Saw it last night with some friends from my college's theatre department. After starring in the play as the Woman, I was super excited to find out they were making a film version of it. The whole theatre was going to go in a big group, but in the end it was just about ten of us. Still, I had fun with them. The theatre was actually pretty crowded considering how tiny our town is. Everyone was excited to see the movie. And it was f-ing CREEPY. You could always kind of tell when she was going to come in or appear or when something bad was going to happen, but it still sent shivers up and down my spine and I was NOT the only person who screamed at several points. I didn't sleep hardly at all last night because of it. And yet I'm TOTALLY up for going to see it again with my sorority bit and her suitemates.
Not to mention, the film has actually rather inspired me for writing and stuff. Funny how fear can be channeled into our favorite things, right?
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Something
No one knew who they were. They were tall and strong, carrying themselves the way any warriors would, and yet they did not bear the signs or shields of any leader they were familiar with. Things like this didn’t happen around here. The people of Sabinium were peaceful and quiet. They had ties with other surrounding tribes and lands and they had always maintained good relations with them. War broke out between others, but Sabinium had always managed to avoid it. They had no interest in sacrificing their men, turning their women into widows and their children into orphans. The closest they had ever come to war was sending able-bodied men to their allies to assist in their fights, and they had been fortunate enough that the wars had never been brought to their land as retaliation from the enemy. So to suddenly have these armed but apparently independent warriors come riding into their lands… Even the trees seemed to have gone still with anxiety. The gentle wind that swept over the hills was still. The sheep seemed nervous and jumpy as the shepherds led them out to graze. The children were torn between hiding behind their mothers and going up with wide-eyed wonder to stare at these newcomers. Only a small number of them seemed unafraid, and had anyone seen them standing where they were hidden behind the trees, they would have thought it very odd. Of everyone, they should have been the ones who feared the newcomers the most.
“Who are they?”
“If anyone knew, they wouldn’t be meeting with the council, would they?”
“Don’t talk so loudly, they’ll hear you!”
“Let them, Orva. The one man there with the stubborn jaw, he has nice eyes. I’d like it if he looked this way…”
“Don’t bother being modest, we all know it’s not his eyes you’re interested in!”
The gaggle of young women, all more than old enough to be interested in men, broke into soft laughter that one of their number quickly shushed. She waved a hand at them and then tapped her index finger to her lips commandingly before turning and fixing her eyes back on the men. The others all followed suit, biting their lips and sighing out the last of their giggles as they squeezed closer together to peek out from behind the trees. Most of the men, perhaps thirty in all, were standing in a strong, tightly-knit group. Three of them were sitting down around the smoldering fire, wearing nothing but cloths that wrapped about their waists and sandals that tied about their ankles. These three men were sitting with their hands on their knees and their dark eyes fixed on the council of elders, which consisted of their leader, his brothers, and several other men who had proven themselves either in battle or in some other fashion. From where the girls were hidden behind a cluster of trees, they couldn’t hear what was being said between the men, but every now and then one of them caught something by reading their lips and would whisper it to the others.
“I think they’re talking of some sort of alliance mayhap…?” one girl whispered. Another shook her head.
“If it was talk of joining forces that would mean there’s something to stand against together… I haven’t heard of anything, have you?”
“No, nothing… But then what could they be here for? And why so many of them?”
They were all silent in reply. None of them could think of an answer to it. The more they watched and thought it over, the more questions they all came up with, and the fewer answers they found. And of course, that only heightened their curiosity and caused them to watch and think it over all the more. The wind had started to pick up and their knees were hurting from the crouched positions they were huddled in, but still none of them moved. They only continued to watch, their eyes wide as if hoping to notice something that would be more of a clue, but it backfired on them in the end. The man in the center of the three who were sitting suddenly sprung up onto his feet as if he’d realized his seat was white-hot, and all of the girls jumped and gasped. Fear shot through them all like lightning as they wondered what on earth he had in mind to do, and for a moment they all thought he might draw his sword and charge at the council, which included several of their fathers and brothers. But he did not. Instead, he stood there with his feet shoulder-width apart and his shoulders back, his hands fisted but not moving from his sides as he stared down at the council with a hard, unbending look about his features. Slowly, the leader of the council, the man everyone always turned to, stood as well and faced him head-on. Silence fell over the congregation of men and radiated out to take hold of the spying women as well, wrapping around them all in a tight hold as some sort of inner trembling beat began to flow through them all. None of them could tell what was coming next, until it did.
“You will agree to none of them terms I have offered for an alliance,” the unknown man said in a much louder voice than before, causing all the girls to jump before they started whispering in excitement.
“You were right, Caela, you were right!”
