Dear Old Inkpop

So yesterday, I posted Theoretically Speaking on inkpop, and after just a few minutes, someone already critiqued it! Which was pretty awesome and definitely not expected.

So anyway, just wanted to let people know that TS is now back on inkpop, with a "new" chapter. I use quotation marks because the beginning of that chapter (first page or so) was just tweaked a bit, but then I added a whole new scene at the end of it.

The next chapter - a whole new one - will be added soon :)

Let's see how inkpop goes this time!

Here's a link for those who want to read it: http://www.inkpop.com/node/571496/read

I've Been Thinking...

I usually don't start a sentence with 'I've been thinking,' because I always get suspicious looks.

But anyway, I've been thinking about a couple of things this week. One, I seriously need to find a purpose for this blog. And I will...soon. Hopefully. Any ideas for what I could do with this? Especially writing related.

Second thing is, I also need to find a new layout for this blog. I'm tired of this one, but I'm just a bit too lazy to go find a really nice layout somewhere.

Another thing I decided was to finally return to inkpop. My friend and I spent months just going from one writing website to another, trying to find a good one, but we sort of gave up. Each one we found was worse than the previous one. She completely gave up but I decided to go back to inkpop.
Soooo...that means I'll repost Theoretically Speaking, and this new completely spur of the moment story I started working on a few weeks ago. It's called Kismet (more about it in another post), and although I really don't have much of a clue where that story's headed, my sister told me to post it. Right now, I'm setting the date to post both of these books on October 21st.

Good news for Theoretically Speaking is that I actually got a few chapters written over the last few weeks. So it'll actually get updated on a regular basis xD

P.S. any ideas for what I can do about this little blog, just leave it in the comments :)

Until next time! ^_^

Kiss Me Baby One More Time

I'm sorry for the title. I've just been listening to some Britney Spears today. Not by choice, really. The radio was on and they were having this Britney streak for an hour. Not pleasant, although I do still enjoy her old songs.
But, I digress. Today I shall give you all an excerpt. This excerpt is a bit special for me because I was having some trouble with the chemistry between these two characters for a while. But then I got to this scene and everything just clicked. So then I went back to past scenes and fixed a bunch of things that needed to get fixed. So if it weren't for this scene, TS might have just fallen apart.

The scene is a little steamy (I guess it all depends on our interpretations of 'little'). So you're all warned.

I don't mention any names in it because it happens quite later on in the book and I'd like to keep it a surprise for those reading the book. And also because that's how this part of the scene was written in the first place - without any names :P

Ok. So I'll shut up and let you read the excerpt xD

Excerpt:

“Kiss me,” I whispered, ignoring the dangerously fast speed of my heartbeat. The alcohol created a light buzz in my head but I knew that even sober, I would have  still stood there in the middle of my living room with him.

I took a small step forward and felt his jeans brush the back of my hand. Even that small touch sent a wave of excitement through my body.

My gaze moved from his eyes to his lips, which continued to get closer as each second ticked by.

And then, without any warning, they crushed mine in one of those kisses you could only dream of.

Soft. Dangerous. Sweet. Hungry.

His hand slid down to my hip and pulled me closer, and I let my list fall to the ground. Both of my hands now free, I slipped them under his shirt, my palms resting on his chest. My entire body was hot, tingling, and so was his against my touch. His tongue teased my lips, but I knew better than to give in.

Instead I pulled away, out of breath and lightheaded. Whoever knew anyone could kiss this well. 


The corner of my lips lifted in a small and quite unstable smile. “I thought you stayed away from crazy people?”

He chuckled, brought his lips close to mine and, in my mouth, whispered, “Good thing I changed my mind.”

Lucas Everett and...Aeryn Taylor :O

What am I talking about? Well, I've been dying to try writing a book where the characters (at least the main characters) from my other books interact, become friends, enemies, and form friendships. Or even become an item, as my title suggests. It would be pretty interesting to write about Aeryn from TS lusting after Lucas from STA. I wonder what our poor Avery would do. And what would the best friends do? I can totally imagine Jane and Aeryn going at it like the two crazy people they are :P

And it would be so interesting to see what the characters think of each other. If I ever wrote something like this, I'm thinking I'd pick one character and write the story from her point of view (writing from a guy's point of view is a challenge I'm still afraid to take on. He'd probably end up so feminine that people would accuse him of being secretly gay).

I've only read one series of books like that and did like it. Anyone ever thought of writing a series like that? Anyone ever read a series like that? Was it good or bad?

