He sees you when your sleeping, because he never does

Well, I think favorite villian and my mind goes to Hades. You know, this guy.

Hades from Hercules

He's funny, there's some great lines in the movie, and you can't help but enjoy his company.  Despite him being all 'Meg, I'm gonna black mail you' and 'I'm gonna defeat GODS', which is silly.  I mean, yeah, he's one.  But one god (even with Titans) against the rest of the pantheon? Wasn't gonna happen.  But he still tried, the dear.

But, Hades isn't a killer character, or rather a killer villain. 

To me, killer villains are those who do more than plan to take over the world (or worlds, maybe the universe).  They sneak under your skin, are people you hope to never met.  Kinda like Dementors.  But not really, because while Dementors can suck out your soul and steal your happy memories, they still leave you, well, you.

True villains turn you. They whisper in your ear, make you doubt yourself, your friends, make you do things you wouldn't do in your right mind and you go along with it because you don't notice, you think they're helping you.  And they don't just do it to one person.  They corrupt hundreds, thousands, and before you know it they've got an army and declared themselves Emperor of the Galaxy. Looking at you Emperor Palpatine.

Baddie #2 Toy

But there's someone even worse than the guy who created Darth Vadar.  You see, the Emperor had power for, oh what? 23 years? How ever old Luke is about.  And then he just died. It was a pitiful death scene if you ask me, just falling like that. Which is a different type of pity I feel for Jareth from the Labyrinth (played by David Bowie and primus that costume is off the charts) because I always feel sad for him.  The Emperor was a pathetic pitiful.

However, there does exist out there a villain who conquered death (for a little bit), and I'm not talking about Lord Voldemort.  There's that time issue again.  He was only 'dead' for what, 13 years?

Sauron however, was 'dead' for centuries.  And even while just this half alive figure, he managed to turn the insides of so many people.

First off, while he was alive, he made a bunch of rings.  9 for the men (who all turned into the Nazgul), 7 for the dwarfs (who also became corrupted) and 3 for the elves (who didn't because they're magic and stuff.  And super pretty).  And then 'one ring to rule them all' master bling for him to wear.  And you know what, he almost took over Middle Earth, and even after his body was destroyed, his spirit lived on to do his dirty work.

His spirit alone ordered around the citizens of Mordor, destoryed the environment to keep his home nice and gloomy, kept trapped those who died in the first war (those Marshes Frodo and Sam walked through, in case you're confused/forgetful/never read-or-watch the epicness that is Lord of the Rings for which I should shake my finger at you and shout 'Shame!' but I won't cuz I'm in a similar boat of other things, like the Hunger Games.  But those have been around a lot less)...lost my train of thought...oh!

Bad Things the Spirit of Sauron Did:

• Upkeep on Mordor
• Controlled an army of orcs, goblins, Nazgul, and other creatures to fight a war
• Corrupted Gollum, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo, and Saruman.  I mean, all of them went through character flips for the worse, thanks to just nudges form Sauron's aura.
• Played God, for the guy didn't blink or sleep for centuries.  He knew everything with that eye and his palintinars 

Seriously, he's not even fully alive and almost wins, can you image if he wasn't just a glowing, fiery eye?

The Eye of Sauron

He totally lost the first time only due to luck.

And the second time too, cuz Frodo wasn't gonna get rid of the ring.

Yup, Sauron's a BAMF.

I Want A Pony aka Killer Heros

Today is day two of the Killer Character Blogfest, and I going to do my best in picking a protagonist that isn't widely popular.  It's not that I mind sharing a brainwave with all of the other wonderful writer who also chose Samwise Gamgee as an awesome supporting character, it just that I realized while reading other peoples' blog entries that there are so many good characters out there it's wrong to just go with the first one that pops into my head.

Plus, there are so many stories that I remembered about reading other entries and I figured that I should actually chose a protagonist who may not always be on my mind, but is one whose stories I could read over and over again.

