Know the Novel - Ships, Secrets, and Survivors Part 3

Apparently I'm not done posting for 2019.

So basically, I thought I had already done this post, but after a quick check in my blogger archives I had this moment of "the archives are incomplete" which lead me to realize "if it's not in the archives, it doesn't exist, which must mean I never made the post" and so here you go.

Firstly, how did writing this novel go all around? Firstly, that was last month, so I don't remember (this post is bound to be interesting). Um...I remember I went on a family vacation during the first week or so, and I got behind on the original schedule to finish in 2 weeks. But I still finished.

Did it turn out like you expected or completely different? And how do you feel about the outcome? I finished later then I wanted. But other then that, everything went well.

What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? I loved writing the ships. Not the romance ones, but the wood and sails and freedom kind of ships. Also, switching from two POVs was fun. Haven't written multiple POVs in a long while.

How about your least favorite part? Having to do research on certain injuries, french revolution weapons, and what are the parts of a ship. I'd much rather be drafting, mate.

What do you feel like needs the most work? Um, honestly, the RPG bit that Sarah and I did before I finished it myself for NaNo. But NaNo draft wise, I would say the ship parts...

How do you feel about your characters now that the novel is done? Who’s your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details! I think I did a fairly good job with the characters, including the ones who were originally Sarah's. They all got a chance to shine and grow a little. But I'm especially in love with Ravin (shy, awkward ex-assassin) and Adi (knife-wielding feisty princess).

What’s your next plan of action with this novel? Um. Edits, basically.

If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be? Mate, I want this turned into a movie/tv series. All the pirates, pirate hunters, agents, sea dragons, monsters, ships, islands...it would be so cool!!

Share some of your favorite snippets! Just check out my Shared WIP Tag post available here and the Know the Novel Part 2 post here. And enjoy the snippets!

Did you glean any new writing and/or life lessons from writing this novel? Well...I just figured out how to work with Google Docs, so that's cool. Editing this book will be an adventure for sure!

Anyways, so my next post really will be in 2020...

6 Movie Recs

Are you looking for some new movies to check out over the holidays? Tired of watching the same old films? Looking for something out of the ordinary? Look no further! I have a quick list of same favorite (clean) movies for y'all to check out this winter.

Get a hot drink and some blankets and check out these movies. :)

Black Lightning

This is a Russian movie, but fear not - for those of you who don't speak Russian, you can get it with English subtitles! (Don't get it dubbed, never ever do that, to any movie.) And it's rentable on Amazon.

Black Lightning is a beautiful story about a poor boy who wants to become rich so he can drive a nice car and impress the girls. His father gives him an old, clunky car for his birthday, and he's so embarrassed by it that he doesn't even drive it to school. But then he finds out the car can fly. And the rest is history.

This movie is one of my favorites. Ever. It's a superhero movie, is clean, and also extremely funny. The special effects don't look corny, and the plot is well written. Please, if you try any movies from this post, try this one.


Based off the historical fiction book The Eagle of the Ninth, this movie has flaws (weird costumes, not close to the book, not even historically accurate) but if you just take it for what it is (a fun adventure story), it's really enjoyable.

My brother loves it because there's zero kissing/romance involved, haha. My sister loves it because it's different than your usual movie. I love it because the music is amazing.

It's a little gritty and dark. But no language or "skippy" scenes. :)


So this is based off a kids series (which was made into a cartoon series), but I didn't find that out until a few years ago? But this has been a favorite horse movie of mine since I was little.

Pros: Fun story plot, beautiful horses, aussie accents, amazing soundtrack, ghost stories and chills at the end, different from your normal horse movie.

Cons: If you don't like horses, you'll find this boring...


This is kind of old, so maybe everyone's already seen it and we just don't talk about it? But it's hilarious. Hysterical.

Basically, it tells the story of Red Riding Hood in such a brilliant way...interviewing all the characters and piecing together what really happened. You'll never look at the fairy tale the same way again.

