Beautiful People - Favorites Edition {And the FINAL Beautiful People!}

My absolutely favorite blog linkup is ENDING. And I’m a blubbering ball of sadness. *cue the waterworks*

I’m sure most of you know about Beautiful People—a linkup hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Paperfury, in which each month they ask questions for us to answer about our story characters. Talking about my characters (or, ya know, ANY fictional characters) is my favoritest thing on this earth, so naturally I was alllll about this linkup! And GUYS, I’ve been doing it since my first year of blogging. Since before Cait was one of the hosts and instead Sky did it with her friend Georgie. I’ve joined in on almost every BP for the last 7 years. AND NOW IT’S ENDING. I am much sadness, but I absolutely understand. Sky and Cait are busy people, I totally get that. I’m just feeling all nostalgic. *sniff, sniff*

BUT. Before saying farewell for an undetermined amount of time, our ever illustrious hosts have cooked up an extra special Beautiful People to say goodbye with a bang. This one is all about FAVORITES. And I do love favorites, so I am excited!

Though a lot of the questions are centered on my writing in general, some still ask about a specific character. It was hard trying to decide which of my (maaaaany) characters to end BP with. I had finally narrowed it down to Rose and the Dragon (the “beauty” and “beast” from Burning Thorns). Buuut I couldn’t pick one sooo…I’M DOING BOTH. ‘Cause hey, it’s the last BP. Let’s go all out!

 

Visit Sky @ Further Up and Further In or Cait @ Paperfury to join the (FINAL!!!) BP linkup!

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
FAVORITE’S EDITION

 

1.) Favorite genre to write in?

FANTASYYYYYY!!! (Is anyone surprised?) The ability to literally create anything I want with absolutely zero real-world limitations appeals to my creative-loving soul like no other.

Also fantasy involves DRAGONS. So, like, why would I write anything else???

Okay, but if we’re being specific here, YA speculative fiction is my niche. I’ve written a couple of steampunk stories, time travel, dystopian, high fantasy, modern fantasy, a retelling, and…yeah. I really like spec-fic. But pure fantasy is my #1 BFF.

 

2.) What book (a real actual published book!) do you think your character would benefit from reading?

The Dragon: Wellll, I supposed it’d be amusing if he read the original Beauty and the Beast fairytale or any B&B story period. Since his story is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Eheheheh. Buuut I think I’m going to steal Skye's and Kendra's answers and say the Bible. He could…probably use it. Ahem.

Rose: I think she’d absolutely love Lord of the Rings. She probably needs that reminder that the smallest, seemingly most insignificant person can make the biggest difference, and that there is always hope no matter how dark things become. Plus she just loves reading and good stories so win-win here.

 

3.) Favorite piece of dialogue you’ve written?

Good gracious. I’m supposed to choose one scene of dialogue out of the over a dozen stories I’ve written? *pokes through stories*

OKAY. I do not have a favorite favorite, but I did find this one from my dystopian novel, Fallen Matter, that made me chuckle.

“Redness caught my eye, and I found a splotch of blood covering Lykan's upper right arm. "You're hurt."

"That's what happens when you don't wear your seatbelt and let an idiot drive."

I bristled. "You told me to!"

"That was before I knew how incompetent you were. Really, is it that hard to keep your eyes on the road?"

"You shouldn't have been hanging out the door of a speeding vehicle!"

"It's called saving your life, so I think the proper response would be a thank you. Those authoritaters were never going to give up."

Man, I haven’t looked at this story in aaaaages. It was fun revisiting it and these characters (mainly Lykan *COUGH*).

 

4.) What did your character want to be when they grew up, and what did they actually become?

The Dragon: He was honestly so busy avoiding what he didn’t want to be and just surviving, he didn’t really take the time to think about the occupation he would have pursued if he had had the choice. But when he was a child he always admired the high life and dreamed of living in the castle. So something prestigious would have been his choice, though, as a peasant, it was an impossible dream. And he became…a beast. Eheh. But he does in fact live in a castle now but ahahahaha it’s not exactly the life he dreamed of…

Rose: Though Rose’s situation is far different from the Dragon’s, she, too, has always had her life set out for her, not leaving her much room to dream of any other options. Really, she just wants to please her father, no matter what. (And yes I’m being vague because #SPOILERS) Althooough I suspect being a librarian would be something she’d leap at the chance of. But what did she grow up to become? Mmmm. Spoilers! *grins*

 

5.) Favorite character name(s)?

UGH. So many characters!

I think my top favorite is proooobably Iavin (from the Colors of a Dragon Scale series). It’s like Ivan but with an UH in the middle. Eye-UH-vin. No clue why I like it so much, but I do! I’ve always loved names starting with vowels.

I also really like Eryth (AIR-rith), Calgora, and Eldoren from the same series.

Ethryl is from a trilogy I have called The Traveling Library and may be my favorite female name. (Except it looks too much like Eryth and I think I need to respell one of their names…?)

Annnd I’m very fond of Karis (from The Nether Isle). That’s such a pretty name.

