ManiacalHysteriaArt
ManiacalHysteriaArt
Msdudettes
Msdudettes
madamethenadier
PinkParasol
flordelys
pingvin66666
00aki
00Aki
taisteng
taisteng
Pau-Norontaus
writersbl0ck
the science fiction reading challenge will run from January 1st, 2012 – December 31st, 2012. Sign up begins today and lasts until February 1st, 2012.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1. Sign up with the link below. If you don’t have a blog, you can link your Goodreads account.
2. Grab the image on the left for your site.
3. Choose your level.
4. Leave a comment letting me know what level you’ve chosen.
Challenge Levels:
Hacker: 5 books
Android: 10 books
Alien cyborg: 15 books
Bladerunner: 30 books
Torchwood: 50 books
Captain of the Starfleet: 75 books
Jedi Master: 100 books
Timelord: 130+ books
More info: the books you choose can be in any sub-genre of science fiction (dystopian and steampunk included), and can be adult, YA, or MG. Comics and graphic novels also count.
Bonus if the book is by a 2012 debut author.
If you need suggestions, click here.
Related Reading Challenges:
Bonnie from Bookish Ardour has a fantastic Dystopian and Steampunk challenge. Click on the images below to go to her site for more details. I did both this year, but will probably only do the dystopian challenge next year.
I’m again going to go for the Bladerunner challenge; 30 books.
What level are you going for? Do you have any great sci-fi suggestions?
It has come to my attention recently that there are roughly eleventy billion fantasy books out there that I have not read. To combat this, I’ve decided to create a reading challenge, because I always do better when I hold myself accountable. So, who wants to join me?
the fantasy reading challenge will run from January 1st, 2012 – December 31st, 2012. Sign up begins today and lasts until February 1st, 2012.
If science fiction is more to your tastes, I will also be doing a sci-fi challenge. Details will be posted tomorrow.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1. Sign up with the link below. If you don’t have a blog, you can link your Goodreads account.
2. Grab the image on the left for your site.
3. Choose your level.
4. Leave a comment letting me know what level you’ve chosen.
Challenge Levels:
Hobbit: 5 books
Elf: 10 books
Vampire Slayer: 15 books
Wizard: 30 books
Brothers Grimm: 50 books
Dragonrider: 75 books
Curse Breaker: 100 books
Titan: 130+ books
More info: the books you choose can be in any sub-genre of fantasy, and can be adult, YA, or MG. Comics and graphic novels also count.
If you need suggestions, click here.
Alternate Challenges:
1. Read only high/epic fantasy
2. Read only urban fantasy
3. Read only historical fantasy
4. If you normally read adult, read only YA/ MG; or vice versa
5. Include at least 5 debut authors
6. Read only books based of myths/legends/ fairytales
I’m going to try for the Brother’s Grimm level; 50 books. I might shoot for Dragonrider.
What level are you going for? Do you have any great fantasy suggestions?
Ladyeriu
Jungshan
Matt Dixon
Feimo
Steampunkchile
Garystrange
Magic-spoon
Michelle Monique
Feimo
night_fate
Nath0905
Feimo
jutsukino
MsDudettes
tmiller4825
MsDudettes
maniacalhysteriaart
Jennlaa
Moonmomma
Happy NaNoing!
It’s the 21st, which means we are in the last stretch of NaNoWriMo (also, Thanksgiving is this week. Eep!). Some of you are already winners. *throws confetti* For the rest of us struggling to get our word counts up (and for the winners too), here is some inspiration in the form of pictures.
All pictures are taken from Deviantart, with links to the respective owners pages.
r3novatio
r3novatio
Alyn
Karil
Alexkcl
Alexkcl
Alexkcl
Djoel
mutrus
So, it’s been a few days. I’ve been busy NaNo-ing and editing, and you know, procrastinating.
I have a new look. I’m not sure how I like. We’ll see how it goes.
So, to save all our time (since I’m sure you’d rather be upping your word count too), here is a video, illustrating example of how to use euphemisms from some of the greatest minds in the 20th century.
Also, if you’re feeling week 2 blues, and your wip is starting to give you massive headaches, and look like a bunch of random gibberish, here is an inspiring song to remind you that it could be worse. MUCH worse.
You’re welcome. Now, get back to work!
According to the Magical Random Gods, Claudie is the winner!
Claudie, if you want to e-mail me at cnicoll85 [at] hotmail [dot] com with your sketch choices and your character descriptions, I will get started on them.* Also, be as specific as possible.
