NaNoWriMo '08!

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a yearly event that takes place every November. The very first NaNoWriMo was started with 21 participants. The trick was to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Crazy, right? It seems like it, but it's possible. 9 years later, NaNoWriMo is a hugely poplar program and is much anticipated every year.

I will be participating in this event this November. Truth be told, I can't stop hopping up and down thinking about it. I know it's going to be difficult with my newborn nephew to take care of, school and piles of homework to do, and Thanksgiving dinner to eat, but I'm more than excited. I wish I could start writing right now, but seeing as I can't, I'll be doing a lot of plot and character outlining.

Here's a short (ahem...) synopsis of the novel I will attempt to write in 30 days. I'm really hoping for it to be a good combination of comedy, romance, and a bit of horror. The summary sounds like a trashy romance novel, but it does my story no justice:

Emma moves to a remote but upscale Virginia neighborhood in a large Victorian-styled home. She thinks it's creepy to begin with, but it gets worse when her mother claims to have seen a ghost. Emma wants to be skeptical, but she finds it almost too easy to believe, having had a few odd things happen herself. Emma doesn't know what to think until one day she runs into Liam the ghost. Or, more like, runs through Liam. This sends Liam into a panic, for Emma too is quick to realize that there really are ghosts in her home. But Emma's mom is probably quicker, calling for the Ghost Hunters TAPS team the moment after she sights another ghost soon after Emma's encounter. This horrifies Emma, for she's already come to like all the ghosts who dwell in her home; especially Liam. But the ghosts seem to think that the TAPS people's coming will be no problem. They are prepared to mess with the Ghost Hunters more than has ever been done. They study up on crappy horror movies from way back when, watch numerous episodes of Ghost Hunters create a hilarious chaos the night the TAPS investigate.

But the evidence that the TAPS team gets is enough that Emma's parents decide to move. Emma, who has grown far closer to Liam than she thought possible, tries to persuade her parents to stay. But they've made their decision. And Emma's never going to see Liam again.

Of imaginary cars, pregnant boys, and hilarity...

So in my Drama class today we had to do an improvisational exercise. It sounded pretty promising. Mr. Zack set up four chairs in groups of two in the middle of the stage, telling us it was a car. He selected three people from the class to get into the car. Then he called another person to be a hitchhiker. The point was for the person being the hitchhiker to come up with a character. When the hitchhiker got into the car, the other people already in the car had to adapt the personality that the hitchhiker had. We had someone be a paranoid person, which was quite amusing. We had a preppy Valley Girl type, and a nerd and the list went on. They were only mildly amusing, because most of the kids didn't sign up for the class and were too boring to do anything. But Corn Dog (his real name is Frank, but that's lame. Heh.), who is an awesome 7th grader that I'd love to have as a little brother, caused true hilarity. Thank goodness, too. He totally saved that period.

He held up his thumb as a signal to the imaginary car. He was clutching his stomach in a strange way, so my classmates and I were exchanging bemused looks. He opened the car door and plopped down, slamming the door shut and began wailing loudly, slouching in his seat and still holding his belly. That's when we realized; he was a pregnant man in labor.

My laugh was probably the loudest there at first; until I noticed that the car was full of guys. I think everyone was staring at me when my laughter scaled higher as all the guys began to be pregnant men labor. They were screaming and the class were shouting "PUSH! PUSH, FRANK! PUSH VON!" The most hilarious part was the person pretending to drive. He's like "OH MY GOSH! SOMEONE CALL MY HUSBAND, CALL MY HUSBAND! I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT! OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" while trying to steer an imaginary car. I think if it were a real car, all eight people (including the babies) in the car would've crashed.

So here ends one of the best moments I think I shall ever have this year. Oh 8th grade.

Of speed dating and dancing with boys...

I knew my parents would get a kick out of this, since they didn't get the full details:


So we had this program for 12-13 year old girls and boys for our church in which we learned some dancing. I wasn't sure if I was nervous, excited, or what. I suppose I had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that there were a select few whom I would not like to dance with so much. Including Harry Potter, as codenamed by me and a group of Non-Mormon friends. He really does look like Harry Potter though... like, he's got glasses and greenish-blue eyes, dark hair. And he's really tall. Which is normally okay, but he's tall and gangly. Poor guy. And Spaz. The others were some very short deacons I didn't want to dance with.