There are very few books that I refuse to give away after reading, maybe half a shelf to my two stuffed ones and a dresser top of books that I have to get to and read (not to mention my 100+ to-read list on Goodreads...), and of those, you probably haven't heard of most of them.  But I fell in love with Walter Farley's The Black Stallion series when I was just a wee lass and have remained achingly in love with them.

And thus, my killer protagonist is Alec Ramsay.

Alec is someone I wanted to be, and sometimes even now at some point or another I want to be still.  And that's because I know that Alec is a possible character.  He's not off saving the world in some fantasy land, he's not a secret spy with super advance training.  He's just a kid who forms this intense bond with a horse.

That's what makes him such a killer character in my mind, that I could be him.  He's super relateable and super realistic.  But there a range of other thangs that make him cool too.  He's very resourceful, as shown by that island he and the Black are stranded.  He provides for them both.  And he trains the Black all by himself to take commands, without the use of tack. And then goes on to win races as a jockey.

Alec is also looks out for everyone to the best of his abilities.  He's constantly looking after the Black, even before they bond, and in The Black Stallion and Satan he saves all the horses, not just his.  He's also really patient, you would need to be with the horses he's around all the time. And knows how to listen to directions.  Alec is a kid and he knows that, listening for the most part to the advice Henry and his parents give him, and it pays off. (Though listening to my parents did not get me a horse.  It got me lessons for a while though.)

But really, what made him so special was the Black.  How they were able to have such a strong bond.  The Black is an amazing animal, all free and powerful, and it takes someone truly special to be able to tame him. 

Maybe he's just a killer character because I'm uber jealous of him and I want to kill him and steal his life.

Frodo wouldn't have gotten very far without his Sam

Today begins the Killer Character Blogfest, hosted by E.R. King and Deana Barnhart.  And I'm super excited because this I didn't forget I signed up for a blogfest! Yay!

Today we're to talk about our favorite literary supporting characters.  At first I thought Jubilee from the x-men (yeah, I watched the cartoon, but it's a comic too and that's a literary thing!) but then I remembered the only reason I really liked her when I was younger was she made fireworks.  Not excatly the markings of a super-awesome-killer character, don't you agree?

But, I absolutely love the Lord of the Rings.

There's not much to Frodo, aside from Elijah's wood face once the movies came out, but Sam has always struck me as a character that needs more love. 

 

What's so amazing about Sam is how vital he is to the plot, simply by supporting Frodo. Without him, Frodo would never had made it as far as he did.  And for the most part he did it unasked.  Sure, Gandalf voluntold him to do it, but he was hiding under that window in the first place.  I like to believe that Sam would have followed Frodo even without the wizard's prodding.  Afterall, he could have not almost drowned himself trying to get to Frodo when the Fellowship split up.

Sam has such a huge heart, and a rare trait to see the good that's out there somewhere in the world.  He doesn't give up. And does everything he can to help Frodo, including carrying the Ring for a while after he thinks Shelob killed him and giving it back because even though he knows the Ring is killing his friend, being without it would be worse.  

And yet, despite his stout heart and loyalty, Sam is a simple man, er hobbit. Which is what I think is his best feature.  He's proof that even simple people can help shape the world, and that's hope for those of us who are as simple and not very important in our communities.  We have potential.  

While younger I always thought it would be amazing to go on an adventure and save the world like Sam, now I just wish I can be as good of a friend as he was.  He never gave up on Frodo, never allowed Frodo to give up, and I hope that one day either myself or my writing can be a similar type of inspiration.

Plus, we both have a fondness for ponies.

Happy National Day on Writing!

Yes!  We all know writing is absolutely fabulous and deserves it's own special day.  Though we slave away to plot bunnies any day of the year.  Seriously, I've been binge writing the past couple of days, to the point where I was up late enough one night where I slept in for my office job...

The New York Times is encouraging people to tweet with the hash tag #whyiwrite to explain what drives them to the page. There's some pretty goods ones out there, and I'm particularly fond of the answer 'because I'm too old to pole dance'.

