The Forgotten Kingdom

The man stood in the misty street, watching women with their wild manes of hair spidering out from their faces and lacey skirts torn to reveal their thighs. Their eyes danced with the beauty of a forgone mind, lost in a wonderland where one might fly if they were to jump off a bridge or turn into a graceful fish once they hit the water. He gripped the sterling silver wolf's head on the top of his cane when one girl blew him a kiss from behind her bars.

They were lined up in tall metal cages, each girl of different size and hair color. Though there were very distinct differences between them, the man could only see their similarities. They were all malnourished creatures whose shoulders protruded from under their skin, turning them into nothing but provocatively dressed skeletons. Other men in the crowd hooted and hollered vulgar suggestions to the girls who didn't seem to falter even in the face of such obscenities. On the contrary, they thrived on it. Had their proprieties fallen so far from grace that they would publicly make spectacles of themselves?

Such disgraceful things, such dirty blights on humanity. One of the greasy old chaps with patches sewn onto his pants, covering the holes in the knees nodded his brown felt hat at the man and indicated the women with his cane. "Welcome sir! Come to enjoy our crazy girls? Quite lovely, aren't they? Well, not that one. That one is rather hideous."

"This seems inhumane!"

With a flick of his bloodshot eyes, the felt hat man turned his attention turned to a woman standing in the crowd with her arms wrapped fearfully around that of her man for protection.

"Not a bit! Let me tell you, my lady, the terrible crimes these things have committed! This one, you see this one here?" He pointed his cane at a petite little girl in black pumpkin shorts, her hair wild and covering her amber eyes. "This one was with child and sought to terminate the pregnancy! She's guilty of baby killing, my dear lady, and that's inhumane. What I give here are examples of madnesses of the feminine mind! This one here--" He stepped closer to the one next to the pumpkin shorts girl, whose hair was cropped short close to her face "-- this poor lady is unsure of if she's a man or a woman! She entertains herself with delusions of persecution but she's simply got gender issues. It's been proven by a bonefied doctor of the mind! And this one--- oh this one is by far the worst! This one made unlady-like noises during intercourse with her husband!"

The crowd erupted in mad applaud. Hearing about a woman doing such disgusting things was much more entertaining than having it happen to their own wives. The man himself had no idea what he would do if his dear Maria were to make the same noises that several of the women in the cages were making as they rolled their hips about provocatively. There was a reason these eves were guided by the hand of a man. They simply didn't have the intelligence and wisdom to do it on their own.

I know what you're thinking: "Since when does she start a blog post with a seemingly random short story?" Well this time I think it called for it.

There's an old saying that tells us that if we don't learn from our history we are doomed to repeat it. It's been over a hundred years since women were second class citizens and seen as property of their men yet not much has changed. Back in the Victorian era it was commonplace for a woman to be institutionalized for falling short of what a man expects her to be. We weren't allowed to question organized religion, to feel ecstasy, to live any kind of life that wasn't confined to child rearing and housekeeping and if a woman showed any kind of independent willpower she was labeled as "mad" and swept under the rug against her will, never to be seen again except by those who shared her fate.

I'm told we've made great strides in feminist equality as of late, though personally I have yet to see any real results. I could go on a whole diatribe about how women are still considered less than when compared to a man, specifically in the workforce given that they earn less than their male counterparts. But that's not what this blog entry is about. I'm not going to chastise the world for screaming equality when there is so very little of it. No, this is about the news I've been enlightened to earlier this week. The news about how, in a desperate attempt to take away a woman's right to do as she pleases, the Kansas House has passed one of the most dangerous anti-abortion laws in the nation.

I don't advocate abortion. I'm not in favor of killing anything bigger than a spider, but this law takes things way too far and goes a lot further than simply trying to stop people from getting abortions. Now they're making it legal for doctors to lie to patients considering abortions by telling them all the myths about the procedures are actually fact (such as abortion causing breast cancer) and by not letting the woman know if there will be a problem with the child or there will be complications with the pregnancy.

Medical doctors lieing about important health issues not enough to tell you this is stupid? How about the fact that, even if a woman DOES still decide to get an abortion, they will be taxed for it (up to 6.7%!) and enforcers of this tax will be allowed to view the woman's medical records. Her CONFIDENTIAL medical records.

