Ummm… a little help here? Please?

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:

1. It had to be by one of a specific few authors (mostly Dee Henderson and Irene Hannon.)
2. I couldn’t sit through a novel that was all romance, either. It had to have suspense or action/adventure in it, too.
3. 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 🙂 )

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TCWT December 2014: Learning from the Masters

Tags

a tale of two cities, blogging, brian jacques, c.s. lewis, charles dickens, dee henderson, fahrenheit 451, g.a. henty, irene hannon, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, ray bradbury, redwall, sir arthur conan doyle, story dynamics, teens can write too blog chain, the silmarillion, writing

We’re back again!

I am so sorry, I’m posting this a day late. I had planned to schedule it, but… well, let’s just say that though I know better than to excuse myself to my instructors at college, you guys might actually forgive me if I say that work and college conspired to destroy ANY plans I had for this week. AT ALL. Also, late happy St. Nicholas’ Day and on time happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

I know it’s been a while since I posted for the Teens Can Write Too blog chain, but I had good excuses. Crazy college and a new job made me take a hiatus from blogging for a while. I kind-of almost want to change to a history major, but I’m going to hang on with what I have now–I figure that if I want a history degree later, I can get a history degree later by transferring credits and attending part-time. Besides, I don’t think you need a degree to go to history conventions and get in on that conversation. History people are awesome.

Well, that’s enough about that.

On to the prompt!

Over the years, I have learned a lot, mainly by following the example of other authors. Remember how there’s that annoying little thing where your writing tends to mimic the style of the last author you read? Well, that’s part of it. But only part of it.

From The Lord of the Rings and the Redwall series, I learned about style and pacing. In Redwall, the style is very concrete, and the pacing is quick; when you get to the crises of the books, it’s a hard-hitting series of events leading rapidly up to the climax. The Lord of the Rings is paced slower and has a bit more of an ornate style. I have had my style compared to Tolkien’s *glares at Iris, sitting in the audience*, but I tend to prefer Jacques’ pacing.

From Irene Hannon, Dee Henderson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I learned the value of not broadcasting your plot twists all over the place. Normally I have intuitions about whodunit, but in these cases I could not see the villain until he was right in my face. Genius.

From G.A. Henty, I learned that it’s okay to take detours. (Okay, Tolkien does that too, but I read Henty first.) Adding in side plots to prolong a quest+character development for side characters=an equation for 300 pages of a good read. (Don’t hate on me. 50k is all well and good, but I like books that are 150k or 200k, even. I read The Lord of the Rings in nine days straight and actually finished reading The Silmarillion.)

From A Tale of Two Cities, I learned the value of keeping up with history and using a cultural and historic background to my advantage. Realism is the name of the game, and while you’re simulating realism, it helps to be knowledgeable about the real history behind it.

From Fahrenheit 451 I learned the importance of keeping calm through criticism. (Don’t ask me how; that’s just the lesson I took away from it. I pick up on odd things sometimes.) I’m not used to being criticized in a negative light. If you’ve been reading my blog, and especially the comments on the posts, it’s only been once or twice that I haven’t received abject praise. I don’t know if that’s because I’m good at what I do or if I have a feel for what my audience likes or if they just can’t find anything to criticize. But it’s hard to be criticized since I’m so used to praise. I just have to find out what’s relevant, and not let the rest get to me.

From C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle, I learned that it’s okay to write the tough books, the ones that might get you hated on. You might be shocked to see how much criticism gets to me, even if you’ve known me forever, but I learned from reading Lewis’ and L’Engle’s works that you have to just kick fear in the teeth and write it. You’ll be surprised by how much support you garner.

You have to write the book that wants to be written, and if it’s too difficult for adults, write it for children. ~~ Madeleine L’Engle

5^th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

6^th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

7^th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

8^th – http://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/

9^th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/

10^th – http://kirabudge.weebly.com/

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

12^th – http://randomosityofeden.wordpress.com/

13^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

14^th – http://www.alwaysopinionatedgirl.wordpress.com/

15^th – http://www.juliathewritergirl.wordpress.com/

16^th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

17^th – http://horsfeathersblog.wordpress.com/

18^th – http://unironicallyexcited.wordpress.com/

19^th – http://theboardingblogger.wordpress.com/

20^th – http://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/

21^st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

22^nd – http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/

23^rd – http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

24^th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/

25^th – [off-day]

26^th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

27^th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

28^th – http://www.pamelanicolewrites.com

29^th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com.au/

30^th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/ and http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

31st – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

Oh, are you still here?

