A random burst of inspiration

So I was sitting at my computer, admittedly goofing off and listening to music and something hit me, a little bit of my new novel. I know that I haven't shared anything of that here so here it is. A little for those of you who read this. It comes from last Monday's prompt from The Writer Chick.

Izzy sat at her desk, computer on in front of her and her headphones plugged in. Looks like her iTunes had it in for her, a sappy love song with a waltz beat to currently blasting in her ears, making her heart tighten. She still missed him and it had been a year. School was going to start in a couple of weeks and all she had on her mind was the boy she'd killed. Her fingers were poised over the keys but nothing was coming out. She couldn't get out a word, not even in her journal. It was killing her to keep this all inside.

Suddenly, from the world outside the earbuds, a hip hop beat. Frowning, she pulled one out of her ear and glanced at her closed bedroom door. That couldn't have been Helene. She didn't listen to that kind of stuff. Pausing her music, Isadora stood and moved to the door, tucking her hands in the pocket of her hoodie. The music was coming from the spare bedroom down the hall.

The door was cracked open and she could see someone swaying to the beat, leaning over the bed. Curious, she pushed the door open and the redhead whirled on her.

"Miranda."

"Hey, cousin!" The other siren smiled at her, the smile that meant trouble, plain and simple. This was not good. "Guess who's moving in!"

“She’s just staying with us for a little while. Her mother miscarried again. And I thought you liked your cousin.” Tessa looked at her youngest daughter, a slightly annoyed look on her face. “Besides, she’s soon to be marked, like you. It’s time you started to spend time with sirens your age, talked about getting ready to join the council. There is so much in your future, little one. It’s time you started to get ready for it instead of hiding in your room.”

“I go out, Mom.” She flopped down on the bed as her mother was getting ready to go out. “Lena and I went out two nights ago. I even picked up a sailor.” It wasn’t something she was proud of, but she knew her mother worried. Helene had all but forced her on the boy and she knew she had no choice. She couldn’t disappoint them.

“Is it really that bad that I don’t hang out with girls from the coven?”

Her mother looked at her in the mirror as she put in her earrings. “It reflects poorly on me, little one. I’m one of the prominent members of the coven’s council of elders and my own daughter wants nothing to do with other sirens. It is that bad.” Tessa smiled sympathetically and spritzed perfumes on her wrists and neck and moved to sit next to her daughter. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m going through a lot right now. I have to get pregnant, Randa’s here and my sister is having a hard time with this miscarriage. You know how bad I got last time. This is worse for her.”

She knew her aunt Aria had three in a row and her mother only had one. At least the birth before that had been a boy. That was excusable. Poor Aria. Sighing, Isadora pushed herself off the bed. “Alright. I’ll see if any of the girls want to go out with us tonight.”

Tessa smiled. “That’s my girl.” She stood and kissed her forehead before heading out of the bedroom and towards the stairs. “Make sure you watch out for each other. And try not to get blood on your dress, little one!”

Now it's time to go...

Oh, look. Another month went by and I haven't posted. I promise you that I have been writing during that time though. I'm putting together a new novel idea and it's working out pretty well at the moment. It's unique (or so I'm told) so we shall see. It's taking the Greek mythology surrounding sirens and modernizing it. So all of my fingers and toes are crossed on this one.

Real life has been a bit of a pain in the butt. Working and paying bills and trying to find a roommate have occupied my thoughts. I'm hoping once things settle down again that my blogging and writing will take a more regular turn and we'll have weekly updates again instead of quick monthly ones.

Also, new blog picture thanks to the wonderful Michael Abella. He is my hero. That is all as it is time for work. :)

It has definitely been a while.

I know that I am yet again giving apologies, but there was some family things that I needed to take care of. My grandmother passed away at the end of July and to be quite honest, I hadn't done anything the week prior to her passing and since then. It's been emotional and draining and I didn't have much in me.

