Once Upon the End

    Clang! Sword crashed on sword!
    Clash! Light flashed off saber!
    Hsssss! Her blade passed through the villain with whom she was grappling and the creature shattered into a cloud of smoke! Its weapon dropped submissively to the ground.
    There she stood, legs braced, hands shaking on the hilt, watching as the ogre who had snuck up out of nowhere drifted off into wisps of vapor. And another falls! Triumphantly she grinned at the place he'd stood, marked by two enormous foot prints denting the grass. Only when she realized the area was secure did she slowly straighten and sheathe her sword.
    Each one seems bigger than the last, but they all eventually fall. She thought as, bending, she picked up the ogre’s twisted blade; a battle keepsake. She held the weapon - which was of obvious elfin style - to the sun and smiled, watching a beam of light trace down the sharply honed edge. With each passing sun there be fewer and fewer foes to fight, she tipped the weapon, caught a flash of green bough and broad blue sky, and with each passing sun, I grow stronger!
    Just then… what was that reflected in the blade?
    She swung around.
    That’s it!
    It was the rise of a hill behind her!
    At last, I’m here!
    Fixing her newly won prize to her saddle she grabbed the reins, swung aboard, and they spun to face the hillside.
    Trotting to the tune of saddle leather creaking and her sword clanking in its scabbard, she thought as they ascended: this is it! This is what I have been seeking all these long months!
    Around her the dark, forbidden pine forest (which stretched for miles in untamed terrain) began to fall away, taking with it those endlessly long nights and horribly hot days, those numerous battles she fought as she sought to vanquish this land from the wrath of Trolls, Ogres, Typos and Witches. All of it! Fell away behind her as her horse carried her seemingly up into the sky.
    I knew I was nearing the end! She mused. Now I'm so close to victory I can feel it!
    Indeed, the weeks, no, months, she’d spent here were coming to a close, for the harder she worked in these forbidden woods the more she realized there were fewer Mis-Takes to fight. And now I am homeward bound!
    She was so close, too close to give up! She couldn’t. She wouldn’t! Even though every fiber of her exhausted being begged her to stop…
    And then (finally!) her horse topped the rise and they pulled up out of the forest to stand atop a grassy outcropping and, turning her eyes into the setting sunlight, she caught her breath. At last! She could see it…
    The Palace!
    Below her lay the city tucked away in its peaceful valley; the tiled rooftops of the neatly arranged houses stained a burnt sienna, each window shimmering like fairies’ wings in the final light of the setting sun as, behind it all, rising proud and tall, casting its shadow across half the valley stood the golden Palace of Met’a-Phor!
    She sighed, I am nearly home!
    All those long hours of study and practice, all those grueling days spent in battle fighting beast after beast, going hand-to-hand, hilt-to-hilt with whatever foe did cross her path, all that time she spent warring with the countryside, the enemies, and her own doubts, all of it suddenly came crashing against her then in the forms of great rays from the setting sun. She lifted her face and smiled, her heart beating desperately inside her chest as she watched the light glinting off the Palace windows, beacons beckoning her home.
    Well, she drew in a deep breath; my mission here is completed, and even though her heart ached at the thought she knew this rough draft was at last finished! A happily ever...
    Suddenly, from behind she heard a sound; a dark, threatening sound like the growl of a bridge-going type beast. Slowly, the knight turned in her saddle and stared down the hillside into the depths of the dark-riddled forest.
    Her heart started pounding.
    And so begins…
    Slowly she unsheathed her sword.
    The once upon a time of the second daft!

Sooo Guess What!

I got a response letter from a publisher!!

(she sang very off-key)

    Remember the manuscript I was scrambling to send off last November? Well, yesterday I received a response to that proposal but I didn’t recognize the letter so I didn’t even open it until late last night, lol! But I’m still thrilled cause they used the envelope I provided, and to get that you have to open the package, which most likely means they read my manuscript!!

And here I thought they forgot about me!

Or it got lost!

Or they just weren’t gonna respond!

But the Lord never forgets anyone.

    My book was, sadly, rejected but that’s ok because I realized that particular manuscript wasn’t my best work and I have High Hopes for the one I’m currently revising, but I’m still excited because they still read my novel and their rejection letter was positive and encouraging (for a rejection anyways).