Okay I’m stopping now I promise. I just have SO MANY CHARACTERS and am totally named obsessed so yeah.

 

6.) What makes your character feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?

The Dragon: Words of affirmation is his love language. Harsh words and disgust is all he has experienced for many, many years, so praise and reassurance touches his heart deeply. He’s also not-so-great at expressing kind, meaningful things vocally, and admires those who can and do. And, naturally, Rose was the last person to show him this kindness. (BRB SOBBING.)

Rose: For Rose, it’s all about quality time. She values spending time with people, and when someone, in turn, wants to spend time with her, she’ll basically instantly make them her BFF. It means so much to her when others show they like her enough to want to use their valuable time with her. Though a kind word can definitely go a long way with her as well. And who made her feel loved last? Ummm…that depends on what point it is in the story. In the last section I edited it was a random guard. XDD Buuut also the Dragon, obviously. Sort of. Mostly. (Let’s just pretend I’m not ruining all of their lives. Eheheheh.)

 

7.) Favorite character you’ve ever written?

AHA! You thought I’d agonize over this question, didn’t you? WELL. I’m actually a terrible person and tooootally pick favorites between my children. *smile, smile*

The answer would be Cael from the Colors of a Dragon Scale series. He’s probably the most complex character I’ve ever written. He’s an antagonist and not. Literally the worst but also kind of totally nice. Very charismatic and fun while also driving everyone craaaazy. He’s sort of snarky, but really not in a nasty way. More fun-loving, honestly. He cares about people buuuut also sometimes has, erm, warped views about things. And just…I DON’T KNOW. He is a conundrum and I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! He also has an extremely complicated and fascinating backstory and just yeah. Cael. He’s something.

 

This looks sooo much like how I imagine him.
(Pic found on Pinterest)

But he also has a big head and if he knew he was my favorite character I’d never hear the end of it GAWSH.

My secondary favorite is Iavin, who happens to be Cael’s best friend…and enemy. (I TOLD YOU IT’S CONFUSING.) Iavin is a little shy, awkward cinnamon roll and my absolute faaavorite character to write the POV of. His nervous, adorable thought-process gives me life, honestly. Also he’s a half-elf which is always fun!

 

Totally Iavin
(Pic found on Pinterest)

Honorable mentions go to: Airen (Colors of a Dragon Scale), Lark (Burning Thorns), Lykan (Fallen Matter), Karis and Jonah (The Nether Isle), annnd…literally every single one of my characters ever because even though I say I choose favorites I REALLY JUST LOVE ALL MY BBYS SO MUCH!!!

 

My babies that I seem to take pleasure in
torturing but hahahaha details.

 

8.) If your character were permanently leaving town, what would they easily throw out? What would they refuse to part with? (Why?)

The Dragon: He really has no prized possessions and would be pretty much fine going with only the clothes on his back. He’s used to living with nothing. Though I suppose the clothes on his back would be the thing he’d refuse to part with, because he has to cover himself fully to hide his, erm, deformities. The idea of people seeing his true form horrifies him. He would probably also take a certain iron dagger because of…reasons. (Gotta love my vague answers!)

Rose: Well, she sort of did leave town and she was in her nightgown and had literally nothing. Buuut in normal circumstances, she’d probably pack plenty of gowns and lots of good reading material, and maybe something special to remember her mother by, like a rose from the gardens where her and her mother spent so much time. She’d press it in a book to preserve it. That way she’d have a piece of home and her mother with her forever. I don’t know what she’d easily throw out. I think as long as she had enough clothes and books, everything else could go.

 

9.) Favorite tropes to write!

I totally love the rags to riches trope! Giving my poor, struggling characters like…an entire kingdom is way, way too much fun.

I’m also a total sucker for amnesic characters. Yes, I know it’s sooo overused but I LIKE IT. Something about having a character who literally has NO CLUE who they are and then watching them slowly get their memories back is so, sooo fun! And can also add a lot of wonderful emotion. (I mean, BUCKY. COME ON!) It’s great!

 

Because you needed Bucky feels today. You’re welcome.

The bantering male and female ships also give me life. As do snarky dudes with hearts of gold hidden deep, deeeep inside them somewhere.

Tropes can be fun, guys! Usually they’re overused because they work.

 

10.) Which story has your heart and won't let go?

…All of them? Seriously, I adore ALL my stories. Each and every one has such a special place in my heart. Most of them are total embarrassing disasters that need complete and utter rewrites BUT I STILL LOVE THEM. I love the characters, I love the concepts. I just love writing!

Right now Burning Thorns has me wrapped around it so tightly I can barely think of anything else, and I’m totally okay with that. But that really happens with any story I’m working on at the time. My favorite story tends to be the one I’m working on at that moment.

 

11.) Favorite relationship between characters you’ve written?

Another question you’d think would be extremely difficult but NOPE. I can say, without a single doubt, that Cael and Iavin’s friendship is 100000% my favorite relationship I have ever written. It’s sooo complicated and messy and tragic and ridiculous and fun and makes me laugh and cry all at the same time. The bromance is STRONG.