Also, I promised bookmarks to two people, and those winners are:
Tricia and Margo!
Send me your addresses and I’ll send those out right away.
That is all. Now back to my Japanese dramas.
*This will not get in the way of me catching up to you. Or you, Tricia. You either Sierra.
Beth Revis is doing a mind-blowingly awesome give-away for the month of November. To enter, she invites everyone to share the books they are the most thankful for.
There are many books that have inspired me throughout the years–LOTR, Chronicles of Narnia, The Phantom Tollbooth, but the one I am most thankful for, the one I vault above all others, and give a pedestal to lord over my massive book collection like some god of awesome, is the Iliad.
See, I like epic, and the Iliad is like the grandfather of epic. I have the strange desire to write about war and conflicts. I don’t know why. I don’t even consciously do it, but war just has a way of seeping into the plot. The Trojan war, to me, is one of the greatest wars in myth (or history, depending on whether or not you believe it actually happened).
According to the Classical Greeks, this was THE war of all wars, the one that changed the course of history, and continued to inspire man for thousands of years afterwards. The Trojans were the forefathers of the Romans; Achilles the inspiration that spurred Alexander the Great to be well, great.
But the Iliad is so much more than the war, it is about the characters, the people. Whether you love them or hate them, the players in the Iliad make a lasting impression on you. The hero Achilles, while brave and nearly invincible, was also brash, annoying, and pouty. He was the Greeks greatest warrior, those who met him in battle feared him, yet he was felled by a lazy pretty boy.
Hector, Achilles nemesis, and only true contender, was to me, the better warrior. Hector didn’t fight for glory, or plunder, or pride, he fought for love. It was the love of his city, the love of his people that spurred him on.
Agamemnon was an asshole. There really is no other way to describe him. As much as I disliked Achilles, I hated Agamemnon that much more. I couldn’t understand why he, and not his brother was leading the Greeks. For lack of a better term, he was a domineering jerk who took advantage of his spineless brother’s misfortune for his own glory and gain.
And Helen, a major player in the war, was pushed to the side. While her screen time was minimal, her presence was always there, looming over the pages, instilling inspiration or hatred in those that fought over her. Helen was the catalyst, the woman whose beauty has become indescribable. She is a subject that has baffled many artists throughout the millennia, her perfection untranslatable. Helen was the war. She was the story. She is the one who will be remembered above all others.
I want to create characters and conflicts like that. I want characters who will be remembered long after the pages have crumpled to dust, or the e-readers and tablets to have become fossilized relics littering the landfills.
The Iliad inspired me to transcend normalcy, and aim for placing my stories, my characters among the stars.
My NaNo advice to you to today is simple: For the most Effective word paddage, give all you characters really long names. I’m not saying names like Triglaananonneski, or Wiewbbjixlinsdandsommnavichowitch. I mean names like John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, or the prince from the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella who had like fifty names or something like that. And have everyone in your book refer to them that way. No Nicknames in your NaNo draft!
“Hey, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schimdt, I want a name like you!”
“Well, Christopher Edward James Sydney Michael, I think you’re name is pretty swell too!”
Ok, I know that dialogue is terrible, but hey, it’s early and I was up late. I need coffee.
You could also give them long and winding nicknames, if that’s most your style. Like Voldemort for instance, he has the long nickname of He Who Must Not Be Named. There, instead of using simply Voldemort, you have added an extra 5words for every time his name is said.Which, doing completely made up and extremely complicated mathematical equations, added 6 pages to each HP book (10 to Deathly Hallows. It was a really long book).
And don’t let it stop with your characters. Give all your nouns impossibly long titles, like The Room In Which We Sit Down To Eat Delicious Food, or The Place That We Do Not Go Because It Is Scary.
It’s tedious writing, by your word count will thank you later.
Also, don’t forget to enter the character sketch giveaway. There are still 3 days left, but hurry! Here are the bookmarks, all finished and prettied up:
And the back
I’m not gonna lie, I’m feeling a little lazy. I was up until 2 AM, getting a head start on my word count, so I can work on other things. Like Drawings. Or revision.
So! today is a post of nerdy videos to procrastinate watch. You’re welcome.
Galactic Empire State of Mind
Epic Rap Battles!
John Green Reads the First Chapter of the Fault in Our Stars
Scary Science!
November 21st can’t come soon enough
Lastly, a cartoon to get you in the happy writer mood.
Also, don’t forget to enter the character sketch give-away!
