work, because, worse than the characters taking control of the book, the book itself was taking over. And when that happens, it might be time to listen.

I knew nothing about the characters when I started, in the middle of the story. I only knew that, at the moment, there were two of them, a brother and a sister, who'd never met before. In my head, he looked like Jordan Witzigreuter and she looked like Miranda Cosgrove. That was all the information I had when I began typing. No title, no real plot, and only two characters, without names or personalities or back stories. This is what happened:

~ * ~ * ~

He stepped into the house slowly, sneakers tracking dirt and flower petals from our garden. Upon entering, his eyes went wide, mouth forming a perfect circle as if his surprise hadn't been evident before. His bag, old and tattered, wet from the rain storm, escaped his grasp and collided with the hardwood floor, a puddle forming beneath it. I could tell he was taking it all in - the spiral staircase leading up to the second floor, the chandelier hanging from the skylight above, the black, grand piano adjacent to the wall. It must have been like something from a magazine, or straight out of a movie, a room most people would never see in a lifetime. It was nothing special, of course - most houses in our neighborhood looked identical to this - but, to people like Jordan, this was like glimpsing into another world, or, in his case, the life he might have had.

My mother entered the room now, heels clicking nosily across the floor. "Oh! You've arrived!" she cheered, clapping her hands together as she crossed the room. "I'll have George gather the rest of your things! George-" She stopped when something splattered beneath her heels, surprise forcing her to a halt. It was the water from Jordan's bag, seeping through the fabric and creating a stream across the hardwood. I bit my tongue, waiting for her to explode, to scold him for making such a mess (after all, that floor hadn't had a single drop spilled on it since 1940, when her parents had built the house), but she never did. Instead, she took a deep breath, her gaze following the trail to his bag. "Oh, dear!" I could sense the irritation under her concerned facade, but also there was a hint of sorrow, as if she felt horrible about being angry in the first place. "Is that your only bag? Surely there are more outside!"

Jordan, who hadn't uttered a word since his arrival, watched as she strode over to the window, moving the satin curtains to peer outside, in search of a taxi she would never find. "No, this is all." He barely met my gaze before stooping down and grabbing his duffel bag from the floor. Finally noticing the water, his eyes widened again and he looked like he wanted to say something, but my mother beat him to it.

"Oh, dear, a few belongings just won't do!" She crossed the floor once more, taking the bag from his hands and holding it at a safe distance, as if it carried some sort unearthly, homeless disease. "Don't you worry about this, dearie! I'll just take it and have George put away your things. Wait, where is George? Did he not hear his name being called? George! George?" And then she stalked off down the hallway, the sound of her footsteps fading in the distance.

I waited until she was gone to speak, "I'm sorry about . . . her. She can be a little-"

He raised his eyebrows. "Scatterbrained?"

"I was going to say George-oriented, but yeah, that too." I motioned around the room, where rays of light filtered in from above, littering the floor with sparkling beams. "So, what do you think?"

He glanced around the room again, as if just remembering he was still here. He wore a bewildered expression, a mixture of horror and amazement apparent on his face. "I . . . um, it's nice." He was trying his best to remain calm, to act normal, but I could tell he was still a bit overwhelmed by all of this. "So" - he shoved his hands into his pockets and met my gaze - "who was she? An aunt? A cousin?"

"My step mom, actually." I hoped my disdain wasn't evident. "Dad married her shortly after-"

"Right. I get it." He shrugged his shoulders, his struggle to appear optimistic a visible battle. "So, where is . . .?"

"Dad?" I laughed. "It's okay. You can say it, you know." I wasn't so sure I'd ever get used to all of this - the awkward, the uncertainty, my brother. "He's here, somewhere. I told him you were coming."

"Does he know-"

"No. I didn't tell him."

"Didn't tell whom what?" Laughter erupted from within my father as he emerged from the hallway, a wide, goofy grin on his face, as usual. "We're not keeping any secrets around here, are we?"

I smiled as he approached us. "Nope, just discussing the fact that I . . . forgot to tell you Jordan is allergic to sweet potatoes, so Mom can't make her famous casserole tonight. Right, Jordan?"

I looked to him for assistance, to help put my father's mind at ease, but, if he had been stunned before, he was frozen now. His mouth hung open as he stared up at my - our - father, who was several inches taller than him, with short, brown hair and identical blue eyes. I could see him analyzing this man, taking in the button-up shirt, the khaki pants, the expensive ear piece. What must this be like for Jordan, laying eyes on him for the first time? What had he imagined, when picturing his dad? Had he imagined a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy? A businessman? What could he possibly be thinking now, as he met his father for the first time in twenty, long years?

If Dad noticed his surprise, he didn't show it. "Oh, you must be Jordan." His smile widened, if possible, and he extended a hand. "Robert Forde. Pleasure to meet you, son."

