Wednesday Writings

Hey, they both have 'w's in them. Soooo here are some excepts of some of my writing! Just random things; some for flash fiction challenges, some from my actual novels. What can I say-- I like to share stuff with people. Feel free to give me feedback if you'd like! Enjoy in any case. :)

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Going on a Ghost Adventure

(Feel free to laugh. This is part of a Ghost Adventures fanfic.)

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“Mickey, come on, it’s starting!” Sarah shrieked from her bedroom.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I muttered, grabbing the large bowls of popcorn and half-stumbling, half-sprinting through the hall. My best friend, Sarah, had the TV paused on our favorite television show, Ghost Adventures, decked out in her super-fluffed pink pajama pants. It was almost midnight and pitch black outside, while Seattle rain was pelting the window outside her room. The perfect atmosphere for watching a ghost hunt.

“Thank God for Tivo, right?” I joked, placing the bowls gently down on her bed and curling up next to her.

Sarah sent me a dirty look and got up to turn off the lights. “Don’t even start with me, Mackenzie Anne Galloway. I’ve been waiting for three minutes!”

“We were there for this investigation, remember?” I reminded her. “We already know everything that’s going to be on the episode—probably more.”

“Yes, well, some people don’t have a photographic memory like you,” Sarah sniffed good-naturedly. “And I, for one, would like to see how Zak narrates this.”

She played the video and Zak’s face flashed up onto the screen. He looked exactly how I remembered him: spiked, jet black (and probably dyed) hair tucked beneath a bowl baseball cap, slightly crooked teeth, and intensity and excitement shining in his dark blue eyes. This clip was in full blown, green-tinted night vision, and he was frozen, one finger up, eyes staring somewhere off to the right like he was listening for something.

“Get out,” came a whispered voice, and Zak immediately reacted, gasping and recoiling. Sarah giggled.

The scene flashed to a group of people gathered around Zak as he held up a small digital recorder.

“Did you hear—wait, did you hear that?” he demanded, cutting through the quiet chatter they were making.

Again the scene cut and, shockingly, Sarah and I were on screen. Sarah paused the show and grabbed my arm, shrieking loudly into a pillow. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the remote from her, playing the episode again.

“Sarah,” I’d whispered. In the present I winced; my voice sounded weird on television. “What was that?”

A scream was ripped from the both of us and the scene cut off right before we jumped around again, to the GAC’s official opening.

“My name is Zak Bagans. I never believed in ghosts until I came face to face with one.”

Beautiful People: May

Sooooo my good friend Annika informed me of the wonderful world of Beautiful People, and I think I should participate! [insert cheering emoticon HERE]. I started this post before they came out with their next edition, so I'm going to finish posting the first ten questions and then move on to their latest set-- Villains. So! Getting to Know Your Characters, pt. Un!

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The Lucky One

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.ifc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/110911-thehost-jakeabel.jpg

Lucky Freeman

(Isn't he ADORABLE? Gah, I love Jake Abel xD )

Lucky is half demon, half angel. He didn't know this until he turned sixteen and his powers first appeared. For some reason, he's always in the middle of danger when it rolls around-- which is often. Despite him growing up without a mother, he's very passionate and sincere. He's an avid closet painter. He's a seraphim, a fire angel, which means he can start and put out fires at will.

1. What is their full name? Luke Anthony Freeman
2. Does his or her name have a special meaning? Weeeell... His nickname does. "Lucky". He got that nickname because he's constantly in near-death situations and yet somehow gets out of them without a scratch. And 'Luke' is so close to 'Lucky' it just stuck.
3. Does your character have a methodical or disorganized personality? Methodical. He's an artist-- a painter-- and he takes things step by step. Was raised more as an adult than a kid since his dad was always super busy with work. Despite his maturity, however, Lucky has a very snippy, sarcastic personality.
4. Does he or she think inside themselves more than they talk out loud to their friends? (more importantly, does he or she actually have friends?) Lucky has one friend: Dominic. Dom usually does the talking for him. Lucky's quiet until he doesn't need to be. Sometimes he talks without thinking, but that's only when he's upset, which is rare. Lucky's a chill guy.
5. Is there something he or she is afraid of? Heights. Almost fell of a bridge once and that affected him more than his other near-death experiences. Had to hang by a rung for almost two hours before they were able to get to him.
6. Does he or she write, dream, dance, sing, or photograph? He paints. Sketches sometimes, but he prefers to paint. And he has some bizarre dreams, but that's before he learns he's half angel, half demon.
7. What is his or her favorite book? (or genre of books) Lucky doesn't read much, but he likes science fiction. Hates romance. Hates horror. Fantasy is okay, but he'd rather read sci-fi-- the modern kind.
8. Who is his or her favorite author and/or someone that inspires him or her? Well, his favorite artist is Monet. Painting is more or less his life-- not that he'd ever admit it out loud-- and he secretly aspires to be a famous painter one day. He specializes in the sky and the ocean.
9. Favorite flavor of ice cream? Vanilla. Weirdo.
10. Favorite season of the year? Winter (he has a hard time painting snow and he likes challenges).