Cael is so flighty and sure of himself and charismatic and the total leader, where Iavin is the scared puppy who barely knows how to use his own paws and is both fascinated and horrified over Cael but is too timid to speak up and tell Cael that no he in fact doesn’t want to go on death-defying, world-ending quests thankyouverymuch. Basically Iavin risks his life on a constant basis because he’s too shy to tell Cael no. He does eventually get a smidge of backbone and learns how to handle Cael, but the growth of their friendship is so entertaining to watch.

“Come on now," he stood and grabbed Iavin's arm, "you really should be sleeping."

"But—"

"We've got another full day of traveling tomorrow. You need your sleep." Cael pulled him to a stand, dragged him back to Nemayn, and practically tucked him to bed, carefully making sure Iavin's cloaks covered him sufficiently. "You sleep well now."

Iavin watched the boy walk off, not entirely sure what just happened but far too sleepy and cold to figure it out.

Sometimes Cael mothers Iavin and it amuses me endlessly.

 

12.) Toni Morrison once said, “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world?

Well how convenient that I literally published an entire post about this last week! Completely on happenstance too, because I had written last week’s post weeeeks ago, long before this BP came out. I’m just psychic I guess. *puts on sunglasses*

Anyways, you can read the post HERE.

 

13.) Favorite pinterest board / aesthetic for a book?

I LOVE THIS QUESTION. Pinterest = LIFE.

I think my favorite would have to be the Burning Thorns board, mainly because I’ve put the most effort into it. Plus I just adore the dark forest-y feel of it.

Though I’m also very fond of the dark, whimsical feel of the The Nether Isle board, even though it’s pretty small right now.

 

14.) Favorite time periods & settings to work with?

Medieval fantasy has aaalways been my go-to. It’s my comfort zone. BUT, at the same time, I quite like occasionally slipping out of it and trying something utterly new.

The grungy, futuristic, dystopian world of Fallen Matter was so, so, sooo different. Basically the complete opposite of my usual setting, but I loved that. I loved working with technology and futuristic buildings and contemporary speech. I utterly adored the strange, 1920s-esque, steampunk setting of The Nether Isle. The McGuffin Book, another story I have that…I never got far with at all but still plays in my head quite often, was a set in modern times buuut had mythical beasts and magic which was fun.

But, I still always fall back to a medieval, European, fantasy setting. Still though, I think in general as long as it has fantasy or, ya know, not strictly real world elements, I love it. Being limited by real world things bores me to tears. XD

 

15.) When people are done reading your book, what feeling do you want them to come away with?

With every single one of my books, I want the reader to close it with a spark of hope igniting inside them. With a satisfied smile, a content sigh. With the unshakeable truth stirring inside them that there is always light in this world, it’s just a matter of finding it, holding on to it, and never letting the darkness reign.

And I want them to feel as though they just experienced a wild, emotional, amazing journey with a cast of characters they don’t want to say goodbye to.

Whether I achieve this ahahahahahaha! WHO KNOWS. But this asked what I want, not necessarily what I accomplish, SO.

And with that, we reach the end of my last Beautiful People post for the unforeseeable future. *sniffity sniff*

Thank you, Sky and Cait, for the delightful linkup. Every single one brought me a better understanding of my characters and stories, and was just a blast all around. I do hope it returns one day, but if not, I sure am glad for the time we did have with BP!

 

TALK WITH ME!

Have you joined in with this last Beautiful People? (If you haven’t, you shoooould!) But I’m super curious, what is your favorite time period/setting to write in? Annnd what’s your favorite ever character name you have? (I told you I’m name obsessed.) Come, let’s chat about all the writerly things!

7th Blogoversary Celebration Day 1: #MyFirstPostRevisited Tag and Part One of the Q&A Vlog!

Happy Tuesday, my friends! Yes, I am posting on a Tuesday instead of Monday. That’s because this is a special week.

IT’S THE WEEK OF MUSINGS OF AN ELF’S 7TH BLOGOVERSARY.

Tomorrow (March 14th) is the official blogoversary date, thus I will be posting today and tomorrow! Because why celebrate one day when you can spread the party for TWO days?! Can we just pretend we’re all hanging out in a room full of party decorations and eating cake together? Yes? YES.

Today, to celebrate, I have two fun things going.

Thing #1: I’m doing the #MyFirstPostRevisited Tag in which I’ll be sharing my first ever post with you guys (O________O) and then hide in a hole from embarrassment. #FUN But since it is the 7th anniversary of when I created this blog and put up the first post, I thought now would be the perfect time to join the tag.

Thing #2: PART ONE OF MY Q&A VLOG! *trumpets and fanfare* But why am I splitting the video in two? You see, erm…remember how I said I didn’t want to make the vlog super long? Eheheheheh. WELL. A lot of you asked me questions! Annnd the full video ended up being 45 minutes long. O_O That’s literally the entire length of a full TV show, guys!!! And ain’t nobody want to watch me talk for 45 minutes. THUS I split the video in half and shall be sharing part 1 today and part 2 tomorrow (so if this one seems like it ends suddenly and the other one starts suddenly, that’s why). Yeeeah, I know, making short videos does not seem to be my forte. But HEY, don’t blame me. I had some 40 questions to answer.

