The WORST opener in the history of writing

This is my entry for the Absolute Write blog chain for July. This month's prompt: the Mini Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. The Mini Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest means trying to write the worst possible first line of a book or story in the spirit of Edward "It was a dark and stormy night..." Bulwer-Lytton. "Worst" in this case is subjective, but florid and ridiculous purple prose is probably closest to the spirit of the thing. Here is mine:
 
It was an unusually well told dark and extremely out of the ordinary stormy, because thunder groaned in the abyss like a mad man, night, and by night the vultures cried yelps of pleas for the melancholy in the air had built up and just wouldn't vaporize.

Please visit all the awesome participants...Cheers!

orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com

AuburnAssassin - http://clairegillian.com
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/
Horseflye - http://thecozylittleplot.blogspot.com/
Proach - http://www.deannaproach.com/
BigWords - http://bigwords88.wordpress.com/
jkellerford - http://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com/
Euclid - http://euclid-thoughts.blogspot.com/
Diana Rajchel - http://blog.dianarajchel.com/
pezie - http://www.erinbrambilla.wordpress.com/
Guardian - http://daewrites.blogspot.com/
egoodlett - http://wordlarceny.blogspot.com/
Alpha Echo - http://writersramblings81.blogspot.com/

P.S. Don't forget to scroll down and enter my HUGE blog giveaway! Loads of prizes that range from brand new books, to Amazon gift cards, to critiques. Cheers!

HUGE Blog Contest!

I miss blogging so much. Life has gotten sooo in the way, and of course so has writing. I've been waiting to do this blogging contest and I did plan to do it earlier...No excuses. My bad. But by now, I've definitely stocked up on more things to give away! Woot!

Let me start with your fave part, and mine too of course. The prizes!
Oh and did I forget to mention that this is my 100th post? From now on, I'm going to try to make blogging daily. I'm really behind.

First place:

- A brand new copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth, Graceling by Cashore, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!!! That is not even all....Scroll down.



- You ALSO get a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate! Awesome!

- And a critique of your query and partial by yours truly, me. I have experience with these things and I was just recently offered representation which I'm putting on hold, but that is another post.

So that is that for the first place. I think I'd like to win that myself!

Second place:

- You still get a copy of Divergent, but you also get the chance to win my second $25 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Third Place: Last but not at all least! You get an e-book PDF version of Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card and a critique of your query and partial by me. Great book by the way, and the cover is sick!

The rules: There have to be rules, right?

To enter simply leave your name and e-mail in the comment sections.

To get extra points:

Add 5 points if you blog about this contest. You have to add a link and add up your points.

Add 1 point for tweeting about the contest. Once again, add the link please.

Add 5 points if you are an old follower or if you're new add 2(if you followed me before today).

Have fun!

Cheers!

***Contest ends October 13!!! so hurry! 



June Blog Chain - Description

This post is part of the June 2011 Blog Chain at Absolute Write. This month’s challenge is a simple descriptive setting.

Here is my piece of descriptive writing from a novel which is on submission.

Alexis hated how her father always picked the cards she was dealt. She hated the way the Moscow streets smelt, and the way she could barely say a word in Russian when all eyes were on her. Inhaling, she stepped forward and pressed her hands deeper into the pockets of her parka. The warmth comforted like her mother once had in the chill of the night.



The soil below her boots was moist, the kind of moist that seeped into small puddles and sogged into the leather, making her shiver. She looked up at the moon. It looked too much like the same moon that she saw from her balcony in California, it was the same moon, yet it felt as if she was in a different world. A world she didn’t belong in. A branch cracked and she spun around, darting behind a prickly rose bush for cover. If her father would see her out at night he would…She froze.


The figure that came into the garden stomped over the flower beds with his boots and retrieved a tiny carton, probably a cigarette pack. Alexis kept completely still as tiny vapors of the evening mist condensed on her brow.




Check out this month’s other bloggers, all of whom have posted or will post their own responses:


orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com

juniper - http://www.katjuniper.com/
LadyMage - http://www.katherinegilraine.com/
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/
jkellerford - http://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com/
AuburnAssassin - http://clairegillian.com/
pezie - http://www.erinbrambilla.com/
Inkstrokes - http://drlong67.wordpress.com/
WildScribe - http://DionneObesoBlog.com/
Guardian - http://daewrites.blogspot.com/
Lyra Jean - http://lyratorres.wordpress.com/
egoodlett - http://wordlarceny.blogspot.com/
cwachob - http://www.corriewachob.blogspot.com/
Aheïla - http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com/
faerydancer - http://digitalinkwell.wordpress.com
TheMindKiller - http://www.jabberwocky.ws/
Irissel - http://irissel.blogspot.com/

Contest post coming up tomorrow!!!

