Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I've been tagged!



I've gotten an award from the awesome Steph Bowe!

1. Mention the person who nominated you.
2. List six unimportant things that make you happy.
3. Tag six blogs, state the rules & notify them with a teeny comment on their blog.


1. watching the rain
2. reading
3. thanks
4. appreciation
5. sugar
6. quiet days

OK! I'm tagging...
Dahlia, Readergirl, Liyana, Bravechickens, and Steph.
Yes, I can count, and I know that's only five, but those are the only ones I know. Like I said... I will give this award out when I actually know more than these. :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Blog Award!


The awesome Dahlia of Dahlia's Eclectic Mind gave me the One Lovely Blob award! Thank you so much, Dahlia!
I promise. I'll give this award out to others when I actually know more than two blogs. :)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Interview: bravechickens

Here's another interview! She isn't a blogger, but hey, that's fine too! Bravechickens is a friend of mine who also writes.

-- BRAVECHICKENS (the human) --

1. Describe your blogger/writer persona in three words.

Random, inquisitive and human (sorry, I didn’t have a third word-look, that rhymes!)

2. If you could be a superhero, what would be your power?

I would say being able to fly! (So even when I’m not saving the world, I can have a bit of fun)

3. If you could get anything in the world for free, what would you get?

How about world peace? Or is that too ambitious...?

4. Do you have a favorite genre you like to write in?

I haven’t actually written anything yet, just short stories, a dialogue, random ‘life’ compositions and poems.

5. What are you favorite books/series?

I’ll only list the series I like because if I get into books the list will never end! Kiki Strike, Roman Mysteries, CHERUB, The Henderson Boys, Alex Rider, Maximum Ride and Thieves Like Us.

6. Do you have a favorite word?

Sometimes I can’t stop saying awesome, or dude, or ‘je ne sais pas’ (but that’s a phrase). And when I’m being sarcastic I tend to say Oh-Em-Gee. I’m going off topic, I think...(sorry).

7. Of all of your works, what is your favorite?

I think it must be a short piece, about half an A4 page on how school can be a bit like a Big Brother society (Orwellian much?).

8. Do you prefer to write your story on the computer or with pencil and paper?

I don’t mind either. But I can’t get the words down fast enough when writing by hand (so it looks really messy), and on the computer I get distracted really easily.

9. How many times do you write every week?

Only when I feel like it.

10. How many times do you blog every week?

Only when I feel like it too!

11. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what type?

No, not really.

12. When you were younger, did you think you were going to be an author? (Please don't say something like "I always knew I was destined for greatness...")

No. I’m yet to produce any novels. And I never thought I’d ever read, let alone write.

13. What do you do in your spare time?

Read. Go on the Internet. Draw. Sew. Watch TV. Bake.

14. What was or is your favorite subject in school?

Art and business management. But now they have tests in Art too! Nooooo. Can’t they have forensics? I like science too, but at the moment it’s a bit dry.

15. If you could recommend one book only, which one would you recommend?

Kiki Strike series, by Kirsten Miller.

16. What do you do to procrastinate?

Basically, I just read, but last year I used to take out my Atlas and just read it. Did I mention I’m weird?

17. What is the one sentence you've written which you think is pretty darn awesome?

“Powdered maize flakes are yum.”Not exactly the best thing ever, but it’s from a really random piece I’ve written when we had three jumbo cornflake boxes. I know it doesn’t make sense, because I haven’t edited most of my work, and isn’t maize already powdered?

-- --

Thanks a lot, Bravechickens!

Monday, May 18, 2009

CTRL-ALT-DELETE

The last thing Jordan expected when he sat down and turned on his computer was a black screen with the words "PRESS CTRL-ALT-DELETE TO BEGIN."

"Mom!" he hollered. "What did you do to my computer?"

"I didn't touch your computer! If it's broken, it's your fault!"

Frowning, he stared at the screen, and after a moment pressed ctrl-alt-delete. The computer whirred violently and instead of arriving at the security options screen, more words popped up.

"'Thank you'?" Jordan read skeptically. "What?"

Those words disappeared as quickly as they'd come and were replaced by more. OPERATION 672 PROCESSING... read the screen, with a bar that was halfway full. Jordan stared at his computer and watched as the bar filled up.

OPERATION 672 INITIALIZING

The screen blanked out for a moment and then suddenly burst into a million lights. Blinking furiously, Jordan realized that it was a data graph. A very brightly colored data graph. Various dots were scattered over the plot as a general line led from (0,0) to a rough upwards direction. There was no indication of what the graph was about. Neither of the axises were labeled, and there were no words anywhere.

"This is crazy," he muttered, and clicked on a random graph point.