Okay, okay, actually, I was THRILLED over all the questions and am so honored. I do apologize for the length of the videos though. I did answer the questions more or less in order if you want to skip around and find your question and not watch me babble on and on. *grins*

ALRIGHTY. All those disclaimers aside… LET’S GET TO THE CELEBRATING!

 

FIRST POST
REVISITED TAG

RULES 

 

• No cheating. You must highlight your first post. Not your second post, not one you love… the first post only.
• Link back to the person who tagged you (thank them if you feel like it or, if not, curse them with a plague of ladybugs). - Victoria @ Wanderer's Pen tagged me for this one. THANK YOU SO MUCH, TORI! Don’t worry, no ladybug curses for you. ;D
• Cut and paste your old post into a new post or reblog your own bad self. (Either way is fine, but NO editing.)
• Put the hashtag #MyFirstPostRevisited in your title.
• Tag five (5) other bloggers to take up this challenge.
• Notify your tags in the comment section of their blog (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).
• Feel free to cut and paste the badge to use in your post. – *points at pic below*
• Include “the rules” in your post.
• Completely silly rules that I’m making up as I type:
• Write your post while wolfing down your favorite dessert.
• Do 10 cartwheels after you hit “Publish.”

(Gotta love these rules!)

 

MY FIRST POST

Hello to all those reading this!^_^ My name is Lauriloth and this is my first-ish blog; ‘ish,’ because I started a blog about 3 or 4 years ago and never did a thing with it. But this one is all new and fresh and I -hope- to actually use it! ;)

My biggest obsessions are elves (fantasy elves of course, not Christmas Elves :/), fantasy, Lord of the Rings, writing, reading, and the piano. But most of all Jesus Christ! I have a completely beloved little grey poodle named Navi (who is most spoiled), and a laptop whom I call Larry to which I will be blogging from. My favorite color is pink and I love pizza (but who doesn’t?).

Writing (and reading) is my biggest past time and a major hobby of mine, so I thought making a blog might help improve any skills I might possess (if any) with writing. It might also strengthen my passion for it. So I think it is a win, win either way. Plus, blogging seems like tons of fun!^^

What will this blog be about? That is a good question…too bad it does not have an answer. All right, it sort of does. Basically this blog will be about whatever my insanely random mind thinks up to post. There might be some posts about my current interest, may it be a TV show, movie, song, book I have become obsessed with, or maybe just the color pink or a post about pencils (which I am both very fond of, just so you know). There will probably be plenty of things the Lord has shown me that I would like to share with others. As an avid reader, I am going to try to put up book reviews whenever I can; there will most likely be plenty of those. And you can count on lots of random musings from this elf.

So how does one end a blog post? How about with a question for you to think about or comment on? Questions are fun.

Why are pencils so fantastically fantastical?

(I have a thing for pencils…)

Well then.

The first thing that strikes me is the fact that it looks like a 10 year old wrote it when, in fact, I was 18. EIGHTEEN, GUYS! It’s so immature it’s just laughable. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time! (Especially with the pencil thing. Wow. I mean…yes, I adore pencils, but ya know.)

I’m still very much the same person in many respects though. Fantasy, elves, Lord of the Rings, writing, reading, pink, pizza—yep, all my favorite things! And my poodle Navi is still the love of my life. (Fun fact: She turned 11 last week!) I did retire my laptop Larry a few years ago though. The poor thing was getting pretty ancient. And my plans for this blog shifted over the years.

As you can see, the original plan was just to blog about…anything. Whatever popped into my head. But as my passion for writing grew it, erm, took over every aspect of my life and that’s almost solely what this blog is about. And I’m not even sorry. Bwahaha! Though I will throw out the occasional non-writerly/bookish post. Buuuut it’s pretty rare! *grins* (But seriously, some of my early posts were so random. o.o)

Hopefully things are a bit better quality around here. Though the maturity levels are questionable but HAHAHAHAHA! Who needs to be a mature adult? Not me, that’s for sure!

In all seriousness, it’s fascinating seeing how things have shifted and grown since my first post those 7 years ago. Notice how I said writing was a “past time” and “hobby” of mine. THINGS HAVE CHANGED. It is now LIFE. Thus this whole blog forming into a writing/book blog.

Really, a huge reason I decided to pursue writing as a full-on career is because of blogging. As the blog grew and I immersed into the writing community, my love for writing grew as well.

When I hit publish for that first post on March 14th, 2011, I had no idea the impact it’d make on my life. Musings of an Elf isn’t just a blog. It has shaped who I am today.

So yes, that first post (and the many posts following *cough*), were immature and embarrassing. But I don’t regret any of it.

TAGGING

Allison @ Allison's Well | Tracey @ Adventure Awaits | Skye @ Ink Castles | Deborah @ The Road of a Writer | Kate @ Story and Dark Chocolate  (If any of you have already done this tag, I apologize for my goldfish memory.)

