Top Three Favorite Authors

Okay so hey I've been a pretty terrible Blogger recently but let's all just pretend that I've been following my own schedule perfectly and that i have nothing to be ashamed of and.

Well I've just been incredibly busy, alright?

I'm going through a lot of stuff, most of it insanely good (One of the 'stuffs' being my Grandparents are finally here, and also I just reached 100,000 words on my FORSAKEN draft which is officially the longest book I've written ever.), and some of it not so good (such as the fact I still have no new ideas for my next book series but we won't talk about that because it gets me a bit: *explodes*), and, as it naturally goes, Blogging was put to the side because I consider this sort of just a hobby until I can figure out how to properly balance it with everything else I need to do in my day.

So, anyway, today is Top Three Thursday, which means I get to tell you my top three favorites of a random subject! I choose...

Top Three Favorite Authors!


Oh, this is a hard one! If I like a book, chances are I LOVE the author, and, if you haven't already found out, I like a lot of books! I guess I'll do my best!

          This one was pretty easy, because she has been a personal favorite of mine for a LONG time.
          Why is she my favorite, you might ask? Because, she writes some of the stories I love most, and she's an exceptional writer. She's also a fabulous person who always makes me laugh, and always teaches me something. She's really just a wonderful person who just happens to write wonderful books!
          (I also met her in person and we basically talked for two solid hours and it was basically the best two hours like ever.)

         Okay, so let me explain to you a thing about Mr. James Riley, here.
         He is the funniest, most sarcastic author I have ever had the pleasure of stumbling upon. His books are witty and smart and brilliant, and the best part is that I would recognize his writing anywhere, because he himself is such a hilarious person. Just to give you a little take of what he's like, I firmly believe that if he and Rick Riordan were in a room together, it would be a legit question of who was the ultimate Sass-Master.
         (I haven't met James Riley and this greatly upsets me because seriously it's on my bucket list.)

         Ms. Leigh Bardugo is a very special author to me, and, you know, I'm not entirely certain why. 
         I mean, I know why--I follow her blog and I've read all of her books, and I've always just considered her one of my all time favorites without even picking it apart to find out the facts. Because I can't. Cause it's just literally the fact that I love her writing, and she's my favorite.The end.
        (I've met her and she's as awesome as she sounds. Seriously.)

See, now, looking at the three I chose, I'm still so conflicted. Because I have a huge amount of love for so many other brilliant authors. 

So much love, in fact, that I'm going to make a list of them all below and, if you feel you want to (which you should.), you may browse through and see some of my fabulous recommendations:


Cassandra Clare (Author of the Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments and more.)

Rick Riordan (Author of the Percy Jackson books and the Kane Chronicles.)

Jessica Brody (Author of the Unremembered books and more.)

Marissa Meyer  (Author of the Lunar Chronicles.)

Marissa Burt  (Author of the StoryBound books.)

Alexandra Bracken  (Author of the Darkest Minds books.)

Anna Banks  (Author of the Syrena Legacy.)

Soman Chainani  (Author of the School for Good and Evil.)

Cornelia Funke   (Author of the InkHeart books and more.)

Lisa McMann  (Author of the Unwanteds books and more,)

J.K. Rowling  (Author of the Harry Potter books.)

Brandon Mull (Author of the Beyonders books and more.)

Charles Dickens (Author of  A Tale of Two Cities and more.)

Anne Ursu (Author of the Real Boy and more.)

And I'm sure there are plenty more but my brain is a bit dead after listing all of those names and what-not!

Any of these Authors/Books sound interesting? Of course they do! Click on the Authors name to be taken to my chosen favorite books GoodReads page!
       

Have YOU heard of any of these books? Which one is your favorite? Why?


Thank for reading!

My Grandparents Are Moving!

The title says it all!

My two wonderful Grandparents are finally moving just down the road from us after years of living hours and hours away!

So, as you can guess, it's all hands on deck, and considering there is no internet at their new house yet, my Defying Impossible schedule will have to resume sometime next week.

(Even now I'm writing this on my phone, so please forgive any mistakes you may find!)

But while I'm away, now is the time to explore my tags over to the right and check out my past blog posts! Who knows, You might just learn something new.

I wish you all a wonderful week!

Becoming a Murderer: The Four Step Guide to Killing Off Characters

I felt this topic was appropriate considering, in my own novel, I am currently having to kill of, not one, but two main characters.

I mean, granted, one of the characters is evil and you've been wanting him dead for a long time, but even with him it's a bittersweet thing, because, through my eyes, of course, he still had redeeming qualities and he had reason's for why he taunted and teased my main characters the way he did.

Alas, he's dead now, and next chapter I get to kill off a character that is actually likable.

Oh boy...

