Teaser Tuesday

So, it's Tuesday. Ever since school started, I either can't write because of homework or because I can't seem to figure out how to start writing. I've been trying not to stress about it, but I NEED to write. And I did write. Well, I don't know what to think of it but it is contemporary. That's what I know for sure. There isn't a title and I don't really have a plot. I just have this character named Gina and yeah.

So enjoy!

Working at Sasha's had it's ups and downs. The ups: It was a couple of blocks from my house, so I didn't have to spend money on gas or beg my brother to let me borrow his car. The pay was great and since it was a clothing store, I got a 20% discount off of jeans. The downs: The other staff members, which consisted of Amber, Lacey, Jill, and Candy were emotional wrecks and had problems everyday except for Wednesdays and Fridays-when I wasn't there.

Today, the downs of working at Sasha's outweighed the ups. My day was starting out just fine. It didn't rain, so I got to wear these cute flats that I bought at the mall last week. The poor excuse for hair that sat on my head was finally cooperating with me and my mom wasn't going around the house groaning about how fat she was, when really she was so small I could wrap her around my finger. And strangely, I found myself walking into Sasha's with a pep in my step and a smile on my face. I even put a dollar into the charity box. Okay, I won't lie. I totally took that dollar back out when no one was looking, but still, it's the thought that counts.

I went to the back, changed into the drab black apron all of Sasha's employees had to wear and I didn't even complain once the customers started to rally in. I was helping a girl find a shirt to go with these blue sea-shell earrings she found, when the storm started. Candy and Jill flocked over to Amber, who was a red mess, as she sat on the counter. Her red curls were falling around her face, matching the scarlet tint to her cheeks.

"What am I going to do?" she would ask and then she would sob for a few minutes, and then ramble on about something that I didn't catch. The girl with the shirt ended up leaving, once Amber literally fell out on the floor.

Rolling my eyes, I went into each of the dressing rooms and gathered up the clothes and hangers people left behind. Lacey was filing her nails in one. She looked up at me, with her usual blank, bored expression plain on her face.

"'Sup," she said.

"Hey," I replied, turning to leave.

"Her boyfriend just dumped her," she continued.

I rolled my eyes. As if I really cared about why that girl was bawling her eyes out. I mean, this wasn't anything new. If it wasn't a broken nail or a bad test grade, it was a fight they had with their parents the night before or boys. It was mostly boys, though. And every time they ogled shyly at a cute boy walking around, I could feel myself shooting evil glares at them. They were stupid. For one, you don't ever make a guy think you're into him. Most guys, especially the good looking ones, had egos the same size as Texas. They will play off of your affections and then drop you, moving on to the next game. And the fact that Amber was crying over a guy, made me want to waltz over there and slap the crap out of her.

"That's too bad," was all I said and then I continued doing my job, because that's what this was. A job, not some talk show where people sit around and talk about their emotions. Please. That's why they had Dr. Phil.

"I keep thinking he was just joking with me. I mean...it was just a text message. He wouldn't break up with me...over a text message, would he?" Jill handed her another tissue, and started rubbing her back. All Candy could do for the past half-hour was shake her head.

"You'll find someone new," she said. "I mean, didn't I see Rick checking you out yesterday. He's hot."

"Hmm-mmm," Jill aggreed.

"Y'all are so supportive and everything but I can't go seeing any other guy. Pete might have just..." I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved a pair of jeans back on a hanger and moved over to wear Amber and her friends stood. Their eyes widened, as they assessed my presence. Jill smiled softly, but Candy regarded me with a scowl, which I gladly returned. When my glare didn't waver, she glued her eyes to the floor and I turned my attention to Amber.

"Will you stop crying over a guy who doesn't give a damn about you?"

"But..." she mumbled.

"But nothing. If you don't get up off your butt and do something productive, I'm going to call Stacy and you and I know, she'll really give you something to cry about."

Candy flicked a strand of her platinum blond hair out of her eyes, and let loose a low chuckle. But even so, the three dispersed quicker than a forest fire. Stacy was our boss and I know most people don't like their employers, but Stacy was my idol. I'd trade my mom for her anyday. She was firm and didn't take bull from anyone, like me.

