Falling in Love Again !

Where have I been ?

So, I took a detour from my regular posting schedule and it was mostly because I fell in love with my writing again. I heard some songs and got super inspired and ended up  almost completing two goals I have always talked about in these blogs.

Turning in to Tim O' Brien

I mentioned Hemingway's iceberg theory early on in this serial and a lot of it related to the war going on in the background of the serial. Which is ironic because the Iceberg Theory is something Hemingway came up with when he was a war reporter.

Anyway, In my head I knew so much more background on Camp Independence than I let on or had time to write. I actually deleted large chunks of dialogue from the last chapter to keep the flow.

That being said, after I posted chapter 7 and Chapter 8 was in an editing stage I decided to scratch out some of this story about Camp Independence that had been floating in my head. It was all  for my own enjoyment.

It was supposed to be scenes or whatever and I just got addicted to writng this and it ended up being 10,000 words in just 2 days. I thought to myself  'hey, if I can do this I bet I could make this a NaNo' so the next day I added more scenes and more words and I made it 20,017 words.

Then I looked and saw a NaNo was 50,000 and I though No.Just.No. I mean, if I put Hidden on the back burner I could have added more scenes and more dialouge but, a part of me  didn't want to and I kind of forfeited.

I don't believe every aspect of the whole story has to be told and I did not see this backstory as being a 175 page novel.

Anyway, the story revolves around the Camp Independence and I mean it's pretty crappy  (and seriously, I mean high school fan-fictiony crappy)  in itself so, I am debating wether to post it or not. I'm not trying to be a tease but,  I wanted you guys to know what I had been up to.

I just had a lot of fun writing it and honestly it has made writing Hidden so much better, I feel like I have a whole new view of everything.

Flash Fiction

After I gave up on expanding the Camp Independence story I still had a writing itch and chapter 8 was giving me a hard time.

A while ago,  I heard a song on playlist.com and fell in love with it and this very short story formed in my head. I wanted to make it a flash fiction of 300-400 words and planned to start it much later but, I thought 'what the heck' and wrote it.  It is 588 right now so I need to do some work. I worked on that for a while--still abandoning chapter 8

So, yeah that's what I've been up to. Also for all that writing I listened to Pandora so, after it finished giving me every song from IVB and UL it finally started generating a lot of new music I really like.

Re-Context

I commented on a forum post about someone pointing out how I recontextualize things and I thought it was very clever but, that list is actually mostly plot elements I am guilty of using over and over again like Dan Brown.

To me, Recontextulizing is when I take the context of something, the meaning of it that is and turn it into something else. For instance The 10th Circle is a club in Miami in United Light  in Hidden The 10th Circle is a club in LOLA . . . hmm that is not the best example.

The best example is how the triangle with the flower went from being a symbol of ownership used by Caine to the insignia of the Republican Liberation Army (although I suppose you could argue that as being the same . . .)

Chapter 7

I hate to be a tease but I don't want to explain to much about Chapter 7 because it may come up if I ever post the Camp Independence story but there was one thing. Haley thinking he has Shingles is supposed to shadow that premonition thing some people have before something bad happens. A lot of people reported having nightmares or feeling sick before 9/11.


Chapter 8
I wrote this chapter and it felt very empty so, I re-wrote it with a specific outline in mind and I hope that comes through. This chapter got a little abandoned as I mentioned earlier but, as I listen to it with the music and re-read it, it is actually one of my favorites for a few reasons.

Chapter 8

-1- Twilight Serenade by Jason Myles Goss (the first song on the Hidden Inspirations playlist)
-2- Sheep May Safely Graze by Bach & Jon Sayles

-3-  Stronger (cover) by 30 Seconds from Mars (remember Jared Leto ???)

-4- Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine (New favorite song)

-5- All That I Am by Rob Thomas (would you believe I randomly added this song to the inspirations playlist, without hearing it)

First NSFW Shawna Harrison Post

So, there is a minor NSFW image in here. Also, this will help with when you computer loads this page. Click on the title to see the post unless, I have fixed the jump cut by the time you are reading this.

