Quill-and-Blood

Hey.

Yeah, it's been a while, but what can I say? Life caught up to me. But I fell sick recently, and while lying in bed– sneezing, coughing, sniffing– I picked up a book that I haven't touched in at least three years and a series I haven't looked at for two. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was none other than– drum roll please– Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

So, I'm a sixteen year old (seventeen in exactly four months!) and reading about a pre-adolescent eleven year old imaginary boy's adventures shouldn't have made my day. But the universe works in funny ways and I found myself being sucked back into the world which every child in their right mind adored at one point of time or the other.

I read the entire book and two-thirds of the second book in that one day. And as always, I wasn't able to put it down.

There is something just magical about Harry Potter. I can not put a finger on what exactly it is, and probably will never be able to pinpoint it. And though the books can be sad, I found myself laughing along to jokes I used to, adoring and hating characters as I always had and still, I managed to discover things I'd never seen in all the millions of times I'd read the books before.

Before I thought I outgrew the series, I used to be an avid reader and writer of fanfiction, and after just about three chapters of the first book, I found myself itching to get online and read some awesome fanfics (of course, in the way of the world, my father happened to be using the comp at that moment, so I had to wait).

Reading the books again reminded me about how much I loathed Harry-Hermione 'shippers' and how much I loved Mugglenet (every true Harry Potter fan's homepage) and how much I loved the Marauders and their untold story. I remembered the way I used to positively (try to) run to get the books when they came out (mainly for the fifth, sixth and seventh. What can I say, I discovered heaven a little late in life).

What is it about this series that can captivate me so? It reminds me of the more innocent days of my childhood and how I once had a 'who knows more about Harry Potter' quiz with my best friend (I kicked his ass from here to Timbuktu, by the way). Or how my other best friend saw (non-existent) clues that led her to believe Harry and Hermione was a relationship that could actually happen.

I don't know, but I've read each of the books (except the seventh one) at least five times, if not more, but every time I read it, the series entrances me and even though I've grown older, it still does. And it probably always will.

Jesus, I sound like my grandmother. But still, it's Harry Potter.

xoxo,
Quill

 Hey!

I just got back yesterday (Monday) from a trip and I discovered that I am still as bored as I was before I left. The thing is that I have this whole week off and had the previous week off as well, and a few days before that. Most of my friends took advantage of this short break to go out of station, so I am left here, languishing in my own boredom.

Stories wise, everything proceeds not-so-well. See, there are about six stories that I am working on, but for some odd reason, none of those stories can hold my attention– not even the SaE revision. I can't write. I don't think this is writer's block, because if I sit down and focus and reread what I've written so far, I can churn out about ten pages or so. But still, for the flow not to come easily as it has before...

Like I said before, I really wanted to get a story up to mark SaE's first anniversary. Most writers manage to extend the story to the one-year mark, but not me. I just had to post on a weekly or fortnightly basis and thus, the story finished rather quickly. I would have loved to get up another chaptered story on the date (11th October) but none of them– not even the finished ones– are ready to face possibly critical readers.

But I did manage to get up a nice one shot called For You. Actually, it's far from nice– the ending at least– but what a ride it was. I am usually unable to write original one-shots for a reason I cannot fathom. Fanfiction one-shots– mainly Harry Potter– used to come easily to me. I think that's because the characters are set out for you, you know their personality and history, so you don't have to build anything. I used to love writing James/Lily stories. My passion. But with originals, I tend to want to build up the characters, so the entire one-shot becomes outrageously big. Like For You was about twenty-one pages on Word, I think.

Anyway, inspiration for it struck me on my previous trip when I caught a glimpse of this one guy's arms. The guy's not good-looking, but he has an awesome body. And then, I started to think and the first line came to me– she fell in love with his arms. And from there on, there was no looking back.

