Sugar Bears! (insert squeal)

So, I was walking through the mall today and something caught my eye. It wasn't the man in the extremely long false eyelashes, or the teen guy with gages the size of my fists. No, what caught my attention was a guy in his late twenties, wearing khakis with huge pockets and curly hair. Now before you think that I'm about to go on some girly rant about some guy, I'd like to point out that it wasn't exactly him that I noticed, it was the furry little creature crawling all over his arm! Yes!

As the redonculously anything furry addict that I am, I immediately rushed over to steal the creature from his hands.And I'm quite serious about that, well basically. I mean, he was saying something but I "accidentally" cut him off and asked to hold it and kind of played with it while he talked so I missed a lot of what he said besides the words marsupials, because, hey, it's a fun word. Anywho, the little fury creature I'm referring to is called a Sugar Bear. Cute name right?( Though throughout the day I've called it everything from a "sugar daddy" to a "sugar Baby" oops)

Said sugar bear was the size of an open hand. He kind of resembled a squirrel slash chipmunk and who can resist a chipmunk? But here's the kicker, Sugar bears arent rodents at all! Like I said before, they're marsupials so they're in the same family as Koala bears and kangaroos! The guy selling them , with the help of an adorable and strikingly brave and intelligent little onlooker, told us all about them and basically how they are the perfect pets. I mean, they are quite literally no maintenance. They dont need shots of any kind, and are very hygienic. This is kind of turning into a research paper so i'm going to link you to more info.

http://www.sugarbears.com/

Here's the craziest thing I wanted to share. When the guy placed his personal sugar bear a few feet away on the floor, it automatically ran back, scurried up his leg, and found its way safely back to his owners pocket. Isn't that insane? Like, you will never ever lose it because once they bond to you(in a few weeks) they consider you family forever. You don't get that kind of loyalty anymore!

Anyways, I was so drawn to these little guys that I ended up hovering around his booth in the middle of the mall each time I walked past. Ermm, I guess I should also add that we were there for about 3 hours and I passed the booth a considerable amount of times. I think I was starting to make the guy nervous after I ended up coming back to the mall later in the evening with a whole new group of people and demanding to hold the sugar bear once more. But I swear that wasn't the reason we came back a second time, it was just a coincidence. *cough*

Anyways, the little onlooker I mentioned earlier, the one who totally used her cuteness to take the sugarbear from me, well she will probably be receiving one for a Christmas/birthday present. Sense it was clear she wouldnt leave until her mother said otherwise. I on the other hand, can not afford to pay 400 dollars for one so I will be saving for however long it takes until I can get one of my own. Just thought I would share my mall experience. :)

p.s, i got these image form the internet.

Welcome to the new age!

I want to try something new. I want to blog about something besides writing. The reason being that I'm just not sure if I can build many viewers on such a narrow subject, especially as a young, sort of inexperienced writer. So, for now on, expect to read about things besides writing and if you would please, suggest some things!

Reading Dealbreakers

Here's the scene; it's a hot summer day, and you've got nowhere to go but a deep feeling of yearning for something new is coursing through your veins. It's all eyes on you when you walk in but you can't help but spot a hot little number leaned against the shelf.

Now, any other time, you'd find yourself withdrawn. But you have a sudden urge to bring #Y.O.L.O back to the summer of 2013; so you chance it, making your way across the room. *Cue the slow music as the love doctor gives you an extra dose of spunk, take a deep breath, and go in for the kill.

Suddenly, you're back in the library, reading over the blurb because you can't risk being fooled by such an intriguing cover. It was a good idea because ,Ugh! It's not only about vampires, but it's written in third person! You place the book back on the shelf and walk away. Looking back only to whisper, "Sorry, you're not my type."

Now children, what have we learned from this? Don't talk to books, you'll only break there hearts! Not really. There is amazingly no lesson to be learned here unless you're some creep who's against checking out books. (ba-dum-bum!) But really, what I meant by all of this was to offer the question; what are some of your reading dealbreakers? If you're unfamiliar with the word, it means the things that would not make you date a person in a million years if they were the last person on the planet. (atleast thats what I got from watching santagato tv.) So I want to apply this to books. What are some things that would stop you from reading a book even if it were the very last one on Earth? Here are some of mine.

1. If it is written in thrid person.
~ I can't begin to explain how much I loathe the thrid person P.O.V. I've turned down so many potentially good books because of it. What can i say, I like feeling like I know the character. The whole show me, dont tell me kind of thing.

2.If it strays too far from my beliefs.
~I'm pretty open minded but all in that implies.

3.If it written about someone too much younger than me.


4.If it doesnt contain a lick of romance.
~This sounds dumb, but honestly, I'm a hopeless romantic. I'm not saying it has to be all steamy(that would be breaking dealbreaker number 2) but I personally think that romance can make a story so much better.

5.Steampunk,historical fiction,zombies,or dystopian.
~Dont get me wrong. I loooove history. Just not in fiction.

So these are just my personal opinions but I'd love to hear your dealbreakers when it comes to reading :)

Rewrites and Stephen King

“When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.”
—Stephen King, WD

 

One word...Rewrites

Dun Dun Duuuuunnn

I hope I speak for everyone when I say, I like to think of myself as a serious writer. Would it be stepping my boundaries to even count myself as an author? However you see yourself, there will most likely be a time when you are tested. Worst, there's a time when you must prove your loyalty to your passion. This time, for me, would be when it's time to do rewrites, major edits, second or third drafts and for those extra poor poor souls, fourth fifth and sixth drafts.

