weathered things

WOOOOOO HAPPY NEW YEARS! For those in the Central Time Zone like me, I'm posting this at midnight b/c New Years. WOOO! WELCOME TO 2017! Hopefully it'll be better than 2016. Sorry about not posting this last week, I was on Christmas break and I was working on finalizing my book so... I didn't have time to blog. Anyways! I did a lot of fun stuff this year, so let's recap: Life • June       • I started this blog! With the help of some people from the Minneapolis Young Writer's Workshop, I was able to get this up and running.       • I attended the Minneapolis Young Writer's Workshop! It was so fun. I met so many amazing fellow authors and I've kept up contact with most of them. I'm going to be attending again come June, and if you want to hear about my past experiences you can click here , and if you want to register to attend yourself, you can find that here ! The lineup for this year includes Jonathan Friesen, Sabaa Tahir, Shannon Hal...

I find it interesting that hearing a certain song triggers so many things: a plot in a book, a moment of life, a character or a real person. Music is honestly so cool. But how can we fit it into our writing? It's not like books have a mini speaker in the page that plays when you open it. Well, this is how I do it and why. 1. get the feel of the scene Find a song or a bunch of songs and put them on a repeating playlist. The songs make you feel a certain way, and you can put that into your writing. Personally, I write to a certain song on repeat. It has to fit the emotion I'm trying to convey, though. Like, if I'm writing fast-paced scene, I need some dubstep. If I'm writing a slow, sad, death scene... well, let's say I've got an entire playlist of songs that work for that. 2. get into a character's mindset If you're writing a story where the chapters shift points of view, I highly suggest making a playlist of songs that fit a character...

HELLO EVERYONE!!! Hi, people! *spastic wave* The picture doesn't have a reason, it's just aesthetic so I put it in here. This is probably gonna be a rant post, just... because I don't really have a reason for this post I just hacked into Olivia's blog and... yeah. Okay, so my name is Jess--that's short for Jessamine, by the way. I honestly don't know what I'm going to be writing about for this. I mean... to be honest, I'm just listening to Glee songs and show tunes and staring at the computer screen trying to figure out what to write about. Well, Harper told you about herself... so I guess I could do that. My name is Jessamine Claire Ford. I'm 17 years old. I'm a techie (it's an obsession). I'm a fourth Chinese, although you'd probably not know that by just looking at me (white blonde hair, bright blue eyes, snow skin... the only thing that's Oriental about me is the shape of my face and the shape of my eyes). My ma...

I. AM. NOT. A. CUDDLE SNEK. Let's get that straight right away. I'm not a cuddle snek. I am a giant snake that wraps around Midgard and can crush the earth any minute. Don't mess with me. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. Hey, I'm Jormungand. But seriously, I'm not a cuddle snek. I'm a snek. I like to cuddle. But I am not a cuddle snek. A cuddle snek is a cute, little, squishy snake that uses its own tail as a blanket. That's not me, bro. I'm a giant killer snake who can destroy the world with sneeze. Well, not me as in me myself actual human me, but my namesake. You may wonder, "But Jormungand, why is your name so weird?" or "How do you pronounce that?" or even "Do you have a nickname?" Slow down, let me explain. My name is weird because it isn't my name. Jormungand is my assassin name. My real name is NC-208. HAHAHAHA but no seriously. My real name was erased when I was...

Hello lovelies! So, today is the last day in November. And I am writing this as I wait for my English teacher to recover the powerpoint she accidentally deleted. Anyways, this is my November Wrap Up! Life • Kay. So. I have had the most uneventful November ever. • OH it snowed! I guess that's news... maybe... I dunno. • Uh... I learned how to bind my own books. I'm making notebooks and such for Christmas presents. • I've watched a lot of YouTube... specifically PolandBananasBooks and ItsWayPastMyBedtime • Hawaii Five-0 is taking over my life it's gorgeous and so is Steve • Also MOANA?! I'm so excited to see it, the music is gorgeous I mean some of it is written by the King of Broadway Lin Manuel-Miranda so how can it NOT be amazing Writing • So NaNoWriMo... I didn't do it. I know that I said I have a plan... and I did... I just didn't do it. I still have the book planned, I'm still going to write it at some point, but not for NaNo...

Hello lovelies! Olivia is back (for this week at least, who knows what will happen next week). Anyways, I received a comment from Katie Grace, asking for a sneak peak into the world of self publishing. So, without further ado... Self-publising isn't easy as you all may have guessed. But, it is easier than traditional publishing in a few aspects. For one, you don't have to deal with picky agents and publishing companies that don't want to take chances on new authors. But as I said, It's not easy. You now are in charge of everything. And for a phone-anxiety-plagued-introvert like me, it's not always fun. I have to sit in calls for an hour or more, chatting with my cover designer and interior layout designer. The plus is they're great, so I don't have to stress too much. But I'm the one that has to come up with a title, write a black cover blurb, write an author bio... all this is so new to me, but I'm getting the hang of it. Being the cheap...

Hello. This blog belongs to me now. Not really, though. I mean, Olivia is going to be back next week. Anyways, hello humans. My name is Harper. Harper Sigyn Johanssen, in fact. Yes, I am one of those weirdos that has a long last name and weird middle name. It's actually from Norse mythology--I'm named after Loki's wife. By the way, it's pronounced Sig-in. I am 17 years old, single, and ready to mingle. (But if any guy tries to get fresh he gets his throat slit. Not actually, though. I'm not exactly okay with killing people. He'd probably just end up with a black eye and broken nose.) Lets see... what should you know about me before you go into my story... uh... I'm an orphan. My parents were killed in a car crash when I was ten. I lived, somehow. Yeah, I was in the car. I'm not gonna go into detail... last time I did that I blacked out and ended up beating up my partner. Don't ask. Anyways, I'm an orphan, but rather than givin...