The point where he clicked on expanded, but not into an enlarged part of the graph. Instead, it expanded into the picture of a city--much like what you'd see on Google Earth or some 3D map.

Staring at the screen, Jordan whispered bewilderedly, "What... what is this?"

He tapped the Esc button and the view expanded out to the full view again. "This has to be a joke," muttered Jordan, and clicked on other dots. Like before, other cities popped up in high-tech 3D vision. "Wow..."

"Mom!" he shouted. "Are you sure you didn't do anything?"

"I'm sure!"

"And no one came into my room?"

"Jordan, your father is out and Sandy is at Phoebe's! No one came into your room!"

Jordan stared at his computer. "Then who...?"

Suddenly, one of the dots on the graph (if he read correctly, the one at (1, 3) and the first dot on the line) began blinking in red. He clicked on it, and the screen expanded to a city.

Jordan's heart stopped. "That's my city," he whispered.

---

Is this the start of a new story? I need to edit it, though...

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Interview: Steph Bowe

Pop quiz time! What, your teachers say the Internet rots your brains? Not this blog! Here it is:
1. What is your favorite genre to write in?
2. What is your favorite word?
3. Describe your writer/blogger persona in three words.

Hold it! Thanks to the great Steph Bowe, you don't have to do it.

She does it for you.

Steph Bowe (Hey, Teenager of the Year) is a blogger who, if you don't know her already, you should know. She's full of awesomeness. Here's an interview which I hastily wrote and she answered. Thanks, Steph.

-- STEPH BOWE (of Awesomeness) --

1. Describe your blogger/writer persona in three words.

Curious, quaint, sleepwalker.

2. If you could be a superhero, what would be your power?

I would have control over electricity. I would be an evil superhero, and I would run around zapping people and seeking world domination.

3. If you could get anything in the world for free, what would you get?

Um, a publishing contract? No, some things are better earned. I'd like to be able to go shopping for clothes and not have to worry about running out of money.

4. Do you have a favorite genre you like to write in?

I write YA contemporary. Sometimes romance creeps in, but I go and bury it in the garden before it does anything cheesy.

5. What are you favorite books/series?

At the moment, The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks, Pink by Lili Wilkinson and Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell. These change on a monthly basis though.

6. Do you have a favorite word?

Kitsch. It's in the subtitle of my blog. I've been saying it since Grade Six. Everyone who knows me in the real world is sick of it.

7. Of all of your works, what is your favorite?

The one I'm working on right now. I love the characters. They're all so twisted.

8. Do you prefer to write your story on the computer or with pencil and paper?

Computer. I can type very quickly, but my hand can't keep up with my thoughts.

9. How many times do you write every week?

Every night. Whenever I have a spare second.

10. How many times do you blog every week?

I'll get on the computer and check my emails and read blogs and write stuff for the blog every morning.

11. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what type?

I like The Killers at the moment. I listen to a lot of genres though - indie, alternative, folk, punk-rock.

12. When you were younger, did you think you were going to be an author? (Please don't say something like "I always knew I was destined for greatness...")

I always knew I was destined for greatness... no, it was just something I always loved. And then last year, I got serious about it. Which is amazing, since I am not a serious person.

13. What do you do in your spare time?

Write. Take photographs. Write. Sleep. Eat bread. I like bread.

14. What was or is your favorite subject in school?

English. Literature. Psychology. Love all those.

15. If you could recommend one book only, which one would you recommend and why?

Pink by Lili Wilkinson, because Wikipedia references are awesome!

16. What do you do to procrastinate?

I procrastibake. I make muffins and things. I also keep on refreshing my emails to see if anyone has emailed me. They usually haven't.

17. What is the one sentence you've written which you think is pretty darn awesome?

I don't want to write it because I think you'll steal it...
Okay, I was doing rewrites last night, and I found this line, which I thought was funny: "Alright then. But we're staying in well-lit areas with lots of people. I don't want my mutilated corpse getting dredged out of the Yarra."
(The Yarra is a river in Melbourne). Not exactly an example of my finest work, but I like it.

18. What is one character you've created which you think is pretty darn awesome?

Gracie Dove. She is made of awesome. No, every character of mine is fabulous. I love them all.

-- --

Steph is great. Head on over to her blog if you haven't already. It's pretty neat.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Savor the Moment

Alternate title: I try my hand at poetry and fail miserably. Free verse, of course, because I can't rhyme to save my life.
Impromptu, of sorts.

Stand on a hill, face the east

Wind in my face

Can't you smell the air?

So fresh, so clean

Natural refreshment

Wash over my body

Breath it in, will you?

Savor the moment...

Notes: Like I said. I failed.