Befreckled.

Not a word.

At least, I don't think it is.

But it is what I am. And it is causing quite a stir.

After my long family weekend at the beach, I have returned with a few chapters of Emma under my belt and a new understanding of the word "procrastination". I have also gained quite a few freckles due to my pale skin. No burn. No tan. Just freckles.

This wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't for Prince Caspian over here.

Whatever do you mean?

Page 23 of Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Come look.

“We thought the Duke would have been pleased if the King's Majesty would have married his daughter, but nothing came of that--'
'Squints, and has freckles,' said Caspian.
Oh, poor girl,' said Lucy.”

Ouch.

And then there's always Lydia Bennet...

"I will answer for it he never cared three straws about her. Who could about such a nasty little freckled thing?"

Please excuse me while I tend to my wounded pride.

ANYHOW, THIS IS NOT THE POINT. The point is that in spite of all the time I have "wasted" (if you called "daydreaming" a waste), I did run into a few resources in terms of research recently. (Look at all those lovely r's!) Behold!

 http://homepage.eircom.net/~corkcounty/

Go ahead. Click the link. Maybe I'm the only one who drools when I see it, but let me tell you, this is a resource if I ever found one. I really want to set my novel in Co. Cork because a) it's the REBEL COUNTY, duh and b) that's where my family is from. This gave me a lot of insight into how the Irish War of Independence played out in Co. Cork. Of course, I have a LOT to learn. Like... an absurd amount to learn. But at least I now have somewhere to start!

Now, onto finals and wisdom teeth operations and ordinations and driving tests and dances and some enchanted evenings. Hopefully the writing will flourish in the mayhem of it all!

PS - Did I mention my band is playing a song from Gladiator for a field show? Hear the mallet percussion in there? Mmhmm? That's how I am going to die. Please attend the funeral - I would greatly appreciate it.

Music to write (or die) by. CLICK HERE! 

Genius: 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration.

WE ARE THE 1%. OCCUPY WRITER'S BLOCK!

Seriously, though. That 1% may be small, but it makes all the difference. Since all of my perspiration is being saved for final exams and a weekend spent in the sun, I might as well focus on that inspiration bit.

Current-Inspiration-Sensation #1: These utterly stunning wedding gowns/accessories!

Ruche sells some really pretty things (although some of the stuff I wouldn't exactly recommend wearing), but one of the coolest things about this store is all of their wedding stuff. I repeat: WEDDING STUFF.

This 20's inspired dress is so beautiful. With some alterations to the neckline, I would totally wear this. Maybe not as a wedding dress, but it is very much a ball-worthy dress. I highly recommend sifting through their wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses if you want to get a vintage feel. The colors are gorgeous. Just the palette makes me want to do something creative!

Did I mention the gloves? I've simply been dying for a pair. I can't decide which I love more: these or these. They're so lovely --- for some reason, lovely things inspire me.

Current-Inspiration-Sensation #2: The Civil Wars

I wouldn't call this a "current" inspiration. I would call it my "constant" inspiration. I adore their music. There is always one song that strikes a chord with me and conjures a scene in my mind. For example...

Every time I hear this song, I see the main characters from my Irish novel. I won't go into detail (SPOILER ALERT!!!), but for some bizarre reason I think this song hits their relationship on the head. Not to mention the music video! It's so sad and hopeful and it really expresses the complexity of relationships. (Note to reader: These guys aren't dating. They're married, but not to each other. They just make beautiful music together.)

Threw this one in for all of you Hunger Games fans. But this song really helps me to channel my sad side. This song is going to be a lifesaver when I write my dystopia for NaNoWriMo.

This song is more for me than for my characters. It's my future husband song. :) Like I said, they make beautiful music together.

If you love these two as much as I do, go buy their CD. Best purchase I ever made. For writing music, I'd recommend: Pressing Flowers, 20 Years, My Father's Father, Falling... pretty much everything they've ever written...

Current-Inspiration-Sensation #3: Wait for it... MR. DARCY.

This is really weird because I don't know where it came from. But all week I have been craving Pride and Prejudice and making references left and right.

Friend: ... so apparently he wants his sister to text me. I don't really understand why.
Me: Maybe she's the Georgiana to his Darcy?
Friend: ...
Me: They're close... and... stuff... *awkward silence*

I have also been talking in a British accent. Oh, and I'm watching the Kiera Knightley version for the first time ever on a friend's iPod in Chemistry. (We call it our study in the the Chemistry of Luuuurve.) I can't say I'm crazy about this version, but it has certainly given me the urge to dance and wear period clothing. Plus, tonight I realized there is this one guy who reminds me terribly of Mr. Darcy... It's quite horrible. I'll be swooning all over someone who isn't really Darcy in the first place. Terrible habit, I know.

Now, I'm off to finish my last REAL day of school. In a week, I shall be on my way to senior year. My my, how the time flies! I'm hoping my Memorial Day weekend beach escapade will equal writing time, not just studying/reading Emma/doing ridiculous things with my cousins time. Wish me luck!

I am at an impasse.

im·passe

 [im-pas, im-pas] 

noun

1. a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock.

