February Check In

That's really, really sad:

2947 / 10,005 (29.5%)

29 / 29 (100.0%)

Wikipedia Fun

I talked to my colleague about the Wikipedia version for Lord of the Rings* and she could't resist writing:

One Wiki to rule them all, One Wiki to find them, The details you need and in your brain bind them.

And then we talked about the Harry Potter Wikipedia * and she asked me if I wanted lines for that as well. Of course!

Der Harry nimmt dem Voldemort
gern mal ein Stück Seele fort.
Am Ende ist dann Voldie tot,
und keiner hat mehr große Not.

Which I translated to:

Harry likes to take away
Voldie's soul, one piece a day.
Lastly Voldemort is dead,
took with him the deathly threat.

(If you know a bit of German, you'll notice that I changed it a bit to make it rhyme)

The above proves very well, that we're equally mad. :)



* The "normal" Wikipedia has a lot of info on the LotR and HP books and movies as well

Stairs

Oh, look what Beth found!

Stairs Bookcase

How great is that? And I've been wondering how to expand my bookcase (at the moment books are all over the place in my living room. I really need more boards), this would be the perfect solution. Alas, I lack the stairs.
Clearly I need to win the lottery and buy a house :) Although, then, I'd have the most wonderful library. :)

Is that normal?

I was looking at the kitty pictures on the "Cute Overload" blog.

And broke out in tears just like that.

I saw my own (well not anymore) two gangsters in a lot of those pictures.

I miss them so much...

Review: Tintenblut / Ink Spell

I don't know what happened between 2003 and 2005, but something obviously did, because this book is muuuuuch better.

There are still things that get on my nerves, like repetitions (the same phrase repeated thrice on one! page) or the POV hopping. But overall the story is compelling enough that I don't mind, or only pause for a second or so.

I definitively didn't want to throw it against the next wall like I did the first one.

So I guess my endurance paid off.

Review: Tintenherz / Ink Heart

I finished reading Ink Heart yesterday.

As this is a series and as I already have all three boks at home, I will read the other two.

But really, the plot in itself is interesting/good. The carrying out is not.
Maybe I'm just over-critical at the moment because of the workshop, but some things bugged me a lot. For example: Mrs Funke switches POVs all the time, sometimes even in a sentence. That would be something I'd notice even without having learned lot of craft stuff over at the forum.
Sometimes the suspence is building but comes to nothing.

This is a huge bestseller and a lot of people are veeery excited about the book/the series, but honestly, I was bored most of the time...

I didn't find immediate access to The Lord of the Rings as well, but after about 100 pages (latest), the story sucked me in. Ink Heart has about 570 pages and I'm still waiting.

Dublin

Yai! I'm going to Dublin from 10 to 13 March!

I've been meaning to go since forever and my best friend and I planned to go for 4 years and finally we do! :)

Aer Lingus has a realy cheap offer from Düsseldorf to Dublin and back for 73€ tax included. And we found a cheap hotel just round the corner of Temple Bar. And 15 minuted from the Guinness brewery. :)

Insanity

I must be soooo insane.

I've spent the last six (6!!) hours rewriting my first three paragraphs.

I have written 1000 new words, but lost about 2000 in the process. D@mn.

I worked some of Carol K.'s suggestions into my first paragraph, then wrote the second (where Ella and Jesper get home) that still needs mayor revision.

And now Ella is sitting on the floor of her room, contemplating what got her into this mess, when she should be thinking about the apparition (maybe she’s just good in repressing it). But the paragraph explains a bit more about the situation and who Ruwen is, and is important. And putting it later would keep too many questions open for too long. But the scene is too calm when actually Ella should be rattled and… I don’t know what to do *sigh*

Oh and BTW, it's 1:39am

First Paragraph III

I've been staring at the second paragraph for almost four hours now and am completely dissatisfied with it.

Anyhow, here's *cough* another rewrite of the first paragraph *cough*:

With a grim expression Ella watched the little boy chasing butterflies in the grass, the little boy she was supposed to call ‘son’. It hadn’t been her idea to accompany him, but Ruwen had insisted. Another person she could live without knowing.
She squinted against the sun, which reflected in bright sparks off the boy’s head. Really, who had ever said children were endearing? In her opinion they were annoying, even more so because she was forced to deal with them every single day. She couldn’t find anything endearing in the blond curls or the round face or the helplessness.
For a split second she saw something take shape in the air beside the boy.
“Jesper! We’re going home!” she called out.
“But Ella, it’s just-“ The rest of his sentence was lost on her.
She knew, by the way her heart had skipped a beat, something had been there. It could have been just a reflection or a current in the air, but she needed to get away from here.
“Levin will be waiting for you!”
Her words persuaded the little boy and he came bouncing over to her.
“Can we come back tomorrow? I really liked the butterflies. I gave them names, but they were flying around too quickly and I couldn’t see who was who. Do you think they’ll be here tomorrow?”
Jesper grabbed her hand and she barely refrained from pulling back. The little one had to be the most touchy-feely person she had ever known. And besides, his hand was sticky from something he had eaten. He was, by now singing to himself quietly, skipping along beside her. Ella took one cautious look back over her shoulder before she tugged Jesper to the path leading them home.