I apologize again for posting late. Don’t stick around here, though! Head right over to the next blog and don’t miss out on their post!

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

The Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award

Tags

authors, autumn, award, baroness orczy, bbc merlin, bbc sherlock, blogging, captain america: the first avenger, dee henderson, disney, dreamworks, editor, fall, fall break (finally!), frozen, irene hannon, joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat, louisa may alcott, madeleine l'engle, pixar, prince of egypt, roleplaying, sewing, singing in the rain, star wars, star wars rebels, story dynamics, the clone wars, writer, writing

I have been awarded the Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award by Robyn Hoode of Spiral Bound… Thank you, Robyn! 🙂

Okay, the rules are to show the icon on your blog, answer questions, make up new questions, nominate bloggers, and notify them of the nomination. (It isn’t exactly fair to them if you expect them to just read your blog and see, “Oh, I got nominated!” A lot of us are really busy people, so it takes a while for us to get back and realize that we were nominated, if you don’t comment on our blogs to tell us. PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT pointing fingers at anyone. I’m just making an observation about something, because the last two times I got nominated no one commented to tell me that I had been. Don’t worry about forgetting if you did nominate me and don’t remember if you notified me or not, because you probably did, but if you haven’t seen your award up on this blog please comment and tell me and I’ll do my best to respond to the nominations in a timely manner. 😉 Don’t loose any sleep about it, just do your best to notify people of nominations, and no one will hate you if you forget, and the whole world will go a lot smoother. 😉 )

1. What is your favorite musical? Ooh, hard to say. I’m bouncing between Prince of Egypt, Singing in the Rain, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 😉 Partly because the latter was the first and only real musical I’ve seen live. 😉

2. If you could guest star in any TV show, which show and who would you be? Any TV show? Including ones that have stopped running? Well, I have a lot, but I’ll have to pick three… BBC’s Merlin as an assassin sent to kill Arthur but who instead winds up siding with Merlin against a bigger threat (no romance, because that’s overdone!), Star Wars: The Clone Wars and/or Star Wars: Rebels as a Jedi (or maybe a Mandalorian, just because 🙂 ). I’d also like to be on BBC Sherlock, but I have no idea what I’d be doing there. 😛

3. Do you have a favorite number? I don’t know… Nine seems like a nice round number. For some reason, twenty-seven doesn’t seem nearly as perfect. But I also like the smaller prime numbers, just because they’re interesting…

4. What is your favorite thing about autumn? I don’t know. Probably the beautiful color of the leaves (and jumping in the piles). Or the hot beverages–wassail (spiced hot apple cider) is the best!

5. What’s your favorite girly thing to do with your sister/female cousin/best friend? Umm… I don’t know. Sewing projects. Sitting down to watch a movie and then discuss it. (I know. Not very girly.) Roleplaying. (As a boy, occasionally–so again, not very girly!)

6. Best movie you’ve seen this year? So far? At the moment, I rather think that that would be Captain America: The First Avenger. I haven’t seen many movies for the first time this year, and I was rather underwhelmed by Frozen, after all those stupid spoilers.

7. If you had to change your name, what would you change it to? Wow… I don’t know. I might change it to Erin (as Erin is not on my birth certificate, if you were wondering :-P) I don’t really plan on saying here what I would like to use as a pseudonym, as that could be–could be–personal information. As to why I go by Erin online, it’s a long story. 😉 If you want to hear it, I suppose I could post about that… which should tell you just how bored I am and how low I am inspiration-wise.

8. How do you feel about chick-flicks? Not much into them. Don’t know much about them. That’s all.

9. GIFs? I like them, but I don’t use them much. (Oh well!) The first time I encountered a gif was over on the Merlin Wiki back in 2013, and I was a bit amazed at first–it’s a moving picture (minus the sound), after all!

10. Favorite female author? I know I’m probably going to have a bunch of angry people on my hands, but Madeleine L’Engle is my absolute favorite female author. Baroness Orczy is a close runner-up. I also like Dee Henderson and Irene Hannon. I haven’t been quite as “in” to Louisa May Alcott as some others… yeah. Rather limited, I know.

Now, for my questions!