With that done, on to the next section of the post. The first part of the Q&A vlog!

THE Q&A VLOG
(Part 1)

I had an absolute blast filming this and answering all of your brilliant questions. I’M SO EXCITED TO FINALLY SHARE IT! Just remember, this is PART ONE, so if I didn’t answer your question here, it should be in the next part.

In this part you’ll learn about my favorite books, who I’d want to meet if I could travel back in time, which of my characters I’d switch places with, if I prefer indie or traditional publishing, lots of fun Lord of the Rings questions (you guys know me so well), and many more fun tidbits!

(Also, I apologize that this one cuts off really suddenly. I tried to fix it, but couldn’t get it quite right so…yeah. Still veeery much learning this whole video editing thing.)

If the embedded video doesn’t work, you can watch the video on YouTube HERE.

Here’s the picture I mentioned that inspired the entire Colors of a Dragon Scale series: https://saimain.deviantart.com/art/Dream-About-Me-65462911

 

And thus concludes Day One of my two-day 7th blogoversary celebration.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for more celebrations and Part Two of the vlog!

 

TALK WITH ME!

What do you think of my first post? Pretty entertaining, right? XD Did you enjoy the vlog? (Sorry for the length. Ahem.) Thank you all again so much for the questions. I’ll see you tomorrow with more blogoversary fun!

Beautiful People - Ethryl {July 2015}

This is the second Beautiful People post in a row that I’m getting to just a couple days after the new version was put up and not at the very end of the month. Yes, you may applaud me.

Or not.

Ahem, yes. So! This month, in honor of the lazy summer days (although thus far my summer has been anything but lazy), our resourceful hosts Sky and Cait have come up with questions centered around such days. Also ice cream. Because apparently July is National Ice Cream Month. Like what? How have I never head of this?? And the third Sunday of July is the official National Ice Cream Day (which lands on the 19th this year). Um, YES PLEASE. I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life and never known this. All the wasted years! *makes note to consume unhealthy amounts of ice cream this month* So obviously you want to join in on the summery questions. Ice cream is involved, people. So yeah. Go here and/or here to snag the questions and thrust your characters into this summer, ice cream goodness.

I’ve been doing characters from Burning Thorns for obvious reasons, but due to the questions this month being fit more for a modern setting I realized not really one character from BT would be well suited. Since I mostly write medieval-type stuff, this was quite a conundrum. But about a million years ago (AKA 2013) I wrote a book called The Avriot, which is the first book in what I hope will be a trilogy called The Traveling Library trilogy. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it, but that was a long time ago so I don’t know who all knows about it. Basically it’s this silly, steampunk, time travel story full of bizarre characters and, you guessed it, a library that can move and travel through time. Fun stuff. It’s horrendously written (in fact the other night I read through some of it and just laughed at how bad the writing was), but I adore that story and plan on someday turning it into something tangible. But ANYWAY, this story is basically always on my mind, it’s kind of my happy place. Definitely the most fun, lighthearted story I’ve ever written. So I thought why not do a character from it?

The book is full of characters (it basically has 8 main characters. . .yeeeah) but the core of the story is centered around Ethryl—a happy-go-lucky, always willing to help even though she’s extremely mistake prone, somewhat peculiar gal. She’s spent her whole life time traveling with an elderly man called Mortimer (or Timer as she more commonly refers to him as) and as a result isn’t easily shocked or fazed by, well, anything. When you’re raised by a crazy old guy and spend your life going on even crazier adventures you learn to accept the weird.

So now that I’ve probably already bored you to tears and typed your eyeballs out, let’s get to the actual post. (One of these days I’m going to jump into a BP post without a novel-length intro.)

"Oh, Timer and I run into ourselves all the time," Ethryl remarked casually.

The pirate's jaw dropped. "You do?"

"Sure. When you're time traveling your whole life you're bound to run into yourself from time to time."

"What's it like?" the girl asked in awe.

"Loud," Mortimer answered. "As if Ethryl talks enough, but when there's two of her..." He shook his head.

Faerwen laughed. "I think it would be nice. Do you like meeting yourself, Mr. Mortimer?"

"Sometimes," he muttered.

Ethryl gave him a mischievous grin. "Now, Timer, you know you relish the chances you get to talk to yourself."

He cleared his throat. "Well, it's nice to have someone to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with."

Ethryl just chuckled.

~ Ethryl ~

1. What’s their favorite ice cream flavor?
Basically if it’s colorful, she wants it. Any sort of rainbow ice cream combination is her favorite. Although she will settle with something plain as long as there are sprinkles on top. The sprinkles are the key. Having traveled the world (it’s a made up world, but ya know) and been to basically ever century, she’s had it all and is not picky when it comes to food, especially sweets.

2. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What are they wearing? Who will they be with?
Where are they— *sputters* Where are they GOING? I did mention she spends her whole life time traveling, right? Mortimer has the gift to basically seal holes in time and travels around looking for them and putting them back together so time doesn’t collapse. So yeah, they’re EVERYWHERE, and never stay in a place long at all. The only person Ethryl really knows is Mortimer. Not exactly many opportune times to make lasting friends. So who will she be with? Timer. What is she wearing? Probably something practical. They never really know where they’ll land. It could be on top of an airship or in the middle of a lake full of alligators. Ya know, wherever. So she likes to wear practical boots, usually brown pants, and a comfortable shirt with a vest or something over it most likely. She also always has a wide belt on where she carries necessities such as the Avriot (which is an hourglass they use to travel through time with), a pistol, a dagger, etc. And where are they going? That’s anyone’s guess. Wherever Mortimer senses a crack in time.

3. Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Do they wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are they in socks that are ratty and full of holes? What do they consider comfortable and what do they consider agony?
Ethryl will pretty much always be found in leather, slip on boots. Practical, quick to put on, easy for running, and comfortable. At one time in her life she preferred the laced kind but those took way to long too lace up (one never knows when one will end up in a band of cannibals or the middle of a war and needs a quick getaway), and occasionally all the time traveling jumbles her memory and she can’t quite remember how to actually lace them. So slip on boots it is. She likes to wear warm, thick socks under them. Heels are not her thing. She will fall and break her nose in heels.

4. Do they have any birthmarks or scars? Where are they and how did they get them?
One of my few characters that isn’t  scarred that I know of, but with all of her adventures she’s bound to have something. You should just ask her. She’d love to regale you with some wacky adventure story or another.

5. What kind of music do they listen to? Does it change depending on their mood or is it always consistent? (Feel free to share samples!)
Oh, Ethryl is open to most types of music! She enjoys upbeat things, and really loves old folksongs (usually because she can tell you where they originated from and why). She adores stringed instruments of nearly any kind. Also the accordion fascinates her (even if Timer thinks it’s an absurd instrument).

6. Do they have any musical talent? Play an instrument? How’s their singing voice?
Hahahaha! Timer tried her with so many instruments, from all different centuries, but absolutely nothing stuck. He was hoping she’d be able to play an instrument because music playing eases the process of repairing holes in time. But no such luck. Although, she did almost click with the trombone but Timer quickly said no to that. Definitely not the type of music he was hoping for.
As far as singing, that’s not her strong suit either. Timer often wonders why he keeps her around since her talents seem extremely lacking, but of course he secretly loves her as his assistant (or apprentice as Ethryl claims she is, but he’s firm on referring to her as an assistant).

7. What kind of book would you catch them reading?
An atlas maybe? Lol. Reading isn’t Ethryl’s favorite activity. She doesn’t exactly hate it, but she’d much rather be traveling and adventuring for real instead of just reading about it in a book. But maps, that’s something she gets in to.

8. How would they spend their summers (or their holidays)?
Well, they can travel to any season at any time, so she may have half a day in summer and the other half in some freezing wasteland. One never knows. But if she had a choice in the manner, she’d probably spend most of it at the beach chatting with strangers and making sandcastles. Or perhaps out on an airship or hot air balloon over the ocean. The beach and ocean absolutely fascinates her. But she actually likes colder weather more than the heat. (Of course Timer complains that the cold weather stiffens his old bones. They make such good partners, obviously. XD)

9. It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. Ex. If they’re eating breakfast, what’s on the menu? Are they hiking, shopping, lazing around?
It would be a miracle if Ethryl knew what the day of the week actually was. In a 24 hour period she could land in multiple different days, and time gets jumbled as well. The Avriot can travel to any day at any time, but it can’t be set for a specific time of the day. So it may throw them on the day they set it at 3 in the afternoon or 1 in the morning or any time at all. Gets pretty confuzzling. Basically Ethryl and Timer eat and sleep when they feel hungry and tired. They do not exactly have perfectly scheduled internal clocks.
But if they’re staying in a certain place for a few days and it’s noon, they’ll most likely be off looking for a nice café to have lunch in. Timer isn’t much for the large, busier restaurants. He likes quiet, intimate places, so that’s where they usually end up getting food. And what’s on the menu? Depends on what century they’re in. XD Ethryl isn’t big on vegetables, but she likes spicy and/or exotic types of foods. Trying different kinds of fruits is also a hobby she’s picked up.

10. Is there anything your character wants to be free of?
Lol. Ethryl can travel to any place and time. She doesn’t exactly feel imprisoned in any way. BUT she would like to be free of always having questions with no answers. Timer is pretty stingy on providing information about his past and how he can heal the cracks in time, and other such things. She’s an extremely inquisitive person and the constant vague answers from him gets frustrating. (Of course her never-ending questions frustrates him as well, but you know.)

That’s meh Ethryl girl! She holds a very special place in my heart. I can’t think of any other character I have that’s quite like her. She’s so very joyful and flighty and mistake prone but doesn’t even seem to be bothered about it. It’s a lot of fun working with her. Although I’m thinking these questions still didn’t quite fit with her lifestyle and are just all over the place and probably make no sense. . . I don’t write contemporaries, guys! I can’t help it. Also I’m sleepy and probably shouldn’t even be writing a blog post right now. *cough, cough* But now I’m making myself want to rewrite this story soon. . . Whoops. No, Christine, you have a hundred million other projects that need your attention right now.