Jordan's gaze flickered to meet mine before he stared back up at Dad. If only he knew.

"You, too, sir." He offered the smallest of smiles. "I really appreciate you opening up your home like this. I, uh, don't mean to intrude."

Dad gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. "It's no problem at all. Any friend of Eloise is a friend of mine."

Translation: "Any daughter of mine is a sister of yours."

Jordan didn't glance at me, instead he nodded, mustering up what little strength he had left to smile, a real one this time. "Thanks. I really-"

Dad's earpiece beeped then and he held up a finger to silence his son, pressing a button with the other hand. "Robert Forde speaking." A pause. "Oh, yes, Jerry. Thanks for getting back to me. That business deal is important and we can't afford to-" Another pause. "Yes, I know." He offered Jordan an apologetic look, mouthing "I've gotta take this" before heading out of the room. He failed to glance back at either of us.

Jordan stared after him, as if he were trying to make sense of all this. We stood there in silence, him staring into the now vacant hallway and me watching him, waiting for him to say something, anything. Several minutes passed before he finally spoke up, "So . . . That was him."

"Yeah." I grinned. "What did you think?"

He tore his gaze away from the hallway and, at last, I could see the mixture of pain and joy hiding behind that crooked smile of his. "I think I love sweet potatoes and you suck at lying."

I snorted and then we laughed, because that's what brothers and sisters do: Laugh at each other.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

So, yeah. It's not literary perfection, nor is it anything super unusual, but I guess that's what I love about YA. It doesn't have to be any one thing. It can be many different things, all wrapped into one package. The plan hadn't been to give the MMC the name Jordan, especially not when I pictured him as Jordan Witzigreuter, but, when I was going over names in my head, Jordan was the only one that fit for this character. So I left it that way.

And Eloise. Eloise was truly the last name on Earth I'd ever pick for a character, but I asked my family for help with names and one of my sisters suggested that one, among others. At first, I didn't like it at all, but something about it felt right, so, as a final surprise, my main character was named Eloise.

This book is made up of things I didn't expect.

So, to continue the trend, I wrote a blog post. Not surprising? Well, then, guess what? You just read all I've written of A Thousand Wishes. No one has ever read a whole novel of mine, but now you have. If that isn't strange, I don't know what is.

Expect the unexpected, you guys. You never know when a book might start writing itself.

Beautiful People: Gael and Morella Whalen {April 2015}

Greetings, fellow blog people! I wanted to post this yesterday - it was National Siblings Day, after all - but I was so busy I didn't have time. To be honest, I was super excited when I found out that this month's Beautiful People linkup (hosted by the lovely Sky @ Further Up & Further In and the awesome Cait @ Paper Fury) would be about siblings. I adore my brother and sisters, so it's always fun to write about fictional siblings. (Come to think of it, I literally can't name a single novel I've written where a character didn't have siblings. o_O)

I thought about using Elroy and Donovan Plemmons this month, but I had already talked about them in a recent post, so I decided against it. Instead, I suppose we'll talk about Gael and Morella Whalen, from that novel I'm always working on. >.> Their whole plot is really spoiler-y (Gael is really spoiler-y), but I love them and, besides, Elroy and Donovan hog the spotlight all the time. I wanted to find an image for Gael and Morella, but they are no doubt the hardest characters to find faces for. No one is as cute as Morella or as angry as Gael (except for Kim Myungsoo, but his eyes are brown, not blue <3). Ah, what the heck? There has to be a picture of Myungsoo and a little girl somewhere . . .

"Where did Mommy and Daddy go?"

     For a long moment, Gael stared at her in silence. The question - so direct, yet filled with so much confusion - had caught him off guard. In the months that had passed since their parents left, Gael had received this question countless times. He knew Morella deserved an answer, he knew she deserved the truth, but he knew better than anyone that the truth, once discovered, wasn't at all freeing, but instead a prison that kept one tied to the bitter reality brought out by secrets. He couldn't - no, wouldn't - do that to Morella. He refused.
     "I've told you before," he explained, his voice soft so he wouldn't upset her. "They're away, taking care of people."
     "What kind of people?"
     "Family."
     Morella paused, pondering this. "But . . . We're family, too. Why don't they take care of us?"
     It was an innocent question, asked by an innocent girl. It was a question worthy of a response, but, for this, Gael had no answer. He sighed, leaning forward to plant a kiss on the top of her head. "I don't know, Morella." He pulled the blankets up to her chin and offered the smallest of smiles. "Just get some sleep. Sweet dreams." He stood, starting toward the doorway after blowing out the candle next to her bed.
     "Bruhder?"
     He stopped at the doorway, forcing his gaze to meet hers. "What is it?"
     She blinked at him, blue eyes wide. "Mommy and Daddy were like the dragon, right?"
     "What dragon?"
     "From your story. They're not here." Her smile returned and she beamed at him. "But that's okay, Bruhder! We still have each other."
     Another sharp pain stabbed through his heart, but he forced it away. "Oh, really? And who were we, in the story?"
     "I was the princess!" She grinned and he noticed the gap between her two front teeth. "And you were my smile! We made other people happy and, even when things were tough, you never left me like the dragon did! Right?"
     This hit him like yet another punch in the gut and he hoped she couldn't see the tears that sprang into his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but one escaped and rolled down his cheek just to spite him, to remind him that he should have been wiser, he should have been a better brother to Morella than he was. "Right," he spoke, but his voice caught and his next words came out in only a whisper, "I'm sorry."
     If she heard him, or even noticed anything was wrong, she didn't let on. Instead, she offered him a wide grin. "Good night, Bruhder! I love you!"
     Wiping another stray tear away, he smiled softly at her. "I love you more."