Honestly, I meant to make it a happy ending despite wanting desperately to write a sad ending, because those stay longer with the readers. And at first, I did write a happy ending. But then, I went back and looked at it and I realised that it wasn't right because there was something gnawing at my insides. So, hence, the unhappy ending. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should. I'm very proud of it.

That's all the news from me, for today. Let's see what happens with which story.

xoxo,
Quill

Hey.

Man, am I feeling frustrated. I finished FtLotG, except for the epilogue. And at first, I thought it was perfect. But I'm just beginning to realise that it's not. In fact, I think it sucks. And maybe that's just a projection of my inherent pessimism, but still. I'm thinking about writing a sequel and I do have some ideas for that penned out. We'll see how that goes.

I so wanted to post a story on October 11th, seeing as how that was the date I first posted SaE, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Speaking of, I just got another horrible review for the story. Actually, it started out horrible and it continued on that vein for the vast majority, but there were threads of devotion and love in it. I just don't get love-hate relationships. Sigh. So that spurred me on and I edited a bit more of the story. There's still something off though.

See, most people seem to hate Emee's character, which I guess I can understand. She is a bit of a wuss and does keep crying and is pretty much every feminist's worst nightmare, but the truth is that that's what makes her so amazing. She's not perfect. No girl is perfectly composed when the guy they desperately love is playing them. Yes, she cries. Honestly, all us girls do. And I purposely wrote her character to be like that. But people hate it and in the rewrite I'm going to shuffle her character around a bit and make her stronger, just to see which receives a better response. Personally, I love her just the way she is right now.

For some weird reason, all my inspiration and will to write has left me. On Sunday (21st) I'm going out of town for a bit and I'm hoping that it'll give me a fresh perspective so that I can write properly again. I'm all out of story ideas too. My mood is so off.

xoxo,
Quill

Hey.

Well, I guess I made a bit of a stupid mistake. I took down Wanna Bet? But no, that wasn't the mistake. The mistake was putting it up in the first place. In a moment of craziness and boredom, I decided 'oh what the hell?'  but it was not a good idea. Why? Because the story is totally not ready for posting.

For one thing, even though the story is complete, it needs a lot of work. In the terms of plot, it is woefully sickening. i mean, even SaE's plot is cliche, but as everyone pointed out, it did have its redeeming moments, with a few twists. WB? on the other hand is a cliche, through and through. Plus, I tried stuffing too much into too short a time, making the plot hurried. The characters aren't at all well developed and are completely superficial, with no depth to them. And I can't stand that. I just think that the story's not quite ready to see the light of day.

And honestly, if I'm being a bit superficial myself, I'll have to admit that I want my second full-length novel to have as big an impact as SaE and that requires something that WB? lacks. Therefore, I might post it in the future again, after a lot more editing. But I will post another story before that. Which one, I haven't quite decided, seeing as how I am now working on four projects at the same time.

1) SaE Revision: Possibly the most important one at the moment and the one that I want to finish before anything else. I don't think I can move on until I'm completely satisfied with my baby. This version is a lot different, with the plot shuffled around, bits taken out, conversation recycled and new scenes, but no new characters, thankfully. I write it when my muse decides to humour me. This will take a while.

2) Homecoming: This one has an extraordinary story. It started out as a sequel to the original SaE (many versions ago) and I had completed it. I was satisfied with it and as is my custom, left it to hibernate. But then, I went back, read it and hated it. I decided to rewrite it completely. I think I'm on the fifth version now. It's got characters that I adore and some scenes which make me wonder at my own writing skills (yes, egoism is accepted in my world). The plotline is done to death (as with all my stories). A girl runs away from home, comes back a long time later and is forced to face the music. What I love about this is the fact that the entire story is interspersed with flashbacks, which have been my favourite bit to write.

