The Adventures of Lein ~ Part 2

Here is the next episode! (A bit early I admit)

The response:
d) Say Nothing


Lein did nothing. The Dragon Master frowned.
"Can you speak?"
Lein gulped and held her mouth closed. Nervous energy made her limbs tremble and sweat bead on her forehead. The threatening man in the background held up a short sword and said
"I dluoc ekam reh klat."
The Dragon Master looked at him.
"No, Fiel, we do not need to use force on such a youngling. If you do not tell me why you are here, however, I will have to assume that you are a thief and we will have to take you to the counsel and have you prosecuted"
Lein started. "No! Please, I can't go to jail!"
"Then tell me why you are here."
Lein took a breath. "Iwasjusttryingtowashthewindowinthedragon'spenandIfellthroughthtewindowandthenthebigmancameoverandhitmeintheheadandthenyoucameinandIwasscaredandIcan'tgotojailbecauseIamalreadyonthestreetsandmyparentsaredeadandIamLeinSvensdaughter."
The two men stared at her.
"Well since you didn't come here to steal, I suppose there is only one thing to do. Fiel, say hello to my new servant. Then you can untie her."
Lein stared. According to the laws of the land, any orphan on the streets was the responsibility of whomever found them first. Lein had been hiding that for a while. So Fiel untied her and took her to a beautiful room where another servant gave her new clothes and some food. When the Dragon Master called for her she was assigned to carry his tray of food. She was left alone in the hall with enough food to last her a week and no one to stop her from leaving.


 What should she do?

a)Run away
b)Take the food to the Dragon Master
c)Sit down and eat all of the food and then refuse to move
d)Try to find the dragon

The Adventures of Lein

So today I was thinking, why don't I try writing an interactive story. I am going to try. Now, as an interactive story, I need you people to help me out! Every time I post, I am going to post a part of the story and end with a choice for the main character. Your job is to pick what to do next. Post your choice in the comments. Now, let the adventure begin!



Lein was not a pretty girl. At least, not in the land of Eilsel. She was short and had brown hair. Her eyes were a grey blue that looked like a storm. In Eilsel, she was considered the least of all. She was a servant to all and master of none. Not that beauty would get her out of this mess. She was currently tied to a chair in the house of the Dragon Master. A man was yelling at her in some foreign language.
"Ohw era uoy? Yhw era uoy ni eht Nogard S'retsam esuoh?"
She grimaced and tried to understand.
"Kaeps!"
At that moment, another man walked through the door, dressed in a red silk tunic and golden pants.
"Stand down, Fiel. She is not going to harm me."
Lein sucked in a breath. It was the Dragon Master himself. The Dragon Master was the Lord of the land. He and the six other Masters lead Eilsel. There was a Lore Master, a Water Master, a Tree Master, an Animal Master, a Fire Master and a Herb Master. The Dragon Master was the most powerful of all. He could control magic. He also had a dragon. Each of the Masters had a particular power. The Dragon Master bent over and looked at her.
"So, little one, What is your name and why are you in my house?"



What should she do?

a) Lie like a madman
b) Tell him that you are Lein Svensdaughter and that you fell though a window while you were cleaning it (the truth)
c) Laugh at his robes
d) Say nothing

Let the voting begin!

Wow.

So, Liz and I just got back from a christian music festival and I sat down at a computer to look at the blog and I realized that it has been an entire month since our last post! I feel so bad! So here is my post for you.

First off, have any of you ever gotten chills from listening to music? Like a certain song that just touches your soul? While I was at the Casting Crowns concert, I had one of those moments. They played City on the Hill.
Here is the song if you haven't heard it before.

It really spoke to me. While I was thinking on that, another song came to mind. It is an older song, but if you know me, you know that I love ALL music regardless how old it is. Its called One Tin Soldier.

So it might be a little bit of an old anti war song, but it is so similar to the Casting Crowns song. So, think on these and let the music speak to your soul.

Interview with Dianne Gardner

   I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this blog's birthday than an interview. 


   I "met" Dianne last year through WriteOnCon, when she let me read the book she was writing so that she could get a YA's take on it. 