~ * ~ * ~

1. What is the first memory they have of each other?

Gael's first memory of Morella was just after she'd been born. He was only twelve at the time, terrified of holding children, but when his mother finally convinced him to take her, it was a perfect fit. He fell in love with her immediately, already giving in to her adorable charms.

Morella's first memory of Gael, on the other hand, was several years later, when she was three and he was fifteen. Their parents were out of town one night and she woke up in the midst of a thunderstorm. She was terrified and raced into Gael's room. He let her climb onto his bed and he sang soft lullabies until her tears subsided and she fell asleep.

2. Describe their relationship in 3 words?

Close, protective, complicated.


3. What kind of things do they like to do together?

In spite of their age difference and responsibilities, they try to spend a great deal of time together. Most often, Morella convinces Gael to play dolls with her on a pretty regular basis. She enjoys this, because Gael made the dolls for her when they couldn't afford to purchase any. She also enjoys doing his hair (and her own).

Aside from that, Gael likes taking her to visit the dragons. As a dragon caretaker, he finds it important that he teaches Morella some of what he knows. They both enjoy caring for the dragons and going on adventures together (which really means that Morella pretends they're in the sky while Gael works).

4. What was their biggest fight?

Their biggest fight was shortly after their parents left. Morella missed them terribly and felt ignored by her older brother, who was stressed and working day and night to provide for himself and Morella. There was a lot of screaming involved in their fight, Morella was crying, and the conversation ended with Gael telling her that their parents didn't love them. Morella then called Gael a liar and said she hated him before running to her room. It was then when he decided not to tell her the truth about what had happened with their parents, for he never again wanted to hurt her the way he had that night.

5. How far would they go to save each other?

Throughout the entire novel, Gael shows his willingness to sacrifice many things - including his life - to save his sister. Morella is what drives him, what keeps him working so hard to make a better life for them. She is most important to him and he would go to any length to keep her safe.

Morella, only five years old in the story, doesn't know much about sacrifice at all. She loves her brother more than anyone, and she would stand up for him in a heartbeat, but she is still only a child, afraid of danger and trouble. She would do many things to save Gael, but she wouldn't go as far as he would for her.

6. What are their pet peeves about each other?

Most often, Gael finds himself annoyed by the fact that Morella refuses to listen to him. She has a tendency to wander off without telling him, or to open the door for strangers. Perhaps it is because adventure runs in their blood, but Morella is intent on inserting herself into dangerous situations and going on perilous adventures. This annoys and worries Gael to no end. Aside from that, he utterly despises being told he is just like their parents.


Morella finds herself most annoyed by Gael's busy schedule. She longs to spend every waking moment with her brother, but that isn't at all possible with his work schedule. And, on the rare occasions when he does have a moment to spare, he's too tired to spend hours upon hours playing dolls with her. Even worse, she cannot stand how bossy he is. She's a big girl now - she can open doors and wander off whenever she wants to.

7. What are their favorite things about each other?

Gael knows there would be a neverending list of things he loves about Morella, but, if he had to pick only a few, he would say, first, he adores her forgiving heart. Being one to hold grudges, Gael finds it both beautiful and refreshing to watch Morella forgive so effortlessly. He admires her heart and love for other people. Second would be tenacity. No matter what she is attempting, Morella refuses to quit until she has accomplished something.


Morella's favorite things about Gael are both his bravery and his love for her. She admires his strength in the midst of tough situations. She hopes she will grow up and become as brave and strong as he is. She also loves his love for her and his want to help those in need.

8. What traits do they share? Mannerisms, clothing, quirks, looks, etc?

They both have dark brown, almost black hair, and midnight blue eyes, for starters. Aside from physical appearances, however, they share the same stubborn nature. Once their minds have been made up, that's it - there will be no convincing them otherwise. And, although Gael would argue, they both have big hearts. A lot of their mannerisms are similar as well, but mainly because Morella enjoys mimicking her brother.