3) Spawn of Satan: Not quite as humorous as the title suggests, though I admit it does have its moments. This one is a close second for my favourite story that I'm currently writing. This is the third version of this story and is so far going strong. It's certainly fun to write. I might change the plot again, but right now, it's about a college kid (Elise) who gets pregnant and about her adventures with her short tempered best friend (Jimmy), her ditzy sister (Ruth), her best friend's dependable girlfriend (Lila) and her best friend's hot older brother (Lucas aka Lucifer). And I can tell you, Lucifer is one hot character to write.

4) For the Love of the Giants: This one is, without a doubt, my favourite to write. Partly because the main character is awesome, but mainly because of the heavy presence of football in the story. In the process of researching the story, I learnt so much and also developed a loyalty to a football team, despite me not living in America. Basically, Scott Walker has seduced one too many girls and it has all been caught on film. Being the Quarterback for the New York Giants and the First Son, he has a reputation to uphold. Enter Melissa Reyes, sweet, innocent and the only thing that can save Scott's failing career. This one is the closest to being finished and is plain awesome, if I do say so myself.

So, anyway, that's what I've got going on right now. I'm trying to simultaneously write all four stories, depending on which muse takes over my body. I am also constantly trying to revamp the stories. Between these four, I have one thousand pages of extra, deleted scenes. Swear. All my creative prowess is being used up with these four, so I can't seem to write a one-shot despite having tried four different times.

Thus, I guess I am going on a temporary hiatus until I have something to post up. Hopefully, it will be soon. Keep an eye out and I'll keep you updated on the progress. Thanks for the support for WB? even if it didn't work out.

xoxo,
Quill

*SPOILER!*

Oh. My. God.

I just finished reading Breaking Dawn (yes, go ahead, call me backward) and I am stunned. Yes, like a horrible fan, I read the synopsis on Wikipedia before I read the book and I knew everything that was going to happen. My first reaction when I knew it all– EW! GROSS! SICK! Of all the millions and trillions of awesome endings she had to a perfect (albeit deteriorating with every book) series, she chose this one? The worst?

And then, of course, my friends read it too. And they hated it. One of them didn't even finish the book. She stopped after Jacob's bit and I'm sure we all know why. Everyone hated it. And naturally, I approached the book with a heavy dose of scepticism, disgust and disappointment. I was reading it just because I like her writing and her characters and I wanted to see it for myself.

After doing so, I realised that approaching something with the idea that you're going to be disappointed and without any high expectations, is the way to go, because (and yes, I know a lot of people will hate me for this) I absolutely, one hundred percent loved it.

*waits for outrage to die down*.

First off, I think she handled the whole sex issue beautifully. The way everyone was talking about ripped pillows and stuff, I was sickened. But then, I read it and it was tastefully done. Obviously, she couldn't have completely avoided the theme (seeing as how Bella was a hormonal teenager) but for someone who knows that twelve year olds are reading the book and worship Edward, she handled it spectacularly.

Next, the whole pregnancy thing. Okay, that did come out of the blue and at first, I was like, 'Oh my God, CLICHE!' But when I actually read the pregnancy, from Jacob's point of view and then saw it from Bella's, it was actually amazingly done. Yes, the blood drinking is frankly sickening and nauseating, and so it the birth process itself, but really, in a book full of bloodsuckers, did anyone expect it to be all rainbow and butterflies? She's been known for showing things as they are and not sugar coating it and I think that sort of highlighted the conflict even more.

And not once, did I ever, ever hate Edward for how he reacted. They way she described his pain and anguish, visible even to his mortal enemy, it was touching. And as always, his utter devotion to his wife was jealousy inducing. Also, I didn't understand what people said about the book projecting the image that girls needed to get married just out of high school, find a husband to completely depend upon, have a baby and live in a cottage happily ever after. Not true. Bella did show a lot of courage and self-reliance. She wanted to depend on Edward. You don't need a man to survive, but oftentimes, you do want one. And Bella showed that. There's nothing wrong with that.