“Levana, shh! I want to hear!”
The girls quickly fell silent again and turned their attention back to what was being said. The man had his hands on his hips now and there was something playing about his features… like a secret was hiding up in the corner of his smile and waiting to be told. “Is there nothing I can say to persuade you? No, I see… Perhaps, then, you might agree to an alliance in some other form. One that will bind us more than trade can. You have the promise of my help, my men, and my defense in any fight.”
“We are a peaceful people, that promise is nothing to us,” the leader of the council countered quickly. Just as quickly, the unknown man went on.
“Conflict will come to your people sooner or later, and you know that to be true. When it comes, you will need trained men, horses, weapons, all things you currently lack. I can give these to you, in exchange for your most precious possessions.” Everyone was silent, unsure what he could be talking about. When he realized none of the council could predict what he wanted from them, he smiled brightly and stretched out one arm in the exact direction the girls were hiding.
“Your daughters.”
“Who are they?”
“If anyone knew, they wouldn’t be meeting with the council, would they?”
“Don’t talk so loudly, they’ll hear you!”
“Let them, Orva. The one man there with the stubborn jaw, he has nice eyes. I’d like it if he looked this way…”
“Don’t bother being modest, we all know it’s not his eyes you’re interested in!”
The gaggle of young women, all more than old enough to be interested in men, broke into soft laughter that one of their number quickly shushed. She waved a hand at them and then tapped her index finger to her lips commandingly before turning and fixing her eyes back on the men. The others all followed suit, biting their lips and sighing out the last of their giggles as they squeezed closer together to peek out from behind the trees. Most of the men, perhaps thirty in all, were standing in a strong, tightly-knit group. Three of them were sitting down around the smoldering fire, wearing nothing but cloths that wrapped about their waists and sandals that tied about their ankles. These three men were sitting with their hands on their knees and their dark eyes fixed on the council of elders, which consisted of their leader, his brothers, and several other men who had proven themselves either in battle or in some other fashion. From where the girls were hidden behind a cluster of trees, they couldn’t hear what was being said between the men, but every now and then one of them caught something by reading their lips and would whisper it to the others.
“I think they’re talking of some sort of alliance mayhap…?” one girl whispered. Another shook her head.
“If it was talk of joining forces that would mean there’s something to stand against together… I haven’t heard of anything, have you?”
“No, nothing… But then what could they be here for? And why so many of them?”
They were all silent in reply. None of them could think of an answer to it. The more they watched and thought it over, the more questions they all came up with, and the fewer answers they found. And of course, that only heightened their curiosity and caused them to watch and think it over all the more. The wind had started to pick up and their knees were hurting from the crouched positions they were huddled in, but still none of them moved. They only continued to watch, their eyes wide as if hoping to notice something that would be more of a clue, but it backfired on them in the end. The man in the center of the three who were sitting suddenly sprung up onto his feet as if he’d realized his seat was white-hot, and all of the girls jumped and gasped. Fear shot through them all like lightning as they wondered what on earth he had in mind to do, and for a moment they all thought he might draw his sword and charge at the council, which included several of their fathers and brothers. But he did not. Instead, he stood there with his feet shoulder-width apart and his shoulders back, his hands fisted but not moving from his sides as he stared down at the council with a hard, unbending look about his features. Slowly, the leader of the council, the man everyone always turned to, stood as well and faced him head-on. Silence fell over the congregation of men and radiated out to take hold of the spying women as well, wrapping around them all in a tight hold as some sort of inner trembling beat began to flow through them all. None of them could tell what was coming next, until it did.
“You will agree to none of them terms I have offered for an alliance,” the unknown man said in a much louder voice than before, causing all the girls to jump before they started whispering in excitement.
“You were right, Caela, you were right!”
“Levana, shh! I want to hear!”
The girls quickly fell silent again and turned their attention back to what was being said. The man had his hands on his hips now and there was something playing about his features… like a secret was hiding up in the corner of his smile and waiting to be told. “Is there nothing I can say to persuade you? No, I see… Perhaps, then, you might agree to an alliance in some other form. One that will bind us more than trade can. You have the promise of my help, my men, and my defense in any fight.”
“We are a peaceful people, that promise is nothing to us,” the leader of the council countered quickly. Just as quickly, the unknown man went on.
“Conflict will come to your people sooner or later, and you know that to be true. When it comes, you will need trained men, horses, weapons, all things you currently lack. I can give these to you, in exchange for your most precious possessions.” Everyone was silent, unsure what he could be talking about. When he realized none of the council could predict what he wanted from them, he smiled brightly and stretched out one arm in the exact direction the girls were hiding.
“Your daughters.”