"Who died and made her Queen Bitch?" I heard Candy mutter. I was just about to show her what a bitch was, when Amber placed her hand on my shoulder. After all the crying she's subjected me to, you'd think the girl would get the hint and back off, but now, here she was, touching my shoulder.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Well..." she started,"You're tough and all...and I was wondering whether you can give me some advice. You know, about guys?"

Her eyes were wide with hope. But really. Did I look like I had "Dr. Gina Cooper" stamped on my head.

I guess I did.

Music Monday

Okay, so I'm going to push shuffle on my iP0d and post the song that comes up first....




Ooh, this happens to be on the playlist for my NaNo GHOST TOWN!

Let's Break Out the Pitchforks

In the future, we're going to burn books. We're going to take them off the shelf and throw them in to a large bonfire. We're going to sit back and watch them burn.

Why?

Because years from now the young adults of that generation won't need to know about curse words or drinking or smoking or sex. And these YA books today are corrupting teens' minds. That's why they go out drunk driving. That's why they smoke pot and have unprotected sex. That's why they go and get themselves killed or worse, get pregnant.

We're going to burn books, namely YA books because we don't want that to happen to the next generation.

WTF?

I was on borders.com the other day and they had a list of books that were banned in school. Like To Kill A Mockingbird and The Catcher and the Rye and two others I can't remember, but banning books? How medieval can you be?

We are in the twenty first century people. Times have changed. Just because a book deals with race or sex, doesn't mean we have to ban them.

If we read about drugs, drinking, and sex even if some books portray them in a good light or a bad one, then we are safe from it's grasp. If books that have racial slurs in them, books that talk about rape, and teenage pregnancy are gone from libraries then it'll solve everything.

Well, let me tell you something. Whoever is in control of banning books in school need a nice big reality check. And that goes for the parents too.

Teens are going to have sex no matter if it's in YA books or not. They're going to be doing drugs, getting pregnant and that won't give a crap if they read it in a book or not.

So don't go around banning books because they send across messages that are "inappropriate" because they depict the lives of teens across the world. Teens are going through these things and if you don't like it, oh well. That's life. Alright.

Glad we had that discussion.

2010 is the year for YA

I've said this so many times, but 2010 is going to be THE year for YA. Why? Well, because The Tenners whose books are debuting in 2010 have delicious ideas that will surely become best sellers. Don't believe me? Go check out their blog over at 10_ers

I have my eye on a few *coughs* The Secret Year, Sea, Harmonic Feedback, The Duff, Brightly Woven, The Body Finder, All Unquiet Things (love this title), The Iron King, Skin & Bones, The Mark...and well, why don't I just save some time and say that I love all of the books and I will be buying them when they hit the shelves.

But let's talk about The Mark by Jen Nadol.

First off, the new cover is beautiful. I thought the old one was okay, but pink and purple are two of my favorite colors, or would you can consider that violet? Still, I like how the colors fuse together and even more mesmerizing is the premise of the story.

Sixteen-year old Cassie Renfield has seen the mark since forever: a glow around certain people as if a candle were held behind their back.

The one time she pointed it out taught her not to do it again, so Cassie has kept quiet, considering its rare appearances odd, but insignificant. Until the day she watches a man die. Mining her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person's imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.

Cassie searches her past, her philosophy lessons, even her new boyfriend for answers, always careful to hide her secret. How does the mark work? Why her?

Most importantly, if you know today is someone's last, should you tell?

(copied from the author's website: http://jennadolbooks.com/html/mark.html)

And then I read the excerpt of the story and that was like the icing on the cake. Or maybe the cherry on top of a sundae?

So, if you want to read this book, spread the word and enter!

Oh and here's the linkage: http://www.jennadolbooks.com/blog/?p=627

Updates on a Saturday

Okay, so I think it's time for an update on my writing.

I've been a bit promiscuous. I have two new ideas. The other two I had before are being pushed aside for later. I might use one of them for NaNo *shrugs*

I have started writing Mercy's side of the story for HM. You can find her snippet two post down and as for Shadow, well let's just say it's moving as slow as a snail, but it's moving nonetheless.

My two new ideas are two different genres. One is a about a girl who is a ghost trying to pick up the pieces after dying and the other is a post-apocalyptic type thingy.

Both of these songs have theme songs.

The ghost story's theme song is "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. And the post-apocalyptic story's theme song is "Closer" by Kings of Leon. Yes, I have been listening to a lot of KoL. I just love Caleb's voice.