As I said before, I'm not an advocate for abortions. But I AM an advocate for personal choice and the freedom to make that decision without some know-nothing politicians shoving their beliefs up the uterus. I believe a woman should look at all the options presented to her: Would she really be THAT bad of a mother? Maybe she COULD take care of the child. Maybe she ought to put up for adoption so that a couple who desperately wants a baby can have the one she doesn't think she can take care of. But if a woman chooses to have an abortion, I'll support her because it's HER decision. It doesn't affect me personally, so I have no reason to be against it.

Personally I'd never have one, but that's my decision and no one else's. Everyone's got their soap box to stand on. For some it's gay marriage (for which I'm an advocate because it's their own personal choice and their getting married doesn't affect my life in the slightest. Love is love, to quote an old cliche) but for me it's this. Okay, now I'm done. Here's the article of you want to check it out:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/07/kansas-house-passes-most-dangerous-sweeping-anti-abortion-law-in-the-nation/

It's a wonderfully sunny, warm day here in the kingdom and I've decided to spend it on my balcony with my freshly planted flowers! As pale as I am, you'd never think I'd like summer as much as I do, but it's the one time of year I can wear shorts (I love shorts!) and go swimming, which is pretty much the only sport I can do.

This year, for summer, I plan to have fun. The past few summers haven't been filled with all that much fun but this one will be different. I'm going to spend quite a bit of time at the royal pool, hopefully with friends and the prince when he comes to visit. I'm still madly in love with my blue-and-white polka dot bathing suit with the ruffles around the bottom, finding it positively Loli (short for Lolita, for those who don't know).

I also want to start drinking tea more. I'm not sure what kind of tea to get because I haven't really had an affinity for it before (I've actually found it quite revolting, but it's too terribly regal of a drink for me to ignore) but I've noticed that when I'm forced to drink it I actually like it quite a bit. Maybe I just need to take the iced tea as it is and drink up until I don't hate it. Also it might help if I can find a cute teacup at a thrift store for a reasonable price. It's hard not to like something when you're drinking it out of a fine piece of drink ware!

School ends soon so hopefully I'll have more time to work on the manuscript. Part of me wants to go to the pool with a notebook and a pen and write there, since it's a good way to get out of the castle, enjoy the outside, and do something productive all at the same time. I don't really trust bringing my laptop to the pool, it seems like a recipe for some jerk to splash water on it/ steal it while I'm swimming and push me back a lot further than I would've been had I just left it at home. With a notebook I just lose whatever portion i wrote in it if something happens to it; and while that WOULD be a pain in the ass, it's not nearly as tragic as losing EVERYTHING I've done on not only the Ruby Curse (Including notes, original drafts, character sketches, ect.), but anything else I've written too.

Yeah, a notebook sounds like a MUCH better idea.

I probably should be going now. My Philosophy term paper beckons, but inspiration beckons a little louder at the moment. As long as I get it done before friday I should be okay, but if I keep saying that, before I know it, it'll be thursday night and I hadn't written a single word. So good bye for now!

So I've been thinking about how people react to the way other people dress. Nothing really brought this up other than the fact that I've always wanted to wear Lolita, but I've always been worried people would make fun of me or bully me relentlessly for it. Why does it have to be that way though? I get that for some people, they WANT to dress whats "In style" but maybe can't afford it, or aren't very good at knowing whats "in style", but what about us that don't care about the style of our own country, instead loving the fashion of a completely different one?

I like Lolita. It makes me feel pretty, sweet, and innocent. It's the ticket to a world completely seperate from our own and I don't get to dress that way because of the small minded people who think its their buisness to tease people like me (I've never been teased as of yet because of it, but thats because I haven't done it yet) for dressing in a way that makes them happy. Well to those people I pose the question: Do you like what you wear? Does it make you feel good about yourself? If thats why you wear the style you do, then you've got no right to tease people like me who enjoy a completely different style for the same reason. Sure it's unusual for the place we live, and sure it's against the social scripts that most people follow fashion wise, but thats no good reason to look down on people who march to the beat of a different sewing machine.