    Its funny how a rejection could give you hope, I mean, when someone tells you “No” and turns down your dream you can’t let it deter or hinder you. Some of the best artists tried a hundred times over before they got their big break.

    So I won’t give up! I can’t, not when I’m this close, not with an idea as good as the one I’m nursing right now. I won’t, my determination is too great and the desire is too much to contain.

This was just the Lord redirecting my path.

Because some doors He opens,

some doors He closes,

others He locks.

And somewhere He has left open a window and all I have to do is find it, boost myself up and slip through, and when I do watch out!!

Cause this author is coming to a bookstore near you!

J

The Slayer of Typos

All she could hear as she trudged through the forest was her own raspy breathing and the metal scrape of her sword dragging in the dirt behind her. This is too hard, she thought to the tune of her throbbing pulse, I’m too weak, fatigue tugged on her eyelids, I must rest. Her limbs were quaking with exhaustion, her entire body was throbbing from that last battle; she was battered and bruised with little hope of victory anytime soon.
    There were just too many, too many Typos, too many ogres and witches to be battled; these woods were full of them and she, she was only one knight!
    But I can't stop! I mustn’t! Her mission was not yet complete and these woods were not yet safe, so quitting wasn’t an option. Would her mentor quit? Never. Would the great Knights of Knowing give up? Not this close to the end, not this close to the sunrise, she knew.
    From behind she heard her horse lazily following, felt his warm breath on her lower back through her chainmail.
    Up ahead she looked and saw through the trees only more trees stretching out and away off into the thick, soupy night. She had been walking for hours but sleep was far from her overworked mind. There was too much to do, an enemy could appear anytime, anywhere…
    Just then, a twig snapped behind her!
    She swung around, sword drawn, flashing moonlight, slicing mist.
    Show yourself! She glared into the night, but only shadows stared back.
    Suddenly, a branch shook to her right. She spun around and looked up... into glowing yellow eyes!
    Flapping wings, flashing claws, she let out a gasp as the beast descended upon her!
    Typo!
    Her horse let out a wild scream, which mingled with that of the enemy.
    Without hesitating, she swung her sword and caught her attacker in the wing. Upon contact, light flashed and the Typo shrieked as it disintegrated into dust! Her sword passed through smoke.
    Our knight stood there for a moment, heart pounding, lungs wheezing, arms shakily holding her sword at the ready. But no matter how hard she scraped the darkness she could see no others. Finally, she relaxed her stance, took hold of the reins, and led her horse on.
    The work of a Revising Knight is never complete; she thought as she sheathed her weapon, that is why I must continue! Even though it was hard, even though it was tedious, even though she was achy and hurting, she had to keep going. She had to vanquish the wretched Beasts of Mis-Take who were haunting the woods of this rough draft! Only 46 pages, she told herself, only 46 more pages to go.
    They had just trekked around a bend and turned to face the East, when she lifted her eyes and noticed that the darkness was breaking.
    Dawn had arrived!
    Finally, she smiled dreamily to herself as she stopped where she stood and gazed off through the trees between which she could just see the horizon. There, the sun was rising, fracturing the dark, banning the shadows, and casting long golden rays between the trunks. Grinning into the light she drank in a cool, soothing breath of dewy pine air and thought, this is possible.
    Now all she could hear, as she stood there in the misty light, was the pound of her determined heart and the birds in the canopy above her greeting the sunrise. There is hope, she mused to the tune of a dove, because I am strong, adrenaline opened her eyelids, and I can do this. I can and I will finish this mission! I will not stop…
    Just then, there came a wild scream and flapping wings behind her! 
    Dropping the reins she unsheathed her blade and swung around.
    Yellow eyes flashed!
    Her sword sliced the sunrays…

Her Mission: Revision

In the smoky dawn light the knight dismounted her steed and dropped to the ground, leaves crunching beneath her boots, chainmail shifting with a metallic rasp. With a gloved hand she grasped the hilt and drew her sword, the scrape an electrifying sound in the otherwise silence. I know you’re here, she thought as she scanned the forbidden woods, her eyes seeking the traitors she hunted…

    Just then, leaves rustled behind her!