 

Alas, this scary time has made it's entrance into my life and I must admit, nothing has prepared me for it. I am currently in the middle of rewriting my very first full length novel, Unearth. Now, as a rookie in this whole thing I an't give you any verifiable help but here are some things that i've learned so far...

 

It's already stressful enough to know that you are about to do open heart surgery on your baby. If you don't have a set date where you absolutely have to have it done, take it slow. Rushing through your rewrites will only make your second or even third draft messier. Think of it like a retry at a failed relationship. Don't rush back into it, give it patience and set your limits. *cough cough(says the girl who's relationship status is perpetually 'its complicated'. But can you blame me? How can I explain being married to more than one fictional character?)

 

Besides that, you should follow up with your characters. Before I started my rewrites, I'd taken a few weeks from even looking at my novel as suggested by Stephanie Morrill from Go Teen writers. During that time, I'd had someone reading it from the beginning. They commented on how much they absolutely loved my characters personality and that's when it hit me. My character was NOT consistent. I'm talking from the first chapter to the middle of the novel there was a complete personality swap. NOT COOL! The internet is littered with cool character interviews that you should do when you start your novel. When you're rewriting check it out and see how much has changed. You character is suppose to change throughout the story, but near the end you should not have a completely different character.

 

In the words of one of my favorite musicians, "cut the bad fruit off of the tree, make the sacrifice."

Cut, cut cut! At first it's pretty much torture but if you can cut a hunk of something out that seemed unnecessary and rewrite it as something useful and just as interesting, it will feel sooo much better in the end.

So, thus far, rewriting has been quite an adventure. But as Mr. Stephen king so eloquently put it; like murdering children, it must be done. Replace the butcher knife with a red pen and you'll be well on your way.

 

p.s I thought about posting an "It" gif on here in honor of Stephen King but after scanning through about ten of them on tumblr I was certain I'd either burst in tears or not sleep well for the next month. So, I kind of nixed the idea, you're welcome.

The Reality of Summer

Daydreams, fantasies, shameless hopefull wondering; we're all guilty of it. However, I've notcied that these glazed eyes moments seem to rise in epidemic numbers following the end of the Christmas buzz. But Le Gasp! What could be so dreamworthy that we'd rather zone out than pay attention to our lovely teachers and oh so exciting schoolwork? The answer is simple, Summer!

 

For me, thanks to magazines, ABC family, and good ol' blockbuster hits, my mind automatically me and an abundance of friends roasting marshmallows around a beach bonfire, trying somethng new and exciting or being saved by spiderman. I even make a summer bucket list which I end up redrafting until that faitful last day of school. Fast forward about seven months and you will find me in sweats and a t-shirt, surrounded by books and hunched over my writing journal or laptop. Dont forget the moments where I glance up to look wistfully out at the rain and wonder what happened to my perfect summer that I'd planned s vividly in my mind.

 

On these rare moments where I found myself lucid, my mind no longer in a fictional world, I realize how much this sucks! I suppose t is this that has made me realize that I need to make some kind of change. The fact is; no matter how many times I turn on my i-pod and stare out of the car window, my life will never be that summer movie. Thats the sucky part of reality, it's just so realistic. However, that doesnt mean I have to spend every summer day engaged in a fictional world(no matter how perfect it is).

 

Most of us wont score a dream internship, tour the seven wonders of the world, or have the storybook summer romance. What we can do, is make it the summer we can look back on as bestselling authors and say, "That was the summer that helped pioneer all of this." So here are some small goals I have set for this summer. Theyre simple enough to accomplish, but ambitious enough to say that you indeed did something this summer vacation.

 

1. The obvious one, say yes to every oppurtunity that approaches you. Oppurtunities may not be abundant to you, but knowing that will only help you recognize them when they do come up.

 

2.Dedicate atleast 3 hours a week on a writing project. Emphasis on atleast.

 

3.Step out of your cofort zone one time. This is kind of a branch from number 1. It could mean hugging a random person or singing karaoke. JUST DO IT!!!

 

4.Brighten someones day. Send a randm e-card or give a compliment. Smile!

 

5.Obesess over something. 1D, Doctor Who, Hungergames, Spiderman...

 

6.Find a new and unexpected reading spot and set up shop! Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery.

 

7. Accomplish something. I want to do a 5k and finsih my second draft for a WIP.

 

8.Make a call. Pull out the yellow pages and find a publishing house. Just talk to them about your aspirations as a writer and ask for tips. Or, call a random person and have a conversation.

 

9.Have a water day. Summer is not summer until you've gotten wet atleast once. If you cant go to the beach or pool,host a waterballoon fight with siblings, cousins, or cose firends. If you really want to make it a day to remember invite everyone you know, even the cashiers at starbucks!

 

10.Be yourself no matter what changes may happen over the next two months. If you feel uncomfortable wearing a bikini, then work that one piece like you're Marilyn Monroe. Is everyone jamming to a new poppy song that you hate? Hook up you i-pod and suggest one of your favoritemetallica songs.