(Apparently there's a sequel movie? That was not very good? I haven't seen it - can anyone tell me if it was worth watching?)

Only Old Men Are Going to Battle

Yes, another Russian movie. Not that I'm sorry. And there are more I could recommend, but I'll just stick to two for today.

I came downstairs one night to find my Dad watching this. I sat in for the last half and enjoyed it; then I watched the whole thing again later and loved it more. It inspired a bit of my trilogy, actually.

But it's clean, despite being a war movie. It follows a group of fighter pilots, and is thoughtful., really interesting, and presents such an interesting aspect of war. Basically, only old men (the most experienced) are sent into battle, but as time goes on, those get killed off, so the more and more younger men are sent out. Until young boys are going up because they're the most experienced over the newbies.

You can watch it for free on YouTube here. Good news: includes English subtitles. :D

The Court Jester

This movie is a classic with our family. Even after all these years, we are still laughing hysterically every time we see it.

A ex-circus entertainer pretends to be a jester while smuggling the real king back onto the throne, and gets involved in all sorts of trouble...

All I can say is just watch it, okay? It's great. 

Let me know if you've seen any of these, or if you watch them. I'd love to chat!!

Cars and Characters

So the below meme (or post or whatever you want to call it) has always made me laugh. And it popped up again the other day and I thought, you know, I should do something like that for my Red War Trilogy characters.

So I did. And below is the result.

The original post.


Marywyn doesn't even have a moped or motorized scooter, much less a car or a license. However, she would think nothing of walking or biking 5 miles to a store. Has hitched rides with local grandmas, farmers in tractors, people on horseback, lost families on vacations, and once a celebrity (who she had never even heard of). 

Duren drives anything, from tractors to semi-trucks, automatic or manual. Has stories about driving each and every kind of motor vehicle. His own car cost like $500 and grinds horribly when it changes gears and the brakes work intermittently. No one knows what the original color was supposed to be, but it probably wasn't "rust".

Jaran had a license, but it gets suspended frequently, as he's always getting caught speeding, doing doughnuts in parking lots, or drifting around curves. His car is one of those little manual sports cars, used, but still fast. He modifies it from time to time, usually when he's unable to drive it because of his license getting revoked again.

Rayn has an expensive sports car, washes it once a week, has a strict "no food" rule for passengers. Has memorized when and where the cops usually are and only speeds when he knows he can get away with it. There's a chance his parents took out the loan for the car so he hasn't paid a thing, but he'll neither confirm nor deny it... 

Wisdom has the biggest, loudest diesel truck around, and likes to dare everyone else to attempt to drive it. Grew up on a farm and was driving tractors when she was 10, though she did get her license on time.

Lavern has a cheap "piddly gray car" that everyone helped her find. She paid for it herself with cash, and it's not fancy, but it's reliable. She learned to drive later in life, and can be timid, though she's working on that and trying to drive to places that would normally make her nervous.

Mask runs everywhere, or else begs someone to pick him up. No one realized he doesn't have a license because no one ever taught him to drive (they just assumed he didn't have money for a car), so once, Duren asked him to take a turn behind the wheel on a road trip. After the normal instructions anyone would receive when first driving Duren's rust bucket, Mask proceeded to take out a line of caution cones and scrape the side of the car across the concrete divider. He was careening towards a line of stopped cars when Duren pulled the emergency break. That was his one and only time in a driver's seat.

Connaven has a cute little Jeep, brand new, purchased for her by her parents. Everyone tries to get her to take it out four-wheeling, but she refuses--mostly because she doesn't want to get it muddy, but also because she's terrified of driving it on anything that's not a fairly quiet road. So the other characters view it as "a waste of a good Jeep." She had her own private driving instructor, but hasn't gone on a highway since the lessons were over.

Ondore has a motorcycle license, but never bothered to get one for driving. She will drive, but only trusts herself in the drivers seat, and everyone knows she doesn't have a car license, so they don't let her drive. So she usually just takes her bike places, which is fine with her. Has a couple bikes, suitable for all occasions, most of which she fixed up herself. 