    She swung around, sword slicing the sunrise and flashing light. But, her heart pounding, the knight realized she was alone. So she continued on, the air peppered by only her horse's hoof beats, as her thoughts narrated each movement.

I am the knight of revision and

tis my mission to seek and slay the typos haunting the woods of this
rough draft.

As she stepped lightly amongst the toadstools and roots in this imagined forest, brandishing her sword, our knight’s mind strayed back to her younger days, back to when she’d been simply a squire, and the words of her mentor resurfaced:

“Revision is something which you must devote 110% of your attention to.

Tis all-consuming, entirely enveloping, and long containing.

You must be focused and on full alert for the enemy can appear anywhere
at any time.

And even though the writing is ultimately the fun part,

Revision is where the true work (the all-consuming work) begins.”

    The week before, our young, brave knight embarked on this journey. It was A Novel Idea which she’d had, to return to the core genre of her writing muse: the fantasy novel. This quest was to revisit and revise the rough draft of a novel she had previously written, which she’d been nursing for almost a year.

    So, taking up her sword, she mounted her steed and set out from page 1 to 451, slaying each gnome-ish mistake and seeking to vanquish the Queen of the Typos.

    But, I personally like revision, the knight found herself thinking, tis a chance for me to see what I wrote from the outside, enabling me to relive the adventure as a spectator and meet my characters again. Tis the opportunity to add depth and layers to the story…

    However, there was one thing complicating this quest, an unforeseen difficulty upon which our knight had stumbled, which was a bigger foe than she had yet to face:

Repetition

    For the knight found nothing droller than riding through the same forest, past the same trees, and encountering the same fiends, from dawn until dusk! For our knight is quite a… random person and would rather do a lot of different things other than rereading…

    Nevertheless, tis worth it! She would think and then press on.

    As morning sank into noon, and then late noon into evening, and the sun began to inch towards the West, our knight continued on her search, climbing fallen logs and ducking low branches, riding past ramshackle huts and through bramble and briar. Occasionally, she encountered foes to fight – trolls, ogres and witches – but for the most part twas a quiet day. Eventually, she found a peaceful place to camp as night befell the forest.

    To the symphony of a fire, the crackling blaze of her ignited imagination, she knelt there near the coals polishing her sword, honing her craft, and staring out into the unknown depths of the surrounding darkness with an excited anticipation for the coming of whatever tomorrow would bring.

    I shall keep on keeping on! She vowed. Leave no word unread, no page unturned; I will step forth and seek to keep revising until all the typos have been vanquished and each problem has been slain! After all, no one said that the work of an author wouldn’t have struggles, she knew, but anything worth the struggle is worth doing!

    As the firelight continued to burn against the night, our ambitious heroin gazed up through the canopy to see a hopeful moon peeking out from behind the clouds of doubt, and she was just barely able to contain her enthusiasm, for she knew:

Twas nary The End

A Novel Idea

Writing is my passion (like you didn’t already know that, lol) but even though I love writing in all forms and genres be it:

 Poetry,

Fiction,

Fantasy (my specialty)

 Essays,

Reports,

Short stories,

Novels…

You get it.

I kind of favor one genre in one form.

    You remember earlier in March/April when I challenged myself to write 20 short stories in 2 months (see The Once Upon a Time Challenge to relive that adventure)? Well, I must say, after writing only short stories for that whole time I realized something very important:

                                                 I crave novels!               

Lol, it’s amazing how exhausting it can be to corral all those details and all that emotion, to not give 3 or 4 different plots to a story on the risk of making it too long to be called “short”. It’s like when you played hide-and-seek as a kid, and you hid someplace really small and you crouched there for a really long time until your arms and legs just wanted to s-t-r-e-t-c-h! 

That’s what my creativity has been longing for, a nice good stretch,

And I think it’s time

                                           to return

to the area

of my genre expertise.

    Before I started The Challenge, I had just finished the rough draft of my fourth novel ~ which I’m writing in a series ~ and I think it’s finally time to return to that.

    A novel is a completely different beast from a short story, but tis one with which I’m quite familiar. Ranging between 50,000-100,000+ words, novels can cover any topic, from any point of view, with any character!

It’s not restricted like the short story.