Killing off characters is really actually a hard thing. Not only in the sense that it's hard to say goodbye, but also because there is a certain balance with it that is very fragile and intimidating.

On the one hand you can't go killing off every single character in the book right and left. You need meaning and purpose--if a character has to die, make it have impact and emotion. And, on the other hand, you can't have an entire novel without someone getting hurt or dying or suffering, because then it would be a 'Disney Ending' where everyone is happy and healthy and blah blah blah.

Now, if you're writing a MG (Middle Grade) book, this might be acceptable, but still you have to have plenty of conflict and struggles for your characters, but right now I'm talking about when writing a YA (Young Adult) book.

The Four Steps to Killing Off Characters:



  • Step One: Create your character.
          Perhaps this character is kind and friendly or brave and caring or witty and obnoxious. Whatever the case may be--create the character, and make the readers feel something for this character. You need to fall in love with them yourself. Make a character that is so incredibly likable, not even you will want them to die!


  TIP: Don't create a character already knowing they're going to die! And, if you create this character and already have the plans drawn up for their death scene, don't treat them any differently than you do the characters you know are going to live. Being in the mindset of 'well, they're going to die anyway!' is a horrible thing to do, and you won't do them justice!


  • Step Two: Plan Properly
          This is the step were planning comes into play. You need to consider all of the options-- do you want a quiet, peaceful death, where the character has time to say goodbye, and all loose ends are already tied up? Or do you want an abrupt, violent death that leaves everything yet to be seen? There are about a million different reasons for death; For shock value, to bring another character in the story forwards (or backwards), a sacrifice for another, a suicide, an accident, an illness. I could go on and on!

    TIP: Of course, you also need to consider exactly HOW they are going to be killed of. With a sword? A gun? A car? Off a cliff? Killer Bunnies? Get creative with it! Another question you need to ask yourself is, if it's a purposeful death, who kills this character? Why? Figure out the motives behind the death, as well. Look at it from all angles.


  • Step Three: Fetch the Tissues
          If you've done steps One and Two correctly, you're going to need them.

This is the part in the process where you actually KILL the character.

I've written MANY deaths scenes, all completely their own, but one thing they all had in common?

Each and every one broke my heart in some way.

Even if it's a villain you're killing, if you've rounded him/her out properly, there should still be some sadness in you when they die, because you know the secrets deep in their souls, and you know that they have a cause, a reason, no matter what terrible things they'd done.

One of my death scenes that I finished up yesterday consisted of someone getting stabbed in the stomach by a dagger. And, as odd as it sounds, I nearly cried writing it even though some part of me hated the guy. And, the death scene I will HOPEFULLY be writing tonight, consists of someone being shot in the chest.

Now, look at them closer.

One of the deaths is up close with the character who stabbed the boy--he can see the life in his eyes fading and his pale face and watches him crumple to the floor, blood around him. This scene is very emotional for the character who stabbed him, and rightly so, to. (But, shh, spoilers!)

Then we have the other death, which is from afar. The character is running to catch up to the others, and a bullet hits her from behind. The other characters, rather than running to her and dragging her out as they would have liked, are forced to leave her body behind because if they stayed there's a risk they, too, would be shot.

So one is up close and personal, and the other is from a distance, and each one gives off a different feel. One is real and rough and heart breaking, while the other one could be perceived as a dream, where the remaining characters are shocked at the abrupt bullet hitting their friend.

Figure out the tone of your death scene--It can be emotionally crushing, victorious, feeble, or even humorous! 

  • Step Four: The Aftermath
          This is the most vital step, right after the character actually dying.

As you read above, there needs to be a reason for this characters death. They need to be important to someone in the story, and that someone (or multiple someone's), needs to feel whatever emotion that is proper, and you need to make sure to touch on that. The emotional part of every death, real or not real, is mostly in those surrounding the dying person, and not within the dying person themselves. Now, there are some cases where that is different, but the majority that I've seen are more tragic within those who knew them.

It's like Funerals. Funerals are not meant for the person who is dead (Because they're already dead.), but instead for those loved ones and family and friends who knew the person, and come to grieve over their lose. I've always believed that Funerals are pretty selfish things, meant for the people left behind and not as much for the person leaving.

Not that there's anything wrong with this--characters feel things just as real people do, and they need to be effected by the death of their friend, sibling, parent, ect.

Make it messy or clean, sweet or tragic, bloody or peaceful--make it however you want, make it your own, but the single golden rule is:

Make it have impact.

Impact on the story, on the surrounding cast of characters, on the reader, on you. Write something so sad and so touching you make yourself cry, or write something to horrible and shocking that even you have to gasp.

Surprise yourself and let what happens happens. Killing off characters is a very hard thing to do, but sometimes it simply must be done, and you are the only one brave enough to follow through.