Gillian lives in the country in the middle of nowhere, and never bothered to get her actual license. She obeys the rules of the road and has never once been pulled over. Happens to know all the local cops and even waves at them. It's never occurred to her that she needs to get a license. Then again, she goes to like, five places when she leaves home and that's it. For special trips, someone comes and picks her up. Current car belonged to her grandma; no one knows what will happen when the tag gets expired.

Tach trades vehicles so often, he hasn't actually paid for inspections in years. Gets pulled over frequently, but never for speeding. Usually because his current car is breaking safety regulations: no lights, no turn signals, exhaust not working, and the like. He doesn't fix the problem; he just trades the car again.

Maxin is a good citizen. Keeps his license and his vehicles up to date, obeys all laws and regulations. Except he never wears a seat belt (because when he was a kid, he never had to). Also eats while driving with his knees. Has been driving the same station wagon for 30+ years; the transmission has been replaced twice. No one knows how the vehicle is still running.

Tan drives a small truck that's completely covered in rust and sounds like a sick tractor. He learned to drive without a license, but does have one now, because "that's the way things are these days, gotta make it all complicated with rules and regulations. Back in my day, you just slapped an engine on some tires and drove it into town." Has multiple run down vehicles in various states of disintegration behind his house.

Hope you enjoyed that! Now go do it with your own characters--it's pretty fun!

Cooking Incidents

So I want to start off with a brief note that I am a pretty good cook. I usually don't do much beside bake, as by the time I come home from work, Mom has supper almost ready to eat. But on the nights when my parents go out together, or if I feel like cooking, or if Mom doesn't feel like cooking, I can whip up something edible and tasty.

But I have also had a number of cooking incidents, which I will now proceed to share.

The Constantly-Expanding No-Bake Cookies

My first baking incident was probably around 2014. I was staying at Sarah's house for a weekend, and while we did lots of fun stuff, we also made no-bake cookies. Well, Sarah made them; I mostly provided moral support.

But I loved those cookies and of course asked for the recipe.

Sometime later, Sister 1 and I decided to attempt making them ourselves.

To this day, I'm a little hazy about the details. Apparently Mom didn't help us? I'm not sure. All I know is that we started off with the small pot, it overflowed so we got the next big pot, which also overflowed...and we basically went through all the pots until the cookie stuff we were heating up was in the largest pot.

It being quite the ordeal, Sister 1 and I were traumatized and agreed that we weren't really bakers.

The Radioactive Banana Pudding

I'm surprised we were allowed to bake something after making such a mess with the cookies. But as I said at the beginning, we're not bad cooks. We have made lots of successful meals. But sometimes things go wrong.

I was going through a banana pudding phase. No idea why, tbh. But there it is. And so I found a recipe.

Oddly enough, the recipe told me to bake the thing. Like, it's bananas and cream and those vanilla wafer things, what could possibly need to bake??

But I followed the instructions. Heated up the oven. Put in the pudding. Set the timer.

Then I was washing the dishes (I like to wash dishes asap, so they're not just sitting around) when suddenly a bright light flashes in the kitchen, followed by a loud POP. Smoke comes out of the oven.

Once the panicking is completed, we realize the heating element in the oven blew up. Mom's been wanting a new oven anyway, so this is the perfect excuse.

But what to do with my half-baked banana pudding?

Well, there's only one thing for it, lads.

I microwaved the thing.

Which, we assume, caused the rubbery consistency of the pudding, wafers, and banana pieces.

My family shunned the desert, and it would likely have sat forgotten in the fridge except we had a guest over. As usual, my Dad gives the "make yourself at home" speech, to which Mom adds, "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen."

Well, the guest got up in the middle of the night and was hungry and ate like half the banana pudding. And still lives to this day.

So at least it didn't all go to waste. I emailed a friend and said something like "So I blew up the oven today making banana pudding." And she laughed and was like "ah, you're too funny."

