Ummm… a little help here? Please?

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Living Life with Passion, Story Dynamics, Tales of a Wandering Bard

Tags

alex/connor, c.s. forester, captain america: the first avenger, catholic culture, christian fiction, christianity, colorblind, dee henderson, horatio hornblower, irene hannon, john flanagan, louisa may alcott, marvel, novels, ranger's apprentice, romance, star wars, the clone wars

I just realized that I’m in deep, probably in over my head, in hotter water than I guessed before, probably because they turned the temperature up while I was in it.

I’ve been a shipper ever since I picked up one of my mom’s romance novels. Marcus/Shari. Dave/Kate. I could go on (thank you, Dee Henderson!)

Then I went through a stage where I didn’t like romance at all. I think I was just bored with sexual tension, whatever they call it these days… anyway, I thought everyone was just being stupid. I didn’t have time for that sort of thing. I was in high school.

And now… I’m shipping again. I think it started slow, with Obi-Wan/Siri–Siriwan, as it’s often called. I thought I was a Obitine (Obi-Wan/Satine) shipper, but then I realized, nope, Siriwan to the core. They’re a better contrast and they fit together better. (Though I think the whole arc with Satine back in Season Two was excellently done and very much in character for Obi-Wan, which is sadly a thing–there’s a whole subgenre of Out-Of-Character Syndrome dedicated to Obi-Wan shippings.) And then came Steve and Peggy (how could I not love these two?! His crush on her was just so precious.), and Pepperony (I probably love that ship name way too much…) I also ship Halt/Pauline and Horace/Evanlyn. Though for some reason, I don’t ship Will/Alyss much, but that’s probably because I haven’t finished reading the series yet. (I think the Will/Alyss angle was a bit rushed in the first book, to be honest.)

I also (maybe?) ship Horatio/duty or Horatio/his ship.

(That was a very sad attempt at a joke. I’m sorry. I will refrain from joking again throughout the rest of this post.)

And now, for the first time, I’m trying to write a ship of my own.

What am I getting myself into?!

I know I can’t write romance. I am no good at writing romance. I could not write romance to save my life. Apart from the casual background Pepperony, I always end up writing Siriwan more platonic. (Which works well, because as well as being the adorable lovebirds we know they are, they’re also BFFs 4 life!)

It’ll be fun, I said. Back it up with suspense and action and you’ll be fine, I said. What are you so worried about?! I said.

I. Am. Toast.

I’m so scared I’m going to mess it up. I love these two, I really do, but… I don’t know if I can write them in a relationship. I’ve tried writing background romance before and it never felt right. I can write about two people who are already in love, who love each other very much–that’s easy. But two people falling in love?

That’s outside my experience. And I frankly don’t know where to start. (No, stop thinking about setting me up on dates. And, for that matter, please do not diagnose me, even in the privacy of your minds, as asexual–I think that I’m just waiting for the right partner. In fact, please don’t diagnose me at all. I don’t like being diagnosed. Even if having a legit ADHD diagnosis would make college easier–much easier… Or anything, really. I don’t need it, honestly. I can handle this. Let’s save it for people who actually need it, please.)

I know how my parents show that they love each other. That’s easy. But I’m not sure how to show people falling in love.

I guess that, looking back, it’s all up to Louisa May Alcott: writing romantic love is nearly impossible if you’ve been single all your life, and either totally understated or overstated, depending on who is doing the reading.

I noticed a few things about my romance reading habits, too:

It had to be by one of a specific few authors (mostly Dee Henderson and Irene Hannon.)
I couldn’t sit through a novel that was all romance, either. It had to have suspense or action/adventure in it, too.
Never could stand so-called “sexual tension”, for some reason. If there was physical attraction, it couldn’t be just lust. And I much preferred the people who fell in love with others because of their personalities.

I suppose I just need help. Even if I knew the answer to this riddle, I’d need help.

So this is a shoutout: Can I get a couple of beta readers to help me write the scenes with Alex/Connor in them? Because if you’d read those scenes for me and help me out, I’d be in your debt forever.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless.

P.S. Umm, I probably don’t have to say this, but… CHRISTIAN FICTION FOREVER!!! (Sorry, just felt like shouting it from the rooftops… and yes, this is Christian near-future sci-fi/action/psychological thriller/suspense. It’s not preachy, though. Christian in atmosphere, no reading between the lines required 🙂 )

TCWT: Dear Lovers

10 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by erinkenobi2893 in Living Life with Passion, Story Dynamics

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

captain america: the first avenger, captain america: the winter soldier, couples, marvel, novels, shipping, star wars, teens can write too blog chain, whatever, writing

Okay, this snowballed.