9. Who has the strongest personality?

That's a tough one - both Whalens can be quite the handful when they want to be. However, Morella's personality is probably the strongest. Although Gael's anger is what drives his personality, Morella is much more outspoken and energetic, in contrast to her cold and anti-social brother. During a tantrum, she can become your worst nightmare and, when in a good mood, she is the kindest, most outgoing person around. She's always intent on getting what she wants, though, and she's not afraid to let anyone know it.

10. How does their relationship change throughout your story?

When the novel begins, the siblings are close and Gael's love for his sister is evident in everything he does. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Gael is literally willing to go to any length to protect his sister. It isn't until the end, however, that Morella makes her love for her brother known as well and it is then when Gael realizes just how close they are. Even through all of the crap I put them through in that book, their relationship was much stronger in the end than it was in the beginning, as Morella realized the extent of Gael's love for her and vice versa.

So, that's it! Beautiful People is just so much fun! ^___^ I learn so much about my charries this way. Let me know what you think! :D

What about you guys? Do you have any siblings in real life? What about in your books? Do you prefer writing about only children or big families? Let me know! I'd love to hear about them! ^_^

Meet the Characters: Elroy and Donovan Plemmons

Well, as mentioned a couple posts ago (did I ever mention it?), the plan is to better introduce both my novel and my characters on this blog. Since I'll be busy obsessing over this book, anyway, why not share it with you all? I plan to post excerpts and snippets, character introductions, Beautiful People posts, etc - whatever it takes to get this blog up and running again. Besides, I miss writing dearly and it has been nice being reunited with it. ^___^

If you've been reading my blog, you probably remember meeting dear Elroy Plemmons back in November of 2013, when I first decided to make my characters write journal entries. Yes, he is still oh-so-cocky and the daredevil he's always been, but, when I started the sequel to Pro Deo et Patria, he took an unexpected turn: He became more like his brother. Whether that was Donovan leaking out into my writing or the aftermath of all Elroy went through in the first book, I have no idea, but it intrigued me and, upon returning to writing, the first thing I read was an exchange between the twins. It was one scene, their introduction, that pulled me back into writing. And it is that very scene that I will share with you today.

Of all the characters I've written in my lifetime, these two definitely have a special place in my heart. Maybe it's the way Elroy feels like he's older than Donovan, like a few minutes can make a difference. Or maybe it's the way Donovan gets so angry when Elroy messes up. Whatever it is, I love these characters and I hope you will, too.

This is Elroy (top) and Donovan (bottom).

Their skin is supposed to be darker, but . . .

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find boys with fiery red hair?