So if you're a person like this, who tease people for not dressing in the same style as you, I'd like you to sit down and ask yourself exactly why you like the clothes YOU wear and try to find a reason why people who don't dress just like you are worthy of torment. But if you're a person like me, who wants to dress in a way that's different from most people, do it! Don't let the small minded people bother you. If they tease you, just politely ask them why they wear the clothes THEY like and to respect your personal choices. Hopefully they'll respond to polite level-headedness and you can go on with your day. If not then they're not worth reasoning with anyway. You've got my support.

Normally I'd talk about how embarrassed I am that I missed the deadline and by so much. But then again, I'm only late by two days so really I'm not THAT ashamed. Especially considering how busy my weekend + Monday was, I'm just glad I remembered right now so I can post. Friday Danny and I went to the zoo and I bought a stuffed polar bear that's good for cuddles. Saturday he and I just hung out at his house and watched Pretty Little Liars (I love that show!), Sunday I can't remember what I did. I think I actually just stayed home and did homework. Yesturday (Monday) we went and bought me my first car, I took a math placement test which basically said I need to start back at the bottom, I think ^_^' and got my classes fixed up for next year.

Anyway, onto the point of the post. As I promised before, I'm going to post a Philosophical question and you guys can tell me what you think. This question just occurred to me out of the blue one day so I thought I'd throw it out there.

"Which is better? Knowing that you do stuff that people find annoying and trying your hardest to fix it, even if you don't succeed; or being completely oblivious to what it is that annoys people and not even trying to fix it?"

Can't wait to hear what you guys think!

So instead of being productive by working solely on my edits (Which, for this particular chapter, are only going moderately well because I'm awful at action scenes for some reason) I've decided to take some time and work on my blog, as I've promised I would. This really will take some hard work to get used to, since a lot of the time I'm not sure I've got anything worthwhile to say.

In the spirit of that, I WAS going to pose a philosophical question I've been mulling over for the past few days and get a consensus, but I've decided that I'd rather just save that for the next post (assuming that something else more interesting doesn't come up) and make this post all about my appearance on Keyhole Conversations, a video blog hosted by my two incredibly talented friends Bonnie Eaton and Hazel Hart.

This actually came out closer to the middle of the week (Thursday, I think) but I decided to wait until the update time to tell you guys about it. Gives me something to talk about. Anyway, towards the middle of March Bonnie and Hazel came over to my house and we filmed a short 11 minute video about my up-coming novel "The Ruby Curse" which is currently in the editing phase and I hope to get it out by the end of summer. You'd think with that deadline on my shoulders, I'd be working harder. It's about a convicted criminal, Violet Seymour, who finds out that she's a link in an ancient heroic bloodline.

Here's the link for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykm9n7_8Rzk&feature=g-all-u&context=G2061165FAAAAAAAAAAA

And here's the link for the Keyhole Conversations blog: http://2tgr.wordpress.com/

In the video I'm reading one of my favorite scenes, in which Violet and Ethan stand up for Aurora, a blind mage with a not-so-nice father. Violet almost loses control over her other side and it leaves her pretty rattled. It's one of the chapters that I think won't need many edits (or any, maybe) since people seem to like it the way it is. I might go through and change a few words here and there, but I don't know. Maybe it's good the way it is.

I really loved being on their show. They're a pair of really fantastic ladies and I think what they're doing with Keyhole Conversations (and all its variants) is really great for not only themselves as writers, but others around them. They're so supportive and I wish them the best in everything they do. They're really great to everybody, so I'm confident that greatness will come back to them.

That's about it, I think. So I hope you guys enjoy the video and 'like' it on Youtube to support Bonnie and Hazel! They really deserve it!

[insert some stupid reason why I forgot to upload the Disney Live! Pictures when I said I would] okay now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get to the real point of this post: The Scene Conference I was so lucky to have attended this weekend!