2. a road or way that has no outlet; cul-de-sac.

(Courtesy of www.dictionary.com. Just in case their copyright ninjas come to kill me or something. *shrug*)

First, I shall note that the words "no escape" brought to mind the lyrics of this song to mind. Now, to describe the aforementioned impasse!

I CAN'T WRITE.

Calm yourselves! This is not going to be a post where I wallow in self-pity and tell you what a horrible writer I am. (We shall save THAT post for another day. Just kidding, of course.) But really, I simply cannot write. Why? Because I have done only about 0.34% of the research necessary to proceed with my historical fiction novel. This is a real bummer because I just came up with the best opening scene ever, but it involves a newspaper and that means I actually have to be accurate in terms of headlines. Meh. Work. Me no like.

This means that I am going to have to actually pick up a book or look up a website and start reading. This is a problem because I have no time to research, and barely any time to write. As usual, my life's dream of writing the best fictional account of the Irish War of Independence ever known to mankind has to be set on the back-burner for a little while. For the time being, I am looking up potential titles to delve into and organizing reliable websites. And brainstorming. Lots and lots and brainstorming. Don't worry, it will all come together. I love the characters of this story too much to let them go unwritten.

In other literary news, we had our release party for our Lit Mag last night! I drank a chocolate peanut butter mocha smoothie. It was fantastic and so big I nearly got sick. We all read aloud from our pieces in the Lit Mag (mine was kind of awkward because I did a few paragraphs of my essay and then tapered off) and bought advance copies. My best friend's aunt, who judged the essay contest, attended and it was a blast. Furthermore, one of my good friends drove out to see us and nearly gave me a heart attack when he randomly showed up in the restaurant. As far as Lit Mag goes, I will be selling magazines for the next three school days during my lunch period. Next Monday are elections for editorial positions for the upcoming year. I was junior co-editor this year (!!!), so we'll see what happens.

In terms of reading, I am still on Emma. I only get to read tidbits in my spare time, and it takes every ounce of willpower not to skip ahead and sneak a peek at all the amazingness that is guaranteed to come.

I guess that's it. Not all that exciting. Just wait til NaNoWriMo --- THAT will be exciting.

The faces we can never forget...

I've been thinking a lot about putting faces to characters lately. I can partly blame the lovely Marlene, who decided to post a bunch of pictures of her beloved Doctor Rawlings and gush about how utterly wonderful he is. (I am still Team Edward II. However handsome the good doctor might be.) I also blame this post on character boards from Go Teen Writers. I don't know why this post has been stuck in my head (it's rather old), but I think what struck me was how utterly recognizable the majority of the people on her character board are. *shrug*

One of the best things about books is that everyone "sees" the book in a totally different way. I remember the first time I saw Harry Potter on the big screen (which was loooong after I read the books). I was in a state of shock because everything was DIFFERENT. Wildly, wildly different. I still get that same sense whenever I see an adaptation of one of my favorite books. For example...

A TALE OF TWO CITIES. (I just finished this wondrous book in school today. I nearly cried. It was so beautiful, I wanted to stand on top of my desk and shout it out to the world. Of course, everyone in my English class already thinks I'm crazy, so that probably wouldn't have helped my case.) We watched parts of the mini series (1989) in class and it practically ruined everything for me. Want to know why? Well, I shall enlighten you!

I was only a little ways into the book when we started. It took all of 0.000001 seconds to realize that Lucie Manette was ALL WRONG. Don't even try to argue with me --- this isn't even up for debate. Please excuse me, but Lucie Manette is supposed to be noticeably pretty. Not dog ugly!!! See for yourself.

Love the hair. You should see the back. It's this big straight thing that goes down to her waist. And she's totally a blonde. Yup. Just like Lucie Manette.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

I barely knew the characters when we watched the mini series, and I was soon tricked into thinking that Darnay is/was more awesome than he really is/was (no spoilers, promise). See, during the trial, he does this adorable little smile thing and... Gah, my heart seriously melted. Not to mention he is undeniably attractive. So yes, I was swooning in the middle of class. It was kind of hard for Sydney Carton to follow up. It took me quite a few chapters to realize that nowhere in the text does Charles Dickens mention Darnay's swoon-worthy smile.

As there are no YouTube clips of the series except for this one here, I cannot prove to you how adorable Darnay was. But I can give you a video of Carton being awesome, Lucie being ugly, and photographic evidence of Darnay's general attractiveness. I would recommend renting the series and skipping to the initial trial. Just wait for the smile. A part of you will die along with it.

(Way more attractive when moving and smiling adorably.)

ANYWAYS.

My point is, characters tend to look a little different in our heads than in other people's heads. That's why there are, like, 20 different movie adaptations of every Jane Austen book known to man out there. Everyone has a different vision. But some people's vision just happen to be better than others...

In relation to my writing, I always picture my one hero like Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games as Gale. When I saw him in the trailer for the movie, I squealed. If one were to slap a cap on him, make him frown a lot, and get him to keep quiet, he'd be a dead ringer. Here's a picture just so you can see what I see:

(I love the awkward kid right next to Gale, who is totally and completely in focus. ^_^)

Speaking of The Hunger Games...