~ * ~ * ~

The room was getting smaller, walls were closing in, the air was becoming thicker and harder to breathe. Sweat dripped from his forehead and, as even the smallest of noises rang through the night air, he could feel his stomach tighten, his heart begin to pound. The world felt as though it were spinning faster than ever before and he was begging it to stop.
     Daytime wasn't so bad - the light, the people, the voices to distract him from reality. Anyone could slap on a fake smile for a few hours. They all did, he'd noticed. Not that he was any better. They were pretenders, but he was the fakest of them all. He plastered grins onto his face, told lies even he didn't believe, but they played along, for who really wanted to know how he, or anyone, was doing these days?
     Nightfall would always come, though. The frauds would go home, his mother would retire to her room for the night, and he would be alone once again. He'd tried to convince himself that he was okay, but he knew he was a terrible liar. He knew the shadows would bring to light the things he'd tried so hard to keep hidden. He could run from a lot of things, but he was for certain he could not run from the past, from the memories, from himself.
     Even sleep couldn't block it all out. It haunted him, turning dreams into nightmares and nights of peace into insomnia he couldn't escape. There was no cure for this, whatever it was. The only conclusion he could come to was that he was losing his mind and no one would ever know.
     Leaning against the door of his wardrobe, he placed his hands over his ears, attempting to block out any sound, for even the most minuscule of noises reminded him of that terrible night six years ago, the night everything changed. He couldn't breathe now, no matter how many lungfuls of air he attempted to inhale. He wanted to scream, but the silence had trapped him once more. He lowered himself to the floor, squeezing his eyes shut, praying morning would come soon. At least the Donovan Plemmons who pretended to be all right was halfway okay; whoever this was would never be.
     He was almost positive he couldn't take another second of this torment, another moment of restlessness, when, without warning, the window across the room swung open and a figure climbed inside, dropping a bag to the floor. "Donovan?"
     He knew who it was immediately. If the obnoxiously loud whisper didn't give it away, the fiery red hair did, but Donovan didn't respond. This person didn't deserve a response.
     Clenching his teeth, the teenager tried to calm his pounding heart, tried to pull himself together, but there was no use. He'd already been spotted.
     "Donny?"
     Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around his small body and he could feel a head on top of his. His brother had never done this before. It was unlike Elroy Plemmons to comfort anyone, let alone Donovan. But they were twins; one could feel what the other was feeling. At least, that's what their mother had always told them.
     "Ssh. It's okay, Donny. You're okay. We're okay."
     Donovan tried to shove him away - after all, he'd gone six years without comfort, why should he need any now? - but Elroy refused to let go.
     "You left us," Donovan whispered. Tears of anger were flowing from his eyes as he clenched his teeth, still struggling against his brother. "You've been gone for months. What were you thinking, you idiot?"
     "I was trying to help."
     "By doing what? Leaving me all alone with Mama? You have lost your mind if you think she can survive without you here. She's running all of our customers away and spending every waking moment searching for you! She thought you'd been killed!"
     Elroy felt a pang of guilt surge through him, but he ignored it. Donovan was the favorite son. It had always been that way. He never got into trouble, never disobeyed their mother, never messed up, and he would never abandon his family when they needed him most. Elroy, on the other hand, embraced his own mistakes and took pride in the things he did wrong. He didn't want to end up like his brother, stressed and anxious - that wasn't a way to live.
     "Well . . . I wasn't killed." He offered a sheepish grin, but Donovan finally escaped his grasp and smacked him on the head. "I'm sorry, okay? I know it was selfish of me to leave. I was trying to find work elsewhere, earn some extra money to help you and Mama. Hanoria is a poor village, we'll never make it here."
     Donovan rolled his eyes, thankful anger could distract him from this terrible night. "You know better than anyone why we're forced to stay here. We cannot start over anywhere else. We had one chance and this was it. We can't leave Hanoria."
     "Why not?" the elder of the twins snapped. "Because you and Mama are too afraid of what might happen? Because you seriously believe the lies they fed us about the war? It's been six years! Every kingdom left believes there were no survivors and, even if they found out we made it, what could they do to us now, after all this time?"
     Donovan sighed. "Don't you get it? We are the only ones left. Everyone else was executed. If they find out we're still alive, they'll eliminate us immediately."
     The war that had destroyed their home country, Rondonia, had been a short one. They had been fighting against Spirulous, a mighty nation, one filled with powerful people, whose only goal had been to take more land for themselves. It had ended in the destruction of Rondonia and all of its people, except three, who'd escaped to Dalithorne before their lives, too, could be taken. With their tan skin and dark red hair, they could be spotted for miles. They would have been located long before now if it weren't for the fact they'd taken refuge in this place, a kingdom whose ruler was kind, building up a gentle nation, who accepted all with open arms.
     "I don't get what you're so afraid of," Elroy snapped. "We should be proud of who we are. We shouldn't have to hide from it."
     "We don't have much of a choice, Elroy. Hanoria is the safest place for us now. No one would ever think to search here."
     "They're not trying to find us. It's been too long." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I know you and Mama think I'm crazy, but I don't want to be stuck here forever. Why can't you two just take chances every once in a while, let life happen, stand up for who you are?"
     "Because Papa took a chance and he is no longer here." Donovan turned away from his brother, not wanting to see the pain he knew he'd just caused. "I'm sorry, but . . . We can't afford to take chances anymore."
     Elroy knew he and his brother would never see eye to eye on this matter. Because of their father, he would always want to take chances, he'd want to enjoy life and see his family move past what had happened long ago. But, because of the same man, Donovan would always be afraid; he would fear the unknown, keep himself from starting a new life and forgetting what happened in Rondonia.
     They were twins, but Elroy couldn't for the life of him figure out how they'd ended up so different.
     "It's okay to be scared," he said, giving his brother a hard pat on the shoulder, "but it's never okay to live in that fear." He stood up, ruffling Donovan's hair. "I'm leaving the money I made on the table. If you can't sleep, I'll be in the kitchen. It's been a while since I've eaten. Try not to wake Mama, okay? I'll see her in the morning."
     He had only just reached the door when he heard his brother's soft voice behind him, "Hey, Elroy?"
     "Yep?"
     There was a long pause. "I'm glad you're back."
     "Me too, Donny." He reached for the doorknob.
     "Oh, and Elroy?"
     "Yes?"
     "You're still a jerk for leaving us. Don't do it again."
     He smiled in spite of himself. "I don't plan on it."