Ahem. Ignore me.

So how has YOUR summer been thus far? And what’s your favorite ice cream flavor? I think we need to eat it profusely this month, don’t you? You know, in honor of National Ice Cream Month. Yes.

Sunday Night’s Escapade

It was 9:30 at night and even though I was exhausted from a busy day, I got in my head I just head to finish it. Grabbing my laptop and putting on headphones, I snuggled into bed and opened the word document. Just half a chapter more and I would be done. I could do that and then probably be in bed by 12. That wasn’t too bad.

11 o’clock. . . “I’m getting there! This is totally happening!”

11:30. . . “Oh. . .half an hour until midnight? Well, maybe I can still do it. I’ve come this far.”

Midnight. . . “It’s 12 already? But I still have so much to write!”

12:30. . . “I should go to bed. What am I even doing? But. . .but I’m almost there.”

1 o’clock. . . “It’s one in the morning? . . .Oh Bah! Forget reason. I’m finishing this thing!”

15 or 20 minutes later. . . “The End.”

*cue the dancing*

1:35. . . “ZZZZzzzzz.”

Thus was my writing adventure Sunday night.

As of January 25th I’ve been writing a steampunk, time travel story titled The Avriot. I may have mentioned it now and again on this here blog. Now I can officially say IT’S FINISHED. The most exciting words a writer can say. Okay, technically the first draft is finished, which basically means it’s farrrr from finished, but for now I’m calling it finished. Yeah? Yeah.

Since January I’ve been focusing on two big writing projects. One is writing this first draft of The Avriot, and the other is doing a full edit/rewrite of another story of mine, Secrets of Camelot. My goal was to get both things done by October at least, so then I could take that month to start planning for NaNoWriMo. The editing is proving to be extremely time consuming though. When August rolled around with September in sight I realized I was really going to have to double my efforts to make that goal. The problem was I never had enough time in a week to get everything done that needed doing with two projects going. So at the beginning of August I made the decision that I was going to finish The Avriot by August 31st. I thought it would be great if I could also finish my editing of SoC by that time but I sort of knew that was just wishful thinking and unrealistic. In any case, if I finished The Avriot then I would have far more time to focus on editing Secrets of Camelot come September and hopefully get it done before October.

With this plan set, August formed into a month of mad keyboard clacking and much consumption of caffeine. The Avriot was well on its way to its final chapter.

These last two weeks I’ve in particular been pumping out the words as fast as I can, but it’s been fun. It’s usually an effort for me to get loads of writing done at once, it starts feeling like a chore. But not so in this case. I’ve been obsessed with it, using every free minute I can to pour those words out, fully immersed in the tale. The ending came before I knew it. . . .For the most part.

It was Saturday night that I finished a chapter and realized I only had one more chapter to go to wrap everything together. I decided then and there that I would finish it up Sunday. Problems came when we were gone for almost the entirety of Sunday. But I so wanted to finish it that day. So when we got home rather late that night I made up my mind I would just stay up and finish the book. I never suspected it would keep me up until 1:30 in the morning. I like my sleep. But when you’re a writer sometimes these things just happen. It was quite exhilarating though, staying up in the late hours of the night writing away at the climax. And even more exciting when that last sentence was written. Nothing more thrilling for a writer than actually finishing a book! But this book took me on a thrilling ride from the first sentence to the last.

I’m a high fantasy gal all the way. I’m not much on branching out when it comes to writing. But when one day I got a random thought of a girl stuck in a wedding dress during an adventure and an hourglass that allowed for time traveling I could not help but write the tale. The ridiculous, ridiculous tale. This is no serious novel. It’s a fun, crazy, weird story with the most curious cast of characters I’ve ever made. Though it’s great to be finished with it, I already miss those silly people. Luckily, this is not the actual end. It’s a trilogy and I have every intention of writing the 2nd book. . .sometime. For now, I’m just reminiscing over the adventures this first novel pulled me through. I have no doubt that there are plot holes galore, and a gadrillion inconsistencies, and a bunch of nothing going on in the middle section, and who-knows how many grammar errors, but, to be honest, I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had writing a novel. It was so different and absurd and just. . .FUN. I loved it!

But now, with it done, I have ample amounts of free time to finish up the edit of Secrets of Camelot before NaNo comes along.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Ha ha. Nope.

Sometimes there’s stories that leap out of nowhere, grab you by the throat, and squeeze every inch of your inspiration into their selves, hogging it all until you agree to write it.

Now, I had absolutely NO intentions of taking on a new writing project any time soon. ESPECIALLY while I was trying to finish two big writing projects and then have NaNo looming ahead. That would be mad. But when a story has you by the throat there’s only so much you can do.