1. How many times in a day do you look things up online, on average?
2. What is the strangest thing you have ever said to anyone?
3. Since my dad is having us watch The Avengers and all the movies leading up to them… who’s your favorite Avenger? 😉
4. Which Avenger are you most like, in your opinion? In your friends’ opinions?
5. If you had to pick one–just one–fictional character to be caught with in the middle of a natural disaster (or a nuclear war, take your pick) who would you choose?
6. Oddest thing you’ve sung in the shower?
7. What is the biggest thing you’ve had malfunction about your account or blog? (Mine is the elusive “like” button which I have often complained about.)
8. Favorite kind of fruit?
9. What book/movie/poem/short story has made the biggest impact on you lately?
10. And, last but not least, what was the funniest thing you read recently? Please share! 😉

Okay, so now I need to nominate people… let’s see…

Tara Therese (check out her new… well, relatively new, site! 😉 )

Miko (because she just nominated me, and so I can’t nominate her back on the other award reception post I’m working on.)

PinkDoughnuts15, because Winnie the Pooh, and relatability as well. 😉

Rachel Carerra, because awesome stories!

Portergirl, even though she might not accept the nomination, just to point more people to her awesome blog! 😉

Rayne Speryll of Writing in Rivendell, just because. 😉

I was probably going to nominate a bunch of other people, but oh well… I can’t remember half of who I wanted to nominate. *sigh* I’m trying to nominate mostly people whom I haven’t before, but one day after I receive the award myself, everything goes out the window. As I said, oh well. 😛

Teens Can Write Too! Blog Chain: I’d like to read more of this, please…

Tags

bbc merlin, brian jacques, c.s. forester, c.s. lewis, castaways of the flying dutchman, classic science fiction, dee henderson, dorothy sayers, dystopian fiction, fantasy, fiction, g.a. henty, historical fiction, immortality, irene hannon, j.r.r. tolkien, lori wick, post-apocalyptic fiction, redwall, romance, science fiction, speculative fiction, steven king, story dynamics, teens can write too blog chain, the hobbit, the lord of the rings, the sword of damocles, time travel, young adult/juvenile fiction

The prompt for this month’s blog chain was “What sort of fiction would you like to see more of?” My first thought would be, all of it! But I had to be more discerning. What sorts of fiction do I love? What sorts of fiction are under-written?

Personally, my favorite genres are fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian. I love to write in them. I love reading them. Some of them, though, already have hundreds of books, and though no genre is consistently well-written, some of these genres have more than their share of marvelous stories. But we could still do with more!

Fantasy is probably the oldest of these genres; the only sort of fiction that is older is probably historical fiction, though if you include fairy tales in the fantasy genre, fantasy is undoubtedly older. As such, there is more material in fantasy than in most of my other listed genres. (It has giants like Tolkien, Lewis, L’Engle, and so forth–how are you supposed to beat that?!) Still, I would like to see more well written fantasy, with original themes and ideas. (For instance, in my latest work in progress, Generations, the sequel of Loyalty, the premise is that magic has been locked away from the world in order to protect it.) I would like to see more fantasy along the lines of The Lord of the Rings, in which the power of the Ring threatens to corrupt anyone who holds it; I would like to see the type of fantasy in which it is emphasized that power is often dangerous and can be intrinsically evil, and the answer can be to not use it, rather than the sort of sword-of-Damocles persecution that often falls upon any character with magical powers in modern fiction. (Yes, I am including BBC Merlin in this condemnation.) Some stories can pull the sword of Damocles off well. Others, it just seems cliche.

I would also like to see more fantasy such as the Redwall books and The Hobbit, in which no character has actual magical powers. Bilbo has his ring, true, but barring that, no one is “empowered”, except Gandalf, and he’s not the main character. I also like The Hobbit because the there-and-back-again has a price. About a third of the original company dies (no spoilers; I’m not saying who.) I don’t like the sort of fantasy where there is no price to be paid.

I would like to see more historical fiction that is more focused on event than romance, such as the works of G.A. Henty. Despite the fact that no one often dies (except the actual historical enactors) in Henty’s works, they are still highly enjoyable. I very highly recommend the Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, even though it’s for older readers, and should be partaken of in moderation. I would like to see historical fiction that’s more of a bridge between Henty’s style and Forester’s. I would like to see more French Revolution-era and more centered around the actions of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, especially since much of what there is involving the latter two is biased toward the English rather than the Scots–“the victor writes history.” That may be true, but it takes reading works biased in both directions to be truly balanced.

