NaNoWriMo Site is Back!

This morning at around 1 am PST the NaNoWriMo site reset! It's got all sorts of neat widgets now and the new images to spread around the internet and now you can upload the profile for this year's novel, and I'm pretty darn excited! :D I've been waiting almost two weeks for this now, dangit. (Well technically I've been waiting all year, but I think it's pretty well agreed I'm obsessed with NaNoWriMo *cough*

So I've posted my novel and uploaded the description (which has changed a little bit and will probably change again before the 30C30D contest is up and running). And I've also requested some art that should hopefully come within the next day! (they promised they would, anywho)

And speaking of art, I've done some! Haven't posted much art lately so you've probably forgotten I can do that stuff, but here! It's of my MC, Alivia!

What? Oh shoot. That's Quorra, my little terror of a fuzzbucket. She has a slight obsession with standing/sitting/lying on paper. We're not entirely sure why. Waited one second for her to move (at which point she jumped to the chair in front of the desk...)

...and that's Alivia. Not quite finished, still need to pencil in the rest of the background and actually color the darn thing, but I'm pretty pleased so far. Have to decide whether or not she needs a shirt (she's not actually exposing anything...)

But yeah! I'll post an actual picture once it's finished, and once I've decided it's safe to scan a watercolor/ink painting! :3 See you soon, when I have more news to share! :D

Writiiiing!

Since I have to get up really early in the morning to test run the bus schedule (to see if I can get to my really early math class on time), I'm posting this blog a little bit early so that it's not forgotten.  :)

The first real thing that I have to say, is... that first story?  The superhero story?  I had to put it aside.  It's not trunked.  I haven't thrown it away never to pick it up again, but I've been working on it since about this time last year, haven't really let myself think much about another story, and like any soup that's been put on a stove to cook for too long, it's become a little burnt.

I've still got a clear idea of where I want it to go, but lately it's been seeming like some giant, unclimbable mountain, and I've also been trying to avoid writing on it even when I've gotten to scenes that I'd previously looked toward with relish. 

So I put it back in the fridge to chill.  And I'm going to allow myself to fully delve into another project.  With werewolves, and magic and storms, odd stores, and of course I'm going to add a little romance.  I'm not going to write a story without romance.  Nope!

Nanowrimo's only two months away.  Last year I started prepping for it about three months before it started.  I got through it *whoo!* and I'm wearing a WINNER! shirt right now!  I've also got that desk I was hoping for (pictures will come soon) and I'm taking a creative writing class this fall as part of my major.  I'm wondering if maybe she'll encourage us all to participate or if she'll even need to, since there's a large contingent of Wrimos in this part of Utah.

I'm excited.  Several of these ideas have been jumbling all incomplete in my mind for years now.  It was going through Erin Morgenstern's website and blog that got me inspired.  While I was reading the raving reviews it got me remembering all the vivid and beautiful scenery the words inspired in my imagination and I wanted to create something that had that flavor.

So I'm going to write a book about werewolves and magic, and throw everything that I love in a tale in it under the sun.  That includes trains.  Circuses may not make the cut, but those are pretty awesome too.

If it doesn't work, that's okay.  It's Nanowrimo.  But I'm going to make my characters walk through hell and have them see many wondrous and terrible things along the way.  What are your plans?  Are you doing Nanowrimo?  Do you have any questions about it? 

Road Trip Wednesday!

Today's Road Trip Wednesday had a pretty fun question.

What animal would your patronus be?

Well.  Goodness.  It took me a while to figure this one out.  I'm not really a psychology major, and since my favorite animal was always a cat I thought it would be some sort of feline (not a regular house cat, but nowhere as powerful and cliche as a panther or a leopard)

Then I thought some more.

Owls.

See, for a long time now I've had a problem with OCD.  Not the sort where I have to make sure everything is in it's proper space, but I tend to over think things and worry about them to the point where it becomes self-destructive.  I'm smart, but sometimes that intelligence can get my mind into trouble.

An owl is smart.  An owl is supposed to be wise and all knowing.  But they represent that knowledge.  Their intelligence can be their downfall.  That, and they can defend themselves but that's hardly the first thing anyone thinks of when they hear the word 'owl'.

So yeah.  :)  I think mine would be an owl.  I'd totally kick dementor butt.

What would your guys' patronus be?

Road Trip Wednesday!

*le gasp* A blog post, not on Friday?  :O  How scandalous!