You're welcome.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

*dies inside*

My lit just received a lift.

On http://www.litlift.com/, that is!!!

I discovered this wonderful site while trying to navigate around the horrible school filters that plague our school wifi network. (I get it - they want to protect us. I get that from the labels "Drugs", "Violence", "Porn", and "Obscene or Tasteless". But I need GoogleDocs if I want to become the next great novelist!) It is a seriously awesome site. I joined today and really just want to gush about how loverly it is.

That's the page where you sign in. Nice lay-out, eh? Well, it gets better.
*scrambles to sign in*

Whatever you do, don't read that book title. It's tentative to the EXTREME. Hmm. I should probably go change it, shouldn't I? Anyways, there's my Irish novel. I plan to create my NaNoWriMo novel later! Look at those lovely headers: Books, Characters, Settings, Items, AND Tools! It's like novelist heaven!

I'm going to click on my book now. *click*

DON'T READ MY BOOK DETAILS. So horribly tentative. If you look on the sidebar, you can see all of the amazing features. You can edit your book info, write chapters, create character profiles (they have a whole form for each major and minor character!), settings, items, and the option to export all of your info. Everything in one place!!!

Basically, all of your character information, research, and setting information is all in one place. AND you can use it to write your chapters and organize them. AND all of this stuff is listed on the side bar for easy reference!

I'll show you one of the character profiles, because they're pretty much the only tool I've used as of yet.

It's wonderful. *sigh*

I just wanted to recommend this website to anyone who intends to write a novel. It's fabulous, so far. AND I CAN GET TO IT IN SCHOOL!!! :D

Going green... with envy.

This Saturday, I missed THE SOCIAL *dramatic music*. Yes yes, Marlene will tell you all about it, with her hysterically captioned photos and the occasional swish of her altogether wonderful Narnia dress that is pretty much to die for (view it right here). I, however, was making beauuuutiful music at my band concert. Not sure if it was worth it yet. The recording will tell. (I intend to send the recording to everyone to prove that my missing the social was not a complete waste. Besides, I want everyone to realize how much they should have missed me. My presence simply livens up the room. I'm sure they all missed me... I think, at least...)

This Saturday I also took my SAT's, which was interesting because it was sort of a fiasco. The up side was I wrote my entire essay on Sense and Sensibility. I wanted to cover it with hearts and smiley faces, but that wouldn't do.

Today was my AP Spanish Exam. I cannot tell you any details or else the College Board will shoot me, or so my guidance counselor claims. However, I can tell you that it went relatively well, considering I was a complete mess of sweatpants and strangely frizzy hair. (Usually I am the picture of elegance. Hmm.) Now the storm is over, and I only have to survive...

- the drama banquet
- the Forensics banquet
- Lit Mag production week
- Lit Mag release party
- chorus rehearsals
- chorus concert
- finals week

Did I mention I won first in the essay contest? Yeah, that will be in the Lit Mag. Oh, and I got a solo in the chorus concert? NBD. I'm not still freaking out or anything.

Enough about my life. I guess I feel the need to explain my absence on this blog. I'm turning into one of those teenage girls who acts like her blog is her personal diary. Someone should really hold an intervention.

Concerning writing...

~ I have successfully written two 250 word scholarship essays. One concerned my choice of "do-over" in life (join the band freshman year, duh), and the other concerned the importance of education (it rocks, obviously). I wrote them both with a rather humorous tone. I figured that scholarship people would find it refreshing.

~ This month is supposed to be an Ireland research month. Except that I have yet to get my hands on any books. The Internet can be kind of shady, I've learned, so I'd prefer to start with some published material. I plan on blowing my $25 B&N gift card as soon as possible. I'm hoping to buy used to save money. Wootwoot!

~ I want to start planning for NaNoWriMo, seeing as I haven't really worked on a concrete project in ages. I'm a bum. Almost as much as this guy over here. (If you got the reference, I award you 259.8 brownie points). I'm leaning towards writing a dystopia. I've never really written anything so dark before, but the idea is promising... It's kind of satire... I think.

~ I have discovered I really want to write a novel about Russia. They have really cool names over there. I suppose this will come after my Ireland novel. Assuming I ever get to write it.

Now, on to reading.

I am still in the middle of Emma. And as usual, I talk to myself while I read it.

Me, Last Night (A Monologue-Turned-Poem)

 Oh...

Where is Mr. Knightley when you need him?

That's awkward.

Wow.

Ugh.

No!

John, you big idiot.

Of course.

*facepalm*

Mr. Elton, I swear!

Oh, Emma.

Harriet!

Knightley!

What?

Great.

I do the same thing reading A Tale of Two Cities.

A Mental Monologue (Due to my Being-In-School)

Stryver,

you stink.

Oh, I get it now.

Mr. Lorry! You adorable old man.

The question is, who dies first?

Kate, don't you dare read the ending without reading the book.

Gah, Darnay!

*gasp*

Irony.

Now, to do nothing. I have waited so long for this moment. *sigh*