Timeline

Someone asked me how I come up with my music and really it is more of an adventure. For instance I really enjoyed Sara Bareielles sound so, I listened to all her music and that's where I got Many the Miles. Then by using websites I found other artist who have her same sound and that is how I came across Ingrid Michaelson and Colbie Colbait. And then sometimes I like Linda steal songs from TV, she has me hooked on SYTYCD and that is where I got A Beautiful Mess. I wish I had a better system but, I don't. That is why I don't always have music. I also occasionally hoard songs, that I like and keep them until a perfect moment (I almost kept Beautiful Mess to myself for a few more chapters.)

I have decided I wanted to have some concept of time in this story so, I have just created a time line.

I think I will post this on the webpage somewhere

March 20th -- Juliana turns 18

April 5th -- Juliana and Sawyer meet and get married

April 10th --Juliana moves to San Costa with Sawyer

April 20th -- Caine gives them an ultimatum. Elisa has to stay at the commune.

April 30th -- Sawyer is arrested

May 1st -- Cecelia and Sam's wedding

May 2nd -- Sawyer goes to jail

May 9th -- Juliana quits the Sunset Diner and The Penthouse to stay Brad

June 2nd -- Sawyer is released from jail early

June 5th-- Juliana leaves Brad and is diagnosed with encephilates

June 9th -- Juliana meets Cortland

I made this as a reference for myself but, decided to post it. I did for a while consider ignoring time constraints but decided against it. Giving myself more challenges.

Wish I had something more for you all, I'll update soon !

Almost at 40 !

Chattering

I don't have an update for you but, I do have some things to share. While the last few chapters were not as much as a labor as 13 it still took a lot of work because I honestly felt like I had no story left and seriously considered just ending it their like a TV show canceled mid-season.

I couldn't keep the adventure going so,I went back to what I knew which is the coming of age kind of fiction but, as I have said I don't think it will be this way forever. I have a lot of plots and things I want to do but, I can't honestly say I know how to end this I have everything but how this can end. I almost feel like this could only end if I wrote about what happened to every single character until the day they died. One of the things I realized was haltering me was I was making this Juliana's story again but, I realized once I let us go inside the head of Sawyer and Elisa , there was no way this could just be Juliana's story. These sections are really about aftermath and it's not just Juliana who has it but Sawyer too. In a way these chapters are about them looking for closure or trying to figure out how they fit back into their lives.

Inspiration

1. Funny story about Juliana buying the dress. It's based on a true story. I went online to Macy's.com to look for the prices and styles of swimsuits and I came across the dress by mistake and I knew I had to use it in the story. I saw it in an ad but, I wasn't able to find it in the online catalog so, that's why the picture is an ad.








2. Somebody mentioned that I had teenage boys down to a tee. I will say that I got a lot of research and inspiration from watching True Life : I'm In a Summer Share 2. I actually watched it twice and took notes because, I have honestly never lived that kind of life (wasn't much of a party girl) I hate writing a lot of underage drinking but, I guess we all know it happens. I myself was actually surprised by the culture that can exist on beaches, it seems like fun.

3. Not only do I Web Md a lot but, I also Wikipedia a lot and during a rousing game of wikipedia tag (or whatever it is called when you click on link after link in wikipedia until you get to a certain page) I came across an old movie called Baby Doll which is about a 19-Year Old girl who is a year into what I assume an arranged marriage to someone older.,I myslef have not seen all of it but, I saw a clip and have been basing Juliana's voice slightly off of Carroll Baker in this film, I also use Baby Doll (Carroll's character) as some inspiration for Julinana for her look of innocence just in the way she carries herself but, in reality she isn't at all.

Still trotting Along

Someone made a metaphor that I was getting back on the horse and I may be taking it to far.

I went back to my usual route of writing about health and I kind of went into a House mode. In chapter 12 and 13 I created a bunch of symptoms for Juliana but I didn't really think of what they meant. Originally she was going to be pregnant then she was going to have Stockholm Syndrome and then it was going to be drugs but I realized I wanted how she was acting to be the result of a medical issue and not something that was her own fault. I couldn't get to my usual medical contacts so, I Webmd'd, my way to any condition that can cause personality changes. When I needed to pick which infection gave her encephilatis, herpes was the only one that could fit. I had no intentions of giving her an STD but, I suppose it does happen.

I will also throw out there (not that I take sides with characters) that she most likely got it from being a prostitute and not from working in the actual club so, it really isn't Sid's fault. As a matter of fact I don't think Sid knew what she was doing.

Someone asked my inspiration for Cortland and to be honest there wasn't one because up until the beach scene Cortland was just a 21-year-old background character who asked one question in the car. I originally was going to have Patrick take her to the beach but, as soon as I began writing the scene I realized it wouldn't work out because, I don't think Juliana would ever trust Patrick and it just seemed off , what with her relationship to his father. So, instead of making anew character I gave Cortland a bigger role at the dinner scene and let him take Patrick's place. Then when I read Linda's work I was going to take the beach scene out and take the concept of Juliana having someone do something nice for her and tweak it. For a few minutes Cortland was an orderly at the hospital but, it just didn't stick. In the end I defaulted back to what I had written (I have dates to prove I wrote it before she posted, lol) because there is no way you can have a story in Miami without talking about the beach !
Cortland is inspired by that look of old-time young movie stars , I would say he is most based on the fRebel Without A Cause James Dean was an inspiration.






For all you non-nostalgics , who have no idea who I am talking about, I do find that Robert Pattinson can pull off the look to. It's all in the cheekbones. Odd . . . now I find Robert Pattinson attractive in a strictly platonic way. . .


(the man on the far right is Marlon Brando, couldn't crop him out the pic)




Also that little football themed weekend tidbit was inspired by a true story

I have a lot more "behind-the-page" if you will but, I will spread it out over the chapters.

