it's just ink under the bridge
Another writing meme...because I can't resist them lol Warning: Lots of Band of Brothers related stuff ahoy, as well as a few spoilers with regards to other stories. Ooh, and some Doc Roe action at the bottom ;)
1. What's the last thing you wrote?
Flashback the main character is thinking about in Holland, on Christmas Eve in 1944 for my main Band of Brothers story:
I’ve danced with over a dozen men tonight. All of them American, all looking to get lucky for the evening. Each pick-up line has been dismissed with an apologetic smile, shot down with an airy laugh. But from the moment Joe’s hands find my waist, this feels different. I love that he isn‘t playing games with me, isn‘t trying to dress this up. He knows what he wants and he‘s fearless about the chase. ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ begins to play and everything else melts away. Neither of us speaks for the longest time, just sways and studies the other.
He’s even more beautiful close up. I find myself jealous of his perfect complexion, so fair it‘s nearly exuding a light of its own. The curve of his dark pink mouth is fascinating and I can‘t help thinking I‘ve never seen lips that look softer. Dark brown eyes set off his high cheekbones. They seem far older than his boyish face and small frame, make me wonder what he’s seen and in how many years. His neck is long, elegant almost, sculpted from the same luminous milk as the rest of him. The more I take in, the more lost I feel myself become. It takes a great amount of self-control not to reach up and trace the sharp angles of his face with my fingertips.
2. Was it any good?
Yeah...but I don't think I'm going to keep it where it is. It's so hard with flashback sequences because you're never sure what to give the audience first and what to withhold.
3. What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
Lol, I think honestly...this story I wrote in second grade about a dragon named Fran who finds a magic lamp while jogging along the beach. *sinks down into chair blushing*
4. Write poetry?
I love writing poetry, but it's a whole different ballgame from prose. It's way harder to keep on a leash lol
5. Angsty poetry?
I mean...what's the point otherwise lol
6. Favourite genre of writing?
Coming of age stories, specifically about women, usually using sexual/romantic relationships as a backdrop for plot movement
7. Most fun character you've ever created?
Lydia, from Vanity (a story about Tom Riddle's days at Hogwarts) was way too much fun. She might just take the cake with her 'head bitch in charge' attitude. However, Christian (lead female in a vampire story I sort of am/was writing) is a lot of fun too, the hate/love/hate dynamic she has with her step-brother Nathaniel is so explosively intense and funny. I really do love writing them.
8. Most annoying character you've ever created?
Quite possibly Chase Trenton. So much so that I made my own parody fic OF that fic lol
9. Best plot you've ever created?
Well see, that's hard because every author has a different definition of what's brilliant and what isn't. I think for me personally, Fields of Gold will always have the biggest place in my heart. It's about this girl who's brother died in a car accident and her parents never really helped her grieve or talked about it and she just snaps and starts rebelling and hanging with all the wrong people and doing drugs, etc. So her parents finally just ship her off to her Uncle's farm where she's kind of forced to go through a withdrawal from all of that behavior (as well as the drugs) and then finally to grieve for her brother and accept what happened and along the way she actually falls in love with her cousin. And it sounds weird, but I dunno...I've always felt like it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever come up with.
10. Coolest plot twist you've ever created?
*major spoiler warning for Forgive Me These Chains and The Reckoning* Hmmmm. I think it might be Leona setting Murtagh (her ex-lover turned leading force of the Empire against which she's fighting and prisoner of the Resistance for the majority of the story) free at the end. Or, when the orphan resistance movement in my post-apocalyptic story find out the drug cartel that they've been trying to take down has been recruiting kids to build their own defensive army.
11. How often do you get writer's block?
Oh you know, it comes in waves, just like the inspiration lol Artistry is constant up and down
12. Write fan fiction?
Oh god, so much
13. Do you type or write by hand?
It really depends on the story, I usually type, but sometimes I have to write stuff out by hand. And also, if I'm in class I write allllll the time lol so obv. that's all longhand. But it'll get typed up later. All my notes I usually keep longhand too, in a notebook.
14. Do you save everything you write?
Mmm....yes and no. Most of it.
15. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
Oh yeah lol There's not much that I ever consider officially abandoned it's just not on the priority list.
16. What's your favourite thing you've written?
This one story, Eight Seconds Later (an HP fic about Marcus Flint), more like therapy than a real story, but probably some of my best, most soulful and real work.
17. What's everyone else's favourite story that you've written?
lol omg, I feel as though I get a new review for Heat of the Desert (one of my Merlin fics) like every other day. I'm really glad I wrote it 'cause people seem to be pretty into it.
18. Do you ever show people your work?
I post some of it online if I feel like it, and I show a select number of friends online but for the most part no. I really just write to get stuff out for my own personal sanity lol
19. Did you ever write a novel?
Nothing that wasn't fan-based -and- completed...by the way, I think it's 'Have you ever written a novel?'. Just saying.
20. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
Oh jesus lol too many to count
21. What's your favourite setting for your characters?
I have this weird thing with kitchens, I seem to put my characters there a lot subconsciously. Whenever I write anything Harry Potter I try and incorporate the Prefect's Bath lol I can't help it, it's just too cool.
22. How many writing projects are you working on write now?
LOL 40+...ish
23. Do you want to write for a living?
I mean that would be cool I guess, but I feel like the more time I actually had to dedicate to writing the less writing I would get done haha I'm so much more productive and creative when I'm busy
24. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
I've won a few at school, been to a few of the Young Author's Conferences, haven't quite gotten the Pulitzer yet but I'm working on it :P
25. Ever written anything in script or play format?
Yeah, I need to find a manual that tells you how to write in the action sequences lol 'cause I get so hung up the format and I'm pretty sure I'm doing it wrong, but I actually work really well in "script form". One times I wrote an entire story that was nothing but dialogue just for the challenge. It was so fun, I still really love that story.
26. What are your five favourite words?
Sizzuhs....hahaha just kidding! Intricate, bruise, Nicholas, burn, elegant
27. Do you ever write based off people you know?
Yeah, definitely. A lot of times that's how you get stuff out you know? Family issues, self-worth issues, boy issues, everything.
28. What character have you created that is most like yourself?
I kind of like to think of my characters as all the different sides of a really intricately cut diamond or something. They're all different pieces of me or experiences that I've had.
29. Where do you get ideas for your characters?
I guess a lot of different places. When shaping a character I try to start from their past and work my way forward: Where did their parents come from, what values were emphasized in the character's upbringing, what was their heritage, their religion, etc. I try to keep things culture and experience driven. I also get a lot of my solidifying character traits from figuring out their astrological signs and working around those.
30. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Oh my gosh, some of my best plots come from my dreams
31. Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I think I just like things to be realistic, most of the time that means it's not happy and perfect with a bow on top but the characters have still taken something away from their journey.
32. Have you ever written based on an artwork you've seen?
All the time, everything inspires me but a photograph or statue or painting really can tell a whole story in five seconds and that can def. make you want to flesh it out into words.
33. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yeah, definitely.
34. Ever write in chatspeak?
LOL Only if someone is like...sending/receiving a text message
35. Does music help you write?
I usually have to have music on to write. Helps me get into and stay in a certain frame of mind/mood.
36. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.
-from Leave Out All the Rest, main Band of Brothers fic. Rebecca (female lead) talking to Doc Roe in Austria after observing Liebgott (male lead)'s PTSD symptoms and finding herself at a loss as to what to do for him.
“Try and find some sage leaves, use ‘em to mix his tea, should help to calm the nerves.” Eugene offers and, even though he looks as though he’s bottling up more stress than any of us, I believe him. I don’t care what science says about folk medicine, this traiteur stuff really works. But I don’t just want to calm Joe down, I want to fix him.
“Well can’t you do your ‘laying of hands’ thing? With the holy water and the candles and the praying? You’re really good at that.” I have no idea what the technical term is so I probably sound like an inane four-year-old. But I’ve seen him do it a few times, in really desperate cases. It’s not exactly the same thing as miraculous, but it’s probably as close as it gets. A lot of men (and even some nurses) shouldn’t still be alive, but are because of Doc. He never believes me when I tell him, but it’s true.
