November SS // Around the Circuit World // mini life update

 I should apologize for posting the Starting Sparks prompt late. My prompt has lost its promptness. But school has been insane. I'm supposed to hand in a short story for class tomorrow and the one I started isn't working [it's broken]. So I had to find something else to write about, and I didn't start writing it until midnight last night. Soooo, yeah. That's all the life update time we have for today. Because writing.

My words are at the level of

"The people walked into the room. They said a thing. Then a thing happened. It was a very, very bad thing."

source

So I'll keep writing.

Likewise to you brave NaNoWri people! JUST WRITE. Make the words do the word things that words do! [Even if they're pathetic word things like mine.]

Oh, and one of the band members from needtobreathe liked one of my Instagram posts. *tries to be cool despite internal dancing*

Meanwhile check some of these cool people and their posts.
[I'm telling you, man, bloggers are the coolest there are.]


Tracey @ Adventure Awaits writes about letting go of stress. [this is for you NaNoWri-ers]

Cait @ Paper Fury talks about writing a successful first draft.

Jennifer @ The Penslayer discusses the pros of older people and old souls in YA fiction.

i saw you again today from down by the willows, gosh! Beautiful, gripping, and universally true.

I adore Skye's Alice in Wonderland photo shoot @ Ink Splattered Pages.

It's a bit of an older post, but I enjoyed the discussion Emily @ Ink, Inc. posted about readership, authorship, and The Cursed Child. [which I've not read, nor have I read any HP book; but the discussion is excellent, obviously]

 This video is hilarious. It's funny how much a lack of symmetry can give away.







Emily @ Ink, Inc. and I @ [I'd think you know where, right?] have this monthly writing prompt link-up thing called Starting Sparks. [Do you know how much thinking was done over the name? Titles are always half the work, and don't be misled into thinking that's the easy half. HA! NO.]

Um, what was I saying?

Oh, right. We hope you join the link-up. Pretty please! So here's the button.





And here's the prompt.






Write like a fiend!

Flowers and War // October SS

Arlo hovered close to Mina's head. 

"The sun is shining and the flowers are out!" His tail nearly hit Mina in the shoulder as he zoomed downward. 

"Watch it, scale face!" Mina dove out of the way. 

Arlo landed in the grass. "Oh, sorry. But I love the spring time!" He beat his dark red leathery wings like a butterfly and whooped. 

Mina watched the dragon bound through the meadow and dive through large patches of flowers as if they were leaf piles. She rolled her eyes and trekked onward. 

"Mina," Arlo said. 

Mina kept walking. She didn't have time for this. They needed to reach the woods by sun down if they were ever going to arrive at the encampment. 

"Mina!" Arlo sang. "Mina, Mina, MINA!" 

A gust of wind blew the stray hairs around her face into her mouth. She clutched her sword hilt and dug in her heels to keep from stumbling forward.

Arlo landed a bit clumsily before. "You never stop for the flowers."

"Why should I?" She tried to get around him.

"Because they're glorious." He kept in her path.

She crossed her arms. "Move out of my way."

"They could make you smile?" He nabbed a mouthful of them. The poor, trampled flowers looked out of place in his snout. He looked more like an absurd red cow than a dragon. "Mphee?" He grinned around the flowers which only made him look more ridiculous. 

Mina managed to squelch her smile with a deeper frown. A practiced skill since traveling with Arlo. She brushed past him. "Arlo, we've got to get to the encampment."

He sighed loudly, and his clumsy feet thudded after her. "I don't want to go to the encampment. They always look at me funny."

If he didn't obsess over foliage, they wouldn't.

"Mina?"

Mina growled and turned on him. "What?!"

"What's wrong?" His scaly brow had creased. 

"Nothing."

"Yes there is. You're not usually, this, well, I mean you are, but-- but, uh. . ." He walked beside her now. "Well, you know what I mean," he said quieter.

"It's of no consequence."

"Everything's of consequence."

"Look, I can take care of myself."

Arlo halted for a pace. "I'm. . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean. . ." He took to the air.

Mina swallowed. She didn't want to make him feel bad, but she couldn't tell him. And it it was of no consequence. She'd been a warrior for ten years now and trained since she was a child. Nothing bothered her. She was fine. Absolutely fine.

But wasn't Arlo like a. . . friend? 

She gritted her teeth. Why did she keep thinking about this? 

Hours later the sun soon dipped behind the woods. 

They were a few paces from the trees now. Arlo landed. He kept some distance between them.

He had been crying. Great. Of course, it was her fault. Nobody would've known he had been. But Mina knew him, she could tell. She clenched her teeth. He was sensitive; she didn't know how to talk without hurt someone's feelings. Just ignore it. He'll be over it in five minutes when he'll notice the color of the sunset. 

But she was so tired of acting the tough one. 

No, she was the tough one. 

Agh, she was going to regret this, one way or the other.

Mina sighed. "Arlo?" Her voice sounded hesitant and unfamiliar. 

He gazed at her with his head still down. 

"I, I just. . ." She pressed her lips together. What was she supposed to say? How? This was why she never talked about it. "Yesterday, at the barricades, um, I. . ." She shook her head. 