Juggling WIP(s) is hard, but I need to do it because I need to find my story. Though I hope I turn all of my ideas into books one day, I just need to work with any and all ideas just to try them out. So I'm not going to be working on any one novel. I know it's not the wisest thing to do but hey, I'm fifteen. I'm not looking to query or anything til I'm eighteen. So I have a lot of time to be promiscuous right?

The only thing I don't like about juggling WIP(s) is the fact that I have so many voices in my head. So many characters from different stories fighting to have their chance to shine.

Okay, so now that you have your update of my crazy writing life, I'm going to go work on something. I actually don't know what I feel like writing today, but I'm going to go put on some music and be productive.

Ciao!

The things we say...

Words are beautiful. They are like mathematical formulas. When they are added together properly, they equal a story that blows your mind. But other times, words hurt.

In my opinion, they hurt longer than any physical pain. Because you can heal a physical pain. You can go get medicine, go to a physical therapist and heal, but words, words hurt you mentally and the mind is something so complex, so intricate, so fragile, that the right words can make it break.

We all make mistakes. We all say things that hurt others. We are not perfect. No one is. No amount of money or fame can make you perfect. But we sometimes forget that.

I just heard about the whole Kanye/Taylor thing yesterday from my friend who sent me this link on YouTube. I always loved watching the VMA's and any music award show but this year I haven't been watching them and so I was shocked when I heard about this whole ordeal.

I am a Kanye fan. Yes, I know he is conceited and he doesn't say the right things a lot of the times, but I love his music. Taylor Swift on the other hand, I've never been a fan of country music. I absolutely hate it. I listen to everything from Alternative to Pop, but I can't do country music so, no I am not a Taylor Swift fan.

But this is not about taking sides. What Kanye West did was wrong. It can't be excused, but the comments, the things people are saying on YouTube are just taking it way out of proportion.

Right before my eyes, people were pulling the race card and calling Kanye all sorts of really uncalled for names. Yes, what he did was rude but you can not honestly tell me that you are perfect and that some of the things you do or say have not hurt anyone. We all hurt people. We all do things that we later regret.

Kanye West is a human being. What he did was uncalled for and Taylor Swift should have been able to have her moment to shine. But I'm seriously getting tired of people bashing him. It's only making the whole situation worse.

If you've lost all respect for Kanye, then at least respect Taylor. I mean the whole thing is all over the internet. Everyone all over the world probably seen it, and so fueling the flame isn't making anything better. Taylor probably just wants to put this behind her.

Seriously, a lot of the things people say on YouTube are just hurtful not only to Kanye but to a lot of people. It's offensive and it hurts.

Like I said, words are hurtful. You can use them for good or bad. In my opinion, calling someone out of their name is just so wrong. And I'm not even saying this because of this whole controversy or whatever you want to call it.

In school, they teach us that "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything nice at all."

People say and do hurtful things all the time, but that doesn't give you the right to do the same.

Teaser Tuesday

Okay, this is the first time in a very long time that I have posted a Teaser Tuesday, so I hope it doesn't disappoint.

This is from Have Mercy and because this is a duo narrative, I decided that it is time to introduce you to my female MC. "Tallister "Mercy" Coleman. In the previous post, there is the cast of characters and you can find a little bit more about her and what she looks like. I haven't edited this or anything, so it probably lacks some description and I really don't know where the conversation between the guys came from. I'm feeling a little meh about it, so please, if it sounds a bit odd, tell me.

Oh and here's some background information. Tallister spends the night sleeping in school on some nights because of her mother's abusive boyfriend. She's scared of him and the only reason why she picks the boy's locker room over the girl's is because it's always immediately locked and luckily for her the boy's isn't. But one of the boys happened to have a key...

The door let out a loud squeal, as I pushed it open. I stood silently in the doorway, hoping that I was the only one here, like always. When I didn't hear any voices or approaching footsteps, I slid inside and locked the door behind me. It was dark, save for the one flickering light that sat above the lockers. Some were left open, setting free the pungent smell of an odor I was familiar with.

Sweat and feet.

Gym socks.

Covering my nose, I moved over to my usual spot. It was in the shower room which, thankfully was right next to a door that led to the hallway. If someone came in, I could easily escape.