Personally, I write because if I don't, real life goes askew. When I was in school ideas would flood my mind and I couldn't concentrate on lectures or writing essays because thoughts would constantly be in the back of my mind. They still do that, invading my dreams and causing me to space out during the day to figure out how things work in my worlds.  Maybe it's a discipline problem, but I'm also pretty positive it's related to my binging.

I have to write things down, so I can clear my mind of ideas and all connected thoughts and continue on with what I need to do.  And if that takes staying up late, writing for hours, it'll happen. For my own mental health, I can't not write.

Of course, there's all the things that attracted me to writing to begin with.  I can create so much: characters, plots, cultures and worlds. It's a heady, powerful, I-am-God feeling that I never got when I used to do RPGs. It's an art form, and enjoyable, to find the right words to express something. And I love being able to make people I've never met feel things, to connect us with a simple story.

All of that has just, very simply made me addicted to writing. And I don't mind at all.

News Prompts

I remember listening to an author interview, oh a year ago, and she said that her book grew out of a bit of news she stumbled upon.  The news, she said, was something that always gave her if not full out story plots, then simple ideas to wiggle in at least.

I've never really felt a similar vibe from the news.  It's always rather bland to my storytelling self, but then a story came up on the news last night - a father taught his 9 year old daughter to drive because he was always drunk.

I live in a messed up area. :/

But anyway, can you see all the potential in that? The character studies, the local gossip that would happen, and the events leading up to such a thing.  I'm not saying I'll use it anytime soon, but it'll crop up in something I'll write in the future, I'm almost positive.

Either my calender's too full, or I need to get off facebook

Well...this week has been busy.  But not really with writerly things.  I baked an apple pie.  I started on my Halloween costume (which is taking longer than I had originally expected and all my constructing just involves duct tape and cardboard :/).

But I have been reading Orson Scott Card's book on characters, and I absolutely love it. I've not really read writing books, but I've read so many blogs and listened to podcasts on the subject that sometimes things blur together and everything feels like it's been said before.  But while Card's book is on a topic I've covered before, it reads so well.  It's light, and full of examples, and I am totally going through it at a pace similar to my current fiction reads.

It's also led me to really develop characters for my NaNo novel that are dead :/  Which, you know, doesn't help when writing the live characters. Actually, I have a lot of dead characters.

And to add to my October fun-list of things to do, I'm joining the Killer Characters Blogfest.  I hope to, you know, not forget about the fact I signed up for one this time around -_-' Oh, and don't forget that Oct 20th is the National Day of Writing!

So, goals.  Didn't come up with a name for my book, but that's okay.  I think I wrote two articles? Oh man, I know it's bad if I can't remember things, and I know I failed at updating my other blogs.

Thus, for this week, and mayhap till the end of the month, I'm going to try to focus on NaNo things.  And Halloween things. And those blogfests. Anything else will be a happy extra.  Come November, all I'll worry about will be word counts ^_^

Software developers, steal this idea

I meant to update yesterday, but life got crazy, and while I don't feeling like doing it today either (twas my first day as a subsitutie teacher and when the assignment says paraprofessional in a office, you think paper pusher, not helper in a special education classroom) I know that as soon as I skip a week I'll never return and that's bad.

I've decided that what I need is a sticky electronic post it note.  My mac already has a post-it widget, but I can't see them unless I bring up the widget dashboard and really, when does anyone do that? In order to get things down I need a little personal check list that is always on my screen in a corner somewhere.  It has to be on top of my Firefox windows, over my iTunes, and never go away until I check off every little box with a weekly task.  Only then will I actually do everything for once I feel. I would totally pay money for it.

But I did get things done.  I managed one article, and had a huge brainstorming/world building session with my idea bouncer for my NaNo novel.  This is idea has been flitting around in my head for two years, so I'm excited just to actually start on it.  But research first!  What do you guys know about schizophrenia? Or hive minds? Or mind reading?  I'm beginning to feel like I maybe should have started researching earlier...