QUICK THING: True Colors, the cover by Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick (from the movie Trolls although the original was by Cyndi Lauper) is GORGEOUS and I like it so much better than Lauper's original version. The harmonies, the guitar, everything is much more emotion-evoking and meaningful. If you want to hear it, here are the links for the Film Version and the Professional Recording both are gorgeous and I suggest you give them a listen. As we get closer to my book being able to be bought (look here for more info on that), I figured I should share some quotes and stuff about it. First off, lets start with some aesthetic quotes. Harper's life makes me both sad and happy Jace is my darling son - he's turned out a lot sweeter than I had originally planned but THAT'S FINE my book isn't all sad... just mainly sad little bb Olivia makes a cameo - except my eyes are like a weird shade of green that changes color literally based on my m...

I’ve been crafting stories for as long as I can remember, but I’ve also been performer of some sort for most of my life. From learning to record myself on a cassette while singing along with an Olivia Newton-John 8-track at three years old, to childhood dance recitals and children’s choir performances, to high school musicals, plays, speech contests, and variety shows, to singing at weddings and special events and performing in community theatre productions as an adult, I’ve always been drawn to the stage. But it wasn’t until an approaching book deadline kept me from participating in my local community theatre’s annual production that I recognized a link between what I craft on the page as an author... and what I bring the stage as an actor.  The director of our small community theatre called to ask if I would consider attending a rehearsal to offer constructive criticism to the cast. The performance was only a couple of weeks away, she said, but it wasn’t quite “clicking”...

Okay, so it wasn't released at 1. I'm just so excited I bumped up the time! I am so excited to announce this, because it's something that's taken up my life that past two or so years. Well, let me fix that wording. I've been working on this 8th rewrite of it for two years. I came up with the original idea back in 2011. I cranked this thing out when I had a dream that turned into my plot (with a few additions and changes, of course), and I instantly went through and kept editing it. Now, on the eleventh draft, I've finally decided that I am going to publish it. Self-publish, that is. *deep breath* *pterodactyl screech* YES FRIENDS, I AM SELF-PUBLISHING MY BOOK. I cannot tell you how excited I am. Now, I know I said I'm looking for an agent, but honestly, none of them wanted it. They said "while this is interesting, I don't think it's right for my agency right now." All I can say is this: I've talked to so many people...

Hello lovelies! SO, if you're new to this blog (which I'm not sure if anyone is but if you are hey sup welcome), I do these every month to wrap up my goals for the month and what I accomplished. SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO! Life • I've begun to be more outgoing. WAT AN INTROVERTED AUTHOR BEING OUTGOING WAT HAPPENED? I'm honestly just not filtering my speech as much. Usually I over-analyze literally EVERYTHING I say, and I'm not doing it that much. I've actually managed to make a few of those annoying little generic #swag boys in my school fear me because I've begun to speak my mind, and I am very proud of that. They're not good kids, and honestly I could see them being arrested for Sexual Harassment. I feel I'm doing my duty and protecting my fellow women, cus if they're scared of little 'ol me, they got a rude awakening. • I've begun to pursue my acting career. As I talked about in my  Life Choices  post, I plan on being both ...

In honor of the fantastic book INTERMISSION by Serena Chase (which you can preorder  here  and I suggest you do because holy freaking crap it is fantastic), I have decided to write this post on my life choices and what I plan on doing once I graduate. | | | We are starlight on snow. The reflection of something already beautiful—absorbed, reflected, and remade into something . . . more.  And this kiss . . . This kiss is everything I’ve needed to say . . . and longed to hear. Sixteen-year-old Faith Prescott eagerly awaits the day she will exchange her small Iowa hometown for the bright lights of Broadway, but her success-driven parents want her to pursue a more practical career, labeling “artsy” people—including their daughter—as foolish dreamers worthy of little more than disdain. When Faith meets nineteen-year-old Noah Spencer she discovers someone who understands her musical theatre dreams . . . because he shares them.  Faith’s mother despises everything about...

Being writers, we have to create characters. You can't have a story without a character. Characters drive the story, give the readers someone to root for. But creating characters creates problems in the readerdom. Diversity isn't a thing that really exists. Many people try their best to actually represent everyone, but in doing so they tend to exclude others. Body Types. With girls, there's been a big push to love yourself for who you are. Big girls, curvy girls, all of them are being uplifted in this time. But in doing so, the skinny girls are being shamed. You know Daisy Ridley? The wonderful, talented, beautiful actress who played Rey in the newest Star Wars (and also the person in this photo)? Someone posted an image of Rey with a speech bubble saying "what were my casting directors thinking? don't they know real woman have curves?" Let me just say something. All women are different. ALL WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT. ALL. WOMEN. ARE. DIFFERENT. Everyone, ok...

IT HAS FINALLY COME THE POST I HAVE PROMISED FOR, like, I dunno three weeks or something? IT'S REALLY HERE THIS TIME SO PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR Alright! To recap, there are basically two types of writers. Overwriters, and Underwriters. Underwriters tend to get the bare bones of their story down first, and then they have to spend the editing time beefing it up, adding the meat and spices to their feast of a book. If that is you, you can check out my post right here . Overwriters are those who have a 200,000 word novel on their first draft and need to cut out things because HOLY CRAP THOSE ARE A LOT OF WORDS. But seriously, overwriters, you're talented. I'm a severe underwriter. You guys are like unicorns to me. ANYWAYS let's continue. ALSO sorry for so much caps-lock. OKAY LETS GET GOING. 1: Delete Everything Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. But seriously, if your manuscript has the same word count as the ENTIRE LORD OF THE RINGS S...