Then while we were chatting a few weeks later, I made the comment "Well, we got the new oven installed today."

And she was like "wait, you actually did blow up the oven?!"

Haha, yes I did.

The Emergency Cookie Stash

A few years back, my dad got a great deal on an entire pallet load of emergency food. Basically canned and freeze dried foodstuffs that you use whenever you get snowed in, attacked by zombies, or don't have time to go to the grocery store.

One of the cans included a recipe for snickerdoodle cookies. To this day I can't remember what was in the can, or even if they were for snickerdoodles or just another kind of cookie. Snickerdoodle is what pops in my head, and that's what I'm running with.

What I do remember is that the cookies turned out rock-hard. They tasted fine once you ate them, but then had a bitter aftertaste that stuck in your mouth for hours after eating a cookie. And the recipe had made like, 200 of them.

So we basically had a week's worth of rock-hard, sadness cookies. And we ate every single one of them. It was hard. But we did it.

The Almond Flour Cookies

So a friend asked if I could bake him a cake for the surprise party he was throwing for his fiance. She has a sugar allergy, so he gave me a recipe for some sugar free peanut butter cake that called for almond flour. It was something I didn't have sitting around, so I bought some for the cake.

The surprise birthday party went well, and the cake was a success. :)

Time passed, and we had guests over, and I offered to make cookies on a cold, winter Saturday. I didn't check what ingredients we had. I just started on my usual sugar cookie recipe (this being the year I did nothing but bake sugar cookies and had memorized the recipe). I started on the dry ingredients, and realized I didn't have enough all-purpose flour. But I did have enough of that almond flour still hanging around. So I just threw a couple cups of that in instead.

Better bakers then I probably already know my mistake. (Better bakers then I probably actually measure things, too.)

All seemed fine and dandy until I checked on the first batch in the oven. They weren't rising and getting baked. They were melting. Running into a thick goop and filing up the baking pan like some kind of albino brownie.

I whisked the first batch out and discarded it in horrified silence. After checking to make sure the oven hadn't blown up again or something, I put in a second batch, which also did not turn into proper sugar cookies. Embarrassed, I explained to the guests that the almond flour was not baking right, and it was a disaster. Then I teased that I could offer them raw cookies.

They instantly jumped at the idea, claiming they loved raw cookie dough, and so I spooned the remaining batter into dough balls and served them to the guests. They were a big hit.

The Lemons, the Water, and the Sugar Glop

Years ticked by, and I got better at baking. I also got a phone, so I could quickly look up substitutes and find recipes (and text Sarah for advice, haha). I'd hoped my disaster days were behind me.

And then I started getting the Pixie Dust book crates, which include recipe cards. And, as you might have guessed, the recipe for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was for turkish delight.

The first step was "pour three packets of gelatin in 1/2 cup of water." And I messed that up - I was so busy looking for "something that has markings for a cup of water" and so I pulled out a large measuring glass, measured a cup of cold water and dumped the gelatin in.

I was doing the second step (boiling 1/2 cup of water with the sugar) and realized I'd made a mistake. So I rushed over to the solidifying gelatin and yeah...I quickly poured out half a cup of water/gelatin goop, and then added in the last packet, just to "be sure" of things.

Then I boiled the water and sugar, added the gelatin goop, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Well, I'm elbows-deep in the cabinet, looking for my 6'' pan, getting annoyed because it's gone, and finally I think, "huh, Brother was messing around in here earlier, maybe he pulled it out for me." So I stand up and...the liquid sugar has been boiling over onto the stove and there's basically more on the stove then in the pot. I quickly whisk the pot of the heat, and in mere seconds the liquid hardens into a sticky goop. It's sticking to the pot, the oven, the burner, everything. So I quickly pour the remaining sticky stuff into another pot, set it on the remaining burner that is mess-free, and set that to simmer again (on a lower heat, lol).