Picture

So, I want to do a picture post of all the characters who have pic-inspirations so far. As I make this I realize that Hidden may be a little Blue Bishie Ghetto


Alan -- as always based on the chiseled looks of Zac Efron (the 2nd image is the nsfw one but, I think understand it being 'artistic')

Jean Dory -- He is based on Jared Leto, the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars, I have used there music once before. Leto was a little more eccentric in his younger days.

Rayne Washington -- His has always been like Daniel Dae Kim from Lost. I know he is Korean but, Washington is supposed to be Japanese.
















Sgt. Maxwell -- The young Thomas Gibson.

Belle -- has always been based on Megan Fox. I have to say I like this classy (yet shopped) photo of her.

Blackbird-- Robin Williams, in case you couldn't tell from the eccentric.















Haley -- Yes, he gets his own section.

  As one  of you guessed Haley is based on Bonnie Wright's fiance Jamie Campbell Bower and Chris Crocker but mostly on Jamie. As a matter of fact his name was Jamie for a while until I noticed it would be to similar. I do want to say Haley was inspired by a  character in Slaughterhouse 5 who only appears for about 2 sentences.

For some reason I wanted to expand on him so I did. Later on I realized he was kind of like Terry in LiLe's FS so, that was why I was looking at back entries of LiLe last post. I wanted to see who she based Terry on and she never said. Haley is a bit of a gender bender and even the guys want him

However, once I found Jamie the entire character came into place. Also Haley's earring is based on an earring Jamie wore at a premiere. There is also a Sweeney Todd interview where he is wearing red nail polish . . .

 

Chris Crocker ( Male and Female versions)

I actually find Jamie to be just a really beautiful man. Haley's personality is based on Jamie as well, ecspecially in these interviews. I watched them over and over to get the characterization just right. Linda said his description stuck with her and that is probably why.

This interview I thought was actually kind of funny , just look at the way he sits very closed off and never looks the interviewer in the eye. He looks at her from the side even when he is directly addressing her. Also, he always seemed so into his own world. When he isnt being talked to it looks like he isn't listening. I also think he tweeted when this first came out he was looking at a bug on the floor at one point.





And in this one he acts just as I imagine the character. They are talking to Dakota and he is in the shot and he is not paying attention and in the very beginning when they are all smiling at the host looking, he is looking down. He always sticks out to me in these interviews.

Alan's Sexuality

Some people mentioned Alan's sexuality. At first I said he was the Q in LGBTQI, I'm not sure if it stands for Queer or Questioning. But, then I realized the only people he thinks about sexually about Belle and Allison and Sara a little bit  so, he is straight.

Chapter 6

You know I wasn't sure at first but, I think Chapter six solidified for me the fact that Alan is telling this story from the future. I'm not sure which point in the future but, he is.

New Blogger

I kind of like the new blogger, it lets me upload multiple pictures at once but, IDK I miss the old one.

@ LILE

I love  The NBC show The Event for  no other reason but, that the two main EBE's names are Sophia and Thomas-- seriously it makes me think of you all the time.

Chapter 7

Okay, this chapter has become a UL like chapter it is over 7,000 words long--I have no idea how I got there. You will notice a lot of similar SH plot devices so, I know they are there but there is a divergence. So, here it is. Also, I accidentally had a song on the playlist that was supposed to go on this one. It's all fixed.

Chapter 7

Playlist :

Falling Slowly by Kris Allen (UL flashback ! but, I like this version better. I'm always looking for good covers to use.)

Jar of Hearts by Chrisine Perri

You Could Be Happy by Snow Patrol

Howl by Florence and the Machine (In love with this group and love this song !)

Fall Colors !

New Blogger

The jury is still our for me on weather I like the new blogger.com or not. I feel like they have less colors to choose from. Guess I have to learn HTML colors.