“I have to be invited by the one who is suffering. Otherwise I begin to judge for myself who needs my help and who doesn’t. That’s for God to decide.” He reminds me with that soft, sad smile of his, the words swirling like smoke as they’re torn between a Louisiana and French accent. Sighing, I hand him the half-pack of cigarettes I swiped from the body of an amputee yesterday morning and saved just for him.
“Thanks anyway.” I know he’d help if he could, but there are a bunch of complicated, backwoodsy rules behind this Cajun folk doctor deal. Violating even one of them sort of negates the whole point for Eugene. Despite the fact that this leaves me up the creek, you can’t hate him for being pure of heart. It’s the only way he fights the chaos around him. In the back of my mind I’m faintly reminded of a song I learned in Sunday school. This little light of mine, I’m gunna let it shine. Don’t let Satan blow it out, let it shine, let it shine ‘til Jesus comes.
“He’s lucky you know.” Blowing the smoke off his first drag, Eugene looks me dead in the eyes. He’s an easy person to take seriously as it is, but moments like this? It’s as if the word of God is coming out of his mouth. “Joseph.”
“Lucky?” All I offer in return is a dark, breathy laugh. “He’s a lot of things, but I don’t think lucky is one of them.”
Picking up his helmet and cradling it between his elbow and ribcage, Doc gets up to leave, squinting a little as he takes another drag.
“Not everyone here has someone to look out for them.” His words may not have stung if he hadn’t looked so lonely saying them. I realized a long time ago that Eugene wasn’t really meant for war, that he wasn’t the kind of person who could walk away from it unscathed. He cared too much, he felt too much. That was his gift. Sometimes I wanted to spit in God’s face for thinking it was amusing. As he heads for the door, he stops by my chair, paints a little cross over my forehead with the sweat on his fingertips. “May the peace of the Lord be with you.”
“And also with you.” Taking his hand, I squeeze gently, wishing like hell that I could get on my knees and scrub away every unclean image that’s been burned into his mind. That I could wash away the blood and ripped skin tissue and that awful feeling of a pulse fading beneath your fingertips than no one should ever have to experience. But I can’t. All I can do is steal cigarettes off of dying soldiers. Halle-fucking-lujah.
1. What's the last thing you wrote?
Flashback the main character is thinking about in Holland, on Christmas Eve in 1944 for my main Band of Brothers story:
I’ve danced with over a dozen men tonight. All of them American, all looking to get lucky for the evening. Each pick-up line has been dismissed with an apologetic smile, shot down with an airy laugh. But from the moment Joe’s hands find my waist, this feels different. I love that he isn‘t playing games with me, isn‘t trying to dress this up. He knows what he wants and he‘s fearless about the chase. ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ begins to play and everything else melts away. Neither of us speaks for the longest time, just sways and studies the other.
He’s even more beautiful close up. I find myself jealous of his perfect complexion, so fair it‘s nearly exuding a light of its own. The curve of his dark pink mouth is fascinating and I can‘t help thinking I‘ve never seen lips that look softer. Dark brown eyes set off his high cheekbones. They seem far older than his boyish face and small frame, make me wonder what he’s seen and in how many years. His neck is long, elegant almost, sculpted from the same luminous milk as the rest of him. The more I take in, the more lost I feel myself become. It takes a great amount of self-control not to reach up and trace the sharp angles of his face with my fingertips.
2. Was it any good?
Yeah...but I don't think I'm going to keep it where it is. It's so hard with flashback sequences because you're never sure what to give the audience first and what to withhold.
3. What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
Lol, I think honestly...this story I wrote in second grade about a dragon named Fran who finds a magic lamp while jogging along the beach. *sinks down into chair blushing*
4. Write poetry?
I love writing poetry, but it's a whole different ballgame from prose. It's way harder to keep on a leash lol
5. Angsty poetry?
I mean...what's the point otherwise lol
6. Favourite genre of writing?
Coming of age stories, specifically about women, usually using sexual/romantic relationships as a backdrop for plot movement
7. Most fun character you've ever created?
Lydia, from Vanity (a story about Tom Riddle's days at Hogwarts) was way too much fun. She might just take the cake with her 'head bitch in charge' attitude. However, Christian (lead female in a vampire story I sort of am/was writing) is a lot of fun too, the hate/love/hate dynamic she has with her step-brother Nathaniel is so explosively intense and funny. I really do love writing them.