I spend the next 20 minutes cleaning the stove top: one swipe with a hot washcloth to get the sticky stuff less sticky and more liquidy, and then a swipe with a paper towel to get it off the stove while it's not in a goopy mass. (Sadly, this is not my first time doing such a thing, thanks to the infamous honey incident which happened in 2011 or so, and would require another blog post altogether.)

So I finally get the kitchen cleaned, the stuff has simmered nicely, and it's time to add in the lemon flavor. The recipe called for lemon juice and lemon extract. Well, I didn't buy lemon juice because mom always keeps lemons and lemon juice for her water, right? So I got the lemon extract, which is like 83% alcohol (I'm surprised they didn't card me when I bought it).

Turns out the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and just a dash of the extract.

I have in my hands an almost empty bottle of lemon juice and a full bottle of lemon alcohol.

So I squeeze in as much lemon juice as I can get out of the bottle, and toss in as much lemon extract as I can handle without worrying I'm going to get everyone drunk or something.

Then I pour it all into the 6'' pan (which has been sitting in the counter watching all the excitement) and let it sit overnight.

This morning I've completely forgotten about it all until I'm about to walk out the door. "THE TURKISH DELIGHT" I yelp and about drop my purse and rush to the counter. The gelatin sugar lemon booze goop isn't interested in falling out of the pan and dropping onto the powdered sugar, so I scoop out two helpings, roll them in the "poof" sugar, and take a sample as Brother and I head out the door.

Not bad. I mean, tastes like lemon jello with sugar. Certainly edible, though maybe not sell-my-siblings-to-the-white-witch-in-return-for-more-edible.


~~*~~

Again, let me repeat that I am (usually) a good cook. I have countless success stories. These are the few incidents that I've had in my years of cooking. I am merely sharing for your enjoyment. Hopefully you laughed!

November Wrap-Up

Obviously, Novermber was mostly about NaNo. And pirate-y things. And horses, apparently (though I'm sure y'all expect that by now).

I'm proud to say I finished NaNo and the novel, so that's cool. More info on that via the other posts scattered throughout November, and I don't want to keep repeating myself.

What else was done?

Hmm. Well. Kept on track for the M'Cheyne Reading Plan. Read a bit (though not a lot). Tried to survive the cold weather.

First day of the ice skating season - and we had the whole rink to ourselves!

Rode Pepper with a bunch of gaited horses that kinda left us in their dust, lol

Thankfully Pepper doesn't mind riding alone, so we took our time and enjoyed the scenery.

Rode Bree with a group, where he was the second tallest horse (and he stands barely over pony size).

Watching a pirate movie while writing a pirate book.

Sister 2 did her first ever RPG. Basically, her princess character forced my prince character into marrying her by threatening to turn him into a frog if he didn't. It was all her idea, I just played my character...

Went to IN to visit friends. Apparently they also play airsoft, which we didn't know or else we would have brought our own things. So here I am, with rented equipment. Figures the only cool airsoft pic of me is when I'm 100% unprepared, haha

Mounted archery with Bree.

Riding Spirit...he's in the back on the way out and in the front all the way back!

On my way to work. Love living in the mountains, feat. our resident "volcano" or as I call it, My Lonely Mountain.

Went to the big fall horse auction.

This horse was 19.2 hands tall. The current tallest living horse is 20.0 hands.

Adorable little horse I spotted at the auction. :)

So that was my month. Hope y'all had a lovely Thanksgiving! And wow...December is upon us. And then 2020 starts. Wowzers. Time flies, eh?

Shared WIP Tag - Snippets

Wow. Just wow. November is over. Or just about. 

But thanks to everyone for taking part in the tag. I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope readers enjoyed it as well!



Line you’re most likely to cut in revisions?

The table was silent.
(Just don't ask. This one's from the first day. I was panicking. I also apparently forgot how to write.)

(In my defense, I've been editing most of the year. The last time I wrote an actual first draft was...NaNo 2018ish?)