The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman trilogy isn’t historical fiction, per se; more like a crossover of the best of both fantasy and historical, but I would like to also see more of this sort of story, involving immortality and/or time travel. (Please don’t start with me on Doctor Who. Right now, I just don’t have the time for it 😦 ) It’s a fascinating sort of one-off story that has me intrigued; how would it be if more people took on this sort of premise and actually did well by it?

It would be nice to read more mysteries in the style of Dorothy Sayers, more complex and balanced and well-integrated. Few modern authors can pull off a good mystery as well as the late nineteenth and early twentieth century mystery writers, with the notable exception of Irene Hannon and Dee Henderson (who both classify their work as romance, but whose work also fit into the genres of suspense or mystery.) More on those two later.

Now for sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, and speculative fiction. This is one genre in which I won’t particularly lament for the authors of yesteryear. There are a great deal of good authors out there in these genres, and each one of them has fascinating premises. This may be because the genre is comparatively young, and still going strong. It would be nice to see more science fiction in the style known as “classic science fiction,” only meant for younger readers. It can be hard to find good fiction in the young adult/juvenile sections; maybe reading Madeleine L’Engle has spoiled me? ;-P

About romance… Any regular reader of this blog will know that I don’t particularly care for it. It’s not always well-written. Some of it is very unrealistic. And I just don’t feel comfortable writing it. In any book of mine where there is romance, in order so it doesn’t suck I have to make it very subtle and let the action take hold. I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons in that regard, but… meh… with precious little success. However, if Dee Henderson writes more, I will read it. If I can find more by Irene Hannon, I will read it. The other day, because I was bored, I picked up a book by Lori Wick. Just Above a Whisper, I think the title was. It was partly suspense, but mostly romance. What do I mean? Well… I almost stopped reading several times, because the menace from the insane fellow was not close enough. It wasn’t emphasized nearly enough. I didn’t have an urge to keep on reading. The only reason I didn’t put it down was because it was cool in the basement, and I was bored. Call me spoiled, but I didn’t particularly like this book; I couldn’t see why the author was a bestseller. The plot focused more on the heroine’s personal psychological problems, and I didn’t feel the ominous overhang nearly enough. It wasn’t that well integrated and felt almost like a side plot; however, I think it should have been mixed up and made part of the main plot. I felt as if even I, with my lack of talent in the genre, could have done better. It was like a romance with a side of half-baked suspense. Irene Hannon and Dee Henderson don’t have these problems. Nothing important is ever sidelined in their books; the suspense is scary enough to keep you turning pages, but not enough so it keeps you up at night like a Steven King novel (even just a summary!), and the romance is well-balanced and peppy. I want to see more romance that’s well written, even if it’s just for the sake of all the romance fans out there. 😉 I would also like to see more romance that’s based more on commitment and deep friendship rather than shallow passion. Much of what I feel tends to be deep, but I also feel in terms of commitment (if that even makes sense.) Why isn’t there more romance that just speaks to people like me? Forgive me if I’m morbid, but I think this is representation inequality right here. (And I didn’t mean to rant about bad romance. Sorry about that. I don’t mean to bash books, either; I mean, Lori Wick has promise, but I think she needs a good editor and more practice. :-P)

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

May 5th – http://sammitalk.wordpress.com/

May 6th – http://www.nerdgirlinc.blogspot.com/

May 7th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

May 8th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

May 9th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

May 10th – http://randomofalife.blogspot.com/

May 11th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/

May 12th – http://www.fidaislaih.blogspot.com/

May 13th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

May 14th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com/

May 15th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com/

May 16th – http://taratherese.wordpress.com/

May 17th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

May 18th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/

May 19th – http://afoodyportfolio.wordpress.com/

May 20th – http://magicandwriting.wordpress.com/

May 21st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

May 22nd – http://www.brookeharrison.com/

May 23rd – http://eighthundredninety.blogspot.com/

May 24th – http://www.oyeahwrite.wordpress.com/

May 25th – http://avonsbabbles.wordpress.com/

May 26th – TheUnsimpleMind (no web address)

May 27th – http://thependanttrilogy.wordpress.com/

May 28th – http://www.lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

May 29th – http://sunsandstarsanddreams.wordpress.com/

May 30th – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ Announcement of the next month’s blog chain. 🙂

(Oh, by the way, before I go… does anyone know the difference between speculative fiction and sci-fi, if any? Thanks 🙂 )