~ * ~ * ~

So that's Elroy and Donovan! I want to go more into detail about their past and what happens to them in the second book, but it's all too spoiler-y for now, so I suppose you'll have to wait. During the first half of the first draft, the twins were merely background characters, of sorts. They were part of the main cast, but it wasn't until the middle of the book when I began delving into who they truly were and what had happened to make Donovan so afraid. It started with a few paragraphs, then a few more, and then I added a section to the book and I found myself in love with the two of them. Elroy even decided to hog the majority of the sequel I started in November. Apparently he wanted to be the main character (still trying to talk him out of that one).

Although it is rather ironic, Donovan has been the more difficult of the two to write. Of course, he cooperated nicely in the excerpt above, but that's about as far as it went. While Elroy insisted I dive into his story head first, Donovan was harder to reach and still is. Some characters are just like that, I guess - too afraid of the spotlight. Let's just hope he'll come out of that shell sometime soon.

 So, now let's hear your opinion! Are your characters difficult to write, hard to get along with? Do they think the sun rises and sets for them everyday, or do they shy away from attention? Let me know! I love hearing about the adventures of other writers! ^_^

If you liked the twins, keep an eye out for them in upcoming Beautiful People linkups! I figured they deserve a little more attention than they've been getting. ;) Thanks for reading!

Beautiful People: La La La Love {February 2015}

What is this? Another post, and so soon after the last one! This is definitely a rarity. Anyway, I've never participated in Sky and Cait's "Beautiful People" linkup for writers, but I have a couple friends who do! So, I figured, if I wanted to get back to writing, what better way to do this than by participating in such an awesome linkup? Much to my surprise, and dismay, this month's theme was the Valentine's Day edition. I'm not anti-Valentine's Day or anything, but . . . Let's just say my characters aren't doing so hot in the love department right now. They're too into things like independence, or betrayal, or saving their kingdom. They don't have time for romance. >.>

Things weren't always this way. In fact, when I started my current medieval fantasy novel, Pro Deo et Patria, I planned to unite three couples. But, as usual, they had other ideas (apparently Rylan is incapable of loving anyone and Neala's plot is too spoiler-y for love). The novel is about six boys from a poor village, who are bribed by a princess in disguise to head across the kingdoms in search of their missing king. The books tells of their mishaps and adventures on this journey, their rise and fall as they attempt to stop a coming war. It's quite possibly the most exciting thing I've ever written! ^_^ Now, you're about to meet one of the six boys and his dearest friend.

Please welcome Fiona Harren and Driscol Gallaugher.

"Why'd you come here?" Driscol questioned suddenly and Fiona could feel his dark eyes burning a hole right through her. She raised her eyebrows as though he were asking an unreasonable question.
     He shot her the same look. "The truth, Fiona."
     She sighed. "I was worried. Some strange guy showed up with six hundred gold pieces to hand out and you all went without asking any questions." She elbowed him, offering a half smile. "I couldn't let you fall for it without investigating first."
     He could tell she was lying. She was clueless if she thought he couldn't, after all this time. This had less to do with his safety and more to do with Rylan Laury. He was trying hard not to be envious and it wasn't easy. He just hoped his smile was more convincing than it felt.
     She must have noticed his expression, though, for she quickly added, "Besides, Morella was alone and my mother was too busy to watch after her all the time. She needs Gael."
     Driscol looked up, almost as though he were challenging her. "He's not her father."
     "I didn't say he was."
     "Then why did you bring her with you?"
     "I didn't. That was her decision."
     "She's a child."
     Her face scrunched up in utter disgust. "You're a child."
     "Am I?" he questioned, trying not to smirk.
     She snorted. "It's kind of obvious."
     "Obvious like it shows in my speech, or obvious like your lies?"

~ * ~ * ~

1. How long have they been a couple?

Truthfully, they've yet to become one, but we all knew it was coming...

2. How did they first meet?

They met when they were only seven years old. Driscol was a troublemaker, constantly getting into fights at school. Fiona, on the other hand, was a bossy tomboy and the only one brave enough to challenge him. She was determined to give him a piece of her mind, to let him know just what she thought of his violence, but his silence in response to her rant was both annoying and unnerving. She couldn't stand him, but he found himself rather intrigued by her nature and confidence. He followed her around like a shadow for weeks after the incident and she shouted at him to leave her alone on a daily basis until, finally, she invited him to come play at her house (only if he promised to leave her alone afterwards). He agreed, they hung out, and they've been friends ever since.

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or "you're freakishly annoying"?)

Hate at first sight comes closest to what they were thinking. Fiona was infuriated that this boy had the nerve to go around getting into needless fights and hurting other kids. She thought him mean and a bully.


Driscol's first thoughts about Fiona were not very pleasant, to say the least. He found her immensely irritating and bossy. However, the longer she talked, the more amused he became, surprised that such a small girl could be so determined.