Line you’re most proud of?

"I stopped doing it because it's wrong."

Line that made you cry while you were writing it?

"Then I shouldn't leave him," Ravin whispered.

Piece of dialogue that made you laugh out loud, shiver or flail?

"I'm off to find Jay."

(This just...made me cry and shiver and just ahhhhh it was the beginning to an epic conclusion that I've had planned out for years and typing that really hut hard because it's been years and I'm finally writing it.)

Line that made you stop writing for a minute so you could process it?

The (blank) (blank) was (blank).

(Sorry, spoilers. But I typed that sentence and just stared at it and wanted to cry and laugh and ended up just staring some more.)

Favorite snippet that describes a place or character?

The night after the sea monster, Adi couldn’t sleep. The ship tossed back and forth, rocking the hammock so rest was impossible. After what felt like hours, she gave up and stumbled her way above deck. The ocean was flat and so calm it was like sitting on a sheet of glass. Every single star glittered on the mirror of water, and Adi almost expected to look over the railing and see down to the bottom of the ocean. Instead, her own reflection looked back at her, circled with a crown of stars.

Line you can hardly believe you wrote (whether that's positive or negative is up to you)?

"No, but it’ll dry out all the moisture from your mouth, and leave a weird taste in your teeth."

A snippet where even you aren’t entirely sure what’s happening.

The only animals they found were flocks of large, flightless birds that at first seemed unafraid of the newcomers. Only when Josiah was almost in the middle of them did they notice they had a visitor—and responded by screeching and diving for him. Josiah screamed and fled the little clearing where the birds had been sunbathing. They chased him into the woods, only leaving him alone with the rest of the crew charged the birds in turn.

(Where did these birds come from? Why didn't they like Josiah? Why did the rest of the crew scare the birds if the birds are so intent on chasing people?)

Weird thing you had to Google mid-writing-session.

where do you make the hole to release pressure in lungs

(Please don't ask.)

Beginning sentence and ending sentence (if possible without spoilers).

Beginning sentence: Two people have died.
Ending: "I've got to set up my cabin."

Thanks again for reading, and hope to keep y'all updated on Ships, Secrets, and Survivors. It's going to be a great book!

Don't forget to check out the other participants: Ceci, Sarah, Lila, Snaps, Lily Cat, and Nicki. (Not all of them have posted yet.)

Know the Novel - Ships, Secrets, and Survivors Part 2

Well, November is coming to an end and I suppose I'd better get this post finished and published...




How’s the writing going overall?

Pretty good. I finished November 21st, which is a little late for me, but I did end up taking a trip to IN the first full week of Nov., and basically wrote nothing but like, 4 or 5 days. And then I struggled to get into the characters heads for a long time.

Apparently the last time I drafted something was last NaNo??? And I've been editing all year? So it was really hard to get back into the drafting headspace. I finally "got into" it about 30K in...

What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?

Getting to explore the characters and write the ships (literal ships, not the romances). :)

What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out. Ravin is still my favorite, but Adi has come very close to my heart. She's got a neat way of viewing the world and she's braver and more determined then I am, which is cool.

Has your novel surprised you in any way?

Um, yes. Because Sarah and I had already written about 30K, I was sure that the draft would end before I reached 50K for NaNo, and I would have to write some flash fiction or something to get my word count up.

But, wonder of wonders, I hit 50K and still had story left!

Have you come across any problem areas?

Well, there are a lot of characters, and I think we'll either have to pick up some loose ends in editing, or else cut a few folks. And I changed a few things (arcs, personalities) halfway through, but those are simple edits, y'know? No huge plot points to change or anything.

What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

Getting into the groove around 35K and realizing that the draft was going to be more than 50K.

If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

I'd like to be Heather. She's all calm and steady and keeps the crew in line and cooks amazing meals and doesn't take crap from anyone.

Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

Beginning sentence of the NaNo draft (not where the actual book begins):
Two people have died.

(Like, what a fun way to begin!!)