Actually, I've decided to start posting on Wednesdays as well, because I figure once a week probably just isn't quite good enough.  ^-^  I was recently perusing the archives on Veronica Roth's (now retired) blog*, and saw that when she first began writing it she took prompts and topics from this awesome blog called YA Highway!  Every Wednesday they post a new prompt or topic or quote and ask the readers to tweet, blog, and otherwise spread their thoughts across the internet. 

This week?  It was a simple question. 

What are you reading right now?

And that's a simple answer.  The Hunger Games.  The first one.  ^-^  It's my favorite.   A lot of people think it's a rip-off of a somewhat lesser known Japanese novel called Battle Royale.  The latter is darker, more gory and geared for an older audience--despite the ages of the main characters--but The Hunger Games is a lighter read and more geared, I think, for a wider range of readers.  I know when I was in high school I would've had a harder time with BR if I'd known it existed at that point.

Anyway, a lot of The Hunger Games makes sense, especially the parts where the two main characters had to put on a fake romance in order to draw more people in so that they could survive.  It would certainly happen if this scenario were to play out in real life.  A lot of 'reality' tv shows definitely have staged scenarios to draw in the audience (and in shows like Big Brother, it seems that if the audience loves you or you cause the right amount of drama, you have a better chance of staying 'alive' in the game longer *coughZachcough*)

She's also a strong, female character, and not like the helpless damsels in distress of fairy tales or old movies.  And flawed.  She messes up a lot, she doesn't see a lot of the truth until it's too late, but she also tries to do the right thing and stand up for herself, even in the face of great danger.  When she's put in a tough situation, she does her best even though she just wants to go home and live without any interference from the government (she didn't start out intending to begin a rebellion, after all).

Anyway, I've got to study (just a little more) before I go off to take the last test for my college math class, then the Final.  *shudders*  So wish me good luck!  And I wish you good luck in your endeavors, whether it be writing the next Bestseller or learning how to herd cats.  ^-^

Hey!

A little bit later than I was planning on posting, but hey!  ^^;

Had a lot of fun this week.  :)  Got to go to see fireworks for the local Pioneer Day celebration (for those of you who aren't familiar with Utah holidays, it's basically like a second fourth of July, where we have fun and celebrate the pioneers who came in to settle the valley and subsequently the rest of the state).  I re-watched both Frozen and Tangled--in that order--and perused a little bit through my copy of Brothers Grimm fairy tales because retellings of those are one of my favorite kinds of stories, and some day I want to have my own on the bookshelf somewhere.

Mostly lately I've been having a lot of trouble telling myself to get back to writing.  I haven't known this until recently, but apparently I struggle with writing out fight scenes and I've been having trouble figuring out the choreography in the one I'm currently dealing with.  I want my character to seem skilled and competent, but not as good as the person she's struggling with.  She's a night guard, and the way I have this part of the story written out, she's going to need some help from her manager/overseer.

So I've been avoiding it lately, and my brain won't let me work on anything else in the meantime.  I've been going to all of my usual haunts on the internet--yay neopets--and wasting all my time there.  All I can hope for is that I can ignore my OCD for this part and just write through it.  Fun scenes are following up, and if I can just get past this first chapter, I'm hoping that I'll have less trouble for the rest of the book--or at least for the next few chapters, heh.

So what aspects of writing do you guys have trouble with?  Dialogue?  Pacing?  Descriptions of new characters?  Let me know in the comments and maybe I'll be able to help you.  :)

In the meantime, maybe I'll procrastinate some more by plotting my novel for nanowrimo this fall... even if it doesn't start for another three months... lol.  Just kidding!  Plenty of time for that later.  Time to get a cup of lemon tea and push past this writer's block/procrastination!

Introductions!

Hi!  The name is Lacee Martin and I'm an artist and writer!  A little bit about myself?  I live in Utah and I'm in mah early twenties.  I love movies so much I'm hardly ever surprised by the movie posters on the walls in theaters, I'll read most genres from YA Dystopian to High Fantasy to Crime/Mystery novels, and I'll write stories in most of those genres.  Right now I'm in the process of writing a superhero novel because that's in the top three of my favorite types of films, and I'm currently an English Major with an emphasis in creative writing.  :3  One of my dreams (besides getting published and living in New York) is to be an intern at the Nanowrimo office down in Berkeley, CA.

My blog here is going to have an emphasis on writing as well as tidbits on my own life (such as right now I'm recovering from a sunburn!  Though it was incredibly getting it inner tubing on the lake; I never knew falling off those things could be so entertaining!)  I'll post reviews of my favorite books--some old and some new--and offer storywriting tips to those who ask (and those who don't ask as well, I suppose, :P)

So come back next week, and I'll have a new epic post to share with y'all!  I'll be updating every Friday.