Aeryn's Online Dating Adventure

I just finished writing one of Aeryn's adventure date with a guy she met through a dating website. For once, the scene played out exactly like I'd imagined it.

It involves a British guy, a creepy man, and jumping out of a window. For those reading the story on Wattpad, that scene will come in 2 chapters (I'm posting chapter 5 later today or tomorrow morning; the date is in chapter 7).

Oddly enough, most of it actually happened in real life, and all I did was add a small twist at the end.

Stop Trying To Hit On Me

I noticed I haven't posted anything writing-related in a while :O Here's an excerpt from TS. This happens in Aidan's car after Aeryn guilt-trips him into giving her a ride somewhere.

With my hand in mid-air, I stopped and turned to give him a blank look. A small smile was at the corner of his lips as he looked back at me. “Aidan, you trying to hit on me messes up the whole order of the universe. Plus, I have enough nightmares as it is.”

He frowned, looking offended. “Trying? I wasn’t trying to hit on you.”

I turned back to the mirror and began applying the mascara again. “Of course not.”

He grinned. “Trying implies failure. I was hitting on you. Want me to do it again?”

I rolled my eyes. “No.”

“You have beautiful eyes, Taylor,” he said as he made a right.

“Aidan, shut up.”

“They’re almost as beautiful as your hair –”

“Uh-huh.”

“ – and as hot as your lips.”

I groaned and as we slowly neared a stop sign, I chose this moment to quickly finish applying my mascara. I closed the tube and turned to look at Aidan. He sneaked a glance at me, his blue eyes looking as amused as ever. “Stop trying to hit on me,” I said. “I'm not stupid enough to fall for it.”

He grinned. “Worked in high school.”

“Yeah, well I’d lost part of my brain back then.”

“Found it yet?”

“Uh-huh. Long time ago. And it’s not going anywhere for a while.”

“That’s too bad.”

Wattpad

I used to post my projects on inkpop but ever since they changed the layout and a lot of the features on the site, it just lost its appeal to me. At one point, inkpop just became stressful and my friend who introduced me to inkpop even called it a cult. Lol.

So anyway, I stopped going on inkpop. It gives me too much trouble: every time I log on using my username Blueview, it switches me to a different account linked to my Facebook account. It's really irritating. And I don't even know how to upload anything on the new site (kinda embarrassing but whatever xD). I'm only going on there to read this one project that I've patiently been waiting for for quite some time now.

Just yesterday, I found this new writing site. Wattpad. It's got such a simple layout. It's pretty much how inkpop used to be before everyone started swapping in order to get feedback. And it's copyrighted, so it's safe :D
I've posted Theoretically Speaking on there. If any of you would like to read it, that's where I'll be posting and updating from now on. I only have the prologue and first chapter right now, but more will be coming.

Here's the link for those interested (my username is MsBlueview):
http://www.wattpad.com/1616740-theoretically-speaking

Online Dating

I use to think that only desperate or extremely busy people tried that but whoa - the amount of people I know who are doing it actually boggles me.

My friends made accounts on this one dating website for fun, and every day we see someone we know on there and we're so surprised. I haven't made an account but it's definitely fun to hear about my friends' stories, and it's even more fun to see the kind of people on there. There are those nasty pervs who always start their conversations with something along the lines of 'Touch me' (Ew -_-), there are those people who are so paranoid of meeting some old creep, but then there are those who read people's profiles and are actually interested in the person's personality.

Every day, I hear at least ten funny stories from my friends (like this one guy who said that he was 35. When my friend told him that she wasn't looking for someone this old, he said that he was actually 21 and asked if she wanted to see his driver's license. All he kept sending her were a bunch of his webcam pictures until she finally blocked him). But if you're lucky enough, you'll actually meet a decent person on there. Or you'll meet a complete creep and wonder why you ever signed up.

So naturally, I realized that I wanna include this in TS. Aeryn knows exactly what she wants in a guy, and what better way to find that guy than through online dating? Many different ideas popped in my head, but I narrowed it down to two ideas right now, and I think I'll just see where the story goes. What I can't wait to write are all the creeps that will start messaging her (I feel like I've got such a twisted mind right now :P)

And she comes back to life...

I've almost abandoned this blog, haven't I? I haven't written or blogged in the last two weeks. I've just been sleeping, doing homework and reading.

I read Kinsella's Shopaholic Series and every time I tried to write TS, I felt like I was still stuck in Becky's head (the MC from the Shopaholic Series). It's not pleasant. Becky's character is really different and very distinct, and after spending 2 weeks and 5 books with her, it was almost impossible to write with Aeryn's voice. I would write something and delete it because it just wasn't how Aeryn would think or talk or do anything.