The officials looked at Ravin’s—or rather, Justin’s—papers, squinting and flipping the paper over. “We can’t read this,” they said at last.
“Sorry. We sail, uh…here two days of Andolin. I speak a little your tongue. I help you talk.” She pointed at Ravin, as if offering to be a translator.
Adi did her best to look Andolin (whatever that would be like), and tried to pretend she couldn’t understand a word that was said.
“Ah, just leave them.” The younger man tossed the paper back. “I can’t stand sailors.”
“Good day at you,” Ash quipped, offering a kind of salute, and then hurried away, giving Adi and Ravin a pointed look to stay close. Ravin rambled on in Andolese, and Adi laughed, praying that no one actually understood what was being said. Ash interrupted Ravin, pointing at a funny looking house, and the two engaged in some sort of conversation for a few more minutes until the officers were out of sight.
“Ravin, what on earth?” Ash spat, the moment they felt safe. “I think I need to cut off my ears or something.”
“Sorry,” he blushed.
“The only Andolese you know is one of the most grammatically incorrect and crude poems ever written by that half-mad Andolese poet Sachrin? Is that really all you know?”
“I used to speak it, barely. But I wanted to speak naturally, without pausing to figure out what to say next. So I just rattled off something I’d memorized.”
“Of all the beautiful Andolese poems, you chose to rattle off Ode to a Rusty Scythe?”
“I was a kid. And I thought it was funny. At the time, of course.”
“Who even let their kid read Sachrin? Let alone memorize him…”


~~*~~

“We need to keep the fire going at all times.” Justin sat cross-legged in front of his handiwork. “And make sure it doesn’t burn down the island.”
“That happens in all the stories. The survivors get angry at each other and burn the island and kill each other.” Hawthorn poked a branch into the fire. “They could get rescued if they just worked together, but they just fight.”
“If we ever starting picking people off, I know who’d be one of the first ones to go.” Shade glanced at Hawthorn, his eyes narrowed.
“What? I’ve been helping! When I was younger, I used to imagine what it would be like to get trapped on a deserted island. I made all these plans for what I would do if it ever happened, but I never got to go sailing until now. And look! Stuck on an island on my first time! This is great!”
“Is it too early to start the whole ‘getting angry and killing each other off’ thing?”
Justin turned to Heather in despair. “We’re never getting off this island.”

~~*~~

There are some awesome snippets I would love to share, but can't because of SPOILERS. :)

Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far!

A friend surprised me by making a mock cover for my book!!

I also wrote while watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which is what inspired the pirate hunters, so many years ago.

Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

Usually I write right before bed. Dinner is cleaned up, the animals have all been fed and bedded down for the night, and I've changed into my PJs. I curl up on the bed with pillows and blankets and write for an hour before heading to bed. Occasionally I'll make some tea. Lately I've been listening to Riverdance and the local horse auction live cam while writing, or else not listening to anything. The last few days I also wrote during lunch break at work, just because I was sick and tired of taking so long.

But there you have it. NaNo2019.

Shared WIP Tag - Side Characters

Whew! Hard to believe we're almost done with November and NaNo!



If you had to go on a mission with any of your SCs, which one(s) would you pick?

Um...probably Ash. She's got street smarts and is pretty tough, but can also be very kind. Or maybe Jay Hill himself. Or Shade. Most of the side crew can be pretty useful in a fight, tbh.

Which of your side characters attempts to steal attention from the MC the most? 

Um, Jay Hill. Because technically it's his story--we just happen to be telling it from the POVs of Ravin and Adi. For some reason.

Which SC would annoy you the most and which one would you bond with the most?

I think Heather and maybe Justin and I could all get along. We're all pretty chill people. Not sure if Arrow would enjoy spending time with me. But he's just a kid, y'know? He'd rather be with all the cool people.

Which SC would you be most attracted to, romantically or platonically?

(Who suggested this question, and why was it approved??)

(Can I not answer this? My mom reads my blog.)