Have YOU ever killed off a character? How did you make it carry impact? Do you have any strategies you'd like to share? 


Thank you for reading, and good luck on becoming a murderer!


















Top Three Thursday--Favorite Ships

Okay, so let's all just pretend that it's not past midnight, and that it's still Thursday, because I mean to post this earlier but...

Happy Top Three Thursday!

*Obnoxious Party Horns*

Top Three Thursday is something I thought up while I was planning out my blog-posts for the next month, and basically it's where, every Thursday, I share a 'top three', whether it be book related, movie related, life related, ect.

And this Thursday's is favorite ships!

(No, not the kind that sail on the ocean.)

This is my favorite ships as in a couple that I ship together/think they were meant for each other/ love it when they're together/squeal the hardest for/explode over/ect, even if they may or may not exactly be canon. Favorite fictional pairing in books, of course, because if we were bringing TV shows into the mix, that would just be overwhelming. I'll save that for another Thursday, shall I?

Now, you have to understand how HARD of a question this is, considering I have SO many ships that I absolutely ADORE--and I have to only choose THREE? Oh the horror! Let's see how it goes!


  • Favorite Ship Number One: After much lamenting, I have finally decided my most favorite-ever pairing is Will and Tessa from the Infernal Devices. They are my definition of perfectly presh. I love their story and their characters together and I explode into little squealing bunnies anytime they're mentioned.

  • Favorite Ship Number Two: You knew it was coming--Leo and Calypso from the Heroes of Olympus. Out of all of the pairings in the Percy Jackson series (Yes, there is a LOT), Leo and Calypso are my all time favorite. Yes, even a bit more than Percy and Annabeth. *Dodges Bombs* But let me explain! Not that I don't ship Percy and Annabeth, and not that I don't think they are adorable and perfect and simply wonderful, but, come on, we've all been waiting FOREVER for Leo to fall in love! At least, I have. Leo is my favorite. I love Leo. There.

  • Favorite Ship Number Three: And last but certainly not least, Cress and Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles. This is my most recent ship, but I mean it when I say I fell hard for these two. Liking them together honestly surprised me, though, because I'd read a lot of Cress/Thorne hate after the release of CRESS last week, and decided to see for myself, and instantly died over them two. I haven't even finished reading CRESS yet, and already they are some of my favorite characters, and my favorite pairing, to ever be created. Most readers think that Thorne is completely out of Cress's league, and he would never fall in love with an innocent little girl like her, but am I the only one who thinks that just makes them MORE perfect? Go read the book and comment your opinion!
And now that my list is done, I need to wish you all a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, for indeed it is already past midnight!

I hope you all have a wonderful day eating chocolate and falling in love with anything and everything in your life!

What is YOUR favorite fictional pairings from books? Do you ship any of the couples listed above? Why or why not?






ATTENTION THIS IS IMPORTANT...Sort Of...

Stop what you're doing...

This is shocking news that will likely knock you off your feet...

I have just purchased...

A calender.

*Extremely shocked gasps* 

And with this calender I will be scheduling more constant blog posts, planning my side activities that I've been putting of for months, and marking off the days as I go along.

*Someone faints*

Yes, this new calender is kitten themed.

*Crowd goes 'Awww!'*

For those of you who don't know--I never even know what day of the week it is. I don't 'plan' or 'schedule', though oddly enough I am a very neat and organized person. I just go on whims all of the time, and that was fine, but recently I've found that if I don't set myself down with a strict schedule, I'll never have the discipline it takes to do it on my own.

I'll be doing my best to stick to this calender. I'm actually very excited to see how it works out!



Google Search Can Only Answer So Many Things...

Personally, I am a huge fan of Google Search. As a writer, there are many things we need to research, and Google always had the answer. Like how quickly do you die after being shot in the heart? What are the different kinds of Puffer Fish? Is honey used to heal wounds?

But there comes a point when Google Search runs out of answers. When you are left to decide things for yourself.

I am facing one of those times.

You may have heard me complain about it before (A LOT), but I always said "oh I'll figure it out later", because that's the way things work for me. If I just let something be, chances are the question will be answered without effort.

But, this time, that doesn't seem to be the case.

My dilemma is, of course, which of my books I am going to publish first.

This isn't necessarily an immediate problem, considering publishing comes later after I turn sixteen but... I can't pretend I don't need to know now. Not only so that I can have a clear head about things, but also so that I know which book to pour my blood, sweat, and tears into first.

Option number one is my ATREA books. They were the first books I ever wrote when I was, like, eight, and since then I've started re-writing the first one considering, well, I hardly even knew how to spell correctly when I was eight.

I love my ATREA books with all my heart. They got me started in writing, and I had the most fun in the world with my characters there.

But option number two would be the Dragon Master books, and I am currently working on editing the first one, while also almost finished writing the third and final book.