One thing I really, really hated was Rosalie. What a bitch. Seriously. I mean, yeah, Bella wanted the baby and Edward didn't, but I wasn't completely comfortable with the way that Rosalie seemed to be killing Bella for the baby. It makes her more human, so that's a plus point. But I hated the way that Rosalie seemed to undermine Bella and I completely sympathised with Bella when she was possessive of her baby. But I did get used to it after a while. Also, hated the way the baby seemed to love Bella more than Edward. How???

Renesmee is, without a doubt, the most adorable, harmless baby I have ever read about. Sure, her name's Mary-Sue and it actually made me cringe (Renee+Esme Carlisle+Charlie.... how could you???) but her character, everything about her... she won me over just like every other character. And I would have preferred it if they'd had a son, but we all know why it's important that she was a girl.

Which brings me to the most disturbing topic. We can't say that she didn't warn us. She was prepping us, continuously telling us that it wasn't sickening. And sure, she didn't hint, but she prepared us. That's good. And yeah, at first I was like 'SICK! SHE'S JUST A KID! AND YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH HER FRICKIN' MOTHER!' but don't tell me that if you put the sickening part out of your head, your heart didn't melt when you saw Jacob's interaction with Nessie. And Bella's reaction to it was just plain hilarious (as was the arm wrestling between her and Emmett. I love Emmett). And I was really glad to see the way Edward and Jacob were comfortable with each other. It's nice to see them as a family unit.

One thing that really pissed me off (but not as much as I expected it to) was Bella's immunity to all things that newborn vampires are famed for. But it was natural and was semi-explained. Plus, I guess that she was hard pressed to fit in everything into one novel, and so had to rush time and explain somethings. I actually really liked it. And as for the supposed lack of action– what the heck were the last four chapters of the book? It was awesome, all the prepping for the fight and the anticipation building and Bella's discovery of her power and Edward's general awesomeness. Man, it was thrilling.

And how dare anyone say that the writing wasn't good? As always, her writing style is almost flawless, filled with descriptions (that are, I agree, sickening at times) and unusual metaphors and similies. It was awesome. And sure, Jacob's part was rough, but that was only because she was getting into the character. He's a guy and he thinks differently from Bella. So, just because his was more casual and informal, doesn't mean it was bad. It was downright hilarious and I wished that the entire book was from Jacob's point of view. Except that it would have been kind of sickening when it came to Nessie and him.

Admission: that scene at the end, when Bella thinks she's going to die and she and Edward are saying goodbye to Jacob and Nessie... I totally teared up. Yeah, I was shocked too, because before this, I've only teared up in Deathly Hallows, when Harry's walking through the woods to his death with his parents, Sirius and Remus by his side. And sure, that was a lot more touching and I practically did cry, but I did also tear up here and the scene was amazingly written.

Okay, so on the whole, I did like the first book better, but I have to admit that Breaking Dawn is my second favourite. Against all odds and expectations, I did thoroughly enjoy it. I'm not judging the people who didn't like it, but this is just my opinion. And like most people criticised J.K after Deathly Hallows and most people are doing to Meyer right now, I did love Deathly Hallows with all my heart and I do adore this. It's earned it's place on my special bookshelf. Give it a try. Meyer did better than I expected.

xoxo,
Quill

P.S: First chap of Wanna Bet? is up on FictionPress. Check it out. The editing of SaE is going well!

Hey!

Due to the absolute lack of anything substantial or interesting to read on FictionPress (or maybe I just can't find anything) I'm feeling oddly restless. That is, I think the time may have come for me to post my next story. It's been complete for almost half a year now, but that's nothing new.

I have the tendency to write a story completely, leave it to hibernate for a while, go back and completely revamp it until it looks nothing like the original, leave it again for a while and then repeat the process at least two times. I think it helps the story become better because we grow with every passing moment and it's only right that that gets depicted in the writing. I did this for SaE at least seven times, three of which were while I was posting the story, which didn't go over too well.