Now, I've started something that I've been toying with for over a year now. And, it's definitely NOT easy. It entails creating my own mythology surrounding a kind of creature, making it work, using what's there, melding it to what I need. It is so much work, but I'm kind of jazzed about it. I have index cards in different colors on my doors at the moment and its kind of funny. They're all grouped together by different catagories. Seems a little more orderly than I usually am, but we'll see how it works.

For now, I'm going to go try to write as much as I can tonight. I don't get a lot of time to work since I've got a full time job, but since other authors make it work, I've got to suck it up and do this. No more excuses.

Do You Honestly Expect Me To Believe We Could Ever Be The Same?

So, it's been kind of a crazy week with everything that's been going on. No excuse, but I let most things get away from me. But considering I've become productive again, I'm just gonna take it and run with it.

I spent two hours writing in Barnes and Noble yesterday. Sometimes I do my best writing in places like that, where I have my music on really loud so I can't hear anything but I can see people moving around and doing things, interacting. So I'm not completely detached but I can focus on what I'm doing. Ended up needing a new notebook which is very exciting. I rewarded myself with new pens and post its. I love post its. They're my weakness; ask anyone. My family used to put them in my Christmas stocking. It's a sickness.

Anyways, this new idea is stemming from one that I'd mentioned previously regarding the guy who was in the Army. Well, I have an actual plot idea, which is pretty cool so I'm trying to write as much as I can. He's interesting and I'm still diving into him. For a while, there won't be anything typed up, either. I'm going to do what I did in college when I wrote stories or fanfiction (yes, I was one of those. Still known to dabble when the mood strikes. Don't judge.) where I wrote everything out by hand first and then from paper to computer was a revision. We'll see how well that goes.

And all the things that you never ever told me...

When you find out someone is sick, it's very strange. It's the uncertain feeling, like you're not sure if you should be mad at someone or not. I don't really have anyone to be mad at right now. It isn't anyone's fault. And there isn't anything that anyone can do about it, so all that you can do is pray and try to be there for each other. I found out last night that my grandmother is dying from a very rare brain disease. It isn't something that's easy to deal with, obviously, but it is something that I have to deal with. As a writer, it's an interesting moment to see how people interact, how people come together to support us in this time. People take so much for granted and it's funny how to the story in my head is about someone who takes who he is for granted and then when that's gone, he doesn't know how to deal with it. But I think I'm putting him on hold for a little while.

Right now I want to write a tribute to the woman my grandmother is. She grew up in Brooklyn, worked as a nurse and lived all over the place, including the Philippines. She has always been a constant in my life and not just as my family member. She is an inspiration, involved in everything she can possibly be involved in. Always strong, she was my spiritual guidance, my go to when I wasn't feeling well. I have never known a woman with the strength and perseverance of my grandmother. One day I hope to write someone like her, but for now I can only try to get my feelings for her down on paper.

For those of you who read my blog, and I know you are few at the moment, but I ask for your prayers and to keep my family and myself in your hearts. We will have a trying time ahead of us and I know we will all need the support of good friends and kind people. Thank you.

I Give It All My Oxygen

Been an interesting day. Went visiting all over the place and met some nice people. Worked on the website some (www.me-night.com) so that was mildly productive. The only thing I didn't like about today was that I didn't really write anything. This makes me sad. Granted, I am writing a blog right, now which is good, but I didn't write anything story wise. So maybe as soon as I post this, I can open Pages and get something actually out there. I need to get focused and start working towards something.

I might try running with the idea I'd been working on the other night, about the guy in the Army. I think he might be a fun character to wrap my head around. Not my usual, but I think I should start simple and work my way up. Not sure what to name him yet, though. I want him to be someone people looked up to because he was brave. Now that he's stuck at a desk, that mentality has changed some. He needs to feel a purpose in what he's doing. Gee, I wonder where he's coming from. Let's see how this pans out.

OH! I almost forgot. I have a Twitter now too. http://twitter.com/me_night Please follow!

