Tag: Friends

Farewell to June

Farewell to June

Hey! Two recap posts on time in a row! Progress! Let’s get started, shall we?

June’s Writing

I actually haven’t done a ton of writing this month. I worked on several chapters of House of Mages’ third draft, and then got really irritated at it and decided to set it aside until after July’s Camp NaNoWriMo.

Those of you who have read a lot of my blog have probably heard of The Half-Elves. Well I decided one evening to just write something random with them, and I got a two-page short story out of it, in which they actually acted like themselves. I actually posted it, come to think of it. You can find it here.

And I’ve also started plans on a new trilogy, which I talked about in my last post.

June’s Reading

I haven’t read much this month, either. I did read Heartless by Marissa Meyer, however, and I highly recommend it. It was sooooo good! It was heartwrenching at the end (no pun intended), but it was so good. I’d warn you not to get attached to anyone, but that’s an impossible feat, so I won’t suggest trying it.

I’ve also been reading The Collective by R.S. Williams, since I won it in a giveaway (which surprised me, since I don’t tend to win things). I plan on reviewing it once I’m done.

And, if this counts, I read a story that a friend of mine wrote when he was about eight, which had me rolling on the floor laughing, particularly when coupled with the sarcastic comments that he and friends of his had left on almost every other line. My favorite quote from that story was definitely, “Drink this, you great big flashlight!”

Other Fun Stuff

My choir got to sing at Wolftrap with Celtic Woman on June 20th! It was a spectacular experience, although to be entirely honest the excitement seemed to be on a fifteen-hour lag. I didn’t freak out until about ten the next morning, lol. But it was really, really cool to hang out with the choir and meet Celtic Woman and sing in front of thousands of people and just… it was amazing. (Dude, I performed on a stage that Lindsey Stirling has performed on! *squeals*) I called the late excitement “post-concert euphoria.” (I’m a fan of The Space Between Us, so I had to make a reference to it, even if no one got it.) Just being on the bus with the choir is a great experience, because we sing the entire way, randomly bursting into VeggieTales or Disney or Phantom of the Opera or three-year-old choir songs. It’s great, and there’s never a very long lag in the music, because someone will always get us started again on something new. I adore my choir. ^-^

On top of that, one of my fellow choir members and I talked about writing several times this month, which is really cool because I don’t have very many writing friends I’ve met in person.

And in a similar vein, I’ve realized I have a couple of really great friends that aren’t just online friends. (My online friends are still fabulous, by the way.) I’ve often bemoaned my lack of “real life” friends, so it’s really cool to realize I actually have more than I noticed.

I’ve also had a song written about me now. *checks that off bucket list* One of the above mentioned friends wrote a song about each me and another friend, which was cool. ^-^

So overall it’s been a pretty spectacular month. How have you guys been this month?

Writers Like Us Interview 4: Marci

Writers Like Us Interview 4: Marci

Welcome to the fourth and final installment in the Writers Like Us series! Our last interviewee is Marci.

 

Alpine Writer: What author or authors do you think most influenced your writing?

Marci: I wouldn’t necessarily say my writing was influenced by any person in particular. I just write. :)

 

A: What genre do you write?

M: Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Bildungsroman…anything I can put magic in.

 

A: Do you tend to stick to one genre or do you like to write lots of different things?

M: I write whatever I really feel like writing. ;D

 

A: Do you tend to write the same kind of things as what you read?

M: I read most things, so yes? No? Maybe?

 

A: What is your most recent work-in-progress?

M: Two things– the rewrite of my NaNoWriMo novel– The Day the Sky Wept– and a story involving an angel/valkyrie/grim-reaper-type creature.

 

A: What are some of your favorite books?

M: Good Omens [Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett], A Whole Nother Story [Dr. Cuthbert Soup], Famous Last Words [Katie Alender], Bliss [Kathryn Littlewood], The Curse of the Blue Tattoo [L.A. Meyer (?)] etc…

 

Cool!

Thank you for reading the Writers Like Us series! I hope you enjoyed it. :)

Writers Like Us Interview 3: Matt

Writers Like Us Interview 3: Matt

Welcome to the third installment of Writers Like Us. Today I’ll be interviewing Matt.

 

Alpine Writer: What author or authors do you think most influenced your writing?