I give this award to...

Ok. I admit it. My fault. I'm quite late, but I'm still going to award you. Isn't that sweet? So I got this award from Kayeleen's Creation. Sweetness all the way, eh?

There are rules for this award.They are as follows:


1. Thank and link to the person who nominated me.

Thank you!

2. Share seven random facts about myself.

Here goes...

1. I was told that my first written novel has potential to be best-selling if I work harder on it! WOOT! And that was by an agent.
2. I write songs.
3. The more I write, even the same novel, the more I love it, breathe it, live it.
4. I hate my ipod at the moment! First it got lost, then its lost its cable. GRRRR....I realize that that is my fault.
5. I don't like to admit my faults, but hey, I do, didn't you just see that above?
6. I don't believe in age. Its a number. I hate numbers. I am still in my teens, but I don't think we need to clasify everyone with age. That really pulls many people apart.
7. Coffee actually inspires me. Weird, I know.

3. Pass the award along to 5 new-found blogging buddies.

This was HARD....So many great bloggers and blogs, I'm lost. Ok, not anymore. Ive made up my mind. The award goes to: Wistfylly Linda, Flights Of Urban Fantasy, My Scientific Attempt, Ink Spells, AND Loren Chase!
 4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

I am about to do that. Thus, its done! Its done in the future if that makes sense. The future me did it. Yep. CHEERS!
X

P.S....My contest is still coming and even better than I planned, so heads up!

May Blog Chain - How to show relationship dynamics?

Describe them. The May Blog Chain with Absolute Write is in full swing and this month’s theme is relationships. Before me went Pezie and after me, Inkstrokes. The full chain is at the bottom of the post.
Instructions:

Show a character’s approach to relationships in a short scene. A harmless exchange between mother and daughter? A submissive character overwhelmed by a dominant partner? A passionate lover’s quarrel? A forlorn, unrequited letter?


Use your characters’ interaction to show the dynamics of their relationship, show how they’re growing together or growing apart, or just have silly fun. Character descriptions at the beginning are forbidden this time around–let them speak or act for themselves!


So, I'm going to go ahead and post a small part of my novel which is on submission and has received lots of full requests. Yay! Here goes...
I move the twigs aside so that I have a clear view of Lexa diving into the lake. Splash. I catch my breath as she surfaces, her skin shimmering like spider silk below the moonlight. She throws her head back and laughs. She is alone, and I am here. I take a step forward, miscalculating the results. Leaves crunch. “Shit,” I mumble and freeze. Lexa is already looking my way, her eyes wide, her hands hugging her bare chest.



“Who is there?” Her voice sounds forced, almost scared.


I stay still. What a coward. But what would she think me if I came out? Would she call me Dusty Cummins the stalker? She’s called me that before, a stalker.


“Who is there?” She looks back and forth, reminding me of a swan that has lost her way. Her hair whips against her shoulders.


God, she is so beautiful, so fragile, and when she said she hated me she didn’t mean it. I know she didn’t. She’s only afraid of the others, showing that she likes Dusty Cummins, the son of a poor beggar, the laugh of the school, the poet. She doesn’t just like me, she loves me, and I love her.


Lexa dips back into the lake so that only her head pops out and she shivers. Her shiver sends the hairs on my neck on end, and I want nothing more than to comfort her, to hold her close.


“Lexy, where are you?”


“I’m here, in the lake.”


That would be Lavelle, her boyfriend. He doesn’t deserve her. I turn to leave, but Lavelle isn’t there, and Lexa is still here. This in my only chance to be alone with her, to tell her what I feel. I tuck my hair behind my ears, straighten my suit, and emerge from the foliage.


Lexa’s mouth drops open.


I smile. She knows she’s happy to see me, I’m sure of it. She just isn’t showing it, yet. She’s just surprised, maybe even scared that Lavelle will see me with her.


“Dusty Cummins?” Her face scrunches and she frowns. “What in all hell are you doing here?”


Sand trickles in my shoes as I trudge through the beach and pick up her clothes. They’re warm to the touch from the summer breeze. A soft scent of flowers and fresh bread lingers with her petticoat. It’s the same scent her golden locks smell of from afar. It’s an indescribable scent.


“Put my clothes down,” she yells. Her hand comes out of the water holding a pebble, and she eyes me suspiciously. “I swear I will stone you if you won’t.”