These books are, obviously, better written because I started them a year or two ago. It's easy for me to tell myself I like these more then ATREA, but only because it's currently what I'm involved in, and I haven't visited ATREA since I had to stop re-writes this November.

So, it's obvious which one is the easier option--but is that the right option?

Am I meant to continue on the path of making my Dragon Master books more readable? Or should I dig deep and get to work on ATREA, that I may be proud of them, as well?

This question hasn't let me be for months now, and though I don't have to decide now, I'm on this constant circle of thoughts over and over again, and an answer doesn't seem to be in sight.

The problem is; this is one of those situations that, honestly, no one can help me in. It needs to be my decision--what I feel is right. I'm a very indecisive person, so this is horrible for me, but I am determined to keep praying and keep thinking, and I hope in the end I'll make the perfect decision!

Here's to hoping!

Do you have any tough decisions to make in your writing? 

Falling in Love With Your Stories: My Adventure of Procrastination

So I talked about Writers Block a few days ago, with the promise to myself that I would get over this sluggish writing and get back to it!

And, I am glad to say, that I have indeed been writing, though, this time regretfully to say, it is not really any easier.

After my long break during this winter, I made myself start writing knowing that I would snap and get back to it like I always do after writing those first few words after a writing slump, but this time that didn't happen. It still hasn't.

And I think I've figured out why.

So this book that I'm currently writing is the third and final book in my Dragon Master Trilogy, and I started it back in November for NaNoWriMo, with the word count far past the goal of 50k words.

Currently, this book has 85k words, and 230 pages, and I have only just started writing the ending--which I pretty much consider everything after the halfway point.

This is the longest book I've ever written, the first two in the trilogy ranging from 60k words to 65k.

But none of this is the problem. The problem is that I think I'm afraid to finish it, stalling for as long as I can before having to type The End.

One reason for this is because I absolutely adore these books and these characters, and I hate to wrap up their story--but I've done this before, and I've gotten over this before, so saying goodbye for now isn't why I'm procrastinating so hard.

I think the actual reason is the fear of what happened last time I finished one of my series.

The first set of books I ever wrote was titled ATREA, with five 50k word books. Soon after I typed The End on that one, I started a SECOND series to ATREA, with five more books and 50k more words each, of the next generation of the characters in the first.

But, after I typed The End on the second series, I sort of stopped and stared off for a minute...

...What was I supposed to write, now?

I was convinced that was it. I would never write another world that I love as much as Atrea, and never create wonderful characters like them and I could never think of another good plot. I mean, how could I? Atrea was and is my life--how could I replace it with something equally as good, let alone better?

I tried for many months. I would get half formed ideas and desperately try to make a plot out of it, a character--something! I had nothing to write, and I felt like I would never do anything great with words ever again.

And then the Dragon Master Trilogy hit my like a sack of bricks, and into another world I fell, writing and writing for nearly two years until my fingers hurt and my brain melted.

And now, for the first time in those two years, I've nearly stopped writing the Dragon Master Trilogy. I've slowed down.

Because I fear what comes after I type The End.

Can I really think of something else to fall in love with, as I did with ATREA and the Dragon Master Trilogy? Of course I can. I've done it before, right?

But then I remember all of the months of lamenting over ideas, waiting for 'The One' idea.

'The One' idea meaning the one book that I will write and love. The one idea out of all of the little scattered thoughts that will fully form and drag me along. The one perfect spark of imagination that will create my next favorite character or my next devastating plot twist.

I like to look at it in the form of falling in love with someone:

"How do you know he/she is the one?"

You just do. It's this gut instinct that tells you this is right. It makes you happy and makes you excited and, basically, just makes you fall in love.

So I'm having a hard time writing the ending of the third and final book, because I know after this I will have to think of something else entirely to carry me throughout the next however many years.

Don't get me wrong--I have tons of ideas I've been dying to write--but that's just it. They all simply feel like 'ideas' and nothing more. No big OMG I HAVE TO WRITE THIS NOW nor any THIS IS BRILLIANT I'M DYING ideas.

No stories to make me fall in love.

So I am very torn about my feelings, because I am so excited for this ending, but I'm also so crushed to have to say goodbye again to the story I love. Thought there will be rewrites and editing and revising and such, there's nothing quite like writing a first draft for the very first time, and if I could go back in time and write my stories for the first time again, figuring out the plot holes and gasping when something I didn't expect happens and crying when someone died, I would in a heart beat.

Creating things is beautiful to me, and it breaks my heart when I can't think of anything to create.

An advice/opinions on this subject? Have you ever had trouble typing The End on a book? What's your favorite way to come up with ideas that make you fall in love?


I'm going to attempt to get some more work done on the third book, so wish me luck!


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