The whole thing started off on Friday with a Pitchapalooza, where we got to pitch our novels to the panel of agent-judges (who actually made me think of American Idol for some reason) who gave us critiques on how we could improve our pitches. The agents were all so nice and very good about giving constructive critisim without making it sound like an attack (which it very much WASNT) and not only were they nice as speakers, but they were also very informative and I learned a lot from the workshops I was able to attend today. I just wish I could’ve been in two places at once, so I didn’t have to choose which one I wanted to attend each hour!

Our speakers were: Dan Case (owner of AWOC.com Publishing), Amy Shojai (Certified animal behavior consultant, author of nonfiction pet care books), Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords), William Burnhardt (who gave such a passionate Keynote speech at the end that it literally left a lot of us speechless, instantly injecting everyone with a serious dose of inspiration!), Helen Zimmermann (Literary Agent), Arielle Eckstut, David Henry Sterry (Both of them wrote “The Essental Guide to Getting Your Book Published” of which I bought a copy), Malena Lott (Executive Editor at Buzz Books USA (on a side note: I thought she looked like a dark-haired Reese Whitherspoon!)), Andrea Feodorov (Social Media Specialist from Las Vegas). They were all a joy to listen to and had some really good information on everything from epublishing, to marketing your ebook, to finding a literary agent. I’m glad I took as detailed notes as I could! I’m glad I picked a relatively new pen to take, because I would’ve been mortified if my pen died!

I think I got all the speakers. If I forgot anyone I apologize in advance!

From 6:00AM to 8:30 PM, we were immersed in a world of helpful information, wonderful people, new friends, old friends, books, and so much more! It hardly seemed like it lasted all day, but more like it lasted only a handful of hours! At 8:40 I had a consultation with Arielle, who was more than happy to answer any (no matter how sparse they actually were) questions I had for the twenty-minutes I was given to talk to her. I’m so glad I bought the book she and her husband wrote, and I’m so glad I got the consultation! She and her husband are both really wonderful people with the cutest little girl!Friday night, on my way out, her husband and I got a chance to talk a little bit and their daughter was running around the lobby; and when he asked me a question (it was either ‘where are you going to school?’ or ‘Do you live around here?’ or something along those lines) she shouted out where they were from. So cute!

While on the topic of David and Arielle (mostly David for this paragraph), while he and I were talking on Friday, he convinced me of what I’d wanted to do before but was guided away from. Create a fan page for myself on facebook. I had been thinking about doing it before, but I’d been told by some people that it was conceited (not in so many words, of course, but that’s what I got out of it) but he convinced me to just say “forget you!” (again, not in so many words) to those people and do it anyway. Personally I think it would make an amazing marketing tool when I was ready for it and just thinking about it fills me with the warm “I can actually do this” fuzzies! So that’s one of what I’ve decided thanks to attending this conference. I’m going to do it. Think it’s conceited? Well, sorry you feel that way. Maybe I AM conceited. But you know what? In this regard I don’t really care.

Dan was a very friendly guy too! He had a lot of interesting anecdotes that pertained to his discussion on epublishing that really helped to drive his point home. As I’ve probably already said for the millionth time now, I learned a whole lot from him! Also while a couple of us were standing outside the book-buying table just talking, he said my haircut was cute, which was a huge complement from someone who didn’t know what my hair looked like before I cut it.

All in all everybody was super nice and really informative (again, as I’ve probably said about fifty thousand times by now) and I’m glad we were able to get them for our conference! I hope that all of everyone’s hard work inspired someone to join, just as it did for me a whole year ago. My dear friend H.B. Berlow (http://hbberlow.com/2501.html ) even mentioned to one of the attendees that one year ago he (and I’m paraphrasing a bit) “Met a nice young lady” – he points at me— “who came to our conference and then joined the very next meeting! Now not only is she a member, but she has a seat on the BOARD!” By then I was reeling a little about how surreal it was that I had come full circle in my first year, and of all the things I’d accomplished. Not only did I get an honorable mention for “The Ruby Curse” in our First Chapter section in the contest; but I painted the picture they used for the cover, got on the board as the Youth Advisor, met a lot of really awesome people I’m happy to say I know, and so much other stuff I can’t even wrap my mind around it. Joining my group was the best thing I ever did, and I think I’ll always think so even when I’m a thousand and can barely remember what I had for breakfast (more so than now). Especially on days like these, when we all get together and the atmosphere is so perfectly encouraging.