You can just go and go and go and write and write and the story itself, as long as it’s cohesive with

 adventure,

                                                    plot,

                                                  risk,

drama

and excitement,

can just continue on and on…

Alright, lol, maybe not like that but you get the idea. The novel is a glorified short story and, man, I love the wiggle room!

    The place between “Once Upon a Time” and “The End” is where anything can happen (and if it’s one of my pieces ‘anything’ most often does!). So, I think completing this novel is the next step in my journey. What journey? The ultimate journey, of a teen seeking her ambitious dream! Who knows where it’ll take us…

Vanquished: the Block of the Writer

It’s funny how you can be struggling with writer’s block for

hours,

                                         days,

even weeks

and you try and try and try,

until your eyes burn

and your fingers cramp

and your brain turns to mush

but you just can’t write and then…

BAM!

Something happens, you get an idea, and the words come in a rush and it’s suddenly like a Hallelujah chorus!

Bliss

I think that’s a pretty good word to describe it

J

     Guess I don’t need to tell you that MY WRITER’S BLOCK IS GONE! Cause you probably already figured that out, but just so you know MY WRITER’S BLOCK IS FINALLY GONE! Did you get that? MY WRITER’S… oh you got it? Ok, lol.

Yah, I’m stoked.

    And all it took was for me to stop trying (I think that was tip #3 in my 10 Totally Tantalizing Tips to Unblocking Writer’s Block) and a lot of prayer (tip number #10) but at long last my mind relaxed enough and now the words are floooooowwwwwing!

Praise the Lord, isn’t He great?

    Ah inspiration, how I’ve missed thee. Even though I’m a little rusty, I’m also excited because I have two short stories (one of which I’m in the middle of) that I can’t wait to share with you. They’re going to be epic, so be on the lookout for those coming very soon!

   

Writer’s block

It’s probably one of the most frustrating things in the world.

It comes, and it goes,

ebbing and flowing with the tides of our thoughts,

but this time it was NOT here to stay!

Now all the creativity that had been blocked up inside me has burst forth (I have so many new projects I can’t wait to share here!). So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to embark on one of those adventures right now! But let me just say this:

This summer is going to be absolutely fantastic!



It’s all in the Journey

Have you ever wanted something so deeply,

                    so strongly,

so unbelievably badly

that it was all you could think about?

Have you ever had a dream that seemed too big,

Too Wild,

too impossibly grand,

and you felt like you were going crazy striving to achieve it,

but you entertained it anyways?

Have you ever had a Dream that felt so close you could nearly smell it?

    Ahh, I can practically smell the ink! But my book is still in my computer.

    publication is my unbelievably, big, wild, impossibly grand dream and it’s been harder than I thought it would be to strive for. I mean, I knew it would be hard, yet I didn’t think it would be this difficult. But,

no one said it would be easy.

    There are moments when I feel like this is impossible, like it’s too far away. There are moments (especially lately considering the writer’s block) when I think "maybe I’m not good enough" and I ask myself “why bother?”

    But then, I remember THe reason I started wriTing to begin wiTH, back when I was playing storybook games on my computer when I was little:

I love it

    A dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for, and that’s a good enough excuse to keep trying!

    Even though it’s hard, I need to keep researching publishers and agents until I find someone. Even if I hit fifty dead ends, or submit a hundred times and get rejected a hundred times, I can’t give up.

Because with enough

determination

and

perseverance

you can accomplish anything through

Jesus Christ,

and I know a kid like me can make something BIG happen -- something awesome -- we could even change the world!

I mean, why not?

    Besides, I have way too many ideas for my own good and I’m gonna go nuts (or more so, depending on who you’re talking to) if I don’t at least try to do something with them!

    I just want my voice to be heard,

to tell my story

and that’s not going to happen

if my words stay put on my hard-drive,

especially if my tongue keeps saying "it’s too hard".

Cause it isn’t the destination

but the journey getting there

that makes a trip an adventure.

So watch out world! Because this author doesn’t know the meaning of the words “give up"!

So let’s see where that mentality takes us…

J

 P.S. if you scroll down the sidebar you can read my No-Cabulary  list of all the other words I refuse to keep in my vocabulary ;)

Matthew: 7:7-8

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.