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

Even after ten years of friendship, Fiona still cannot stand Driscol's silence. She is the type of person who loves conversation and constant interaction, but she gets none of that with Driscol. She might as well talk to a brick wall - she'd get more of a response that way. She also finds his lack of words a little scary at times, for he refuses to tell her when something is wrong, or even if she has upset him. This silence drives her absolutely crazy and she is not afraid to let him know it.

Perhaps that is what annoys Driscol most. He can tolerate her constant chatter - he has even grown to enjoy it - and her frustrated outbursts, but it annoys him to no end that she feels the need to protect him, even if it means inserting herself into dangerous situations and interfering when she shouldn't. Not only that, but he is secretly underwhelmed by her girl talk. Due to the fact she has few friends outside of him, he has been on the receiving end of several conversations he wishes to forget. She has no brain-to-mouth filter and has come fairly close to driving him insane at times.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

Opposite, most definitely. Their friendship would have never even formed had it not been for the fact they were both children when they met. See above for more details.


6. How would their lives be different without each other?

Oh, wow. Their lives would be drastically different... Driscol would still be fighting, for starters. He would have been more apt to believe what others said about him and, in turn, would have headed down a more self destructive path, so afraid of becoming his father that, given time, he would.


Although her path would have been a less dangerous one, Fiona would have often allowed her frustration to get the better of her and this would damage a lot of relationships in her life. She would definitely have less patience for others and she would certainly be more bitter and angry.

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

Are you kidding? Embarrassment is an everyday occurrence with these two. Most often, it is Fiona who embarrasses Driscol (her personality alone can accomplish this), but there have been rare occasions when Driscol would embarrass Fiona just to watch her blush.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

Her father, Ouran. It goes much deeper than the average, "No man will be good enough for my daughter" feeling that most dads express. No, Ouran truly despises Driscol for a deeper reason, one no one knows yet, because of something that happened long ago. Her father's disapproval has yet to put a strain on the relationship, but it might when some secrets come out. >:)


9. Do they see their relationship as long term/leading to marriage?

As it stands no; they are only friends (even if he does make the occasional flirtatious remark). And, although they will be old enough to marry in only one, short year, that is the last thing on their minds. They're kinda busy, you know, rescuing a kingdom from complete destruction.


10. If they could plan the "perfect outing" together, where would they go?

Hmm. That's a tough question . . . I wanted to go with something sappy like "It doesn't matter where they go as long as they're together," but we all know that isn't the case. Perhaps they'd have a picnic near the ocean, enjoying one another's company and maybe even playing in the water. (Hah! It was sappy after all!)

Well, that concludes this post! I hope y'all enjoyed reading about my charries! I have way too much fun writing them! xD Let me know, do your characters ever fall in love, go against your will? Do you enjoy adding romance into what you write, or do you prefer not to? What did you think about Fiona and Driscol? Would you ship them? Why or why not?

Isaiah 40:31

Sometimes in life, there are random, precious moments, moments when you remember you have a blog. This is one of those moments...

So, yeah! Definitely have a blog and totally didn't forget about it. I last typed up a good ol' post back in July of last year, when Driscol took over my blog and decided to complain about his lack of words in my novel (speaking of which, he seems to be finding a personality nowadays - it kind of freaks me out). But lately, I've come to the realization that I allowed my characters to take complete control of my blog, meaning no posts in the perspective of yours truly. I was actually okay with that (I love my characters, contrary to popular belief >.>), but it has dawned on me lately that, if I seriously want to be a writer, I should write, which is something I haven't done in a while now.

I've been writing since I was eight - novels, fanfiction, plays, poems, you name it. It brought me joy, to invent stories and characters and adventures. It excited me that God had given me the ability to create. He had blessed me with a gift and, whether anyone read my stories or not, I was loved writing, and I loved Him. However, it wasn't until November of 2013 when I truly found myself bursting with excitement, ready to put whatever God wanted onto the page in front of me. On the first day of NaNoWriMo, I wrote over five thousand words at one time and I found that I no longer loved writing - I was in love with it. That had never happened before and, as the month went on, I found my excitement growing.

This wasn't at all what I'd expected, for I was working on a fantasy novel of all things and I'd never written one before. But I found a genre I loved and it was then when I realized how much writing meant to me. I continued with that story for months, rewriting some of it, trying to finish the first draft. Even the frustrating moments were beautiful. I could see so much of Jesus, so much of His love, in that story and it kept me writing.

Although it was clear a sequel was in order, I wasn't so sure I was ready to work on yet another year of the same novel, the same characters. I figured trying something new in 2014 would be a nice break from the plot and characters who were constantly on my mind. And so began a spur-of-the-moment YA novel that ended a couple hours after it started. Why, you ask? Because Lorcan, Cahira, and the others were relentless and demanded their story continue. So, that was that - not far into NaNo and I found myself leaping into a new story with no planning whatsoever. It started off rather slow and it took me days to catch up after being far behind, but the story was moving along nicely and the characters were actually cooperating (although Elroy wanted to hog the majority of three chapters).

