Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Contest Results

Hello everyone! The winner of Traitors Knife by Elizibeth Kaiser is....

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Katy Orsborn!!!! Congradulations Katy! =D

Dear Diary,
     I guess that I'm a bit of a girly-girl. I love pink, shopping, and as many ruffles and furbelows as can fit on a single garment. Most people just see that and think, "Oh, she's a normal girl. There are too many like her. I'm going to let her be." But just because I'm a bit cliche doesn't mean that I don't have other sides!
     A lot of guys take me to be one of those "dumb blondes". Take today, for instance. I was put with Jack, Patrick, and Gabe for a science project. When I offered a suggestion for our subject, they sneered at me. "What do you know?" Jack smirked. "We're not talking about your dresses. You don't have anything to contribute, so stay out of this!" So whenever I tried to offer my two cents, I was rudely rebuked. 
     Well, they're not my problem! That was the millionth time such an event has occurred and I'm determined to prove them wrong. I'm going to stop being Miss Priss and swing into full Nerd-Geek mode. I'll show them my science-loving, genius side.
     I'll show them the real me, the side that I've hidden for so long.

Second place goes to... Clare Farrelly!!


"In fear and excitement I walked into the room. I knelt before the queen to be, who I would now serve. 
“Rise my lady” 
I slowly raised my eyes to her face and began to stand. I forgot all formalities and gaped at her, I knew that face. She looked back down at me and smiled then her eyes narrowed. I stood before her and wondered if she could see me trembling. Surely she had remembered all those years ago, I did.
Back then I was young and vain, the horrid daughter of an important Nobel. She turned up at the manor, I thought her a little tatterdemalion of no account. Only later did I find out that she had just survived being abducted. Now our paths had crossed again and she could do to me as she wished. I wondered, was she the sort to hold a grudge? 
I’d spent so much of my life trying to get a position like this in the court and now? She that I had hurt when we were children, now a queen to be, sat on the chair in front of me with a look of recognition spreading slowly across her face."

Third place is... Pearl Willis!!!

A brown haired girl sat on a chair reading the last page in The Tatterdemalion. “All finished,” she said, “Now what will I read? I’ve read just about every book in the house.”
Her little sister, Mollie, entered the room carrying a doctor's kit. “Katie, what’s your sickness? Doctor Mollie is here to help.”
Katie thought a moment, “I have a bad case of Abibliophobia.”
“What does abibablobia-whatever mean?” Mollie asked.  
“It means something like ‘The fear of running out of reading material’ I think.”
Mollie got some ‘pills’ (peanuts) and gave them to Katie. “Eat them and you will be better.” Then she left the room to fix her older brother’s ‘broken leg’.
Katie looked at the wooden clock above the doorway. Why does that clock always go widdershins? She thought. (She had just read all the way through a dictionary because she had nothing else to read and had picked up a lot of big words).
She went into the laundry room and saw her church dress lying on the ironing board. “That dress needs its furbelow ironed. I should probably do that.” She picked up the iron and started ironing the ruffle while singing a happy tune.

Thank you all for your wonderful entry's! I cannot wait to see you next month for our next contest! =D
-Mikayla-

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Hello

Hello everybody, this is Mikayla. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about how inconsistent the posts have been. You might have noticed that a review was supposed to have been posted today but it was not. That's because we're back to looking for a reviewer. Again. I'm trying to get some guest reviews until we get a new person in but this week it just fell through, I'm sorry. 
Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say. Oh and thank you to all who entered the contest, I've loved reading your entry's! For everyone else, you've still got until midnight to submit your entry! 
             -Mikayla-

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Writing Advice With: E. Kaiser

Today we have writing advice with E. Kaiser, enjoy! 


1. What is your favorite part about writing? Why?


When everything just syncs and the scene comes pouring out onto the page it is tuns even me; and I'm left sitting there thinking: "Whoa! That just HAPPENED! And it's perfect." and I show it to my sis, and her eyes start glowing as she reads... and I'm just completely off the tracks, the writing has taken over and done it's thing. I love that moment the absolute most.


2. Who helped you the most while you were beginning to write?
When I was 9 years old I read an abridged version of Little Women and learned the Jo March wrote stories, and then she wrote books! I was like "Wow! So that's how books are made!" I went around exclaiming at that 'til my brother looked at me like: "You're so ignorant!"
 I knew what I wanted to do. But I didn't know how to go about it. I went to mom and tried to get her to tell me how people write books.
"Well," she said, "first you have to read a lot, and think about what you liked and what you didn't."
 So I did, and that was probably the best over all advice on writing I've ever gotten.
 In  my teens I started playing with writing my own words, but I stayed in the practice stages a long time. I think this was a great thing, because I wasn't ready to put on a full performance.
  One thing I think examples like Eragon story create a lot of pressure on a teen writer to "be big" before they've even gotten the time to soak up what life is about. I'd love to tell young writers to ease up on themselves. Focus on craft and style, and not about churning out a "book" that is the correct number of pages. Live life, let it in, filter it through, conquer some stuff in your own world, and then you'll have a deeper, richer tale to tell.
 Because the real proof is in the pudding... how long are your words remembered? That's what makes a classic, the one that stays in the mind and heart of those who read it.
 And that's a big job.