   I loved (and still do love) her book, Deception Peak. Since WriteOnCon she has finished her book, as well as the next two books in the trilogy, and has signed with Hydra Publications. The first book will be coming out this September. 

        When did you start writing?

I think everyone likes to say they started writing when they were young, and I did. I mostly wrote poetry, and a lot of it, when I was younger. Writing helped me to express myself when, as a teenager, I felt no one understood.  But I didn't start writing an actual novel until last year. 

         

         Is there anything in particular that inspired you to write Ian's Realm?

Well, I have 9 grandsons and I'm really sympathetic to the struggles they go through as young teenagers. I wanted to write a book that would help them know they aren't alone, and that there are those who understand the trials of growing up. I also think that while the world is filled with books written that specifically target girls, there aren't enough books written that young men would like to read. Ian's Realm is an adventure fantasy and both boys, and adventure loving girls enjoy it. 

If you had to describe your book to me in three sentences or less, what would you say?

This is so hard. It takes almost a year to write a novel and to sum it up in three sentences you know you have to leave something out. But here goes:

Teenage Ian Wilson follows his father through a portal into a deceptively beautiful Realm, where horses run free, the wind sings prophetic melodies, and their computer avatars come to life. But separation from his father puts Ian in peril as he’s abducted by a tribe of dragon worshipers and forced to find his courage.  As he struggles for his freedom and embarks on a perilous search for his father he meets the true peacekeepers of the Realm and learns of a greater purpose for his being in there. 

           

          Ian is your main character. What are some of his strengths/weaknesses?

Ian's young and fairly timid, trusting his father to take care of things. He's naive, but is put in a position where he has to learn who he can trust and who he can't so he's forced to grow up. His strength is that he's a quick learner and he's honest. 

Is Ian purely fiction, or is he based off of someone you know?  

I think there's a little bit of Ian in all of us. I know I feel like him in some ways, and I'm sure others who read the story do too. Sometimes it takes getting tossed into the ocean in order to start swimming, and that's basically what happens to young Ian. All through the series he's growing up, maturing, making mistakes, and suffering the consequences of them, and then learning from them and becoming a better person. 

What has your favorite part of writing your series been?

Oh, I just love delving into my characters, getting to know them, sending them on adventures, giving them circumstances that are really hard to get out of. I love the twists and turns of writing, putting in surprises in the story that gives the novel a whole new dimension.

   

What do you do when you aren't writing?

I'm an artist, oil painter and portrait artist. I teach oil painting in my studio. I also do free lance writing and editing.

If your house was on fire, and no one was in the house, what one thing would you grab on your way out?

That's hard. If I had time I'd take my computer but I doubt if the house was burning down I'd have a chance, so I'd probably grab a painting or two off the wall and run. I'm sure the cat would be out the door before me.

Finishing a whole book is hard--let alone a trilogy! What has kept you writing?

Passion. I thought I was fulfilled when I was painting, but now that I am doing both I can't believe how much story telling is inside of me. I love being able to write the kind of stories I like reading.

 If you could say anything to adolescents pursuing a writing career, what would you say to them?

Learn the craft. Learn the foundation i.e. grammar, spelling, how to structure a story. Take workshops and learn everything you can. If you really want to be good, you need to know the basics. Its the same thing I tell my art student. You can't paint outside the box until you know where the box is. Learn the rules. You'll have plenty of time in life to break them. 

I hope that you all enjoyed the interview! To view Dianne's blog, click here. I'll post some more things on her book once it gets closer to the release date, so keep reading! 

~Elizabeth

           

One Year!!

On June 24th, 2011, Leslie and I had our first post ( Welcome )! I had all these plans for last week. I was going to re-design the blog, and I had some great ideas for posts.

Unfortunately, I left for camp that exact day for nearly a week, and literally had no time to post. So, we will be celebrating in full next week.

That said....

This blog is a whole year old!!