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Death and Other Things I Fail At

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/11/26/lemony_wideweb__430x292.jpg

Atticus

Atticus is the Ghost King. He's a little nutty in the head but very fatherlike, despite the fact he wants to destroy the human race. He's only one of the main antagonists in this book and definitely the most entertaining to write. His purpose as a ghost is to find his daughter and deliver a message-- a message he'd long since forgotten, which, of course, drove him mad.

1. What is their motive? Humans have been hounding him for decades, figuring out a way to eliminate ghosts-- "kill" them-- and Atticus, being the longest surviving ghost, decides that it needs to stop. He wants revenge for all the ghosts killed by humans. And he wants humans to stop trying to hunt ghosts.
2. What are they prepared to do to get what they want? Yep. The way Atticus sees it, he kills humans and the ones that become ghosts either join his cause or get hunted by the humans. It's a flawless plan. If everyone is a ghost, or dead, or whatever, then there wouldn't be any problems being hunted by the living. He planned on turning Sophia, the protagonist, against the humans and use her as an asset to launch an attack to kill hundreds, maybe thousands of humans. And of course when she refused, that made him even angrier.
3. Are they evil to the core, or simply misunderstood? He's crazy. Like, the literally definition of crazy. But he's also misunderstood. He's very parent-like and a good king, if you ignore the fact he's trying to wage war on the living.
4. What was their past like? What about their childhood? Was there one defining moment that made them embrace their evil ways? Atticus, like all ghosts, don't remember anything of their past aside from a single thing: their purpose. The reason they didn't pass on. All ghosts have a purpose, and Atticus had his, but he'd been hunted by humans for so long that he'd forgotten his purpose. It drove him mad, not being able to fulfill his purpose so he could pass over.
5. Now that they’re evil, have they turned their back on everyone, or is there still someone in their life that they care for? (Brother? Daughter? Love interest? Mother? Someone who is just as evil as they are?) He's an effective leader. A great king. He's gentle to all ghosts and protective, too, but when it comes to humans he gets nasty and violent. He used to be a good guy, but decades of hatred towards humans turned him bitter towards them, and crazy. He's definitely crazy.
6. Do they like hugs? Yes, actually.
7. Are they plagued by something? (Nightmares, terrible thoughts?) Just the incredible urge that he needs to fulfill his purpose. He can't pass over until he fulfills it.
8. Who are they more similar to: Gollum or Maleficent? Gollum. Driven by one thing-- well, two-- and two things only: the fulfillment of his purpose and the destruction of the human race. He has this war within himself whether he wants to hurt people or use them for his own selfish gain. Oh, and he's crazy. 
9. If your villain could have their choice of transportation what would it be? He's a ghost. He can fly. And possess people. He has all the transportation he needs, really.
10. If you met your villain in the street, how afraid would you be? Are they evil enough to kill their creator? He's a fair king. He just hates humans. So I wouldn't be too worried, as long as you specify you're not a blood crazed human with deadly intent to ghosts before he kills you. He's not evil-- he's just crazy.
11. Does the dark side really have cookies? Mm, I hope so. I hope they're chocolate. That would make sense, right? Chocolate is amazing.

You Know You're a Rusher When...

PHOTO CREDIT: http://j.static-locatetv.com/images/content/4/266953_big_time_rush.jpg

1. You know every word to every song

2. You quote from the TV show, even when no one gets it

3. You secretly long for a hockey helmet

4. You flip out when you hear one of their songs on the radio

5. You resent One Direction for being more famous than them (maybe that's just me...)

6. You begged your parents for tickets for a concert three states away

7. You screamed when they won "Favorite Band" in the KCA's

8. You follow them all on Twitter

9. Your favorite saying is "Haters gonna hate, Rushers gonna ELEVATE!"

10. You have to compete with your younger sisters on which guy you like

11. You want Katie as a younger sister

12. You want Gustavo as your bodyguard

13. You think Camille and Logan should just get together already

14. You think bromance is the coolest thing ever

15. You "bleep blap bloop" whenever you can't think of anything to say

16. You feel compelled to make inspiring speeches when things go horribly wrong

17. You secretly call your mean science teacher a Giant Turd

18. You can't end this list because there's too many things that go into being a Rusher

Yep, I'm a Rusher.

And PROUD OF IT.

Words

Words are just words. And words that are just words have no meaning unless spoken. Right?

Pffft. Don't make me laugh.