She is just scared. That is all. As I stare into her widened eyes, the last poem I’ve written for her rings in my ears and I have to recite it to her. “I've written you a poem, Lexa. Like desperate souls, two vain beings stand. Forgiven of sin, forgotten of love. The darkness retreats, and she’s back in his arms. We call on a the sky with its billowing wisps, where seagulls will churn and fall to the depths—” Before I can finish the first verse, she throws the pebble.


Tell me what you think and visit the other awesome bloggers!!!


orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com


Proach - http://desstories.blogspot.com/
Yoghurtelf - http://thefarseas.blogspot.com/
AuburnAssassin - http://clairegillian.com/
aimeelaine - http://www.aimeelaine.com/blog
Della Odell - http://dellaodell.wordpress.com/
jkellerford - http://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/
LadyMage - http://www.katherinegilraine.com/
pezie - http://www.erinbrambilla.com/
xcomplex - ME!!!
Inkstrokes - http://drlong67.wordpress.com/
ElizaFaith13 - http://www.girlspwn.blogspot.com/
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/
juniper - http://www.katjuniper.com/
Steam&Ink - http://steamandink.blogspot.com/

Gosh, my spacing is really messed up and I can't seem to fix it. Sorry! Also, I will be giving out an award and hosting a contest in the next couple of days!

I'am having a contest! *Pick your Prize*

80 Followers! Yay! That's got to be a milestone. Thank you awesome people for following my blog. Because of this, I want to hold a contest to give away a YA novel. Also, I'm in a great mood. I am in for another rewrite, but I've gotten great feedback and am very excited because I know my novel will get there if I (work) *slave* on it hard enough.

To the contest...Because I know that's what you all want to hear about. So I was thinking which E-novel I should give away and some that came to mind were...Game of Thrones (Its on TV now!), Twilight, Blade Itself, or Pathfinder. Those were some of my thoughts, but I would like to hear would you guys would like to read! Now, the e-book will come in PDF and of course once you win the contest you can't give it away or distribute it or what not, because I purchased it. So please comment and tell me what you wish to read. I would prefer your choices to be YA and Fantasy or Sci-Fi, but if you like other genres and the novel is great than post it right in. So comment and spread the word, because I am hoping to have this contest on next week.

Speaking of contests...I just won an e-book and there is another great contest you can enter over at Loren Chase's blog! Go on and take a look because you can win a fabulous ARC copy of BEAUTY QUEENS by LIBBA BRAY and all you have to do is comment and spread the word.

CHEERS!!!

Do YOU really love to write?

Writing is hard work. If you remember the day you first sat down to write, you probably just thought about the beauty and the whole greatness of your story. I look back now, and the first time I wrote a story was probably when I was under 10, but it wasn't a novel. It was a (I actually thought I would publish it!) picture book written with terrible grammar. Ha! Writing a novel is after all a great accomplishment, and one which we forget after we fail with query letters. Yes, everyone goes through it. At least the majority. Everyone gets rejected. Whether it is your first manuscript which was rejected or you are still getting rejected, we all do some time in our life. That's when I looked back and asked myself one question. Is this really worth my time?

Life is short and time is limited and in order to prevail (I am starting to speak like my characters) you have to use it wisely. When you are receiving dozens of rejection letters you slump. So many people I know have given up, thinking that giving up proves they are strong enough to admit the truth. So many writers I know actually stopped writing. Those that did didn't love their craft. They thought that they would send out a query letter and their dream agent would fall in love. Like that really happens...And the ones that did really love the craft came back years later only to shed tears over the fact that they are now late and they have less time to pursue their goal. I have had a share of rejections in my short life and I understand them more than anything. I didn't give up. I kept writing and rewriting and most of all I enjoyed it. Every bit of it. Now that my first novel is finished and I am nearing completion of perfection on my 13 other works I miss writing about those characters and those world and I have to keep writing. I just have to.

So I have passed that slump where I felt like giving up my dream of publication and realized that I don't write for publication. I write for myself, I write for my characters. Now, I've been struck with luck as one might call it. Or perhaps to be truthful, I've simply improved my writing a ton. The requests are piling up and I am at a very satisfactory rate of rejections. 46% positive responses. I couldn't ask for anything better and I can't wait to see what happens. Maybe I will have an agent before I am an adult! Amazing and exciting, not that age really counts. But mainly, I would have never seen those responses if I would have given up. So ask yourself this...Do I really love writing? Trust me, I know you won't stop.

Just for the fun of it, have you ever quit? Have you ever stopped writing for even a week just because you were in a slump?

Oh and another update...I have been reading up like mad in my genre...I guess reading is essential for writing, but I don't feel I've learned much yet I will be hosting some great contests to give away awesome best selling fantasy novels! YAY! Spread the word wonderful followers :D

Cheers!