"What?" Arlo stopped and made her stop with him. 

"I had to. . ." She fingered the hilt of her sword. Why was she being so dumb? She frowned at herself. "Well, it's nothing new! It happens all the time. I just, I mean I was trained for this and it shouldn't bother me and. . ." 

Arlo nodded. "I see."

She took a deep breath. Her boots had grass stains on them. People said talking about things made you feel better. But why did she expect that talking about killing people would be the same?

Arlo stepped close and craned his neck around her. 

"Wha--"

His jaw bumped against her back and drew her closer. His gnarled paw rested gently on her shoulder. "It's called a hug, Mina." His voice sounded choked. 

Mina stood stiffly. She couldn't-- remember-- being hugged. She looked up at the sky. She was not going to cry. That's what Arlo did, like he was now. She wasn't going to, okay, maybe she was. Just a little. 

Mina rested her head on Arlo's shoulder. 

PS-- Sorry about the background change. I'm trying to find something less, uh, fluffy, without making the background black.

a Mad Tea Party // link up Alice in Wonderland style

In case none of you knew, I created this Alice in Wonderland link up in honor of Mad Hatter Day. i thought I'd better join the link up before it ends [on Oct. 19]. If you want to join to, here's the original post. I'll throw in some old photos from earlier this year.

1. How many hats do you have? 

A whole DRAGON HOARD! 

Okay, but really? You want me to count them all? That's like counting sheep; I'll fall asleep.
Oh, fine.

About a dozen.

2. If you saw a white rabbit would you

a. ask him the time of day

b. follow him down his hole

c. fetch his gloves for him

d. paint the roses red

3. Who are you? 

What do the ambiguous "they" say? 

To define is to limit. 

Don't stick me in boxes, man. I don't fit.

4. At parties, your preferred choice of entertainment is

a. a recitation of You Are Old, Father William

b. croquet, of course! You always win

c. dancing the Lobster Quadrille

d. tea, a tea party with you, yourself, and the dormouse

The dormouse is probably my spirit animal.

[Not to be disappointing, but my hair isn't this long anymore.]

5. Why is a raven like a writing desk?

I haven't the faintest. 

6. Your thoughts on talking?
 

a. You can talk, when there's somebody worth talking to

b. It isn't manners for you to begin the conversation

c. The flowers talk too

d. You prefer talking to yourself

It's really hard to decide. There's so many good choices! What genius made this tag? *cough*

7. Define or describe a jabberwocky.

Well, they have teeth and claws. They make most awful burbling noises and they don't take kindly to vorpal blades. That's for certain. 

8. Your thoughts on words?
 

a. You should say what you mean

b. Words have a temper. . . particularly verbs, they're the proudest

c. When you make a word do a lot of work, you always pay it extra

d. 'Glory' means 'a nice knock-down argument'

Verbs think they can do everything. Which is precisely why we have confusing things like gerunds and infinitives. Verbs pretend to be proud, but in truth they're jealous of other parts of speech [particularly nouns] and want to steal their form. Participial phrases are the worst of the lot.

9. Have you spoken with Time recently? Are you on good terms with him?

Never. I'm always loosing track of him, and he's determinedly against me.

10. At school, you learned
 

a. French, music, and washing

b. the different branches of Arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision

c. Mystery, ancient and modern

d. Laughing and Grief

Although I did learn a bit of Arithmetic too, most Distraction. I still excel at that.

11. Who stole the cherry tarts? 

*wipes crumbs from face*
Cherry tarts? The tarts are gone!? Who would commit such a crime?

12. Your favorite poem in AiW is
 

a. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat

b. The Jabberwocky

c The Walrus and the Carpenter

d. none, you'd rather repeat a piece written entirely for our amusement

 Don't ask me to sing it for your unbirthday though.

 

13. Choose a come-back.

a. Your hair wants cutting

b. I shouldn't know you if we did meet again; you're so exactly like other people

c. Who's making personal remarks now?

d. Off with your head!

14. The best advice you'd ever given/heard

a. you've a right to think

b. you're sure to get somewhere if you only walk long enough

c. everything's got a moral if you can just find it

d. speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing, turn out your toes when you walk, and remember who you are!

 

 I rather like d. but I don't know French, so I suppose that advice is useless to me.

15. What best describes you?

a. you don't know; you've changed several times since this morning

b. you breathe when you sleep and you sleep when you breathe

c. you're murdering time

d. you wouldn't be here if you weren't mad

I really want to say ALL of them, especially d. But then again, I procrastinate all the

16. Do you know the conversation between the Unicorn and Alice?

Why I'm so glad you asked! In fact, it's one of my favorite parts. I'll sum up from the book for you.

Unicorn: What is this?

Haigha: This is a child! We only found it today. It's as large as life, and twice as natural!

Unicorn: I always thought they were fabulous monsters! Is it alive?

Haigha: It can talk.

Unicorn: Talk, child.

Alice: Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too! I never saw one alive before!

Unicorn: Well, now that we have seen each other, if you believe in me, I'll believe in you. 

Is that a bargain?
[*hint* You should join the link up! I'd love to read your answers.]