One of the things I learned today, and probably the one easiest to put into practice as best I can, is to be more dedicated to my blog. I’ve only been half-taking-care-of-it and I really need to put more time into it. Today I learned that a lot of the social media stuff we have to do to promote ourselves as writers is just as important as the actual writing we do. So that’s my vow. I’m going to nurture my blog more and try to post more often. It’ll be hard at first, but I’m sure like anything else once I turn it into a habit it’ll almost be second nature. Like writing itself, actually, now that I think about it. I’m glad to have my blog. Like being in a dysfunctional relationship, I might leave it for days, weeks, months at a time and then suddenly show back up out of the blue and it’s willing to let me back like I never left. But that’s not going to happen anymore. I’m going to write more in my blog, whether it’s interesting stuff or not, because the important thing is to keep posting even when I have no idea if anyone is reading (cue the Lolz).

I’m also thankful for Samantha LaFantasie (http://samanthalafantasie.com/ ), who was my co-dependent buddy all day! Hurray for Co-dependence!

Today has been declaired by Princess Bootz and Princess Lulu to be Princess Day!

January 26th will now be a day you dedicate to yourself! Want to take a bubble bath, listening to classical music and reading a good book? Go for it! Want to paint your nails and watch your favorite Chick-Flick while eating your favorite chocolate? Do it! Whatever it is that makes you happy, today is your day! It's all about you, baby!

On the first annual princess day, Princess Lulu and I will be attending the royal theatre for the performance of Disney Live! (the ! is part of the title) Three Fairy Tales. You can expect pictures to come up later today when we come back!

It's a wonderful highlight to an otherwise crappy week. Both princesses have been feeling under the weather, but have managed to get better before today. Even if we didn't get better by today we still planned to go, even if we were an inch away from death. Luckily though, we're both feeling great and are excited for a night of fun and princessy awesomeness!

We're even wearing our tiaras! Because, as Amy said in Big Bang Theory: "I'M A PRINCESS AND THIS IS MY TIARA!"

I'm kind of getting off topic here,actually. The post about our night is going to come later. My point was that now, whenever you look at your calender and see Januaray 26th you should take that day to pamper yourself. Do you have to work that day? Bring something extra special for lunch and wear something that makes you feel beautiful. Maybe even take the whole day off!

So no matter what you might have planned on January 26th that might conflict with Princess Day, it won't! All it takes is that extra minute. That cute shirt. That special meal made just for you. No one should miss out on Princess Day just because they have other engagements too. A princess is always busy, after all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vORsKyopHyM 

Today I saw this animated video and I loved it so much I felt the need to do a review for it!

This is the story as written by the creators on their youtube page:

"In the frontier city of Carpathia, Jasper Morello discovers that his former adversary Doctor Claude Belgon has returned from the grave. When Claude reveals that he knows the location of the ancient city of Alto Mea where the secrets of life have been discovered, Jasper cannot resist the temptation to bring his own dead wife Amelia back. But they are captured by Armand Forgette, leader of the radical Horizontalist anti-technology movement, who is determined to reanimate his terrorist father Vasco. As lightning energises the arcane machineries of life in the floating castle of Alto Mea, Jasper must choose between having his beloved restored or seeing the government of Gothia destroyed. Set in a world of iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, this gothic horror mystery tells the story of Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator who flees his Plague-ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself. "

The whole thing is animated in the style of "silhouette animation" which I've seen in one other video, but it wasn't on as Grande of a scale as it was in "The Mysterious Exploration of Jasper Morello". The whole team who worked on this piece really went out of their way to make it visually entertaining and overall a beautiful, artistic piece that I think they should be proud of.

If there was anything more enticing than the beautiful animation work, it's the story itself. You really start feeling for the characters almost right away, and at every turn you wonder if they're going to make it out okay; and just when you think they are they throw another curveball and you're left wondering all over again.

Personally, while I liked Jasper a good deal, I'd have to say my favorite was Claude. I say that, and then right after I typed it I thought "but I also hate him". I think that's why he's my favorite. It's easy to love him and hate his guts all at the same time. Each character was beautifully constructed in both animation and emotional/motivational development. Jasper really goes through a lot of re-examining of what he thinks is right and wrong, and what he's willing to sacrifice in the name of morality.

