"WORDS ARE, IN MY NOT-SO-HUMBLE OPINION, OUR MOST INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF MAGIC. CAPABLE OF BOTH INFLICTING INJURY, AND REMEDYING IT." ~ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Monday, November 30, 2009

Me! Me!

The lovely Ms. Alexandra Shostak tagged me in this "meme" survey thing. I so love surveys :-)
Before I begin, I tag Quillfeather and Melane!


1. What’s the last thing you wrote? What’s the first thing you wrote that you still have?
The last thing I wrote was a piece of flash fiction for Shannon's contest.

The first thing I wrote that I still have is a story called "For the Fear of Death". I wrote it in 5th or 6th grade and found a copy of it a few Thanksgivings ago. (My husband - then boyfriend - was the one to find it, actually, and then decided to read it outloud at the HUGE Thanksgiving gathering that year. I about died, haha.)

2. Write poetry?
I do actually! Not a ton, but my professor seems to think I have some talent in it... (I submit poems for critique in my creative writing workshop.)

3. Angsty poetry?
Not really. I did write a poem about a conch shell being washed away by the sea without anyone noticing... But I don't think that really counts as angsty.

4. Favorite genre of writing?
FANTASY! Specifically magical realism... Love it.

5. Most annoying character you’ve ever created?
A selfish daughter in a short story I wrote a year ago... Otherwise I really do love my characters :-)  (So far at least!)

6. Best plot you’ve ever created?
Um. I think it's the one for Shattered. I love the plot beneath the plot! (But I'm pretty biased.) I can also tell you about the lamest plot I ever created - but I may just save that for a future blog post...

7. Coolest plot twist you’ve ever created?
If I tell ya, I'd have to kill ya ;-)

8. How often do you get writer’s block?
Not that often. (Ask me that same question tomorrow and I could give an entirely different answer!)
But Procrastination Block stikes quite frequently.

9. Write fan fiction?
Nope.

10. Do you type or write by hand?
I type. (I do have composition notebooks full of notes though.)

11. Do you save everything you write?
Oh goodness YES.  My computer died after college and I lost a LOT of things. I learned my lesson.

12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you’ve abandoned it?
Sometimes. I don't abandon much though. I hate giving up on creative things that I put effort in to!

13. What’s your favorite thing you’ve written?
Shattered!! Hands down. (I have two poems I'm quite proud of, but they don't hold a candle to my novel!)

14. What’s everyone else’s favourite story that you’ve written?
My professor loved a poem I wrote about windshield wipers (random, I know). My husband's is the Fear of Death story from elementary school - but it's the only thing he's read yet and he's really, really excited to read Shattered when it's ready. 

15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
Ditto to what Alexandra said: Everything I write has a romantic sub-plot.
Also, Shattered is a teen drama... I'm not sure about the angsty part though!

16. What’s your favorite setting for your characters?
The real world! Particularly places by the water...

17. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
I'm editing Shattered and about to start my new idea!

18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Does it count that in first grade I wrote a story about a groundhog that was printed in the school publication? It was chosen out of entries from students in grades 1-6 and my class won an ice cream party for it...

19. What are your five favorite words?
I suck at picking favorite things because they ALWAYS change. Here are 5 that I really like right now:

grace, lithe, demure, lilt, ethereal

20. What character have you created that is most like yourself?
Niko. But only some parts and it was completely unintentional. She's a brat.

21. Where do you get ideas for your characters?
Ditto Alexandra: They sort of just walk into my head.

22. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Not very often. Though Shattered came to me right as I opened my eyes one morning in Annapolis...

23. Do you favor happy endings, sad endings or cliff-hangers?
I hate cliff-hangers! I mean, I love them but I hate them because I am NOT good at waiting until a sequel comes out. I really hate cliff-hangers that are never answered. (I also don't write them.)

I lean towards happy but am not opposed to sad as long as story leads me in that direction.

24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yep.

25. Does music help you write?
Absolutely! I never write without music. I could, but I prefer not to!

26. Quote something you’ve written. Whatever pops into your head.

It’s swallowed completely by the sea, perhaps
lost forever, but
to the rest of the world nothing has changed.

(A stanza from The Conch)


Have your fill of me yet? If so too bad bc tomorrow you get TEN MORE FACTS! dun dun DUNNN

♥ me

9 comments:

  1. Ooooooh, so excited to read Shattered now. Isn't it funny how you compare yoursel to Nike, a bratty character? I was just thinking the most obnoxious parts of my curret MC are just like me. Sad.

    So great to learn more about youyou.

    Looking forward to your ten facts tomorrow!!

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  2. I've never been tagged for a meme before:) Now to think about the questions for a while...

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  3. Wow. Great answers. And I love that you managed to answer a bunxh of personal questions without totally humiliating yourself. I have yet to succeed at that!

    PS: Shattered sounds awesome. When are you gonna share pages? Huh? Huh? *Whines* :)

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  4. I popped over from Southern Princess. This looks like a super-fun site. No wonder the princess loves it so much! :)

    Count me in!
    www.shannonkodonnell.blogspot.com

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  5. Thank you! Looks like I'll be blogging again much sooner than expected :)

    It will also save me scratching my head for something to write! I think it may be quite therapeutic, as I've never really talked about my characters/story ideas before.

    Thanks honey :)

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  6. Great answers :) Like the others, I look forward to when I can buy a copy of Shattered at my fave book store!

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  7. Great favorite words, good lady. "Lithe" is a particularly evocative one (and one of my faves too, I think, along with "languid").

    Bring on the random facts tomorrow! :)

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  8. Yay! I'm so glad you filled out the meme! I loved reading your answers. And I laughed out loud at Procrastination Block. I get that all the time ;)

    (Omg, did my like 5th try comment actually work?)

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Yay! I love when you have things to add :)