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Reality
So I've found myself questioning the definition of reality lately. I know that seems really contrived and overdone, but I'm serious. The dreams I've been having, my perceptions of myself and other people, all of them are getting very... warped, I guess. I'm questioning what's real and what I might be misinterpreting, or maybe even making up entirely in my own head. As a writer I've always had a majorly overactive imagination and I've always been able to view the world through different lenses and levels. But now especially, I seem to be seeing everything as entirely subjective and relative. And if everything is subjective and relative, if everything is open to interpretation, if everything can be brought down to a simple matter of opinion... Is anything truly "real" outside our own heads?
As a writer of historical fiction, its basically, my job to represent perfect, living reality through an imperfect, fictional lens. I have to show the tumultuous, unpredictable, nonsensical rhythm of life in an ordered, organized, and logical manner. Its not nearly as easy as it seems. Even now, writing about real life, I don't know quite what I'm doing. What sounds good or makes sense to me, might not sound good or make sense to anyone else. Thats when my mind starts warping things. I start trying to say, "Well if I do it THIS way then maybe these other people will like it," but then that always begs to age-old question of how do you please everybody when everything is subjective and just comes down to a matter of opinion? You can't. As a writer, I figured this out and accepted it a very long time ago. But as someone who is OCD and a perfectionist, I have the urge to fight it every step of the way. It really makes writing suck, since all you want to do is be good at it, maybe even good enough to be taken seriously and be published. But in the end, its usually not about how well you write or how good your story is. Its how well you play by someone else's rules when they're holding all the cards and they're the only one with the rule book.
I know that no one is really reading this aside from Skyler since she's my friend. But next post I'm going to put up something I've written. I don't know what it'll be yet but it'll be something recent and... If anyone is out there reading... which I don't think there are... Feel free to post comments or something about it. I don't care about being gentle - I just ask for honesty.
Mmkay? Ta.
As a writer of historical fiction, its basically, my job to represent perfect, living reality through an imperfect, fictional lens. I have to show the tumultuous, unpredictable, nonsensical rhythm of life in an ordered, organized, and logical manner. Its not nearly as easy as it seems. Even now, writing about real life, I don't know quite what I'm doing. What sounds good or makes sense to me, might not sound good or make sense to anyone else. Thats when my mind starts warping things. I start trying to say, "Well if I do it THIS way then maybe these other people will like it," but then that always begs to age-old question of how do you please everybody when everything is subjective and just comes down to a matter of opinion? You can't. As a writer, I figured this out and accepted it a very long time ago. But as someone who is OCD and a perfectionist, I have the urge to fight it every step of the way. It really makes writing suck, since all you want to do is be good at it, maybe even good enough to be taken seriously and be published. But in the end, its usually not about how well you write or how good your story is. Its how well you play by someone else's rules when they're holding all the cards and they're the only one with the rule book.
I know that no one is really reading this aside from Skyler since she's my friend. But next post I'm going to put up something I've written. I don't know what it'll be yet but it'll be something recent and... If anyone is out there reading... which I don't think there are... Feel free to post comments or something about it. I don't care about being gentle - I just ask for honesty.
Mmkay? Ta.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Prayers
The man who offered to help me publish my novel had a major heart attack last night. I don't even care about him being my ticket into the published world. He's a good man, a friend of Skyler's family, and I don't believe its his time to die yet. I'm asking for anyone who reads this post, anyone at all, to please pray for him.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Introduction
I never really thought about blogs as something other that what you see in that movie Julie & Julia. I thought it was cool that this woman was able to focus enough to write a blog entry every day as well as work as well as do all that cooking... but I never thought it was something real that I myself could do. Then my friend, lets call her Skyler, got a blog and started writing not every day but a lot. And she was going on and on about how helpful it was to her and how much it kept her focused on writing her own individual stories and manuscripts. And, well, honestly, all I could think was "Good for you!! Now how about this other thing..." I didn't really care all that much. It was great she had something to keep her focused, but aside from that.... Eehh.