But I'm done with the Shopaholic books and today I spent hours trying to get back in Aeryn's head. It's now 10pm and I've finally managed to forget Becky's annoying voice talking about shopping and clothes (I still don't understand how I managed to read all 5 books. She's just such an annoying and materialistic character that it drove me insane by the middle of each book). I've written a thousand words of TS today and it feels so good to be writing again, and actually be happy with what I'm writing.

And, to make up for almost abandoning this blog, my next post will be an excerpt. Most likely from TS, but it might be from Bad Apple. We'll see!

Aloha :D

Oh, wow. It's been a while since I've last blogged. I've been busy as hell with homework, and when I'm not doing that, I'm sleeping. Not what I call fun -_-

Anyway, I wanted to talk about setting today. Anyone ever set their story in a place they've never been to? I know I have. Actually, all of my stories are set in places I've never been to, and a couple of them are even set in places I hadn't heard of before I started researching for that particular story.

My writing teacher told us today that it's one of the worse ideas to set your characters in places you've never been to...but I have to disagree. It's hard, I won't lie, but it's fun, challenging and it even gives you the feeling that you've been to that place once you're done writing. And I love that feeling xD

I'm about to start writing a scene for TS that'll happen later in the book - way later - and it's set in...yes, you guessed it, Hawaii! From the beginning of the book, I've got Aeryn's mom bugging her about visiting them there. When things completely fall apart for her, she'll decide to spend her Christmas break with them in Hawaii. She'll take one of the guys with her at the last minute, and I have this one scene with them together at a beach bonfire and I just can't wait to write it. I've never been to Hawaii before, but one of my friends went there last month and hasn't stopped talking about it (yes, it gets a bit annoying after a full week). And I've been to the Caribbeans plenty of times, so I'm hoping things will work out for those Hawaii chapters.

But what do you think about setting your story somewhere you've never been to before? Ever tried it? Was it a complete disaster or the best thing you've ever written?

Who Knew

Rewriting the latest parts of TS turned out to be pretty good. After I lost my USB, I bought myself a new one and went through my email, Facebook messages to my sister and the deleted files on my computer, and was able to retrieve a good part of both TS and BA (most of it came from inkpop). I'll have to completely restart editing STA and restart Destined (not that bad, since I was only a couple of thousand words into it), but I'm not too bummed about this.

I've been working on TS in between rewriting essays, movie reviews and short stories for school and it turns out that I'm liking the new version better. I wouldn't exactly call it a new version since I'm just rewriting the same scenes, but I'm liking the writing better. It flows better, the characters are more alive, new ideas are popping up in my head and I'm just having more fun writing the scenes now than I had when I first wrote them.

Who ever knew losing my USB could actually turn out to be a good thing. Regardless, I sure as hell hope not to lose this one -_-

Aeryn and Her Guy

For the last few months, my computer didn't have any sound and I had to listen to everything on my phone.  It became a bit annoying, especially since my phone tends to freeze whenever it wants and I have to take out the battery and restart it.

But my computer got fixed and while listening to thousands of songs on YouTube yesterday afternoon, I came across the perfect song for Aeryn and her guy. Yes, 'her guy'. Of course I won't say who she ends up falling for :P I took some parts of the song as a metaphor, but all in all, it fits Aeryn and her guy perfectly. All the names of the potential love interests are mentioned in the chapters that I've posted on inkpop. Anyone wanna take a wild guess as to who it is?

Early Editing

I've been thinking about this for a few weeks now, and today I got down to outlining Theoretically Speaking so I can know exactly where the story's going. I usually wait until I'm closer to the end of the book, but I wanted to try something new this time. Outlining what was going to happen in each chapter got me thinking about making the pace moving a tid bit faster, and before I knew it, I spent my entire history class rearranging the order of the scenes for the first 6 chapters for the story to move faster.

I think it'll work out better this way, but I still can't help thinking how much more work I put on my plate. And of course, there's still that voice at the back of my head wondering what I'll do if, once I'm done making those changes, I realize that I liked it better before -_-

I've Gone Over To The Dark Side...

Not completely, though - I only have the tip of one foot on that side. What am I talking about? Here's the beginning of Destined, the first book of a paranormal series I've been planning for...mh, about 7 months now. I'm not too far into it, but whenever I'm sick of trying to get into Aeryn's twisted head at 2AM, I go work on Destined.Once I'm done with Theoretically Speaking, the plan is to focus on this.

