Birthday Blogfest!

The day has come! Today is the one year anniversary of my blog, and as a celebration we're having a blogfest.

I tried to get my Linky widget onto this page so the rest of the entries would be here, but after looking at it I am afraid I will break the rest of the links. So here is the link to the other bloggers: 

Birthday Blogfest!

Be sure to check out everyone else's entries! I am so excited to see what every one else wrote!

Here is my own entry. It's about twins!

Dear Aurora,

            I am really sorry about what happened at our birthday party. I don’t know how things got so out of hand. Our celebration started out like any other. People congratulated us on finally coming of age, and Uncle Senu made lots of embarrassing jokes. So pretty much a normal family gathering for us.

            I tried to stop Dad from bringing up our matchmaking charts. You know how much it embarrasses me. You shouldn’t feel bad about scoring so low—you can’t help that you were born with red hair any more than I can help being born with black hair. I love how you’re interested in alchemy no matter what the rest of society thinks. I wish I could be that free sometimes. You scoff when I say that, but it’s true. No one expects you to marry a duke or a prince so you get to study and do whatever you want.

            It just really hurts my feelings when you act like I enjoy this attention, because I don’t. Everyone is making all of these wild assumptions about the men who will court me, and I feel like I have to singlehandedly make an amazing match or the family is going to starve to death. Sometimes I lay awake at night and worry about it.

            Even if I do match a good match, so what? It will be based on something I didn’t do—I was born with the gift of beauty. It’s such a shallow trait to be praised for. It really is uncomfortable when the ladies make a big deal about it. I didn’t earn it.

No one tells me what a good exorcist I am, even though I try as hard as I can. You feel bad about being compared to me, but I also feel bad being compared to you. Like the only use I have is to marry for money and bring in a large dowry. You’re free to pursue your dreams, and the man that does court you, will court you because he loves your personality—and looks—as much as I do.

Because we’re twins, we share our destinies. So when Aunt Reneska wants to know why you didn’t score higher on your matchmaking chart, I also feel humiliated. I wish you wouldn’t shut me out, because I do understand what you are going through. I really do.

I wrote you this letter because I wanted to tell you I love you, and I am sorry. It will get better, I swear. We’ll figure out some way to solve our courting problems. In the meantime, we can go back to playing pranks on Thasana. You’re always up for that.

All my best, always,

Sera

 

Singel Serving Cookie

After complaining to my friend Lena that I wanted a cookie, she valiantly Googled until she found this wonderful recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie for One! 

Naturally I doubled the recipe, because you can't just eat one. They are cooking as I type this, so I will have to update you on their deliciousness.  


In other news, my blogfest is coming up on Tuesday. If you haven't joined yet, there's still time! We're going to have a party, with lots of cake and balloons, and pin the tail on the donkey, and presents...


Not in real life, but it's going to be like that...on the Internet.

Considering I am still in the book trance, I don't seem to be able to say anything really useful today, so I will redirect your attention to useful links instead:

Drawing the (Plot) Line by Janice Hardy

Plot Outline: a free mini course *this one has me a little biased. I use this course all the time, and when asked to write a testimonial, I did--and Holly actually used it! Scroll down to the bottom of the page...Elizabeth, from Georgia? That's me! Yeah buddy.

Update on cookies: Yummy!

It Never Fails

It never fails. 

Every time I start working on a book, I get an idea for a shiny new book. Seriously, every time. If I ever need a great idea for a book, all I have to do it start working on a book and throw myself into it. Soon afterward a great idea will follow. I think my muse is contrarary.

Speaking of The Book, it's going slowly. I am adjusting to doing things by the seat of my pants, so this means a lot of stops and starts while I work on motivation and depth, and then write the next scenes. I was floundering for a little while until I found this awesome blog: Plot to Punctuation. Mr. Black's posts are short, sweet, and packed full of great information. I especially enjoyed his posts on Why Stakes Work, Five Steps to Building a Believable Character Arc, and Making Good Choices for Your Characters. 

He's also a book doctor, if you're looking for someone with experience to evaluate your work before you send it off to agents or publishing houses.

I want to highlight one post in particular: Why Smart Characters Make Dumb Mistakes . This isn't talking about avoiding making stupid decisions for your characters because the plot demands it (that's Making Good Choices for Your Characters). This is talking about HOW to make that happen in a believable context. How cool is that? Sometimes we need our characters to mess up, but it's hard to do that in a realistic fashion after you've spent your time making them appear smart.


In other business, I am hosting a blogfest on January 25th! The topic is a unique birthday. Tessa Conte is also hosting a birthday blogfest, so if you why not check that one out too?


Now it's back to the book. I hope you're all doing well with your New Year's Resolutions.

I Am Hosting a Birthday Blogfest!

This is my twin brother and I on our birthday last year. That strange look on my face? Yeah, he's totally cutting the cake wrong.

Hello everyone!

Today is a great day! It’s my birthday, and in celebration I decided to host a blogfest! What would be more fitting on my birthday, than a birthday blogfest? Nothing, that's what. What's more, the blogfest is happening on the one year anniversary of my blog, January 25th!

So, without further ado, here’s the scoop:

1) Pick a scene, either something you’ve made up for this blogfest or something from a work in progress, showcasing a birthday. It doesn’t have to be your main character’s birthday, just a birthday in general.

Also, make something about this birthday is unusual. It could be that you’re showcasing the birthday customs of a fantasy culture, or a birthday during the zombie apocalypse, or even something relatively mundane, like the bakery messed up and made the frosting for your geriatric uncle's cake Pepto-Bismal pink. You could also write a memoir piece about the really crazy birthday traditions in your family. If it’s weird, or unique, or different, we want to hear about it. 

2) Sign up using Mr. Linky at the bottom of the page either before or on the date of the blogfest (January 25th) so everyone can read your wonderful entry.

3) Tell your followers that you're doing a blogfest! Generate some excitement for your writing! Link back to me so they join in the fun too!

4) Post your entry on the day of the blogfest, January 25th. Read the other entries, and let's have a party! *throws confetti*

Special thanks go to Andrew Rosenberg and his wonderful post, How to Host a Writer's Blogfest for making sure I didn't mess this blogfest-hosting thing up. He's got a great blog, so you should check him out.

Also, please forgive the "In "other" words" statement on Mr. Linky. It's not his fault he's labeled wrong. Apparently I don't know how to operate simple instructions, and I can't seem to make it say "Birthday Blogfest".

I present to you...Mr. Linky! Huzzah!