I did throw together a playlist, I like the songs but, they all may not be perfectly in tune with the story just, in general.

Okay now on to Chapter 15

Playlist :

12.1-- Stop and Stare One Republic
12.2 -- Where the Stars Go Blue (OTH version, guess who suggested it ?)
12.3 Beautiful Mess Jason Mraz(I heard this song because it goes off on JB's blackberry whenever his significant other calls)

I'm still here

I can not believe the break I am coming off of. I will say the United Light started as a kind of cat and mouse thriller in concept but it more and more turning into a coming of age piece but, for an older crowd. This may feel like a bit of a different story writing wise because I am trying to invest more into who may characters are and what they would be like.

I realized I have done somethings that like, Linda I could take slack for and it's nothing you would notice unless you really thought about it.

I do not have a playlist for this because, making playlists takes up a lot of my time and unless I have a few good songs it's easier not to scramble and find music. Even though it is great when you find that perfect song. I will say you could use No Envy No Fear ny Joshua Radin for the first section.

I hope you all enjoy Chapter 14.

Another one of those times

I can't believe I have gone 5 days without a post ! I wish I had an update for you all but, I don't. I do however still want to blog a little. I have been catching up on my Spirits & Angels and I understand how hard it can be to be left on a cliffhanger. I forget that I know what is going to happen but, you don't.

The thing is I am having another hard time, getting enough content and story to push me forward, again. I have very vauge ideas about what I want to happen but, it's hard believing them alive, if you will. I actually have multiple storylines that I have started and abandoned half way through for multiple reasons. It's funny if you read some of the draft you would notice names, chronology and things change mid-story, it's quite funny when I read it again really. As I have thought about it, I may see a solution in sight.

I will say it is absolutely crazy how similar Linda's stories are getting. It actually challenges me to change some elements and to think outside my box. While I intend to work on United Light more (I am having a hard time letting it go !)

I have noticed that even though this is Juliana's story, I have realized that she as a person ( I do not call them 'characters' because to me they are people) very underdeveloped and I want to work on her as a person more. It may create some BIG contradictions but, nothing to bad. I won't even mention it unless someone points them out. Or I run out of entries.

I wanted to address one topic in this post. Someone asked me why I don't write in third person and it is really because I like the characters to tell their own stories. When I first started writing my short stories I felt like writing in 3rd person reminded me of "Fairytale writing". It was like a storyteller saying "Once upon a time a girl did this . . . " and I could never get into that. I like my characters to tell the story, I like putting on their eyes and living the story through their eyes and experiences. In an seemingly unrelated note I think I may have to see this new Surrogate movie. I hope that explains a little into my mind. When I start writing I tend to get a little crazy.

Additionally. I do have a surprise I will announce in October.

And no it is not a horror story web-serial or zombie version of anything (although that could be fun . . .) because I could not do that.

Update you all soon !

Writing Process

On a sidenote about the playlist-- It is funny how when I find songs that go with everything but, what I am writing. I always find songs for what could happen next. Anyway I often make a playlist for myself with just random songs to help me write. I didn't realize it would instantly update the one I have on the blog. So, if there are some random songs on that one, that is why. I will probably rename/recreate a new playlist with each post. Apparently I can have as many as I want !

I have said I wanted to get into my writing process a bit, so I created this entry. As I started really thinking about how I write I realized there are more steps than I thought ! If you hate this kind of thing, skip the purple writing. The first thing I do obviously, is have an idea. When it comes to United Light the idea is usually what I want to happen. It can be just a beginning scene or an ending but, I usually have some kind of inspiration point. Then I do the following steps 1. I write a very rough version of what I want to happen. I sometimes won't write out entire dialogues but, just general idea. I'm not very descriptive and don't worry about writing good. If I can't think of a word to describe something I usually leave ... 2. Then I edit to add dialogue, descriptions and all over better writing.Sometimes I will also add motives. This is also where I would change the plot points and then go back and add foreshadowing for the new plot device. This is also where little details that a certain character would never know (like Juliana knitting the blanket she has in chapter 12) are taken out. 3. I put the text online and I re-read it as you all read it, adding things to make it better. And that's the basic process. With that in mind in chapter 13, I did a lot of things in Stage 1 that I did not like. I had written all of the story from Juliana's POV. I realized later that it would be better told through someone else's eyes because I could not really grasp on Juliana's actions. I know that probably doesn't make much sense. I was hoping that might explain some of the gaps in transitions.

The point is, I decided to do a stage 2 version of the original story and share it. In reality both versions exist in the UL canon.

It was actually a challenge for me to take this story and translate it to how Sawyer was seeing it. In reality this is more of the original than an alternate.

Before anyone asks yes, I am working on an update.

Another Alternate Version.

Struggles

Okay, so as many of you know I had a hard time continuing this story. Incidentally enough, it was chapter 13 that was giving me such a hard time (wooooo). I admit, I am still pretty stumped about what will be going on.

I realized what I was writing could never be a true ending but, it couldn't be a beginning for a new story either. As a matter of fact if this was a novel I was writing this would be the point where I shelve it and bring one of the characters into another piece. However writing in this medium forces me to be creative and dig down.

I do feel terrible for writing that last entry because it makes this chapter different, I don't know if it raises or lower the bar. I want this chapter treated as any other chapter though. Although as the title suggests this chapter was a struggle.

Anyway I did sense some difference in this chapter so, I did make some small visual changes to signify a shift.

This chapter only has 3 songs that really go with it.

Eyes on Fire -- Blue Foundation

Pride -- Syntax

The Good Kind--The Wreckers (again)

Instead of making them into a tiny playlist I added them to the main playlist on the sidebar on the top.

Chapter 13