Droplets of water slid down the walls from the showerhead. Drip. Drip. Drip. I slid off my sweatshirt, the chill of the room stinging my skin. Taking off the rest of my clothes, I turned on the water, and soon I was submerged into a waterfall of lukewarm water. I let it slide down my body, letting it untangle my nerves.

The sound of the bell ringing rang through the locker room, sent relief through my veins. All the students should be out of the building and the teachers should be on their way out too. No one usually came into the boy's locker room, so I was alone.

I was safe.

After showering, I dried myself off with a towel and slid into some pajamas from my bag. There was a bench just outside the showers. It was as tall as me and was perfect for sleeping on. Turning off the light, I curled up into a ball on the bench and listened. Inhale. Exhale. Nothingness. It was quiet. I was alone. Everyone was gone. No yells. No screams. No hits. No drunken words. There was just peace.

I closed my eyes.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Something clicked.

I jumped up and looked at the direction of the noise. It was coming from the far right of the locker room. The door. The knob was slowly turning and then I could hear voices. Guys voices. Of course, this was the boy's locker room.

"We are going to kick ass this weekend."

"Yeah, they won't even know what hit 'em."

"We'll have them crying like..." I was already moving to hide in the space between the lockers. In the rush to get away, I jammed my bare toe and let out a low squeal.

The guys stopped talking.

"Chico, you hear that?" I covered my mouth, hoping they would just go away.

"Yeah, it sounded like a mouse or something." The boy "Chico" replied. I could hear footsteps. They sounded close, but I could be mistaken. I didn't want to find out. I crushed myself against the wall, and sucked in my stomach.

"I don't see anything."

"Al better have his ass on that field tomorrow. I wonder why he didn't show up today. He's been acting weird lately."

"What? You think we can't win the game without him, eh?"

"Nah, it's not that. But he is our star Quarterback..." A locker slammed shut.

"All I know is, if he doesn't show, he doesn't show. If he does, then he does. Who gives a fuck, anyway? I sure as hell don't."

There was silence.

"You won't believe who I'm taking to Prom, bro."

"Who? Is it that Stacia girl?"

"No, it's that new girl. The one in our Physics class. Kendra."

"Her? Damn. She's muy caliente. How'd you hook up with her?"

"I don't know man, but she was all over me last night. I'm telling you bro she..." My nose started to itch, and before I knew it, I was sneezing. And it wasn't one of those graceful ones either, but it was loud-loud enough for those boys to hear it.

"I knew someone was in here, man."

There were those footsteps again.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

A shadow fell over me.

Behind the Scenes of Have Mercy

Alden decided to pop back in my head. He's a total attention whore, so I thought I'd talk about him and his story today.

Have Mercy is still pretty much a baby and it is a duo narrative. The plot has changed drastically. Actually, it is back to the original plot before this plot. Alden was not a character I came up with recently. He has actually had a year to sit in my brain, so that's why I know him so well.

Alden first appeared in this creative writing piece I wrote called And All That Jazz. Then, his parents were cliche and stupid and two dimensional and he spoke in riddles even I didn't understand.

But the plot itself was amazing, well at least to me it was. It dealt with two things I love: religion and music. Some people find that strange because I don't commit myself to any religion. I think religion is beautiful. I like how different each of them are and I like that people perceive it differently. Keeping this in mind, I began to work on Alden.

I always knew he was troubled. I knew he wasn't going to be your 'golden boy'. He's not charming. He's not sympathetic. He's not going to lie to make you feel better. He's just this raw character who has A LOT of emotional baggage, I mean HELLO he tried to kill himself.

Even though he has a lot of faults, I love him to death. I love writing his story. I love the fact that it's edgy without it being too dark. There is a cult manned by a woman who is brainwashing kids, including Alden and his friends. There is a momentary student-teacher relationship. It's not love, maybe more like idolatry? There are going to be drugs, underage drinking. Homeless-ness. And a whole lot of other great things. It's a lot to take in, I know, but trust me, I know how it all pieces together.

Okay, enough of my rambling. Let's meet the Cast of Have Mercy:

Alden Summerville

Seventeen year old Alden Summerville loves music more than life itself. He plays football and pretends to be "like every other jock" but deep down he is emotional and just wants to live in a world with only his guitar. He misses his dead mother and knows that if nothing in his life goes as planned, he'll be happy to spend the rest of his days in a coffin.