The story in question here is called Wanna Bet? (tentative title) and it's your typical, run of the mill bet story. I do think there are a few twists though, nothing earth shattering. It's about a 120k words shorter than SaE, clocking in at about 80k words and 16 chapters. I don't think it's quite ready for posting, but I think I'm ready to revisit it and bring it up to par.

In my opinion, the story doesn't flow too smoothly, so I'm going to fix that. Plus, the plot is a little rushed and characters a little one-dimensional. That will, hopefully, be fixed. It is a good story, that I did enjoy writing. However, like with most authors, I do have a favourite story (my first– SaE– in this case) and I have a bit of a reputation to live up to. I don't like this story as much as SaE but I do adore it and I don't want to let my readers down. I want them to like this one as much as my other two.

I'm working on three or four other stories simultaneously and will hopefully have something up soon. SaE is being edited heavily and has changed quite a bit. I might or might not post the revised version up and if I decide to, I haven't decided whether I'll make it a new separate story or just replace the old one. I, for one, have enjoyed new stories, but have never understood. If you're making the story better– even if it is just from the author's point of view, why keep the crappy version up? The entire point of revision is to grow. Oh well, I guess I'll just wait and see how this turns out.

Anyway, in other news, I haven't read Breaking Dawn yet, and probably won't for a while. That sucks, but then again, the reviews I've gotten so far are disappointing, plus I hated the synopsis when I read it. It's left to be seen.

xoxo,
Quill

Hey.

I've been reading other LJs for a while and decided to give one a shot. No harm, right? So, just to introduce myself, I'm sixteen and a junior in high school. I am not a resident of America, nor am I British. Mostly, I guess you people know me from my account on FictionPress. I write under the penname Quill-and-Blood, but go simply as Quill. I only have two stories up so far, a one-shot (Old World Charm) and a full-length, too long novel (Sapphires and Emeralds).

I guess the subject of this post isn't really right. I don't really have writer's block, because I can write now. What I have is the inability to get over SaE. I keep finding myself obsessing over it, especially because of the negative reviews I've been getting lately. The critical reviews make me want to go back and rewrite the entire story from scratch, but I don't have the courage to do so. I can't help but think that nothing I ever write again will measure up to my baby, but still don't think it's good enough.

So, I'm trying to figure out where I can edit, especially cut out lots of words because it's currently 200k+ words and 130k is considered to be lengthy and impossible to publish (according to Stephenie Meyer). I definitely want to be a published author someday, and I want SaE to be my first book. So, if anyone has any suggestions on what they think I should edit, go ahead and tell me.

Anyway, onto more awesome topics. Twilight. I think like most teenage girls my age, I have a sort of unhealthy obsession with Edward Cullen. In fact, I vaguely remember once reading the title of a club and laughing at it. Ironic, because I realise exactly how true it holds. The name was The 'I Hate Edward Cullen Because He Gave Me Unrealistic Expectations In Men' Club.

Of course, the age old debate comes into question– Edward or Jacob? If I'm being entirely honest– and I am– I have to say that I don't hate Jacob. In fact, I damn near love him. And if Edward didn't exist, I would be pro-Bella/Jacob. But as it were, Edward does exist and he's too hot/amazing/awesome/sweet/protective/perfect (pick an adjective of your choice) for me to not be on Team Edward.

I currently only own Twilight, but I have read the first three. I do plan to buy the other two, as well as Breaking Dawn. I can't wait for it. It's going to be awesome, especially because of the anticipation created by the 'Quote of the Day' on Meyer's website. I haven't felt such excitement since the release of Deathly Hallows.

Okay, now my rant's done. I feel much better after discussing Twilight. Drop me a line!

xoxo,
Quill

P.S: Yes, I recently got addicted to Gossip Girl. Incidentally, how many people agree that Chace Crawford is the hottest thing since... fire? ;) Sorry. That was the best comparison I could come up with.