A Song Of hope

This is more of a serious post. This winter has probably been the most trying for not only myself, but for a lot of people...

You know, sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes events tear apart our world, and our lives, and the people we love...but there is always hope. Winter is always so bitter and cold, but today is the first day of spring. A day of new beginnings and life. Today is the day you look past the blistering cold, and see the sun. Sure, you've seen it a million and one times, but in the winter the sun seems to shine with an almost frozen light. Now, it has redeemed its warmth. And so we should have hope!

This is a sad song, but it's beautiful. I think that if you listen to the lyrics, you'll think that it's about two people going separate ways, and saying goodbye. You'd be right. Still, I think it has a different meaning. I think that the "me" in the song, can also be considered as a kind of hope. In any case, I hope that you enjoy it, and have a wonderful first day of spring!

What Makes A Good Story......Good?

"What makes a good story.....well, good?" Is a question I often receive. And I had to think about this, too. And so I replied to myself, "Strong characters........thought out plot.....ingenious setting....." But can you guess what? I was wrong! This is what a good story needs, but it isn't necessarily what makes a good story good. And so, I then thought about the outline of the story, and the adventure that the characters partake on.

Yes! That's what makes a good story good. "What outline?" you ask? Well, that is the way the basis of the story begins. From this, you build on it and make it your own, make it good, and then, make it great. So here, allow me to be of assistance and show you what you need to start with:

1. The hero (for arguments sake let's say it's male) is usually either an exceptional being--he is stronger, braver, or wiser than other men--or he is completely ordinary, and has "greatness thrust upon him".
2. Something outside his own home land, and what he is familiar with, calls him to assume his quest.
3. The hero is always accompanied by a trusted friend / sidekick, or a group of companions he may or may not trust.
4. The hero is often helped or hindered by some greater being.
5. The hero must overcome monsters or other forms of obstacles.
6. The hero often has to face many forms of danger and even sometimes death itself.
7. At some point, he is often abandoned by or losses his friend / companions (and is left to face the final challenge alone)
8. The hero returns to what was once familiar to him, and is greeted by joy...or disdain.

"But what about where to start or end? What about the flow? The challenges? The consequences? The characters!!!!!" Well, that is all up to you. And I guess, in the end, YOU are what makes a good story good. For it is YOUR story, and it can be whatever you want it to be.

Happy Writing!

Love Is In the Air

Valentine's Day, is always a tricky business. Some people celebrate it in a flare of passion, expressed in none other than red in pink (which on any other day would clash terribly. YIKES) Others, despise the gag worthy displays of PDA and the corn-mush oooy gooy fuzzy feelings, (usually because they feel, "Valentine's Day is just another way to make singles feel sorry for themselves.")

Me, you ask? Well, old St. Valentine and I (not the one from the Mortal Instruments) have a love hate relationship. No, I do not have a Valentine, or a romantic interest to gush over, but I have a lot of love to give. I think it's important to know that Valentine's day is not only about being asked out by the guy/girl of your dreams, or roses or chocolates or watching the Bachelor (I happened to get roses and chocolates and I will admit was kidnapped and forced to watch the Bachelor, "Curse you trash TV!!!") But back to the point: Valentine's Day is showing you care about the people around you, and giving more than you receive. It's about loving your family and friends, and yes, even that dreamy girl or hunky guy.

So don't waist your time binging on ice cream and popcorn, and crying your eyes out in a dark room while you watch chick flick after chick flick. Call up your friends and go see a movie, have a make over, play board games..........DO SOMETHING FUNNNN!!!!!!! Let the love live on! (It's in the air, isn't it?)

And have a Happy Valentine's Day already!

Warning: Author On Rampage. You Have Been Warned.

You must be wondering why it's been taking me so long to post something on my blog. Well, good news! I've been writing, but more than that I have been studying for exams (WHICH ARE NOW OVER!!!!!) while I blast up "Tokio Hotel" on my stereo. So, there is not much news, but there is news.

Where to start? Well, I've been procrastinating with my novel, but I have been working on another story to keep me in over-drive. >^..^< And though I sort of feel like I'm cheating on my characters, it's something that needs to be done. Not quite ready to post any details about it yet, but checking in; it should be soon!