Words are important. They're what make up the fundamentals of human language. They're what allow us to communicate, the details of what make us the smartest animals on the planet.

They're what tell stories.

I'm a writer. Obviously. And a story, for me, is the big picture. Because stories have chapters. Chapters have paragraphs. Paragraphs have sentences, and sentences have words. (And then words have letters, but that's not important.) Words are so much more than just ink on paper. You're reading this, aren't you? And I'm saying what I'm saying through the words that I'm using, the words that you're reading.

Is this sending your mind on a trip yet?

So many people think writing is easy. Excuse me, have you ever stayed up till two in the morning writing a chapter you promised to get out the night before? Have you ever written eight different endings because seven of them weren't satisfactory? Have you ever rewritten a 60,000+ page novel in third person because you weren't sure it was good in first person, only to have to switch it back because that sucked too?

Have you ever even finished a novel?

Writing's bloody hard. It takes up a ton of your time. It's putting words down on paper, or a screen, or a napkin-- words that flow right, sound right, are right. Writers pour their heart and soul into developing characters and plots, describing settings and saying all the things that draw an emotion out of a reader-- a reader who will only read that book for a week until it's over, the experience is finished, and they move on to the next one. That's why it's so darn important, having words circulating through your brain at any given moment. Because life is full of things you want to share, and you can only do that through words.

I do believe Red Smith said it best. "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

If only it were that easy.

Catching Some Zzzzzzz

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.5stagesleepshot.com/wp-content/uploads/Sleep-Remedy.jpg

You know what I love? Sleep. You know what hates me? Sleep. See how this relationship will never work out?

I'm what they call an insomniac. Sleep is very precious to me. I get, oh, four to six hours every night? Did you know a teenager needs as much sleep as a ten year old? It's true-- it's also, like, ten hours.

I get... way less than that.

Most kids in my school do, too, but that's because they choose to stay up till one in the morning. It's scientifically proven that teenagers are sleepier during the day, even if they do get a full ten hours sleep every night. No wonder you always see teenagers slumped over, heads-on-desk, snoring away whenever they can.

Now, the difference between insomnia and sleep deprivation-- insomniacs can handle the lack of sleep. It's when there gets to be so little that we can't function when we tend to go a little crazy. It's not easy to go through the day on four-to-six hours of sleep every night, but you can get used to it. I have this period once a month for a week where I can get up to an hour of sleep and that's it (oddly enough, during "Full Moon Week"). This is when I get sleep deprived. And me sleep deprived is basically me at my worst.

I'm snippy and grumpy. I'm exhausted. I'm short with everyone, I have very little patience, and I barely, barely censor myself. I'm not proud of it, and most days I can usually keep it under control, but today is not one of those days.

Sooo it's almost twenty after eleven and I've been woken up and there's no way I'm going back to sleep again, so I'm typing up this blog post, dead tired and barely coherent. So if this is terrible, I apologize. I'm just exhausted, that's all.

Shut Up

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Demons I get. People are crazy."

Sad, but true. I honestly just don't get the human race. We stand up and we're all gung-ho for becoming a better world and accepting each other for who we are and being good-- and then we tear that down by killing each other, calling each other names, destroying each other's homes and families and beliefs and values. And it's not even intentional. At least with serial killers and mad scientists, we know they're evil and can place that label on them and use them as examples of how not to act.

But humans are evil. For the most part.

Exhibit A: We live on the tiniest, most fragile planet in our solar system, the only one known in the entire galaxy (so far) to harbor life. And what do we do? Exploit it, pollute it, poison it (and ourselves)-- and then blame it on each other.

Exhibit B: Little kids-- sixth graders in fact-- shove each other around and swear at each other and hit each other so hard it's sure to knock a few thousand brain cells into nonexistence, and what's worse is that they let them. Is that what "cool" is nowadays? If it is, I think it's much better to be a loser. Because it's a seriously wrong thing if a fifteen-year-old feels bullied by someone who isn't even in their teens yet.

People can be so mean sometimes. Honestly-- can't we all just get along? Why is it so important to put down other people so you can feel good? Tell them to shut up for no reason at all, other than the fact that they have a reputation to be loud and talkative?

Not exactly talking about myself here...

I dunno, I just feel odd everytime I try to talk and I hear someone off to the side whispering, "Oh my God, shut up." Or "She never stops talking." Very not true. I'm talkative, yeah, but it's people like them who make me want to close up and never talk again, since apparently no one cares about my opinion.

And I'll chop off the angsty post here, with a final note. There are seven billion people in the world, each with their own problems to work out. It's just not fair-- or sensible-- that other people have to be the root of one of those problems. It would probably help if we all did our part and were nice, kind to each other. At least every once in a while.

((Bonus points to whoever recognizes the quote.))