It was about 3 weeks ago that one snagged me and has refused to let go. I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a burning desire to start a story. It’s been driving me mad! But I just WOULD NOT start it, I couldn’t! I had way too much going as is. And I never write two stories at the same time. But it wouldn’t. go. away.

So, I decided to compromise. I wouldn’t allow myself to start it until The Avriot was done, then I could. Let me tell you, that gave me lots of incentive to finish The Avriot! I was trying to finish it up anyway, but this just give me an extra push.

It’s been hard resisting. Especially at first. But the more I worked on The Avriot the more I was able to push that other story idea aside (at least a smidge) and appreciate the fun-ness of The Avriot again. But. . .now The Avriot is done. And this new story is grinning up at me expectantly, forcefully shoving the common sense side of me that says I need to solely work on Secrets of Camelot.

Let’s just say a new story may soon be finding its way in my story folder on my laptop.

The strangest thing about this story is that it’s set in modern times. . .and the real world. I’ve never done anything like that before. But I assure you, there’s still plenty of fantasy that shall crop its way into it. It wouldn’t be a Lauri story if it didn’t. Hee.

We shall see what this week brings. Perhaps I’ll actually give some info on this new story in the near future. For now though I’m perfectly content with quietly celebrating another story finding its way to “The End”.

Hope you guys didn’t mind me rambling a bit. Have a blessed week, you beautiful people!

Beautiful People - Arodathan

Lately I’ve been working a great deal on a story entitled The Avriot which is the first book in a steampunk, time travel trilogy called The Traveling Library. It’s farrrr different from anything I’ve ever written (high fantasy is my usual genre), but I’m having an absolute blast with it!

I’ve kind of fallen in love with all my characters, but the problem is there are literally 8 main characters plus Moseley. The problem here is the fact that with so many people all together, it’s hard to focus on just a single one, so I’m sometimes having a difficult time discovering each of these characters personally. I think I’ve got most of them down pretty well, but there’s one I’m having a bit of a time with.

Arodathan Clickton, more commonly referred to as Arrow.

Before I even started the story. I thought I knew Arrow pretty well, but while writing I’m learning there’s far more to him than I ever knew. I’m loving discovering his personality, he’s quickly worming his way into my heart, but, again, with so many other characters it’s making it hard. Thus I thought: Why not do a Beautiful People for him? It’s been so long since I’ve done one and it really is a brilliant way to discover one’s characters. So I dug through the archive and found one that I thought would help me the best to delve into his characters.

So without further ado…

Arodathan “Arrow” Clickton

What kind of music does he like?
Arrow lives in an 18th century-ish setting, so the music there would be similar to what we had during that time period. I suspect he likes lighthearted, peppy-type music. Something fun with a good beat.

Does he like to go outside?
Most definitely! Arrow is far from one to sit around the house all day. He likes to explore and find excitement.

Is he naturally curious?
YES. He is probably the most curious one of the entire group. Everything fascinates him and he has this deep enthusiasm for learning. He wants to know everything.

Right, or left handed?
Well, I was first going to say right handed since that’s the norm, but, you know what? I could totally see Arrow being left handed. It almost makes sense. So I think I’m officially declaring him left handed. Thank you, Beautiful People! I knew this would help.

Favorite color?
Green I would think. And probably bright colors, like red, orange, and yellow. 
                                                                     
Where is he from?
Ahahahaha. Now that is a question. Ahem. Technically he lives in his and his sister’s clockwork shop in a little town known as Kervais but…well, let’s just say this story is very wibbly wobbly timey wimey.

Any enemies?
Perky, fun, enthusiastic Arodathan? He’s quick to make friends, not enemies. Unless someone messes with his sister, or really any of his friends (he’s very protective). And then of course there’s the antagonist of the story, but that’s also rather complicated.

What are his quirks?
Arrow is just pretty silly in general. I’d say he’s the jester of the group. He likes to tease everyone and make light of things. He tends to be only able to focus on one thing at a time, getting so absorbed into whatever it is he’s doing he’s oblivious to everything else around him. As far as specific personality quirks…I don’t know. I’m glad I got this question though, because now it has my mind churning. I won’t be surprised if he reveals many ridiculous quirks he has to me soon.

What kinds of things get on his nerves?
In general, he’s a pretty laid back fella, it takes a lot to ruffle his feathers. He does snap pretty quickly when someone is bothering his sister though. He’s also not very fond of dull people. Being such an enthusiastic person himself, it kind of annoys him when someone doesn’t really appreciate the beautiful things of life. He cannot understand personalities like that.

Is he independent, or needs others to help out?
Arodathan is very much a people person and will not push away a helping hand, but he’s also extremely self sufficient. It’s just been him and his younger sister for a while, thus he’s had to take charge and stepped into the position well. I think he enjoys being a leader and capable of doing things himself.

So that’s Arrow. I still think there’s way more to him than what first meets the eye, but I have no doubt his personality will reveal itself fully over time. This sure helped me get a better inside look at him though! Beautiful People is marvelous.

Happy Thursday, everyone. I hope you all have a simply fantastic Memorial Day weekend!