8. Most annoying character you've ever created?
Quite possibly Chase Trenton. So much so that I made my own parody fic OF that fic lol
9. Best plot you've ever created?
Well see, that's hard because every author has a different definition of what's brilliant and what isn't. I think for me personally, Fields of Gold will always have the biggest place in my heart. It's about this girl who's brother died in a car accident and her parents never really helped her grieve or talked about it and she just snaps and starts rebelling and hanging with all the wrong people and doing drugs, etc. So her parents finally just ship her off to her Uncle's farm where she's kind of forced to go through a withdrawal from all of that behavior (as well as the drugs) and then finally to grieve for her brother and accept what happened and along the way she actually falls in love with her cousin. And it sounds weird, but I dunno...I've always felt like it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever come up with.
10. Coolest plot twist you've ever created?
*major spoiler warning for Forgive Me These Chains and The Reckoning* Hmmmm. I think it might be Leona setting Murtagh (her ex-lover turned leading force of the Empire against which she's fighting and prisoner of the Resistance for the majority of the story) free at the end. Or, when the orphan resistance movement in my post-apocalyptic story find out the drug cartel that they've been trying to take down has been recruiting kids to build their own defensive army.
11. How often do you get writer's block?
Oh you know, it comes in waves, just like the inspiration lol Artistry is constant up and down
12. Write fan fiction?
Oh god, so much
13. Do you type or write by hand?
It really depends on the story, I usually type, but sometimes I have to write stuff out by hand. And also, if I'm in class I write allllll the time lol so obv. that's all longhand. But it'll get typed up later. All my notes I usually keep longhand too, in a notebook.
14. Do you save everything you write?
Mmm....yes and no. Most of it.
15. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
Oh yeah lol There's not much that I ever consider officially abandoned it's just not on the priority list.
16. What's your favourite thing you've written?
This one story, Eight Seconds Later (an HP fic about Marcus Flint), more like therapy than a real story, but probably some of my best, most soulful and real work.
17. What's everyone else's favourite story that you've written?
lol omg, I feel as though I get a new review for Heat of the Desert (one of my Merlin fics) like every other day. I'm really glad I wrote it 'cause people seem to be pretty into it.
18. Do you ever show people your work?
I post some of it online if I feel like it, and I show a select number of friends online but for the most part no. I really just write to get stuff out for my own personal sanity lol
19. Did you ever write a novel?
Nothing that wasn't fan-based -and- completed...by the way, I think it's 'Have you ever written a novel?'. Just saying.
20. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
Oh jesus lol too many to count
21. What's your favourite setting for your characters?
I have this weird thing with kitchens, I seem to put my characters there a lot subconsciously. Whenever I write anything Harry Potter I try and incorporate the Prefect's Bath lol I can't help it, it's just too cool.
22. How many writing projects are you working on write now?
LOL 40+...ish
23. Do you want to write for a living?
I mean that would be cool I guess, but I feel like the more time I actually had to dedicate to writing the less writing I would get done haha I'm so much more productive and creative when I'm busy
24. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
I've won a few at school, been to a few of the Young Author's Conferences, haven't quite gotten the Pulitzer yet but I'm working on it :P
25. Ever written anything in script or play format?
Yeah, I need to find a manual that tells you how to write in the action sequences lol 'cause I get so hung up the format and I'm pretty sure I'm doing it wrong, but I actually work really well in "script form". One times I wrote an entire story that was nothing but dialogue just for the challenge. It was so fun, I still really love that story.
26. What are your five favourite words?
Sizzuhs....hahaha just kidding! Intricate, bruise, Nicholas, burn, elegant
27. Do you ever write based off people you know?
Yeah, definitely. A lot of times that's how you get stuff out you know? Family issues, self-worth issues, boy issues, everything.
28. What character have you created that is most like yourself?
I kind of like to think of my characters as all the different sides of a really intricately cut diamond or something. They're all different pieces of me or experiences that I've had.