Colby Reynolds


















Colby is Alden's perfectionist ex-girlfriend. She likes everything to revolve around her and if it doesn't then she gets pretty upset. Even though she still had feelings for Al, she broke up with him and started dating Masi.

Masi Gao




















Masi is Alden's best friend and fellow "band mate" in their three-man band (formerly four) called Still Shot. He doesn't take life seriously and jokes about everything. He thinks that Alden is the wisest person he has ever met, and is always looking to him

for advice.

Tallister Coleman




















Tallister, who likes to be called Mercy, has never lived a perfect life. She was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. after her father left her mother who became a drunk and a drug addict. She is abused by her mother's boyfriend and is always watching over her little sister, Mona. The only peace she can find is in the music that she writes and that's why she is able to connect with Alden, even though they are from different worlds.

Things that make me smile...

Look what Cal (this amazingly-talented-writer-artist-girl) made for me! It's for a novel that I'm rewriting called Rendition.

I already blogged about this on my other blog yesterday but I love them so much and I can't stop thinking about them. They're beautiful!

She's not finished with the entire project, which will include music, but I love it so far. And I still can't believe I won her contest! Because I am not a lucky person and I never ever win things, unless they're academic things.

Teaser Tuesday

Happy Teaser Tuesday everyone!

I've gotten a lot done last week up until now. It's cutting close to the day I have to go back to hell, I mean that place where knowledge is power and all that other good stuff ^_^

I started outlining for UTJS and I added another love interest, because I love love triangles. His name is Peregrine March and he's a clumsy wizard who drinks too much.

And then I have two new WIP(s) One is called The Tying of Two Nots and it's about Nick and Bailey, two compulsive darers who find themselves in each other's arms after a night of heavy drinking. Bailey ends up pregnant and now they're trying to find out what they should do.

The other one is untitled, but it's about this girl who wakes up from a coma only to discover that her mother and little sister were kidnapped. With her boyfriend Duncan they set out on trying to find out what happened to them, only to get caught up in a magical war between the Witches and the Dragons. I'm really excited about this one.

Okay, okay, enough about me. I hope everyone else got a lot done, and I hope you're excited about it.

Hopefully I'll have something from either two of those new SNI(s) to post next Tuesday, but until then, here's another snippet from Have Mercy.

I realized I needed to establish Alden's voice a little more in the beginning. Plus, as always he had a lot more to say. It's also a cameo for Colby because she just popped into the story. And I had to mention somewhere about the music teacher retiring because the new music teacher, well let's just say she's an important part of the plot too.

It was Monday. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. And for once, I felt like going to school. Usually I just go to first period and leave after homeroom. But if I went to school today, I would have actually stayed the whole entire day.

My music teacher, Mr. Snyder was retiring. After forty five years of teaching, three of which he spent dealing with me, he was going on to a better place. Some retirement home in Florida. He was the only teacher I liked. I still gave him hell like the others, but I payed attention in class. When I needed advice about something, he was always there for me. I loved the man like a father. So of course I wanted to be there to see him off. But that bastard that lives in the same house and whose sperm helped bring me into this world, wanted to disrupt my learning, just to take me to go see a stuck-up doctor for no fucking reason. Go figure.

For the third time this morning, my phone rang. I put it on vibrate, but the low buzzing sound was getting on my nerves. I knew who was calling. I didn't feel like talking to her. Colby. My ex. The girl next door. She had so many titles, but girlfriend wasn't one of them. At least not anymore, so I didn't feel obligated to answer her call.

We broke up over a week ago. She texted me saying it was over. I said okay. I've been single for a two weeks now. It feels good. Maybe I should be thanking her, instead of ignoring her. I mean, if it weren't for her, I would still be somebody's boyfriend. I wouldn't get no action at parties and my reputation would be ruined. Plus, I wouldn't have gotten the number of this really hot girl I met at Skunk's party. She wrote it on my hand and I accidentally washed it off. I forgot her name, so I can't ask around for her. Oh well.

I picked up a shirt off the floor and pulled it on. Running my hand through my hair, I grabbed my jacket and walked out of my room. I couldn't close my door because my dad took it off the hinges. I guess he figured I wouldn't hold a gun to my head if I didn't have any privacy. There was always the bathroom, though.

He and his wife were in the kitchen when I walked downstairs. They were speaking in low tones, as if I gave a fuck about what they were talking about. After hugging and kissing, my father grabbed his car keys and we left the house.