How Jillian Blairington Came to Be

I know I've told several friends this, but finally figured I may as well include it here. Jillian Marie Antel Blairington started with a writing group prompt: cereal surprise. I wrote a short story featuring this little girl who decides to aid her mother's boyfriend with his proposal. I loved the character and her voice so much that I wrote 9 more short stories.

Last summer, I decided to return to the character. I had been working on some science fiction projects and wanted a change of pace. I was going for "normal" ... honest, I was. What I got was Ashlynn's Dreams. While there are elements that make this a science fiction story, it's still mostly normal.

Writing Dialogue

Writing dialogue is a lot like talking to yourself. It's really rather easy if you're good at making small talk with you. Let's face it, for most of us, our favorite person is us, so this should not be hard. I've never had to practice writing dialogue, but it would be a fun exercise to see what different things people would say in response to a random situation.

Dialogue is vastly important because it defines the character.
For example, if one character (Jimmy) says, "I want ice cream."

There are very nearly endless possibilities of how someone else could respond.
A small child might say, "Me, too!"
An amorous creeper might say, "I want you."
An indulgent mother might say, "What flavor would you like? We'll get you some as soon as possible."
A frustrated mother might say, "Tough."
A frustrated teacher might say, "Please focus, Jimmy."
A friend might say, "What kind? I want mint chocolate chip with fudge and whipped cream."
A waitress might say, "Try the triple fudge sundae. They're fabulous."

Try it, what would you say?

Lousiest Blogger Ever

Well as you can see from the gross disparity in frequency, I'm a pretty lousy blogger.
That said, I hope to do better.

I'm kinda excited about the new book project I'm working on. I've got one month to get it basically in order before school starts up again and my life turns back into one gradefest after another. I had planned on writing 2 books this summer, but that idea is getting tossed. I'll be lucky to finish this one.

I dunno why it took me only three weeks to put the last book together (last summer, Ashlynn's Dreams) and this one is taking me 4 weeks and I'm a little over halfway through. There's a 25k difference in size, but that shouldn't speak for such a wide gap.

I would love to know how long it took certain authors to write their books.

First Class Trip Ever... well sort of

Took a class trip last Friday and it was interesting. Saw a lecture, nothing spectacular there. The big thing was that it was the first time I had taken a class trip as the one in charge rather than a happy spectator.

All in all, things went well. A few minor things like stress of not finding things made me slightly crazy, but I'd count it a success.

Sometimes I Find My Heart Heavy

I wrote this poem/ song a few days ago, but after hearing a sermon on margins found here http://www.liquidchurch.org/ I think it has new meaning that never even occurred to me. I was picturing this as the person doing the helping, but if I place myself in the opposite role, I find I still fit - all too well.

Sometimes I Find My Heart Heavy

(10/17/2007)

Sometimes I find my heart heavy

For I don’t know how to reach you,

If you don’t reach out to me,

Then I don’t know what you need from me.

I can take no steps

If I don’t know where to find you.

It’s like shouting into dark and hearing nothing.

Only to find out sometime later

You were there the whole time

Bound and gagged by helplessness.

Close enough to touch by hand

But far away in mind and spirit

Therefore, far beyond my reach.

Tell me, how can I reach you?

Is there some middle ground we can safely tread

To cross the distance that lies between us?

Sometimes I find my heart heavy

For I don’t know how to reach you,

If you don’t reach out to me,

Then I don’t know what you need from me.

Review of Inferno: Five Irksome Points, Five Saving Graces

I’m going with three of five stars because, although I enjoyed the book, many things about it irk me to no end. Mild spoilers ahead, so beware.

This could have been the end of the series, yet the we-want-to-sell-3-more-books idea prevails.

Irksome point 1: Jacen’s characterization throughout the series. The authors have thus far tried to lead him slowly to the dark side. I even half-buy a third of their crappy rationalization. Several plot points leave me stunned by the sheer stupidity. Jacen Solo was a freaking awesome character by the end of the NJO, he even had sense through that flipping awful Swarm War series, then all of a sudden in LOTF he’s Mr. I’m-a-man-I-can-take-on-the-galaxy by sacrificing all about me, I’ll preserve peace.

Saving Grace 1: Jaina seems fully back to her senses, thank the force. She even gets one whole nice long scene to show she really is a Jedi.

Irksome point 2: Alema Rar. Ever since the force-forsaken Swarm War series I’ve disliked her character. She’s just painful to read. “We” this, “balance” that, “kill Leia” the other. Aaaarrrrggghhh. Sorry, I’m usually more articulate than that, but she’s like a rash that won’t go away in any TD book.

Saving Grace 2: Troy Denning’s descriptions are at times brilliant.

Irksome point 3: Tahiri Veila. How many years have passed since Anakin’s death? Yes, she loved deeply, but one would think her Jedi training would have given her a better measure of peace than this book implies. It’s hard to believe that her only option of finding peace is to turn to Jacen and force-flowing to find Anakin again. She knew Anakin like she knew herself, or so we’re lead to believe. Yet she’s willing to do many things Anakin wouldn’t have condoned. Sure.

Saving Grace 3: Tenel Ka. Wahoo, some characters stay true to themselves. Yes, she’s reminiscent of Padme, but unlike Padme, she’s willing to fight. Thank the force someone didn’t turn the authors loose against her character.

Irksome point 4: we-want-to-sell-3-more-books – Jacen’s beaten and Luke walks away b/c it’s the right thing to do. Incidentally, they make a half-hearted attempt to explain this away in the next book. Benny boy might walk the dark path, so we must let Mr. I-am-sith-god live. Worst part – it will WORK! Yes, I’ll buy the others to complete the series. Yes, I’ll probably have mixed feelings about them. Yes, I may regret spending the money later.

Saving Grace 4: Ben Skywalker. He reacts normally, thank goodness.

Irksome point 5: The miraculous escape in the end is so far beyond ridiculous it’s painful. The cause of said miraculous escape is also painful because the poorly named thing just all of a sudden remembers its powers… yeah right.

Saving Grace 5: Luke’s still powerful. Yes, he’s a lot over-done, which would have made him an irritant, had I been not so ready for him to DO something besides dither.

Comments on Lorien's cd: Waterline

This relatively short cd combines Lorien's amazingly beautiful voice with her haunting lyrics that tell many tales.
For the life of me I can't make heads or tails of Well of Swords. It's probably my 2nd-3rd favorite on the cd. I can't decide whether I like it better than the title track or not. Waterline may edge it out for the small reason of I can hear every word clearly, whereas Well of Swords, I had to look up the lyrics. You can actually hear both of these songs at Lorien's myspace music site. I highly recommend getting the whole cd though, it's reasonably priced and very relaxing music.
My personal favorite is perhaps the shortest song on there: For Love and Beauty. I think it takes all of a minute to play.
Part of this cd's appeal is how beautiful the presentations of death sound as they gently brush one's ears. Highly recommended.