29. Where do you get ideas for your characters?
I guess a lot of different places. When shaping a character I try to start from their past and work my way forward: Where did their parents come from, what values were emphasized in the character's upbringing, what was their heritage, their religion, etc. I try to keep things culture and experience driven. I also get a lot of my solidifying character traits from figuring out their astrological signs and working around those.
30. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Oh my gosh, some of my best plots come from my dreams
31. Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?
I think I just like things to be realistic, most of the time that means it's not happy and perfect with a bow on top but the characters have still taken something away from their journey.
32. Have you ever written based on an artwork you've seen?
All the time, everything inspires me but a photograph or statue or painting really can tell a whole story in five seconds and that can def. make you want to flesh it out into words.
33. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yeah, definitely.
34. Ever write in chatspeak?
LOL Only if someone is like...sending/receiving a text message
35. Does music help you write?
I usually have to have music on to write. Helps me get into and stay in a certain frame of mind/mood.
36. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.
-from Leave Out All the Rest, main Band of Brothers fic. Rebecca (female lead) talking to Doc Roe in Austria after observing Liebgott (male lead)'s PTSD symptoms and finding herself at a loss as to what to do for him.
“Try and find some sage leaves, use ‘em to mix his tea, should help to calm the nerves.” Eugene offers and, even though he looks as though he’s bottling up more stress than any of us, I believe him. I don’t care what science says about folk medicine, this traiteur stuff really works. But I don’t just want to calm Joe down, I want to fix him.
“Well can’t you do your ‘laying of hands’ thing? With the holy water and the candles and the praying? You’re really good at that.” I have no idea what the technical term is so I probably sound like an inane four-year-old. But I’ve seen him do it a few times, in really desperate cases. It’s not exactly the same thing as miraculous, but it’s probably as close as it gets. A lot of men (and even some nurses) shouldn’t still be alive, but are because of Doc. He never believes me when I tell him, but it’s true.
“I have to be invited by the one who is suffering. Otherwise I begin to judge for myself who needs my help and who doesn’t. That’s for God to decide.” He reminds me with that soft, sad smile of his, the words swirling like smoke as they’re torn between a Louisiana and French accent. Sighing, I hand him the half-pack of cigarettes I swiped from the body of an amputee yesterday morning and saved just for him.
“Thanks anyway.” I know he’d help if he could, but there are a bunch of complicated, backwoodsy rules behind this Cajun folk doctor deal. Violating even one of them sort of negates the whole point for Eugene. Despite the fact that this leaves me up the creek, you can’t hate him for being pure of heart. It’s the only way he fights the chaos around him. In the back of my mind I’m faintly reminded of a song I learned in Sunday school. This little light of mine, I’m gunna let it shine. Don’t let Satan blow it out, let it shine, let it shine ‘til Jesus comes.
“He’s lucky you know.” Blowing the smoke off his first drag, Eugene looks me dead in the eyes. He’s an easy person to take seriously as it is, but moments like this? It’s as if the word of God is coming out of his mouth. “Joseph.”
“Lucky?” All I offer in return is a dark, breathy laugh. “He’s a lot of things, but I don’t think lucky is one of them.”
Picking up his helmet and cradling it between his elbow and ribcage, Doc gets up to leave, squinting a little as he takes another drag.
“Not everyone here has someone to look out for them.” His words may not have stung if he hadn’t looked so lonely saying them. I realized a long time ago that Eugene wasn’t really meant for war, that he wasn’t the kind of person who could walk away from it unscathed. He cared too much, he felt too much. That was his gift. Sometimes I wanted to spit in God’s face for thinking it was amusing. As he heads for the door, he stops by my chair, paints a little cross over my forehead with the sweat on his fingertips. “May the peace of the Lord be with you.”
“And also with you.” Taking his hand, I squeeze gently, wishing like hell that I could get on my knees and scrub away every unclean image that’s been burned into his mind. That I could wash away the blood and ripped skin tissue and that awful feeling of a pulse fading beneath your fingertips than no one should ever have to experience. But I can’t. All I can do is steal cigarettes off of dying soldiers. Halle-fucking-lujah.