Writing

I don't have much to say about chapters 4&5 that was not already addressed in the comments so, I thought I would blog about writing. I think a lot of people want to be or are writers and I love that and more than that I like people who write for themselves. I am trying to turn my web serials into that. I often find myself worrying what readers will think but I can't do that. This is not something I need to sell and have analyzed a Cobalt but, something that I should make my own and into something I love. Maybe that piece of advice will help Lile's writer's block ? (I know I pick on you every post) and if that doesn't help there are always tropes. Oh, the tropes.

Also, something has just motivated me to just write, write, write this serial like I am possessed so I decided to go ahead and post this.

In this chapter I will admit you will see some similar means but trust me they lead to very different ends.Look out for the author's note at the end.

Music Fail

Did no one notice I called the Red Hot Chili Peppers the Red Hot Chili Brothers in the last post ?  *headesk*

Chapter 6

I call this the sleepy playlist because all the music is very dreamy and lullaby like for some reason. Also one of these is a Scrubs song

-1- Bad Dream by Keane

-2- Los Angeles by Peter Bradely Adams

-3- Piano Duet from Corpse Bride by Danny Elfman  (and Victor and Victoria too I suppose)

-4- Ain't No Life by Pilot Speed.

Chapter 6

Double Chapter Post All The Way . . .

Lile ♥

So, I was looking in old Lile blog entries (for reasons I will explain a few chapters later) and I just noticed what a long way she has come and I just wanted to acknowledge that. At first she was very self-consious about her writing, often taking things down or finding something wrong and deleting it. Now, I think Lile writes just for herself and is so uninhabitated in her writing and interactions with her readers so well--I mean we love you. I also think she had found a great balance between herself and her writer persona that wasn't there before. I mean I honestly can see how we became friends through our writing, it is just really great.

I took a glance at some of my favorite, LA,FS and S&A passages and I feel like I am reading it all over again for the first time. Even after all this time and knowing how it ends up I can still feel the characters passion. There are a couple times she posted saying she was quitting and I just want to say I am so glad she didn't.

Conceited Egotist, Much ? : Canonical Babblings

So, I was doing like I ocassionally do and re-read some of my old work. I am not really concieted  or anything, I actually  find some of it a bit cringe worthy. I mean, I re-read UL2 and I was like 'this story makes no sense to me' for some reason. I mean everyone was getting thrown in jail left and right and having mood swings.

I was originally never going to deal with the court case and write sort of this New England Romance Type Thing, like the first chapter was. I just made up the phrase New England Romance Type Thing, I think the better word is Lifetime Moviesque.Anyway, part of me thinks UL2 would have gone down better that way.

The point of this was I also re-read Veritas and I realized I made a huge error in Hidden. In chapter 4 Alan not only states his birthday is November 11th but, he is going to die April 4th. The events in Veritas take place roughly over a month so it ends in May. Meaning Hidden takes place 6 months later in October/ early Novemeber which means it probably isn't his birthday . . .  although if you stretch it a couple of days I guess it does work oddly well. This may have been a pointless section.

Re-reading this made me realize I totally need to start up on that Lexicon, because it gets a bit convaluted. I will get to it.

In Closing

So, maybe this isn't the most bloggiest of entries but, as I come to an end of this exact entry I realize I may be able to squeeze some UL short stories out. I think I may need help from my tropes first. The impossibility does not seem so great to me know for some reason. And I am not trying to pull strings this is honestly how I am feeling so, we will see.




Full on Double Chapter Post

So, yes double chapter post. I finally have some music and in no particular order : One song is from a group that is growing on me, one song is the obligatory SYTYCD song, a song that is a huge favorite of mine I stole from Lile and listen to obsessively,  One I hated a first but, came to really like.
 