So we started out with Speed Dating. No joke. The girls were arranged at tables and every thirty seconds the boys had to move to the next chair. We had to talk and ask questions. Outgoing me (heh), I had to do nearly all the talking. There were some boys who totally just started yapping away. Those were really quite nice though. I didn't have to say much. Some boys I could hardly hear what they were saying. The questions were dull and rather old by the like... 15th kid I had to talk to. There were some conversations I was really proud of. Like the one with Genius, but is the total opposite of what you think when you hear 'genius'. He's actually really cool and sporty, not like, chess nerd kind of type. So we were talking and he was like "You're in 8th grade right?" and I was like "Yeah. And you skipped a grade?" And he was like "Yeah, I skipped second grade." And I was like "That's awesome. Yeah, I think I'm smart enough [imagine me with a self-righteous look upon my face here] to skip a grade, but my teachers don't think so." He laughed. I made him laugh! :O Anyhow, the thirty seconds were up by then and then onto the same average kid. But then Spaz, came up, and we started talking. And I was really surprised, because I had a good time talking to him. He didn't seem so spazzy then. And then onto Harry Potter, which was fine. A bit awkward, but no more than the others.

So that ended Speed Dating. Then onto dancing. We arranged ourselves in a huge circle. That's when our dance instructor took the floor. He picked a random kid from the crowd and then told him to ask a girl to dance as an example. Poor little guy. He was like... shaking. All the girls were like "Awwwwwweee!" LOL. Saps.

After that the boys had to do a few asking practice runs. They came up and asked us to dance, though we didn't actually dance. I was cursing my stupid cheeks. Anyone who knows me personally knows that they get super bright cherry red at almost anything. Especially when I laugh. I think I was blushing tomato red, but I was surprisingly at ease. I was already having lots of fun, and I was quite calm. But stupid face... -scowls- Anyhow, what was marvelous was when actually got to begin dancing because when the boys asked us, they took us by the hand and led us to the dance floor. It was a really sweet gesture, even if they were doing it only because they were forced to. So the first time I got asked was by a kid who had both talked me in the Speed Dating part and asked me on a practice run to dance. I think he was smitten. xD But thankfully a pretty decent dancer. When we were done dancing and talking, he guided me back to where I was sitting and told me thank you. It was so cute!

And next time around, I was analyzing who was coming towards me. Genius was, but then he turned to ask another girl to dance. I kind of watched them go to the dance floor and then suddenly Harry Potter was looming over me. "Want to dance?" he asked. I smiled (which I've found I can fake quite well, since all my smiles look fake anyway) and said sure. He walked me over to the dance floor. The music began and we began to do the weird slightly swaying thing. He was so tall. I felt shrimpish, but there were worse couple there. My friend Bryn was making signals behind him, mouthing "Do you like him?" And I was like "?!?!?" I suppose I was smiling a lot as I talked to him. My cheeks were uncomfortably hot. And Bryn has this odd idea that I like him. Harry Potter? >.< Noooo!

When that was done, we had one more slow dance to do. The guys all came over. But no one was coming for me this time. No one. Everyone was already on the dance floor. My mood was drained completely. There were enough guys! More than enough! Why did no one want to dance with me? I tried to think of how I looked like from the boys point of view. While all the girls had chosen bright, spunky teenager-ish clothes, I'd worn a black skirt with pink flowers on it and paired it with a reddish-pinkish shirt and my black and white pearls. I'd pinned my hair back into a messy bun. I suppose I looked a lot more 'elegant' and 'formal' and 'older' that the rest. The skirt, I admit, was a hand-me-down from the 90s, but I thought it looked very nice and not outdated. But maybe I looked to formal and old-fashioned in their eyes. I mean, it's possible, because that's how I am. But I felt pretty. Well, not at that moment though.


But then Colton (bless you, bless you, Colton!) from Lang/Lit came over and asked me to dance. I literally said out loud "Yay! Of course!" He was a it more awkward to dance with than the other two, but I was grateful I actually got a partner.