What's that you say? Oh, yes, my rampage. Well, my latest challenge has been to write a query/cover letter, and I must say it's coming rather well. By sorting out through all the specifics: All the tedious measures to insure that writing a query letter actually seems much more difficult than actually writing the novel, so far I have come up with:

Dear

Yup, that's it. "Dear...." is what I have come up with. "So, Gemma, where are the goods?!" Well i don't know! I mean is it over here, is it over there? Did you check under the kitchen table? No you say? Then is anyone up for a game of Chess?

Alright, but back to the point, it really frustrates me! I mean, the stupid letter just has to be perfect! If I do this but don't do that then, POOF out the window! If I put that paragraph in front of this paragraph, POOF! It's going to take a lot of hard work, but as I said, I'm going to fight!

And, since you've been patient with me, I will give you a piece of the goods. Here is a poem I've written, and I would love it if you would tell me what you think:

“The old moon is hollowed,

With smoke of the fire.

The blood shall be swallowed,

With greatest desire.

A devious smiler,

With hoops of blue jewels,

A charming beguiler,

Who preys on you fools.

He grins at the savage,

He winks at the stars,

He whistles at ravage,

And laughs behind bars,

In the depth of his sin,

He waits and he lingers,

To wash the blood in,

And clean his long fingers.”

© Copyright Gemma 2011

And with that I bid you farewell! Check in soon, because with a new month beginning, crazy things are bound to happen! (Especially on the 14th!) Happy February EVERYONE!!!!!

What Happens When Reality Sets In?

So, the other day, my editor sent me back some revisions. It was really interesting to see what she thought, and how I could improve on the plot, the characters, and the story, to make it much more believable. For example: "What happened to Drayke's jacket when his wings grew?" Being so caught up over the main characters' adventure, I really never thought about Drayke's jacket! So, what did happen to it........?

As I was explaining how fascinated I was with this process to my mother, she said something that honestly chilled my spine. "Well, you better hurry up and make the corrections, because after that, you'll have to start querying publishers and agents!" And so I stopped and stared at her, thinking, "It's only going to take me maybe a week or two to finish the corrections...and then I'll ACTUALLY have to take this seriously."

You see, to be completely honest, I never have believed that my book was actually going to be published, or accepted, and therefore I really haven't given that much thought to how I'm going to query an agent or send off my manuscript to a publishers. I mean, I'm fourteen years old! And though this is what I want more than anything else in the world, to realize that it may actually come true or get flung in my face is really quite intimidating, and not to mention terrifying.

Yes, of course I've been researching agents and publishers (desperately traveling back to Barry Goldblatt, the agent of my dreams, and Simon & Schuster, the publishing house of my dreams). But that all makes me think, "Am I actually going to compete with authors like Stephenie Meyer? Cassandra Clare? Libba Bray? Holly Black? Catherine Fisher? ETC ETC???? I mean who am I to think that I'm equal or even better than them? Who am I to allow my characters to compete with my idols?

And still, that's what I want more than ever! Reality has set in, and the fact of the matter is that I am going to have to make a very big decision. And, yes, the truth may hurt, but I have to be honest with myself.......AM I REALLY READY????

The answer is: No. I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to get hurt, to be confused, to hundreds of rejections letters. I'm not ready to send out the one thing that matters to me most. I'm not ready to throw away over 5 years of hard work. But I want this. I want to be a famous, published, author. I want to walk by a bookstore, and have my book in the display case! And if I really want that, then it doesn't matter if I have to get hurt to get that....

I don't care, I'm going to do it anyway.

BUT I can't do it alone. I need your help. I need your support. For if I have people behind me, I know that I can do this. I know that when I fall, I'll be able to get back up, and try again. So please, follow me, comment on my things, and let me know that I'm not completely insane (though I might be just a bit)!

What happens when reality sets in? You freeze, you panic, you question, and you want it bad enough????

YOU FIGHT FOR IT! 

How Did You Come Up With Broken Glass? Where do you get ideas?