Then again, I do tend to over research.  For the purpose of writing and creative license, I'm sure a half hour on Wikipedia would be enough.

I updated two of my other blogs, better than last time, though still slow.  I really need to sit down with an indie movie and review it.  I updated my rejection counter on this site, and while attempted to resubmit a story found out that the markets I want to submit it too are temporarily closed.  So while that's one thing off my October plate, that's another on my November one. Not sure how to feel about that...

So, for next week:

• figure out plot outline for NaNo novel, maybe come up with a name?
• publish two articles
• update all three non-writing blogs

And also work on my Halloween costumes. I need to go find spray paint. 

October is hurry up and get everything done month

November is close contender for my favorite month.  I mean, October is nice and all.  Not too cold, the leaves change color, Halloween, the perfect time for bonfires and s'mores, and of course my birthday.  But November, well November is where you start settling into you house and stocking up on tea, practice Thanksgiving recipes, eat those recipes, and do lots and lots of writing.

I really just like November cuz it's NaNoWriMo.  XD

(For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month.  As the min limit amount of words for a novel is 50K, the goal is to write 50K during the month of November.  Many writers tend to drop of the face of the planet for while.)

But, I also know that it's a huge chunk of time (having done it the past two years) and thus October is my get stuff done month.  Which will be super crazy this year. I really, really need to figure out my plot.  I'm not overly concerned about that, as those things come to me a lot while I write. And my sister has a way of asking all the right questions to force me to figure it out. (Of which was done for a pretty intense hour earlier today on my road trip to drop her off at school.)

But I have an issue with character.  Or rather, character voice.

I can make of a lot of characters.  I love using a questionnaire a creative writing teacher handed out to class a few years back, and it helps me develop this great back story for my characters.  But regardless, for the most part whenever I write my character voices' morph and change as I go on.  They all end up sounding like...well, me.  

So I'm trying to immerse myself in characters this month, really get a feel for them to make sure come next month there aren't multiple mes running around talking to each other. I mean, talking to yourself can already gander a couple of looks. Talking to multiple selves might be a sign I am crazy.  If I wasn't a writer.

Anyway, I was hoping some of you lovely people would have some advice as to how to get into characters' heads and psyches.  Games, exercises, really strange get to know you questions.  As for those of us doing NaNo novels, maybe we can interview each other's characters?

I'm a failure

 I didn't get any fiction writing done this week.  Nada.  I'm gonna be so doomed next month.  But I did publish two articles, one on Amazon's new Kindle Fire and another on the fact that fish apparently can use tools even though they don't have hands.  Let's just say if I ever get another goldfish, I'm only putting sand in the bowl. And I updated one of the blogs (leaving the other two sad), the one where I'm trying to learn French by teaching others.  They say the best way to learn something is teach it right? Except I know I'm butchering the accents and that's why I'm not doing video casts of lessons. 

I did send out my epistle story to another market.  And got a quick turn around rejection.  I kinda liked the small wait time.  But it meant I didn't look up my next market yet.  Oh time that I do have and yet waist doing other things, like apple picking and making way to much food for a dinner party.  Seriously, I have enough pasta to last me more than a week.  And I'm all appled out for a week. Not to mention all that time I spend on Goodreads adding books to my 'to read' shelf and entering giveaways...though I have won two of those.

And like I said, I failed at any fiction writing at all.  But I do have three new ideas: one about mermaids being were-humans, another about the consequences of letting an alien do your homework, and one about a new year party and leaving your sleeping infant in the closet (which will hopefully be humorous). We'll see how those go.

For next week I want to:

• write 1000 words
• but more importantly get to know my MC for my NaNo novel
  
• publish 2 articles
• update my three other blogs at least once (for real this time!)
• send out my story, again,
• actually update my rejection counter, not just think about it