And that ended slow dancing. Next; swing dancing. I was so excited, because that's what I was looking forward to all night. I love swing dancing.

Turns out that slow dancing was a lot better. Unfortunately. The swing dancing was a lot harder to learn, and the guys sucked at it. 'Cept for the people at the other end of the line, including Genius. They were getting so into it. I wished I was on that end. But what was worse is that I got two hand strokers. No joke. Two of the guys kept on drawing their thumbs across my knuckles and I was getting ready to jerk my hand away. I'll except that gesture when I'm married, thank you, but that was super awkward. Too creepily intimate. Ew. Anyhow, you'll get the biggest kick out of this:

The kid I was to dance with had the hugest... greenest booger in his nose. It was so so so disgusting. I kept on wiping my nose, trying to give him some signals. But boys are known for nonobservance, so it was expected that he was oblivious. The girls next to me were exchanging me sympathetic looks. I had to touch his snotty hands! Ew ew ew ewwwie ew ew! So while we were dancing, our instructor was like "This dance is called the 'Wipe Your Nose' dance." I seriously snorted. The guy laughed with me, thinking I was laughing at the name. But I was laughing at the incredibly ironicness of the name of the dance! xDDDD Oh man. Good times.

The next guy was a horrible dancer. Horrible. But we were talking and he said he was born n Hawaii. So that got us talking. And he did rugby! I mean, how flippin' awesome. He was an interesting person. Just not able to sweep me off my feet with dancing skills. Gah. I wish I were in a Jane Austen novel. All the men could dance then.

Bitter Sweet

Bitter Sweet is a modern day story about Mae (Avery Mae Madison), your 'average' fifteen year-old girl. She's always felt a bit out of place in her blonde-haired blue-eyed family while she has black hair and green eyes. It's because her real mother disappeared when she was very little. Too little to remember much. But Mae was told her mother was dead, so she never thought much about it. Until, of course, her unbelievably gorgeous mother appears at their house one evening. That's when Mae's life changes. She moves to New York with her mother, and there she meets the Harcourts. The Harcourts are, if not more, just as pretty as Mae's mother. There is Azure, the gently blonde, and her son Gabriel (temporary name), who is a curly-haired hunk. Mae is suddenly surrounded by people too beautiful to be human. And... turns out they aren't human. They are lures, who are incredibly stunning 'creatures' if you will, that have the ability to 'steal' people's bodies and 'wear' them. Gross, right? Well, Mae thinks that too. Especially when she finds out she's one of them.

Anyhow, Mae finds herself in Scotland after she discovers who she is. There is a secret place called The City of Lures, in which all the lures dwell and thrive. But Mae finds too quick how much this place is like a prison and less like a haven. And when a massive band of lures who've realized this as well attacks the city and captures nearly all the lures, Mae doesn't know which side to choose. She wants to be the heroine; the one who saves the day and brings things back to order. But she's going to need a lot of help for that.
____
Anyhow, Bitter Sweet has been in first draft mode for two years now. It has been a constant rollercoaster of good ideas, bad ideas, writing marathons and writer's block. It's currently 162 pages, double spaced, 41,694 words, but I'm rewriting it right now. That's coming along slowly.

Though I actually began writing this two years ago, this idea has been in my head since I was eight. Back then, it was just a Harry Potter rip off, but it's gradually become what it is now since then. I don't see myself finishing it any time soon, but I think I will finish it someday. It seems a waste to have spent so much of my time on this novel and it never become anything. Wow. That's a depressing thought. Ew.

So, here ends my Bitter Sweet ramblings!
Holly

First Blog!

Oh, how very exciting this is!

Anyhow, this blog shall mostly be of my current events, which we all know are so very interesting. I will probably talking a lot about writing as well, like National Novel Writing Month coming up this November, and on writing my novel-in-progress, which is called Bitter Sweet. Perhaps grant you all a little excerpt here and there? And I hope to include my very own book reviews as well! To spread the love of books, I suppose. Also to keep a reading log. I hear blogs are wonderful for that sort of thing! I have no idea how entertaining these future blogs will be (or how much they will be read...), but I shall try my very best!

Holly