First Paragraph II

As usual, after receiving all the comments at the Forum I did a rewrite.
This time it has been rather difficult to get a grasp on what I wanted to tell and how to go about it.

So, now, here's the new version:

With a grim expression Ella watched the little boy chasing butterflies around in the grass, the little boy she was supposed to call ‘son’. It hadn’t been her idea to accompany him, but Ruwen had insisted. Another person she could live without knowing.
She squinted against the sun. It reflected in bright sparks off the head of the boy, who was still running around. Really, who had ever said children were endearing? In her opinion they were annoying, even more so because she was forced to deal with them every single day. She couldn’t see anything endearing in the blond curls or the round face or the helplessness.
“Jesper! We’re going home!”
“But Ella, it’s just-“
The rest of his sentence was lost on her. She had seen something. It could have only been a reflection or a current in the air, but by the way Ella’s heart skipped a beat, she knew something had been there. For a split second she had seen something take shape in the air beside the boy.
“Time to go home, Jesper! Levin will be waiting for you.” She needed to get away from here!
Her words persuaded the little boy and he came bouncing over to her.
“Can we come back tomorrow? I really liked the butterflies. I gave them names, but they were flying around too quickly and I couldn’t see who was who. Do you think they’ll be here tomorrow again? We could play games together.”
Jesper grabbed her hand and she barely refrained from pulling back. The little one had to be the most touchy-feely person she had ever known. And besides, his hand was sticky from whatever he had eaten before going out. He was by now singing to himself quietly, skipping along beside her. Ella sighed and pulled Jesper to the path leading them home.

Publication

You know what's making me really sad?

If I ever get published, all of you will never hold the printed book in hand. It's in German and probably will never be available in any other language.

That in itself wouldn't be a problem, getting published in Germany would make all my dreams come true. But I received so much help, encouragement and advise so far, and I'd like for you to be able (if you'd want to) to see the results.

Feedback

I've received a lot of feedback on my first paragraph.

Read my answer to it here.

All I have to do no (*haha*) is to mull this over, look at the suggestions, apply this to my writing and rewrite the paragraph.

First Paragraph

The first time it happened, Jesper was chasing butterflies. It could have only been a reflection or a current in the air, but by the way Ella’s heart had stopped, she knew something had been there. For a split second she had seen something take shape in the air beside her son.
“Jesper! We’re going home!”
“But Ella, it’s just-“
“Time to go home. Levin will be waiting for you.”
That teetered the little boy and he came bouncing over to her, grabbing her hand.
“Can we come back tomorrow? I really liked the butterflies. I gave them names, but they were flying around too quickly and I couldn’t see who was who. Do you think they’ll be here tomorrow again? We could play games together.”
Ella shook Jesper’s hand off, putting her own into the pocket of her cloak.
“Jesper!”
She looked sternly down at him. Why couldn’t he just shut up? Why did he have to be such… a little boy? Ella sighed annoyed. He probably couldn’t help himself, could he?
Jesper stopped his tedious babbling and instead sang to himself quietly, skipping along beside her.

Meme

This is from Carol's blog who got it from Eve who got it...

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
No

2) What was your dream growing up?
Being a a) writer/journalist b) architect c) archaeologist

3) What talent do you wish you had?
To sing really well

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
I like various drinks

5) Favorite vegetable?
Broccoli

6) What was the last book you read?
The Silmarillion.

7) What zodiac sign are you?
Leo

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
Pierced ears, two holes each
One tattoo on my left forearm.

9) Worst Habit?
I speak too quickly when I'm excited

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
If I had a car, sure.

11) What is your favorite sport?
Football/soccer and biathlon. Doing myself: jogging

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Optimistic overall

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Talk to you to distract myself from the fact that I'm in a freaking narrow place

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
Thankfully nothing really bad has happened to me yet

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
I trace numbers/letters with my eyes over and over again when I'm bored and have some writing in front of me

16) Do you have any pets?
I had two cats for a year. At the moment: no

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
I'd probably not be home. And if I were, I'd worry what to offer to drink (I usually only have water in the house, if at all)

18) What was your first impression of me? (hmmm...careful!)
A nice, intelligent and caring person

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Neither. Ideally they are funny

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
My hair

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
Depends on the situation

22) What color eyes do you have?
Deep brown

23) Ever been arrested?
No

24) Bottle or can soda?
Bottle

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Go on a holiday, donate some, invest it.

