So Much to Do...Well, it feels like it

Okay, I haven't blogged in a while, I admit that, but it's not like I've got a ton of readers waiting on edge for my next post, so I think you'll forgive the delay. Not much going on on this end, except I attended a summer creative writing workshop at Columbia University from June 29 to July 17, and I have just two words to describe the experience: Totally. Awesome. Definitely the highlight of the summer. For the time being, I've crossed Bleeding Heart, that YA vampire novel, off my writing list, in case I haven't mentioned it before. Too many vampires these days - I know because even I got so bored of vampires that I couldn't keep writing. And now in between two Honors and one AP class, college applications, and just living life in general, I'm working on the first installment to a new YA trilogy based on Greek mythology. I still haven't quite gotten a good title down. The working title is currently, My Boyfriend, Son of Poseidon, but I'm not really feeling it. Something short and sweet is what I need. Greek is out of the question.

Heat Wave

No, I'm not talking about Domino's Pizza when I say "heat wave", although a slice or two really does sound appetizing at the moment... Just came back from school after being exhausted all day with a bit of a headache and issues of the nose kind. Unfortunately, it probably doesn't help that I'm the only person in the school wearing pants instead of shorts - religious reasons, let's leave it at that - and I don't have issues with that since I love my dark jeans, but the only thing I wanted to do all day was wear my light cotton salwar kameez that would keep me cool without violating any religious or cultural morales. So now I'm sitting at home, in my favorite green salwar kameez (to get an idea of what salwar kameez looks like, just take a look at the photo. And no, that's not me. The only way I'd ever be that tall is with seven-inch heels on.), trying to do something to beat the heat - currently it's watching clips on YouTube. On the writing front, I've edited True or False? about three times now and have finally got it down to a decent word count, eliminating anything that either made no sense (I believe I've mentioned this before, but when I refer to something that made no sense in my writing, I probably wrote it past midnight when my brain apparently switches off automatically) or just didn't move the plot anywhere. Some scenes I left to add to the humor quotient but cut down on. I've started A Hidden Danger, which is going along well, as well as Bleeding Heart, that vampire novel I've been wanting to work on. I haven't been working on it for long, so I've only got about three chapters, but I posted an excerpt from the first chapter on Yahoo! Answers and got some pretty good responses, most of them asking me to finish it, three asking me to change the vampire's name from Fletcher to something else (not likely; names that start with the letter F appeal to me for sentimental reasons and the fact that his name is Fletcher has to do with his talent for archery which in turn relates to the plot), and a couple telling me to come up with something original. In other words, something that wasn't Twilight. I didn't post details that would have separated my work from Twilight but would also have ruined the story for any potential readers. The response I was personally most impressed though was this one:Holy Hippogriff, you really have some talent! However, I strongly recommend that you don't waste it on a human-vampire love story, as if we need more of those. You have me Rowling (Harry Potter pun completely intended) my eyes, because you have so much talent, and you are wasting it on an overused plot. Your grammar skills far surpass Stephenie Meyer by a mile. So please, for the sake of literature, write something more unique and creative, like you!

My screenname on Y!Answers is UniqueGirl (I know, I know, but I made it up when I was 14. Give me a break.), in case you were wondering about that last part. I completely agree with Luna Loves Lucius (who wrote that post) - I never saw myself writing a vampire novel. But I figure that if I do, I might as well put a unique spin on it to make it genuinely memorable, add a little spice and excitement to the mix.

Writing, Writing, Writing...

    Whoa, those are some huge pics. Not that I'm complaining - the bigger the better, in my opinion! Finally, I've finished the first draft of True or False?  Ahead of time, by the way, which is good. I've already done some edits and just have to finish them, also of course I also have to somehow contact the band and obtain permission before they sue me for copyright violation. Infringement of personal right to live or something like that, probably. I don't blame them.

 I also finished the first draft of Sea of Benevolence, but I feel a need to add onto it because it's significantly shorter than its two prequels. So I intend to do as much as I can with that until the summer, when I'll resume work on the sequel and last of the series, Secret Danger (whose working title I intend to change to Hidden Danger). Besides, I've only written about four and a quarter pages for it so far. Might as well wait a little longer...

 And after that I'll hopefully be able to work on a novel for my senior year research project, probably that vampire novel. I can research different myths and legends, how vampires have changed over the years, look into vampires of different nationalities, and I also intend to analyze four vampire novels, two older and two contemporary and find similarities and differences before I start my own. And just to get this over with, no, I do not believe in vampires, not in the least. I think they'd be interesting to write about (as long as I don't make them perfect, because perfect=boring for me personally). And yes, the vampire in the book is going to be a carnivore, and his name is not Edward Cullen; it's Fletcher Munroe (no, he's not related to President James Munroe - the guy responsible for the Munroe Doctrine). And he's not pale, mostly because I personally am not attracted to pallid people and partially because I've done some research and in the past people used to believe that a corpse had turned into a vampire when it looked healthier than it had in life (meaning, less pale and with healthier color). He's also not a mind-reader or anything special like that - he's just particularly skilled at archery due to centuries of practice, hence the name Fletcher.

 And again after that, I plan to work on another novel I've wanted to work on for quite some time: Heavensent. It's not a religious novel, although it will deal with the ideas of Heaven vs. Hell and Angels vs. Devilfolk. It will require extensive research (like in the Qur'an, Bible, and Torah - just the sections considering angels, devils, heaven, and hell), but it's something I want to do on my own time, as the subject is very special to me. Mostly because it was inspired by a Jal song. I don't think that's a copyright issue - it's just basically one line that happened to inspire an entire plot. If I hadn't mentioned that it was inspired by a song, it's likely no one would know. Although if you know me really well, you might be able to guess.

 Yes, I know, I plan out when I'm going to do each novel. I have to, that way I know what I'm working on now and what I'm working on later, and all my ideas get done. So far I'm set through college. There are other ideas I have, of course, but I feel like those are for more of an adult audience and it would help to grow up a little bit and gain some experience. In terms of YA, well, I am a Young Adult. There's my experience right there. 

Push Contest

Last year I picked up a novel at my local library - Hail Caesar by Thu-Huong Ha - and let me be honest: the only reason I picked it up was because the author wrote it after winning a PUSH contest at the age of fourteen. It's a bit off-putting for me that all the novels published by PUSH- a division of Scholastic - revolve around high school kids with realistic plots. That means: nothing I've written fits into that. I tried thinking of something good to submit for their 2009 contest - might as well try it, the only thing I can lose is some postage on sending it - and came up with a stand-alone vampire novel. I guess that means I always have to spice something up in my writing. Not to suggest that high school stories are boring, but how many times can the boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl thing be done? And the vampire thing might be a strange side-effect of getting annoyed by hearing girls talk about how perfect Edward Cullen is for too long. Otherwise, I know I never would have tried anything with vampires in it - I think the literary world is far too full of them already. But I did write a synopsis - a requirement of the contest - and I think I've got something decent on my hands. Not that anyone will get overly obsessed with male vampire Fletcher Munroe, but that was never my plan. As long as he gets to have expressive dark brown eyes, I'm happy. Huh. I got so caught up with Fletcher's appearance that I never even thought about what the girl - Sakina Evergreen - should look like, even though she's the protagonist.