Three Thingies to Use While Writing

1. Things are looking really bad for the character, and they're trying to find some hope in the situation even though they it seems like they're doing it in vain. And when they've almost given up, all of a sudden a genius idea pops into their head and leaves them feeling either shocked and excited or strong, like they finally have a chance against the villain (or any other reactions kinda like that). Basically. Yeah.
Example: (Of Sorcery and Snow) Rory Landon: wishing coin idea

2. Something is introduced that's been used plenty of times before by other people (ghosts, vampires, zombies, mermaids, etc.) but they're unique and there's something about them that explains why people think of them the way they do. Sometimes the whole story leads up to an explanation, but it doesn't have to.
Example: Why are ghosts translucent? Because the character can only see them through his cyborg eye, and he only has one.

3. If you don't know the genre of the story, sometimes you have absolutely no clue how everything will end up. Nothing clearly hints to what the characters are capable of--does the villain have magic powers or is he/she just a normal person?--but there are parts that make you think it's one thing or the other. Usually they convince you it's going to be the wrong thing, and that way the ending almost always surprises you. In a good way.
Example: Erebos: realistic fiction or sci-fi/fantasy?

MAGICAL WORD OF THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH/WHATEVER:
Marcescent, which means withering but not falling off.

THE END! Now go listen to Paramore.

Books, Festivities, and Stuff

The secret code said: "Go be a cyborg. Or write about cyborgs. Or read about cyborgs. Or do all three!" Now go do what it says. :P

Everyone should be/read about/write about cyborgs, and everyone should also read The Ever Afters by Shelby Bach. 'Cause that series is awesome. And so are cyborgs.

Obviously, I've been reading a lot. Of Giants and Ice, Of Witches and Wind, and Of Sorcery and Snow are the three published books of the Ever Afters series that I've read (the fourth book comes out this summer). Also, I'm currently reading Princess of the Midnight Ball and rereading Every Soul a Star. So yeah. They're all really, really good books. GO READ THEM.

EPIC FIRST NOVEL SENTENCES OF THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH/WHATEVER:

• "Because he had once been human, the King Under Stone sometimes found himself plagued by human emotions." (Prologue, Princess of the Midnight Ball, Jessica Day George)

• "In my first trip to Yellowstone National Park, I threw a rock at a dragon." (Chapter One, Of Giants and Ice, Shelby Bach)

• "The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle." (Chapter One, Cinder, Marissa Meyer)

MAGICAL WORD OF THE DAY/WEEK/MONTH/WHATEVER:
Celerity! It means swiftness. And it's a pretty word. :D

WARNING: YOU SHOULD NOT GO HEADFIRST DOWN AN INFLATABLE SLIDE. You shouldn't eat cupcake crumbs that fall on a fake throne that other people sat in before you, either. Or sit at the top of an inflatable slide and not look back to see that someone's about to push you down. Or sit in a war zone just to make wind dramatically blow your hair back. But you should squash fake frogs, even if you have to sit on them. Fake-frog-squashing is fun.

Basically, there was a party yesterday. With red velvet cupcakes!

That's all.

Books Again, Plus Some Fun Boringness

 "Big, dark eyes search the sky. Their owner reaches upward with delicate fingers to feel the wind rush through, rough and unwelcoming. Her eyes are drawn to a bright flash in the distance, but it fades before she can identify it. Two eyes harden. One figure stiffens. Holds her breath, counts to three, and leaps."

I'm having way too much fun with the novel I just started, and that's where the above thing is from. Of course, I'm procrastinating from my other novel, but it's got problems I need to work around before I write any more so procrastination works for me. I've got maybe seven hundred words in this one besides a random scene I wrote and a flashback-like thing of the character that I might put in the story somewhere. It's not very much, but it isn't giving me too many problems yet so I'm happy with it.

...and that's basically all I can think of to post. Hmm. I should probably have a longer first-post-of-the-year-thing to avoid being boring/disappointing/etc. Though I probably already failed at that. :D

I should probably just ramble some more about the new story...well, the main character is a bit wild and she doesn't really know the difference between good and bad when it comes to people who aren't part of her special group. She's innocent besides that, though. I'm planning a lot of evilness for her, yay!

Don't worry, I can't think of any more boringness about my writing. Now I get to talk about real, actual, published books. Like Cinder, which is the first book of the Lunar Chronicles that I plan on reading more of soon! It's awesome. There were plot twists, well-developed characters, a cool setting, and cyborgs! A fairytale set in the future with cyborgs is almost impossible to beat.

Then I can talk about Unlocking the Spell, which is the second Wide-Awake Princess book. I haven't actually read enough to say much about it yet, but it's pretty good so far.

And I think that is all. Possibly.