So, the other day I was telling my friend about my book. (Her name is "Bellbear", aka Clare :) ) And she asked me, "How did you come up with your book, Broken Glass?" At first I didn't really know what to say :S I mean, what do you say to a question you don't know the answer to? "Ummmm.....?"

So, Bellbear, here is my very long and thought out answer to your question :)

*Note: If you are reading this, I suggest you don't have anything important to do, because it is very very long! So sorry!*

That is a very difficult question to answer, and I must admit, that for the longest time, I didn’t really know. Whenever anyone asked me I would ramble on explaining the entire plot, explaining the characters, or sometimes I would quickly answer, “It’s a romance between an Angel and a princess,” or, “It’s a quest to save the world” (which is a very cheesy answer and if you tell anyone that I assure you they will purposefully avoid reading it.) Only on October 27^th, (Tuesday) 2009, at precisely 8:44pm did I truly know. (No, I am not some lunatic that has an incredible memory, I wrote it down at the time J)

          At thirteen, on a typical Tuesday night, not much happens. There are no Darkwings that come to invade my castle or a handsome Angel to whisk me off my feet (which I think is actually a pretty funny saying, because if you cook—not that I do—then you’ll know what a whisk is, and boy would that hurt if someone started whisking you off your feet!) Anyhoo, now I’m rambling, sorry L

          My story is to a certain level, about a fallen Angel. No, I do not mean that it’s about an Angel that got kicked out of heaven and is now on earth, it’s about an Angel (Rune) who was born with the plague of having Darkwing blood in him, an evil shadow over his heart, which has made him “fallen”. My story is about his attempts to right himself, about how difficult it is.

Here is where I get my Ideas:

     From everywhere! From personal experiences and dreams and thoughts and books and movies. I got the idea for Fire Angels from when I was up at my cottage in the fall. It was really sunny so I was lying under a beach tree for shade. When I looked up, the sun through the yellow and orange leaves glowed all sorts of fire colours and couldn’t help but think that they looked like feathers.

You’d be surprised, but the first copy of Broken Glass is almost like a completely different story from the final copy. The original is about this punk girl named Clary and this blond boy named Mo who lived in the town of library and found out they were half vampires. (I had just finished reading City of Bones and Inkheart and was currently reading Twilight).

My ideas come from absolutely everywhere, and I’m sure that yours do too. J

However, if you are asking me where I got the idea to write about Angels in a mystical medieval world, now that is a different story! I know that what’s in right now is Vampires, and Urban Fantasies about Shadowhunters and Dragon slayers, and, yes, even some fallen Angels. And I know why: It’s because people want to prove that dark mystery and magic can be found everywhere, and bring the dark beauty of skyscrapers and the city into perspective. Why didn’t I just “go with the flow”? Because I wanted to bring people back to a time that has been long forgotten. Before TVs and iPods and Hanna Montana. Even farther back than the 1800s (which is probably one of my favourite times!) I wanted to feel part of the raw magic that could have been. I wanted to write a fairytale like no other, a fairytale gone wrong. And you know what? Not everyone is required to like that, but I strive for difference. It was simply a story that I felt needed to be told.

There you go Bellbear! The very long version of how I came up with Broken Glass!

4 AM...Rollercoasters...Bradly....Colin...And the Spider.........WHAT?

So, my good friend Clare has by far the best taste in music. So, a few days ago she came to me and said, "Gemma, you have got to hear this song! It's so sad, but I know that you'll love it." And, as usual, she was right! I love this song, but I must warn you, it is a tearjerker. (Grab those tissues and take a seat.) You may not like it, but tell me what you think :)

Alright, yes that was sad, so hear are some hysterical videos filmed by the British cast of "Merlin". (You'll still need the tissues, you'll be laughing that hard :) )



Rollercoaster ride.....

"You're the Voice......"

 The Tale of Bradly, Colin, and the Spider :)

ENJOY!!

Patty Cake Patty Cake....And Other Awesome Videos

Well, as I was heading off to bed... (Cough Cough) I happened to stumble across this. It is one of the most adorable videos ever! You must watch it (and pretend that the voices you hear are the cats :P)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3iFhLdWjqc

I hope you enjoy this, because I did!

This is another video I found of a pet humming bird!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvrcdQWzH-8