(And my siblings.)

(I'd like to not face them after answering this question.)

I'll just say that I could possibly get along with a lot of the side characters, as they're decent folks and I'm a fairly friendly gal.

Would you fit in with your SCs collectively, or would they not be your type of friend group?

I think if I was able to prove myself as a capable person, they'd accept me right in to their little group. I'm not sure how useful archery would be at sea, but I'm sure there's some use for it, and seeing as how precious few of them are skilled archers, there might be a spot for me.

If your SCs are not all friends, what would result if you were to thrust them together as a group and assign them an activity?

Um...this is what the entire book is about.

Which SC would fit into our world the most?

Justin. He's so chill.

Which SC makes you laugh the most?

Probably Josiah. Granted, the scene where Hawthorne faints at seeing an assassin standing in front of him always makes me laugh. And Justin's real name "Justin Case" always gets me smiling.

Which SC could probably get removed without affecting much of the story?

Um, Liz. She's already been kicked out. Hawthorne might be the next to go? And honestly, Justin has very little to do except standing around looking cool and making us laugh with his name. And maybe Heather?

Which SC could never get removed because of how important their role is?

Jay Hill. Arrow. Ash. Josiah. These guys (and gal) are THE BEST.

Almost done, y'all. To everyone still pushing through NaNo: YOU GOT THIS!!

Shared WIP Tag - Main Character(s) and Antagonist

Welcome to the third part of the Shared WIP Tag.

Now. I could make this easy and just answer the questions about my MC, but I'm also going to answer these for Sarah's MC, because I'll have to write both for NaNo. So this'll be fun...

Meet Ravin, my sailor on the Red Wind
Adi, a Princess who wants a different life
and Captain Rev Martin, a pirate



Would you be friends with your MC? Why or why not?

Um...I'm not sure. I'd probably be a little intimidated by Ravin, tbh. But eventually I'd figure out he's not that bad of a guy. We'd enjoy playing music and he wouldn't have to talk but if he did, I'd sit and listen.

Adi would probably be a little unsure with me, then she'd realize that I'm not that bad and soon we'd be chatting...

What would an ordinary day look like in the shoes of your MC?

Ravin would get up, do sailor stuff, mill around on deck, maybe fight off some sea monsters or play the violin. Attack some pirates. Go fishing. A quiet life.

Adi? Hmm...get up, pretend to be the best royal princess ever while wanting a totally different life...

You’re walking down the sidewalk when the villain approaches you and tells you he needs your help. What do you do?

Run. Very far away. Run to Captain Jay Hill for HELP.

What would be your first impression of your MC upon meeting them?

Um, I'd steer cleer away from Ravin. Scowly, creepy sailor. And I'd probably avoid Adi, too. Either when she's in Princess attire or when she's in I'm-gonna-win-the-Scaera-Dumeda attire.

What would be your first impression of your villain upon meeting them?

That's he's obviously a PIRATE and should be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS

What would happen if you were stuck in an elevator with your villain for five (or worse, ten) minutes?

Ummmm....it would not be pretty. Basically, I would start jumping up and down in the elevator until it started shaking and he's be freaking out and yelling "stop!" and I'd be laughing and it would be a long 5-10 minutes...

What makes your MC most like you and least like you?

Um...this is personal. *laughs*

Ravin and I both play the fiddle (though he plays waaaaaaay better then me). But he likes the ocean and water and I don't...

Adi and I both care for people, but I think she's way better at being a leader.

What song or selection of words best describes your villain?

Oy. I dunno. Pirates of the Carribean theme song? I'll just go with that. I've never really liked giving characters their own songs and whatnot.

If your MC was teleported to your front porch, what would be their reaction (and what would be yours)?

*draws knife* AHHHHHHHHH

Reaction would be mutual.

If the antagonist had a dream come true, what would it be? (no spoilers!)

Um, he'd be the most feared pirate on the seas and totally invincible.

Anyways, see y'all later!