I was once told that death is a beautiful thing, an unexpected moment in life to embrace. It isn’t the end, but the beginning of something greater – of a journey that leads to a greater destiny. It hadn't been something I'd believed to be true; at the time, death had held neither beauty nor appeal to me. It had been an unwanted event that stole precious time from us, bringing grief and tears, pain and bitterness.

            This was well before my gift surfaced. Before it took hold of me, controlling my every thought and desire. Possessing my being. It was then that my mother’s words unraveled before me, and I began to understand their true meaning as the familiar sound of her voice resounded in my mind.

            You’re a beautiful thing, Serena. An unexpected bundle of joy that I’ll never let go.

            I was her beautiful thing, the beginning of something greater for her; I was a journey that had led her to her destiny, to my father.

Those words were true. They formed a kind of truth with hidden parts, a truth that wasn’t whole. It was the kind of truth that was twisted in knots and ties so intricate that it became an impossibility to see through it – to get to its core, to untie it and see it bare. It was the kind of truth that neglected to explain that I held inside of me the power of death; that I was wrapped up in beautiful, shimmering paper, tempting everyone in my path. And when I struck, my beauty disappeared. It disintegrated before everyone’s eyes, and allowed the light to shine and expose the hidden truth. Because the truth that my mother’s tender words had kept away from me was that there is no beauty in death. There is only pain, and there is only hatred.

Batter Up!

Watched my first baseball game today :D I guess I should say my first 'quarter of a baseball game'. I looked through the TV guide channel today and saw that there was Major League Baseball on for about 3 hours. So I started watching a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers. I watched for about a half an hour, then got so confused and bored that I sort of dozed off. So I just changed the channel after a while.

I did catch a few things though. Mh, actually, nothing that I didn't already know, so I guess that doesn't count.

But I'm determined to sit through an entire baseball game. I sort of have to, since I have to write about 2 or 3 scenes in Theoretically Speaking, with Aeryn and Daniel watching a game. And they're pretty passionate about it, especially since they're cheering for opposing teams. I don't know why I had to make them like a sport I've never watched in my life -.- Guess I'll have to get that Baseball for Dummies book after all...

My chicken suit!

No, I don't really have a chicken suit. But remember Aeryn’s list? That really long one that describes her Mr. Perfect? Well, like I said, there’s a back story behind every single point on that list. Some of them are funny, others are just common sense. I’ll only be including about 5-10 of these back stories in the actual book, but I’m writing scenes for most of them in case I choose to include a different one. (There are about 40 points on the list, so it would be pretty impossible to include every single back story).

But like I promised, here’s an excerpt for/back story behind point #29 on the list: Doesn’t own a chicken suit. (It's the longest one I'll post. I haven't decided yet but this one isn't likely to be in the book, which is why I decided to post it. The scene is between Aeryn and Daniel, one of Aidan’s friends. If it makes the cut, it’ll be for a bit later in the book.)

            He looked up from the list and raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t own a chicken suit?” I nodded, not quite sure what was so outrageous about this point. Of course, it would be a little trickier to ask in the middle of a conversation, but definitely possible. As long as the conversation was already going downhill. “Why would someone own a chicken suit?”

            “There was this guy,” I started to explain, lying back down on the cold, concrete floor. “We went out once and on our second date, I told him how when I was little, I used to imagine myself living on a farm and taking care of animals, especially chickens and horses.” Daniel chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t laugh. I had big dreams.”

“Had? Aeryn, have you seen your list? Even Ken doesn’t live up to it.”

I scoffed. “You can’t compare the guy I’m looking for to a male version of Barbie.”

“You compared my girlfriend to Barbie,” he pointed out, then stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth. Most of it landed on the floor, again providing more food for the rats.

I rolled my eyes. “Gaby’s a human Barbie. I don’t see why you’re still denying it. Her boobs are so big that it’s only a matter of time until she topples over and falls flat on her face.”

This time, Daniel’s laughter wasn’t followed by a round of denial and I was tempted to ask if Gaby had forgotten to attach her camera chip to him. He nudged my side. “The chicken suit.”

“Ah, the chicken suit. Well, on our third date, the guy shows up at my doorstep dressed in a chicken suit. I think he thought it was cute and thoughtful. We get to the restaurant and when I order a chicken soup, I think he literally lost it. Still not sure why. He got up from his chair as if being dressed in a chicken suit wasn’t embarrassing enough, and then he did this…” I grimaced, just remembering how embarrassing that night had been. The glances hadn't stopped until he dropped me off at home. Even then, my mother's confused look didn't budge until Chris drove away. “He did this…really strange dance and said it was for Buddha.” Beside me, Daniel raised an eyebrow, a look of complete disbelief on his face; if I hadn’t been at that restaurant myself that night, I wouldn’t have believed a word of this story. I nodded to reassure him that this sad story was in fact true. “When he sat down, I told him that my mom suffered from Alzheimer and that I couldn’t leave her alone for too long because she might wander the streets at night and get lost.”