What happened to 26?
Got bored

27) What's your favorite place to hang at?
Home ;)

28) Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, in a way

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Read, write, listening to music

30) Do you swear a lot?
No

31) Biggest pet peeve?
Scraping a stainless steel fork/spoon/knife in a stainless steel pot

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Crazy

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
Sure

35) Do you believe in God?
Kind of

Weather

We had great weather yesterday, and you could already see at 6.30am that it will be wonderful today too.
Sunny, about 12C°.

And what did the weather man just now say? "It's a weather to sire a hero."

Oh this is so great! :)

I have to keep that in mind and use it somewhere. Or does anyone like to steal it for a first sentence? ;)

New Beginning

Here is my (new) first sentence:

"The first time it happened, Jesper was chasing butterflies."

Firsts Workshop

You should really check out the workshop. It's here.

I've already received great advise and applied that to my first sentence. I'll post that later on.


ETA: 706 posts?? Goodness, you people are busy. :)

POV II and New Beginning

Ok, here are the three versions I have come up with. I played around and tried a few other things, but those were really crappy (we'll see how you like these *g*)

1. She had been sent away for teaching as a child and had the teacher dominate her life, she had been immersed in a war as a teen, and now when she thought she could [live her own life / make her own decisions] as an adult, someone was interfering again.
   Ella purposefully strode down the long corridor, only glancing at one of the doors every now and then, to check that she hadn’t [run] past the room she was to have her appointment in. The surroundings did nothing to lift her mood. Grey walls, grey floor, no hint of colour. Only the black chairs placed beside the doors for the waiting made for some diversion.
   She had worked up her temper all morning and was now fully [prepared / intending] to vent it on the person waiting behind door number 87, and then to get back to [work / her life] and forget about all this rubbish.
   
   
2. At the age of 6 she could see air.
   She was never able to again.
   At the age of 9 she was taught to see Air Spirits.
   She is able to call them at will now.
   At the age of 15 she was immersed in a war.
   She made herself forget she was a sorceress.
   
   
   Ella purposefully strode down the long corridor, only glancing at one of the doors every now and then, to check that she hadn’t [run] past the room she was to have her appointment in. The surroundings did nothing to lift her mood. Grey walls, grey floor, no hint of colour. Only the black chairs placed beside the doors for the waiting made for some diversion.
   She had worked up her temper all morning and was now fully [prepared / intending] to vent it on the person waiting behind door number 87, and then to get back to [work / her life] and forget about all this rubbish.
   
   
3. At the age of 6 I could see air.
   I was never able to again.
   At the age of 9 I was taught to see Air Spirits.
   I'm able to call them at will now.
   At the age of 15 I was immersed in a war.
   I made myself forget I was a sorceress.
   
   
   I purposefully strode down the long corridor, only glancing at one of the doors every now and then, to check that I hadn’t [run] past the room I was to have my appointment in. The surroundings did nothing to lift my mood. Grey walls, grey floor, no hint of colour. Only the black chairs placed beside the doors for the waiting made for some diversion.
   I had worked up my temper all morning and was now fully [prepared / intending] to vent it on the person waiting behind door number 87, and then to get back to [work / my life ]and forget about all this rubbish.

(The formatting is a bit wonky...)

POV and Firsts Workshop

So, Jen is going to start a "firsts" workshop (read about it here).

I said I would be joining if I had a first anything to post sometime in the near future :)

So this morning, I was lying in bed (my mom celebrated her 50th birthday yesterday and I was in bed around 2:30am and awake again at 10am, so I deserved a lie in *g*) thinking about how I could start my story.

Not long ago I posted about an idea I had for a prologue:

At the age of 6 I could see air.

I was never able to again.

At the age of 9 I was taught to see Air Spirits.

I'm able to call them at will now.

At the age of 15 I was immersed in a war.

I made myself forget I was a sorceress.

What I've been thinking about was if I should really use this as/in a prologue or if I should rather include it in the first chapter and go without a prologue.

And then I noticed that while I'm writing Limited Third POV, this is First POV.

OK, there is the possibility of writing this in Third. But that doesn't sound right.

Second possibility is to write the whole story in First (after writing roughly 50K in Third *duh*). At the very beginning I tried to write Ella in First, but that didn't really work. I've been more comfortable using Third.

But is this a sign, now that I'm more comfortable with the characters and the story, I should try First POV again?

Maybe I will try all of these: Prologue + story in Third, First without prologue and Third without prologue.

And maybe I'll post all three versions here for you to vote on the best :) Perhaps I'll notice myself which one works best, but if it's First, then I'll have to sit down and reconsider the whole construction of the story.

In any way, work ahead.

The Essentials

Jen posted this over at the Forum:

If you were stranded on an island, what five books would you want with you?

I could come up with hundreds of books I couldn't live without, but here are the five I posted:

1. Lord of the Rings in one book
2. Brotherhood of the Blade
3. Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows
4. It's a draw between Pride&Prejudice and The Pillars of the Earth
5. The Complete Sherlock Holmes