Matt: I’d have to say Timothy Zahn and Robert Jordan have been my biggest influences, Jordan more for description, worldbuilding and and intrigue, and Zahn more for things like dialogue and twists. My other favourite author is Brandon Sanderson, and although I can’t think of any specific ways he’s influenced my writing style, I’m sure he has. I’ve also found a lot of the materials on his website to be inspirational, rather than influential, which puts him up there too.

 

A: What genre do you usually write?

M: I normally write fantasy, but I’ve been working on some young adult superhero-y stuff lately. One of my favourite things about writing is figuring out how the magic systems work, so I always try to include something magic in the story.

 

A: Do you tend to stick to one genre or do you like to write lots of different things?

M: I go all over the place, with my novels mostly being fantasy but occasionally whatever a superhero story is, and with my short stories all over the place, from horror to comedy to just weird. I have a mystery novel planned, but haven’t started writing it, so I’m not sure if that counts.

 

A: Do you tend to write the same kind of things as what you read?

M: Yes. I started writing because I kept saying, “I’d like to see a book that does this,” and one day I just decided to do it. My writing is for me, not for anyone else, because I’m writing for love of what I’m doing. I think that’s the most important part of it.

 

A: What is your most recent work-in-progress?

M: I’m currently working on two novels. The first is the beginning of a young adult series called Incendiary, about a couple of bored high school students who get superpowers and decide to see if they can take over the world. That one’s really fun to write, because it’s centered around the villains making their plans and trying to keep everything hidden. The second novel I’m working on doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s a fantasy novel in which the villains think they’ve found the fulfillment of a doomsday prophecy, along with a half dozen other major events that I don’t have the space to get into, and I probably couldn’t describe briefly.

 

A: What are some of your favorite books?

M: Well this is going to be a long answer. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan is amazing, and I’ll devour anything Timothy Zahn’s ever written, with The Icarus Hunt, the Blackcollar and Conquerors series, and Spinneret probably being his best works. Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, like most of his other stuff, is great. I recently read Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, and thought it was really good, although that’s a polarising one. I could keep going, but if I do I’m never going to stop, so I’ll just leave off with that.

 

Awesome!

Tune in next week for the fourth and final installment!

Writers Like Us Interview 2: Ember

Writers Like Us Interview 2: Ember

Welcome to the second installment of Writers Like Us! Today’s interviewee is my friend Ember.

 

Alpine Writer: What author or authors do you think most influenced your writing?

Ember: C.S. Lewis, Tolstoy (Hopefully, at least, I love him to bits), Chesterton

 

A: What genre do you write?

E: Fantasy/Science Fiction/Allegory

 

A: Do you tend to stick to one genre or do you like to write lots of different things?

E: I like to write everything that comes into my head. Except romance novels. Ew.

 

A: Do you tend to write the same kind of things as what you read?

E: I most certainly try to, it’s generally my rule of thumb for writing

 

A: What is your most recent work-in-progress?

E: An allegory that is going nowhere, and an unnamed group project with our wonderful GG

 

A: What are some of your favorite books?

E: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Pilgrim’s Regress by C.S. Lewis, The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and a Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo and that’s all I got off the top of my head :)

 

Cool!

Tune in next week for the fourth installment!

Writers Like Us Interview 1: Grace

Writers Like Us Interview 1: Grace

This is the first post of a new series. Each post will be a six-question interview with a writer friend of mine. My first interview is with Grace.

Alpine Writer: What author or authors do you think most influenced your writing?

Grace: Probably Sarah Dessen, or Robin Jones Gunn. I admire their books and I think they’re amazing fiction authors!

 

A: What genre do you write?

G: Teen fiction

 

A: Do you tend to stick to one genre or do you like to write lots of different things?

G: I stick to this genre, unless I feel adventurous, then I try for dystopian fiction.

 

A: Do you tend to write the same kind of things as what you read?

G: Yes, but sometimes I like to read something different and spice up my “routine”.

 

A: What is your most recent work-in-progress?

G: I’m currently in the works of the rough draft of a novel about a girl who reluctantly creates an anonymous blog and becomes famous. That’s not the whole plot obviously but the gist of it.

 

A: What are some of your favorite books?

G: This is such a difficult question to answer! Hmm… Probably the Christy Miller series, The Giver, and Twilight.

 

Cool answers!

Be sure to check back next week for my second interview!