“Your mom doesn’t have Alzheimer.”

I sighed. “I know. So did he.”

Waiting...and waiting some more...

The idea for Theoretically Speaking came to me during a conversation with my sister when she visited (I may have already mentioned this - short term memory). A week or so after she left, I found this picture and realized how perfect it was for the book. Too bad it couldn't be my cover :P

But all in all, this picture is true because let's face it, there's no such a thing as the perfect man. Something's always missing :P

The result of procrastination and lack of sleep

I'm not really sure what came over me but after reaching 20, 000 words for Theoretically Speaking, I decided to post approx. the first 10,000 on Inkpop.

I think my lack of sleep, plus the fact that I've been procrastinating on my homework for writing class (huge surprise there) might be the cause, especially since I'd promised myself another 3 months away from Inkpop.

Oh well, I guess I'll just see how that turns out...

Dear Aidan Huntington... With hate, Signed: Aeryn Taylor

I spent the last few days visiting different colleges and got lots of writing done while on the bus. So I thought I'd post another excerpt as today's post. This excerpt is to give you all a feel of Aidan, who was one of the guys who asked Aeryn out back in high school and she answered by asking him if he had a strong aversion to tampons (he was in the prologue excerpt). The one thing to know here is that Aeryn pretty much despises him.

“Listen Aidan, I’ll say this in one of the simplest ways I can.” I looked at him straight in the eyes to attempt to create a sort of suspenseful moment. “Here’s the thing…hell would have to freeze over for me to ever do any kind of favor for you.” 

In all honesty, this had been the cruelest thing I had ever said to anyone, even to Aidan. Of course, what went through my head – especially about Aidan – couldn't even begin to compare to this slightly offensive comment, but that was an entirely different story. I waited, expecting to be flipped off by a trail of profanity or maybe even to see him kneel and beg me to reconsider, but he seemed to be completely unfazed by my comment. He simply glanced at my apartment door and smiled. 

“Taylor, I need a favor from you. And I’m pretty sure you need me to keep my mouth shut about your obsession over guys with a strong aversion to tampons. Especially around your boyfriend.” Amused by my expression, he paused and grinned. My jaw hung open, and my eyes narrowed accusingly at him as I took a step forward.

“Are you threatening me?” I hissed.

His grin widened. “More like making it impossible for you to say no.” I blinked, trying to suppress the anger threatening to explode at any second. If only he could be turned into a toad, the world would become such a better place. “So what do you say? Up for babysitting?”

Another excerpt...

After finishing off a chapter that I was having some trouble with, I decided to post another excerpt from Theoretically Speaking. This time it's the end of the prologue. The part right before the excerpt is when Aeryn (the MC) goes to see a psychic at a carnival to ask for a clue about the identity of Mr. Perfect. Even though Aeryn finds the clue to be complete crap, she doesn't seem to forget about it at all. Anyway, here's the excerpt:

A few months after the carnival:

“Hey, I was thinking…” Charles trailed off, seeming unsure of what he was thinking. I looked up from our Health poster, glue in one hand and a picture of a vagina in the other.

“You were thinking?” I repeated, wanting nothing more than to finish the poster, go home and never take another Health class again.

Charles at last met my gaze. “Do you wanna go out? With me? On…a date?” His nervousness was hard, if not impossible to miss. At my next question, all trace of it disappeared and was instead replaced by shock.

I took a deep breath and tried to quickly organize my thoughts, a task easier said than done. “This is gonna sound…um, a bit odd. But…” I braced myself for his reaction. Like a band-aid: rip it off as fast as possible. “Do you…have some kind of, um, strong aversion to tampons?”

Charles barely uttered a single word to me after this incident.

A year after the carnival:

“He asked me out,” I told Brooke, throwing my bag on the floor before throwing myself on her family’s couch, ready to die.

She looked up from her computer, disbelief written on every inch of her face. “Aidan?” she asked, her voice a mere whisper. I nodded, though the halfhearted raise of head couldn’t possibly qualify as a nod. “What did you say?” she almost squealed, somehow missing my lack of excitement over the situation.

I buried my face in a cushion, ready to drown my sorrows in a big bowl of self-pity. “I asked him if he had a strong aversion to tampons,” I mumbled.