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

Mythological Creatures and Our Perceptions of Them: Vampires

There are many things that may come to mind when one thinks of the word vampire. Perhaps you think of them as being beautiful, strong, smart and wonderful (ahem, Twilight...). Maybe you think of them as terrible creatures that sleep in coffins and do nothing but kill people. Or maybe, they're just normal people  that have an unusual diet and that happen to be practically immortal.

Maybe this is what comes to mind....

Or maybe you picture him....

Isn't it funny how two people can think of one creature and picture completely different things? Personally, I think it is really cool--because, since they don't exist, we can let our imaginations run wild with them. That's why I love mythological creatures; you can go crazy with your perceptions of them.  

What about you? What do you picture for vampires? 

~Elizabeth

Memorial Day

Alvin C. York born on December 13, 1887, in Pall Mall, TN. A blacksmith, York was drafted into the army during WWI. While serving in the 82nd Infantry Division, he took command and captured a total of 132 German soldiers. York was promoted to the rank of sergeant and received the Congressional Medal of Honor. His heroic story was told in the film Sergeant York. He died in 1964. Taken from here.  


This bio really just skims the surface of Sergeant York's life. When he was first drafted for World War 1, he didn't want to kill  due to his Christianity--he believed that Christians were to make peace and not to kill. Nonetheless, he went and served in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia.Training for war made him uneasy, because he didn't believe in it. 


He talked with Captain Danforth, his company commander, and Major Buxton--who were both Christians themselves.They showed York verses from the Bible, and gave him a ten day leave to visit home. 


He went home; he thought, and he prayed. 


God showed him that the only way to truly make peace was to protect, and that God calls His people to defend their fellow man, and the things that He has given to us. 


So York fought... and he became a hero. He saved lives, and he was one of the many, many people that fought to defend our country. 


And there are still people fighting today, here and now. People that are giving their lives so that we can keep ours.  


Thank you, all who have served (and are serving)! Happy Memorial Day! 


~Elizabeth

Dirty Dishes

My mom and I both do the dishes (and both of us will claim we wash more than the other). I use the dishwasher we have, but some dishes are just to dirty to put in there. They need to be scrubbed to be clean.

I can't tell you how many times I've taken the lazy road and, instead of washing the dirtier dishes, I put them in the dishwasher anyway just to make my life a little bit easier. 

But why do I do that--seriously?! 

Because I'm making a mess that someone (be it me or my mother) will have to clean up. 

There are some parts of books that are more tender--that need to be scrubbed just a little more than others to shine. Some aren't meant to shine. 

Like a plastic cup--it's easy to clean, but it's not really shiny or anything like that. A saucepan, however, is hard to clean--yet, when it's clean, it shines bright and catches your attention. 

Some scenes are just meant to glow, but they only will if we give them the proper attention they deserve. If not, then it won't look right--it will look dirty.  

Some things are truly worth the effort, because if you put it into it, it will shimmer. :) 

~Elizabeth