3. What first gave you the idea for Jeweler's Apprentice?
 I wanted to write a novel for my youngest sis for her turning 16, I wanted to make it about a girl similar to her having an adventure; but she hates cliches with a passion so I knew I had to get creative with the details! So Fia was born more out of "nots" than anything else; she was not an orphan, not a warrior-chick or wannabe, not just turned "sweet sixteen", not a princess, not a pauper, not anything very extraordinary.
  She is part of a huge, loving family, related to lower aristocracy, trained by her mother to be a lady, and also knowledgeable about farm workings. She loves books, (slight cliche, I'll grant you!) but she totally adores gems and jewelry, and her older sister married into a house of jewelers, so she's been learning a bit from her brother-in-law. But on the first ever visit to the king's palace by the whole family, Fia gets separate, sees what she thinks is danger, and tries to save the princess's... life? Reputation? Fia's not sure. But, it looked bad... and it ends up worse... she's know mixed up on the fringes of sensitive information concerning the civil war in their next neighboring kingdom.
  And suddenly the king and chancellor want her far, far away where she can't accidentally talk.

 So they concoct the perfect plan: reward her father by "giving" his daughter a desirable apprenticeship... to a famous, hermit-like jeweler high in the mountains.
 Only thing is, those are the mountains that border the neighboring kingdom, and the war isn't staying on it's side of the line.


4. Do you have any more projects in the works?
Yes, Jeweler's Apprentice was met with demands for a sequel, so I wrote and released that in July of 2013. There are three more books planned, for a 5 book series.

 I am also working on a Snow Queen retelling right now, which is taking up a lot of my time and will likely end up as a trilogy following the main set of characters through some tough spots in their lives. It is my first try at a fairytale retelling, so I'm a little unsure of the terrain, so to speak, so i fuss over it a lot. But the story is really compelling and the characters are so strong... I can't "not write it", so it's a dynamic writing relationship at the moment!

 There are too many other books I want to write to go into that, and many of them have varying degrees of starts on them. So I foresee a  whole lot of novels in my future. ;-)

5. If you were to start over, what would you do differently? (Providing that you still had the knowledge of writing you do now?)
Write more boldly. Don't worry about sounding like "other people" 'cause they're already taking up that space. Sound like me. Write like me. And just do lots of it.
 Also, don't get discouraged thinking you'll never be published. That should be irrelevant, (and in today's indie world, not an issue now.) The question is, will you ever be WORTHY of being published? And only lots of time on your part can turn that into a Yes answer.
  So go!!! Do it!
    And then repeat!!!

6. Remembering when you were first starting out, what was the most important thing you were told, or learned along the way?


Being an author is a marathon, and not a sprint. So don't get panicky over the time it takes. You've got your whole life to live one way or the other.... will you be working on your book for the next five years or not working on it? Don't squeeze it into a little tiny space and say "Three months, tops!" That is doing both of you an injustice. 
 In the end, it's those with the patience to sit with the craft through the ebbs and tides, that will truly be "writers". I know you don't think it now, but when you're forty, you'll still be you. The only difference is you will (hopefully!) be a smarter you, and so you can write a smarter book. Don't think you have to do it as a teen or else you're a failure. Great successes can take a long while to build, and they're the ones that stand. So don't panic. 
 Breath. Trust the process. Life is a river, and like Lucky Llonio (The Chronicles of Prydain) it will bring all we need, both to learn and to write.




7. What is the most valuable writing advice you can give to other young writers?



  Do the stuff you intend to make your characters do. Seriously, people, please do all the impressionable minds out  there in the world a favor and actually do your homework on this.

  Can't experiment with time travel? Okay, I'll give you that one.
  But have you ever walked anywhere in your life? If you're planning on writing a book with any amount of walking, (and I'm looking at you, fantasy fans) pick a destination and walk to it. Take notes: speed, feels, actually arriving somewhere. Then walk BACK: yeah, that return trip can be a killer. Now you know how walking feels, and can write appropriately.   This should be "required doing" for all books that involve characters walking places. I'm in a book right now, where the characters walk and walk, bypassing domesticated animals wandering around after a tragedy. WHAT??? Grab those critters and ride, folks! Come on! I call foul. (Oh, and most of the characters are wounded.) That sound you heard? Yep. Me internally screaming.

Anyway, anti-realism in books bothers me! Fiction should reflect real life, so that by reading it, we can learn better how to live. So false data gets me hot under the collar!
  Thanks for having me, and I hope the writing adventures of all your readers go well!



Wednesday, July 2, 2014

July Contest

Well, its the first of the month again and we are giving away E. Kaiser's, Traitor's Knife! =D

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Pick at least one of the following words and work it into your story. And remember most of the fun is working it in so that it will make sense. =)

Abibliophobia - The fear of running out of reading material.
Furbelow - A fringe or ruffle.
Pettifogger - A person who tries to befuddle others with his speech.
Tatterdemalion - A child in rags.
Widdershins - In a contrary or counterclockwise direction.

<It can be up to 200 words of any part of a story.
<The deadline is on the 23'rd and the results will be posted on the 30'th.
<You do not have to put the deffanations in (But you can), those are to help you.
<There is no age limit.
<You may only send in one entry
When your done please submit it to us at Futurehomeschoolauthors@gmail.com
I hope you have fun, if you have any questions please comment below!
-Mikayla-