I'm still brainstorming ideas for next week--if you have any, please write them in the comments! :)

~Elizabeth

Cellos and Lightsabers

I know that I (Leslie) do not post videos often, but this one is totally worthy to be on our blog. As a violinist, I can appreciate the depth of this music and the hilarity of this. By the way, I found this on a blog called This Page Intentionally Left Blank. If you like our blog, go check out his! It is totally awesome! Here is a quote from his post on this video.
"For the music nerds:  Notice how the dark side cellist always plays minor.  Yup, all of his themes are minor, even the ones originally written in major.  If you can’t tell that easily, skip ahead to two minutes and thirty seconds into the video and listen carefully.  Very carefully."

So, enjoy! I will make an effort to post more but in between my job (lifeguarding at a camp) and other summer stuff, it may not work. Any way, have an awesome summer!!!!

~Leslie

The Love Triangle: My Theory

It seems like every book has one. But what is it with them? I mean, everyone knows that they are no fun in real life, so why do we have the urge to write about them?

This is my theory: 

The author of a book with a love triangle in it has likely participated in one during his/her life. Whether he's the one that had to choose between two people, or she's the one that got left out, or he's the one that found true love and had to let the other go, they've likely all experienced one. So, to let out the pain/joy/anger/peace, whatever, that they went through, they wrote about it.

The way I see it, authors and their characters are sort of like actors in a play. When I'm in a play, I tend to merge the character with myself. Sure, I read the lines from the script, but I say them in my own way. I make them my special. I think that, while the characters are definitely different from us authors, they merge with us. They have their own lives, but each one has a sprinkle of our personality traits in them. 

So, in my theory, if an author has experienced a love triangle, then one will likely appear in their book. Your thoughts? 

~Elizabeth

Unique

Sorry I haven't been active this past week. I'm home-schooled and just got done with my schoolwork a few weeks ago, and have been slacking a lot since. Anyway...

I, like anyone, have always had issues with who I am. My name, my body, my past, my talents/lack thereof...    everything.

I was talking with a young boy a week or so ago, and he told me a few of his insecurities. This little boy, he is very small for his age--and he's embarrassed about it. People pick on him, and no one believes how old he really is. He doubts his worth because of his size.

I explained to him that he is perfect, just the way he is. He doesn't need to be bigger, he doesn't need to have some other persons shape/abilities. Because, then, he wouldn't be him. I told him that he should be proud of himself for who he is, not sad over who he isn't.

I practically slapped myself in the face when I got home that day. I had just lectured him on something that I myself struggle with. It's so much easier to say than to do.

I try to keep this blog book related--but if you can't have confidence in yourself, how can you be proud of anything you write?

I know you're not going to read this post and have your problems fixed. You won't walk away from your computer screen feeling 100% confident in yourself--but can you at least know that you are who you are? If you were supposed to be someone else, you would be them. But you're not--you're you. And you were made for a purpose. 

And, please, respect that the same is true of other people. That boy that I mentioned? He gets teased all the time at his school about who he is, and that is just wrong.

Everyone is special, everyone is unique. Live like it.

~Elizabeth

Mythological Creatures and our Perceptions of Them: Zombies

What exactly is a zombie? 

This is what I personally think of.... 

I've also been told that I look like a zombie when I wake up in the morning (probably true). 

Basically, a zombie is a dead person that is not wholly dead, but partially alive (definitely  sounding like me in the morning ;)). 

They don't control themselves--they are so empty that they don't even have a will of their own, and they are typically inhabited by some evil spirit/demon/person, etc. 

Honestly, if they really existed, I would feel very bad for them. Going through life having no control over yourself, not being able to talk... yet still being alive and having to suffer through it all. 

It's a sad existence, really. 

What I want to know, however, is this: why have they practically disappeared?! It seems like now it's all vampires and werewolves. I think zombies could make a really interesting twist to any story. 

What are your thoughts on zombies? Why do you think they have disappeared? 

~Elizabeth

Just listen....

I realized that it's been a while since I've put a music video on here, and even though they aren't exactly book related, they're nice sometimes.

This song is called Little Wonders, by Rob Thomas. It's been one of my favorite songs lately, and I hope you enjoy it! :)

~Elizabeth