Apologies

I have been completely MIA lately and I'm sorry. I let life get away from me yet again and haven't focused on what I needed to be doing to get ahead as a writer. Let's just say this is take two on my trying to get better.

I've had a lot of great character ideas, especially while at work. One of my coworkers mentioned a certain kind of person, one of those action hero types and this person started to evolve in my brain. He had been someone who came from a broken home and did the only this he could do to feel involved: he joined the army. Working hard, he climbed the ranks, thinking he'd finally found a place to belong. But when he got hurt and was slated to a desk job and with that, he had to figure out where his place was when he wasn't on a battlefield.

Then my head keeps going and I start a romance novel in my head and I'm not sure I want to go that route. If I do, it'll be more like a realistic story and I'm not sure this is what I want to do.... Any suggestions?

Also, my website will be under going a MAJOR overhaul and there will be a twitter up soon. I have to be good about this and the more things I have to try to do everyday, the better I'll be. I can't keep letting events and life get in the way of what I want.

They Taped Over Your Mouth

I will never understand why people are the way they are.  There are these habits that seem to be engrained in people's heads and despite their best efforts to try and get rid of them or improve themselves, they can't.  Maybe it has to do with what my co-worker was talking about, working on strengths and trying to develop them.  I know that a character that is completely without weakness is a terrible idea (I know Mary-Sues were always bad in the role-playing game world - ick.) but sometimes it isn't easy to create a character that is believable and not a walking cliché (Thank you Professor Westermann).

But people have these quirks and ticks that make them "normal" by societies standards.  And then there are the ones that are weird or strange, something that seems to be a completely relative term to anyone who is looking at a person.  So, how as a writer, do you approach this?  Does it have to do with how you personally view something or do you go with the social norms?  It's the kind of thing that seems to make my brain hurt.  A lot.  

But it's Alright, I'm Alright, Just Dance

Who knew that talking to a good friend and dance music could make it better?

Apparently not me.  After having one of those up and down days, it took a long conversation with someone and a random dance mix on my iPod seemed to make me feel better.  It might be cheesy, but it works.  So where are the stories about that?  About friends that keep us grounded and sane when every little things seems to be going wrong?  Maybe they're all in the Young Adult or Teen section, but even if they are, I think that the rest of the world need it too.  Like a mini ego boost, to see that there are people out there that are exactly like you and your friends.  Granted, I'm not the best at writing these kinds of stories, but a girl can dream, right?  

And on that note and with this very short, more personal entry, I head to bed.

So Wrap Around Me and Baby, Let's Dance

It seems that I have discovered something. The more emotionally involved I feel in a story, in a character, the more it sticks with me.  (Okay, so that part isn't news to me, but here is the good stuff, I promise.)  But if I'm too invested, if I think too much about the characters, what I want them to do, or if I put too much of myself in them, I never seem to finish what I'm working on.  I was writing the other day to a lyrical prompt I gave myself about a girl who just found out about a friend's engagement.  Since that had happened to me that day (literally an hour or so before), I couldn't finish it.  It wasn't something I wanted to read, let alone write.  This whole thing is trial and error; I suppose that makes each error a learning experience and I should just chalk it up to that.  

Disappointment is an emotion I seem to be feeling a lot lately.  Not just in regards to work, though that's there, but in regards to family, friends, finances.  As good as things are, there are still life's disappointments. Someone didn't come over when they said they would.  Another friend decided to go someplace without you.  A family member forgot your birthday.  Your good friend wasn't sympathetic when you needed he or she to be.  But sometimes you need to store that away for another day.  Sometimes it's just not the time for that story about the girl who's friends all seem to be getting married or having babies.  Maybe now isn't that time for a novel about a young woman holding out for her soulmate.  Maybe now is the time for stories about finding love or starting fresh.  Maybe if you write about what you want to happen, about positive things (not personal things), it'll be easier.  Or maybe it'll be that day to write something that makes you cry, just so you get it out and can move on.