Then she contacts me a couple nights ago and tells me that her grandmother is good friends with this author in the historical fiction circuit. This man happened to find my three chapters I had sent to Skyler, and he read them and immediately asked for more as soon as I can get it done. It's nothing concrete. But it's still a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So Skyler and I got to talking about it. I asked her about a jillion times if she was serious, if she'd seen him read it and heard him say it with her own eyes and ears, and she reassured me over and over that this was perfectly serious. I've never been so close to passing out in my life, and for a few minutes I honestly didn't believe her. But when I did believe her... It was like a train went speeding all up and down my body and around my head and back again and... I wanted to scream. This is what I've been dreaming of and working for for over ten years now. Ten YEARS!! And now its right there, right on the edge of my fingertips, and its so close I can almost feel it within my grasp. Skyler told me the man had suggested I start a blog or start writing to magazines. Build a fanbase. As someone who is an introvert by nature, the idea of having a fanbase is intimidating, and as someone who is also self-conscious, the idea of me having a fanbase seems absurd. But a blog. A blog, I could do. Its just like keeping a diary that you know your annoying little brother will read as soon as you're gone. And... well, I dunno, it just seems easier to do then write for a magazine or something... I haven't thought this through entirely, lemme alone xP
So... this is it. Post 1 in my blog for writing. I guess an introduction would be a good way to start, hence the longwinded explanation above. There's not really much to tell that's not already in my About Me on my profile... Name is Kay, but those closest to me have started calling me Kiki. <--- Not my real names, haha. It's a penname, just one of a few I have in stock if they're ever needed. I may change it later, may not. I'm a 20 year old Sagitarrius going to college in the US. I have a great family and wonderful best friends and a man-slave you might call "a boyfriend", muahaha! I'm... a nerd. I like to greet my friends by shouting "Expecto Patronum" at them and we make jokes about Edward Cullen living in the forest with his other fairy-friends. If I had to choose any time period to be young in, I'd choose the 40's <3 But I really love all eras of history. One of my favorites is the Tudor period, which is when most of the manuscripts I have are set. And while I love the film version of The Other Boleyn Girl, both it and the book are historically inaccurate crap. Speak to me not of Henry's cruel rape of Anne (he didn't) and Anne and Mary's bitter rivalry (they were actually quite close), because I will go off on you. Yes - I am an accuracy tyrant, though I admit I make mistakes with it too. I'm also a Grammar Nazi, so be afraid. I am a Christian and an Independent voter, and a lot of people don't know where I stand on things because I don't feel like getting into fights about it. And... that's it for now I guess. I'll post again soon. With what, I don't really know. The Random House Express is turning a corner and I can't begin to guess where I'll end up.
Then she contacts me a couple nights ago and tells me that her grandmother is good friends with this author in the historical fiction circuit. This man happened to find my three chapters I had sent to Skyler, and he read them and immediately asked for more as soon as I can get it done. It's nothing concrete. But it's still a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So Skyler and I got to talking about it. I asked her about a jillion times if she was serious, if she'd seen him read it and heard him say it with her own eyes and ears, and she reassured me over and over that this was perfectly serious. I've never been so close to passing out in my life, and for a few minutes I honestly didn't believe her. But when I did believe her... It was like a train went speeding all up and down my body and around my head and back again and... I wanted to scream. This is what I've been dreaming of and working for for over ten years now. Ten YEARS!! And now its right there, right on the edge of my fingertips, and its so close I can almost feel it within my grasp. Skyler told me the man had suggested I start a blog or start writing to magazines. Build a fanbase. As someone who is an introvert by nature, the idea of having a fanbase is intimidating, and as someone who is also self-conscious, the idea of me having a fanbase seems absurd. But a blog. A blog, I could do. Its just like keeping a diary that you know your annoying little brother will read as soon as you're gone. And... well, I dunno, it just seems easier to do then write for a magazine or something... I haven't thought this through entirely, lemme alone xP
So... this is it. Post 1 in my blog for writing. I guess an introduction would be a good way to start, hence the longwinded explanation above. There's not really much to tell that's not already in my About Me on my profile... Name is Kay, but those closest to me have started calling me Kiki. <--- Not my real names, haha. It's a penname, just one of a few I have in stock if they're ever needed. I may change it later, may not. I'm a 20 year old Sagitarrius going to college in the US. I have a great family and wonderful best friends and a man-slave you might call "a boyfriend", muahaha! I'm... a nerd. I like to greet my friends by shouting "Expecto Patronum" at them and we make jokes about Edward Cullen living in the forest with his other fairy-friends. If I had to choose any time period to be young in, I'd choose the 40's <3 But I really love all eras of history. One of my favorites is the Tudor period, which is when most of the manuscripts I have are set. And while I love the film version of The Other Boleyn Girl, both it and the book are historically inaccurate crap. Speak to me not of Henry's cruel rape of Anne (he didn't) and Anne and Mary's bitter rivalry (they were actually quite close), because I will go off on you. Yes - I am an accuracy tyrant, though I admit I make mistakes with it too. I'm also a Grammar Nazi, so be afraid. I am a Christian and an Independent voter, and a lot of people don't know where I stand on things because I don't feel like getting into fights about it. And... that's it for now I guess. I'll post again soon. With what, I don't really know. The Random House Express is turning a corner and I can't begin to guess where I'll end up.
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