However, all of that came to a screeching halt when real life stuff happened. I won't go into detail, because this post is long enough, but I'd never been so stressed out in my life. I felt as though everything around me was falling apart and instead of writing becoming a stress-relieving thing, it felt like the stress was a huge wall, keeping me from what I loved most. I attempted to write for several days, but the brick wall remained and I had no idea what was on the other side, much less how to get around it. Days turned into weeks and, before I knew it, weeks had turned into months. Suddenly, I wasn't writing at all. I was constantly on edge and a lifetime of writing seemed like a distant memory.

I wrote a little in that time, but my novels had been terribly neglected and, although I thought about them every once in a while, the brick wall of stress was still there and with it came anger. What had been an incident, one terrible moment, had turned into terrible weeks and months. What had started as stress and sorrow had turned into anger, slowly boiling into fury. Before, I would have dealt with this by writing, by spending more time with my Heavenly Father. But what had began as a brick wall was turning into a brick mountain and I felt no need to write, or pray.

The God aspect of the situation resolved itself fairly quickly. Even when I felt I didn't understand God, I knew He loved me. And even when people drove me crazy, I realized He was always there for me, and He wanted what was best. It was through one of the hardest times in my life that I realized that Jesus truly loved me and He would never leave me. Yeah, everything else looked like it was falling apart, but one thing remained: His love. In all of my anger and frustration, in all the time I had spent feeling sorry for myself, God's love hadn't changed. He still saw me as worthy, as beautiful, His creation. He still does. And, even as the water rises around me, I realize that His love is real and He is real. He is here, so why should I worry? His life becomes more evident each day and, even then, I felt His love surrounding me.

The writing thing went unnoticed, however. I wrote a little here and there, but I didn't find myself missing it. For the first time in my entire life, I didn't want to write. But all of that changed a few days ago.

I have no idea why I checked my email. Maybe it was because I missed the Purple Elephants, or it just crossed my mind, or I wanted to stalk the blogs of my friends, but I logged in that day and it was then when I stumbled across a blog post by my dear friend Deborah O'Carroll (aka Celtic) at The Road of a Writer (check out her blog - she's amazing ^_^). In her post, she mentioned she had been on a three week writing hiatus and that, in that time, she had done a lot of blogging. However, she came to the realization that she was blogging so much because that was "as close to writing as I could get." Needless to say, that really got me thinking.

In the three months that had passed since the November incident, I hadn't found myself missing writing, longing to write no matter what it took. I wondered why this had happened. Could it have been perhaps that I had lost interest, that my time as a writer was over? Could it be that I had pushed it away in an effort to keep everything else away as well? Why didn't I miss it? Or, somewhere behind that brick wall, did I actually long to write again?

As I set out to discover this, I read a few paragraphs of my novel from NaNoWriMo 2013; this led to few more paragraphs, to a couple sections, to several chapters. Suddenly, I found myself smiling, my heart filling with joy as I read of all the perils and adventures my characters had encountered. It was in those moments that I remembered the fun I'd had writing the story, the excitement I'd felt then returning in an instant. It was a spark that started a flame. I found myself eager to return to writing and to finish the adventures of my dear, neglected characters. Deborah, incredible as always, had inspired me to love writing again and to give it another chance, in spite of the brick wall I'd thought was keeping me from it.

Turns out the brick wall was just me.

You see, I think, sometimes, we find ourselves building walls to protect ourselves. The world can be harsh and mean; it can make us want to hide and lock ourselves away behind walls and mountains. It can be a scary place. But I've also found that it can be beautiful. I've found that the tough moments come to help us grow and the journey is so much greater than the destination. I've learned that building walls isn't fun. Yeah, it keeps the ugly things out, but, in turn, keeps beautiful things from coming in - things like writing, friends, and God.

I've learned that it isn't important how others see me, it's important how God sees me. And He sees me as righteous and beautiful and His. Because that's who I am.

I am His.

So, my writing has begun again. I've found that worshiping Jesus is my favorite thing to do. And, on top of everything, I'm learning to just be me, because that's enough. And I like the Jill who worships and writes and dances in the rain. I like the Jill with fire instead of brick walls. Jesus does, too. ^_^

With all of that said, I have returned to write and I already have a couple more blog posts planned! Be expecting some actual excerpts from my novel (meaning you shall meet the characters for real this time >:D) and maybe even a few surprises along the way. ;) Thanks for reading. You're beautiful. <3

"But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed.

They will rise on wings like eagles;

They will run and not get weary;

They will walk and not grow weak."

-Isaiah 40:31