Chapter 4

-1- 9 Crimes by Damien Rice

-2- Little Bit by Lykke Li

-3- Fix You by Coldplay

-4- Around the World by Red Hot Chili Brothers


Chapter 5

Brothers on a Hotel Bed by Dashboard Confessional

The One With All The Parenthesis

Music



Okay, so I dropped the music on this one a little bit. I have not been using Pandora as much because I hate it when I can't find the song on playlist.com after falling in love with a song.



As for the last couple chapters; in chapter one the songs are both from FOX's Bones. They have some of the best music sometimes but they have not been using it lately in the show. I don't know the episodes but I believe they are all Season 5. Also you will see some Scrubs music in the future--love their music.



Also if you will indulge my rambling--each of the serials I have written have a very specific musical tone. At least for a majority of the music. Everything in the UL series was easy listening/blue eyed soul almost pop music like, IVB was supposed to be a lot of rock/punk music and Veritas is more electronica/alternative.



Of course there are always exceptions.





You Can't Escape It



I am not sure if anyone caught on to this but, in chapter 1 there is a Twilight reference. Jean has been reading Twilight books during his little bed rest. In this section :

“You look better,” I had said walking past him

“It seems impossible but, time passes, brother,” he said, “Even for me,”

Of course the next day he lay in bed all day and from that the bed became his prison. He hadn’t left and was back to his old ways.

“You said time passes,” I had asked

“I was not saying, merely quoting,” he said,” I tried to get back to my life but, I don’t know my life without her. Time does pass yes, but each second just aches more,”

He is referencing this quote :



Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me.

Bella Swan, New Moon, Chapter 4, p.93



I just took out the overly metaphoric parts. And not to judge but some twilight fans just love this quote.









Anti-Hero with a capital A !



I mentioned in my final post for Veritas that all the characters were all anti-heroes and you will see a lot of that in Hidden. A lot of you caught on to Alan's "snarkiness"--when he makes a joke about the body, his metaphor about the gun flashing a smile and also the fact that Jean's parents made some good points--it's because they were right and Jean was wrong. I believe it is somewhere (maybe tv tropes ?) that explains antiheroes as protagonist who don't give a sh*t.



So, yes these characters will be wrong they will do wrong and say stupid things but it's the nature of the genre. Maybe I am disclaiming myself for future events . . .



Character Love



I was going to write character whore but decided not to.



I have an insanely bad habit of adding lots of characters to my stories and as I write this it becomes no different. Many of them have no relevance but I just have to give them a name and backstory. For instance in UL it ended up being about Cecelia, Greg, Sam, Rosa, Cortland, Rhett, Patrick, Brad and a few others when it should not have been. And don't even get me started on Tessa, her daughter and Jennifer because UL2 was supposed to be a Rhett&Juliana story.



Also in IVB Nick went on a date with a guy who had no relevance I just wanted to write him going on a date. I also felt the need to introduce and name Slate's sisters who had no lines whatsoever. Although I wanted to point out Slate's dad had named his kids off colors (Amber and Sienna,I believe it was)



So, I apologize in advance for that.



I Miss it too !



You all talking about UL has me feeling nostalgic for it. I miss churning out 10,000 word chapters and just writing it in general but, I have no idea how another chapter would go unless it went the DSI route and took place 4-5 years later with someone married with kids--other than that I have literally no plot. And I just can't go with that plot for UL because it would turn into the dirtiest of kmart realism you have ever read (genre joke--the dirty refers to Dirty realism get your heads out of the gutters. I honestly felt like i had to explain that)



I am just waiting for one to fall out the sky like they always do. I love when that happens and it terrifies me that when I (if I ever) finish up Veritas I will never have another idea. (Maybe I can start a few days late on a UL NaNoWriMo ?)



Linda Leigh <3



I was getting my DSI fill today (love it so much !) and I have to say LiLe does something really well. She is able to describe how people pass time in a few paragraphs that don't feel rushed. To be more specific when she is describing ((*spolier alert*)) Emile and Clara's night together it's only 2 or 3 paragraphs but it feels longer and we get so much detail. We know what they had for dinner, how they felt about it, what they did that evening, how the slept . . I don't know I just love that. I feel like I have to make every scene I write a conversation and describe in painstaking detail so, I am working on that.