I can’t remember which couple I was going to write to at first, so I ended up just writing to several of my favorite ships. And I’m supposed to be working on a novel! Um… oops?

(Yes, my college-and-work schedule is majorly breaking up my writing schedule. *sigh*)

Dear Pepperony,

You two are just the sweetest thing! You have the best romance I can think of right now, and you’re even realistic–you both have problems holding up your ends of the relationship, it’s sympathetically portrayed, and you keep on going despite the odds.

Pepper, I don’t know how else to say this: You. Are. Awesome. Somehow you put up with Tony, who could try the patience of a pantheon. Greek or otherwise. In my book, you outdo just about everyone at being awesome, despite not-really-having-superpowers (unless you count the latter part of your third movie.) And even when you panic, you tie us all down back to earth–you’re more than just fiction–you’re a person too.

Tony… I don’t even know what to say to you. We have major differences, sure, but I think that you certainly overcame them with your convincingly and enjoyably told story. I was sort of surprised that I loved your character as much as I did. Your story is certainly a great one about overcoming adversity. (I’d love to work at your Stark Industries, too.)

Your devoted fan,

Erin

Dear Siri and Obi-Wan,

You two…

I know you spent much of your lives simply as friends and never really had a chance at romance, but I still ship you two. (Even though I’ve never really written the two of you romantically, except by hinting very vaguely at it.)

Also, I think it’s pretty funny (and so sweet!) that Siri is pretty much the only one who can consistently take Obi-Wan down a couple of notches. Without even a hair out of place. (Girls rule!)

And Siri, I’m still in denial of your death.

Your ever-loyal fan,

Erin

Dear Peggy and Steve,

I don’t even know where to begin.

Your story is just so tragic–about as tragic as it gets without someone turning entirely evil and madly murdering everyone else in the family like Darth Vader.

The temporal displacement is certainly the saddest part–a long-distance relationship has nothing on the pair of you.

Still, I think it’s important to remember that, even while you were separated by time, the polar ice caps, and death itself, you still drew strength from your memories of each other.

Stay strong.

Sincerely,

Erin

BONUS ROUND!

Dear Connor and Alex,

Your ship is very new. In fact, it’s not even been published yet. And I did not even see it coming.

Alex, you just walked into the story and stole the stage in your cameo, so of course I had to continue writing about you. But the part where you become Connor’s possible potential love interest? That came out of the blue.

Still, I think you two actually fit pretty well together. I just hope I don’t ruin it–to warn you in advance, I couldn’t write ~~just~~ romance ~~pure and simple~~ to save my life.

I should probably go to someone else for tips…

Your affectionate author,

Erin

P.S. Next time, just don’t spring it on me like this! GAH! *throws a punching bag at the wall*

5^th – http://www.adventuringthroughpages.wordpress.com/

6^th – http://www.theworldofthewriter.wordpress.com/ (hi Saxon!)

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10^th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/ (thanks for dropping by! :-D)

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12^th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

13^th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/ (hi Rosalie! Are you going to tell Anakin he’s an idiot about how he conducts his love life? Because it’s true… even if he is really a sweetie most of the time.)

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24^th – http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/ (take cover, men! Major shipper alert!)

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and http://abookishflower.wordpress.com/

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and https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

Image

Happy Easter!

05 Sunday Apr 2015

Tags

catholic culture, catholicism, easter, happy easter!, living life with passion, religious life, religious themes, roman catholic

If you can't see this pic, you're missing out. :-P

Medium: Sketch paper and pencil. And a lot of time and hard work.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Thanks for stopping by. 🙂 Have a wonderful Easter, and may God bless you today and always!)

(Some of you might be wondering about the symbolism in the art. The cross is obvious enough, but that ain’t no Phoenix. Also, why it’s titled “Pelican” but doesn’t look like an actual… well, pelican. That latter part is because I’m a lazy artist who prefers to stylize her birds. Also, symbolism. Anyway, I’m not surprised if you don’t know the Pelican–it’s a lesser-known icon in religious symbolism. The Pelican is said to pierce its breast and give its blood to feed its young in times of famine, preserving the lives of its children, but often dying in the process. As such, it has become a symbol of the Savior. Geeky but awesome stuff–like an albatross represents the sinner returning home. Anyway, you can go on with your lives now. If I’ve brought an interesting new fact into your trivia folder, I say, “Mission complete.”)

Posted by erinkenobi2893 | Filed under Artwork, Living Life with Passion

≈ 10 Comments

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