"The Mysterious Exploration of Jasper Morello" has been nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA Award, and was also the winner of the Grand Prix award at the Annecy Animation Festival. It got the top honors at the Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival, Best Animation at Flickerfest 2005, Best Animation at the Sydney Film Festival Dendy awards and Best Animation at Toronto worldwide shorts.

They really deserved all of the awards that they got, and deserve to get the awards they were nominated for!

Today marks the end of NanoWriMo, and while I didn't make it up to the 50k (according to the validator, anyway. According to my WORD program I got it +17 more, but hey, w/e) I'm still proud of myself for even trying. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days is a daunting task, but now that I'm reflecting on the month passed I realized how much fun I ended up having. There were hard days. Days when I didn't feel like doing anything. But I pushed through, telling myself that it'll be worth it in the end; and you know? it was.

Now I know that not only do I have the ability to write that many words in one month, but I learned how to manage my time and work to a deadline (something that I've never done before). I learned how to try and relax about what I'm writing, esspecially in the first draft where it hardly matters what I write anyway, the point is to just get the ideas down. Let the second, third, fourth, so-on and so-forth drafts worry about if its any good. Draft 1 doesn't care. He just wants to know what he's going to be giving to his other brothers (and that one sister that he's a little embarrassed by because she's such a little-miss-perfect).

I'm definitely going to be doing it again next year because even though I probably didn't always think its true, I DID have fun. Can't wait for next year! 

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted something, and so much has happened that I'm actually surprised!

Like many of my fellow writers, I'm participating in Nanowrimo this month. For those who don't know, Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month and the basic thing is that you have to write 50,000 words by the end of November. It's proving to be a lot harder than I originally thought, but it's exactly what I need. It keeps me pushing through the tough times and rewards me with the good. It keeps me discovering, and reminds me that it's okay not to write gold on my first go. I shouldn't harp on things that will probably end up getting cut later (and a lot of it will, I've found).

My Nano is about an alien princess who goes to Earth to find her lost sister, and ends up having to blend in in a human high school while she searches and tries to cripple an organization she thinks might have something to do with her sister's disappearance. I'm creeping up on 34k, which is a lot and I'm happy I've at least made it that far. 90% of it is crap, but that's what editing is for.

In other news, we had a talk about contests today and I've decided I want to try and write a post-apocalyptic steampunk to enter. I mean, right now I'm just playing with it and letting the characters stay exclusive to me. I'm still hoping Violet wants to talk to me after all this neglect. I really miss her and want to get her through her second draft so we can gear up for draft number three, which is essentially going to be just fine-tuning a few scenes I really fudged up the first and second time through. But Juliet requires most of my attention, despite how little she wants to tell me about what's going on. Although, who am I to be surprised? I'm a human and she hates humans.

Plus, she'd never tell me those deep inner thoughts of hers. Those are for Juliet only, kiddies!

I don't know, I guess I just feel really revamped. That always happens after one of my writer's groups meetings and I love it. I still fully believe that joining with them was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I think I'm going to try and write more with Violet, while still letting Juliet tell me what she wants to when she wants to. I think Violet and I have become closer friends, really. During the first draft she refused to tell me anything, and now she lets me probe her mind's secret places. I hope Juliet learns to trust me that much, but you can't force these things. Well, actually, I kind of have to if I want to get Nano done. But we talked a lot last night. She let me in a little. Like trying to coax a kitten out of its hiding spot behind the couch (and yes, I use this metaphor/simile a lot), if I try too desperately to force it she'll just go back again. That's okay, Juliet. You come out when you want to.

But yeah. Ironic that the blog post that finally got done after a whole month of not doing it (I'm getting used to being twenty by the way) should be such a random confabulation of thoughts. But also appropriate, given that I hadn't done much lately. Well, I'm off to try and do a little more writing before I fall asleep. I'm going to have to work on school a LOT tomorrow, so I want to get done what I can.

Good night all! -enter witty catch-phrase here-