Longer Chapter Later



I promise the next post will be a 6,000+ words, two chapter post. I just have to make this one on it's own for pacing issues. Also, after next post I have a picture post planned.



Hmm . . . I think that is it.



Chapter 3



Playlist

Catalyst by Linkin Park (I know only one song but, it fits the tone of the story relatively well)



Chapter 3

Lile !

In the off chance, Linda Leigh sees this I have so much to say about Chapter 3 but, the comm nets are turned off . . . which seems weird after the post you made. Anyway after being creeped out by chapter 2 I was expecting something horrifying in chapter 3 but, I found it really nice and I am just waiting for the next double chapter post.

I actually can't think of a name for this entry

*Note to Lile
In your last comment section, Erik was referring to the characters of Eric and Maddie in S&A and Free Spirits. He says the character Eric is a reference to him.

Cobalt Stuff

I have to make a note about Cobalt here. I am so happy Lile is back, she inspires me in so many ways---her writing is just phenomenal and so are her music choices.

Also I am so glad we have Mansfield with us as well. I love having new blood into the company(don't even think about it). Maybe he can do a guest blog on one of our blogs so we can get to know more about him.

Somewhere Along the Line . . .

Somewhere along the line this story became a very unintentional allegory. When I noticed it I just went along with it and developed it more. It is not very evident in this chapter but, it will be in later chapters. It was a very subconscious move.

Process

I have a very good grasp of the plot points for Hidden and the sequel that comes after. I have a feeling the last one will be about 3 chapters and this one will be between 8 and 12 chapters. It just the actual writing it that has become troublsesome.

I have tried to start writing ahead of my postings. In the past I write a chapter post it and then write another one and post it so, I can't mess with the cannon or add much foreshadowing if I decide to change something.

The only time I haven't done that was in IVB when I got so into writing it I ended up writing until the end pretty early--and I actually felt that led to some of the rushed feeling of it.

That said, I have been afraid to post something and then want to change it or add something later but, I have decided to do it anyway. So hopefully this will expedite the posting , I feel bad because this had been ready and should have been posted a week after chapter 1.

If that made no sense don't worry about it.

Similarities

I think Lile and I have the same muse who is lazing on the job-- I am convinced of it. I was so excited to write something in third person and then switch it to first person at the end and then Lile did it before me ! Oh well, (:

I have been seeing the first scene in Chapter 1 for so long so I was very excited about it.

There are also a few other similarities I have seen but, it is interesting how they exist in completely separate contexts.

When I had writer's block for a while I decided to update a running list of names I have for characters and I am always amused by how many names on that list have appeared in LL. The two main ones being Clara and Addison but, I also had Rosalinda which is similar to Rosalie.

Context

I have been experimenting a lot with re-contextualizing elements of past my past writing. It's something I have wanted to do but, it won't look blatantly obvious-- like there wont be a character named Sawyer who owns a diner (although that sounds like a good idea . . .).

I think this piece opens itself up to the recontextualizing of elements because this serial has been so genre bending. I have no idea if Veritas is a coming of age, dystopian, postcyberpunk or allegory or any number of genres it could be.

Some of these reoccurring elements so far are :

In some ways Jean and Alan are respectively versions of Slate and Darcy in IVB.

Rayne and Cain are similar characters except of course Rayne is not really a villain or antagonist.

Belle, the stripper in UL is a version of Belle in Hidden who is a Madame--I suppose is the right word.

So, look out for those things I've sprinkled in through out the piece.

Chapter 2

Yes it's short, it should have been bundled with chapter 1 but I could not let go. Also one of songs in the playlist got a lot more popular because it was featured on a CW show. Also, a song is not on playlist so I have youtube embeded it.

-1- Black Balloons by Goo Goo Dolls

-2- Mama Who Bore Me

Chapter 2