New Look, New Helpful Tip

Sick of all the clutter my blog seemed to have, I decided to tidy it up once again and this time I didn't lose any of my added features, such as my helpful tips or my favorite's link list. Also I personally think this new look is a definite upgrade. Plus I've gotten prior personal/verbal complaints that it's been slightly difficult to navigate through and read due to the changes I implemented last time, so from my through my mistakes I went for a simplistic design. What better way to celebrate the end of February/the beginning of March?

In other news, I posted a new helpful tip regarding the editing process in which I broke down the complicated realm of the fifth writing step. Check it out! I recently/originally posted this as a new post, but it seemed to make more sense in the helpful pages list.

So there you have it. Let me know what you think of the new design in the comments below.

Thanks!

Sabrina R.

Shattered Lives, Fractured Hearts

Before you start freaking, this is NOT a depressing post. It's actually about two other novels that I've got going in the process, and as a result of "Changing Kathryn" they have been pushed aside, lost to my blog. In fact, I don't think anyone even knows about them so here I am, doing some more self promotion.

"Shattered Lives" and its sequel "Fractured Hearts" have been a work in progress since I was in middle school. But once my idea for CK was born, they were taken over and almost entirely forgot about, much to my dismay. The series follows three main characters Blaire Baits, Bridget Quigley, and Serena Gosslin, featuring a few other friends they meet along the way. Each chapter spotlights one of these girls and/or their families, showing how they interact together while diving into their innermost thoughts.

Unlike "Changing Kathryn", SL and FH are realistic fiction regarding the drama high school girls have to face, playing off the horrific stories I have gathered on from my own life and the lives I've played witness to, and of course embellishing those stories, ultimately fictionalizing them while keeping them (hopefully) relatable all the same.

"Shattered Lives" has already been written and edited, though I will be going through the editorial process again as it's been awhile, making sure those edits are up to date and so forth. Once that's done I will be offering up a few free samples- an announcement that should be coming relatively soon. Hopefully "Fractured Hearts" won't be following too far behind. Below are the covers to these two stories combined- 

©2017

True Fact:

By far it is easier to write drama than it is to write something smart.

Random Em-Dash Post

So I may have some helpful info on em-dashes and hyphens, but I've still been using both wrong in the case of substituting them for ellipses.

Ellipses are meant to represent something has been left out, or is being left out in a conversation, often used in cases to show someone's voice has trailed off. In the case of 4 ellipses this is a sign someone's voice has trailed off at the end of a sentence. Still, however, I am inaccurately writing in ellipses where there should be an em-dash, like this taken from Arms From The Sea: "Close your eyes.... Go on now, close your eyes". Once I discovered not to use ellipses like this, I went for the hyphen: "Close your eyes- go on now, close your eyes". The accurate version should have been "Close your eyes— Go on now, close your eyes" (Shapero, 34). 

This mistake can be seen everywhere in my new chapters such as with this prime example: "a multitude of beautiful colors- it’s almost exotic" (K. R., Changing Kathryn). The accurate version should be this: "a multitude of beautiful colors— It's almost exotic".

Technical Difficulties Resolved

I was recently informed that people were having trouble accessing my chapter teasers. After a quick double check of the website tonight, I quickly realized why: the blog had been set to private. This has now been changed and should now be accessible.

Thanks for the notice, ya'll!
If there are any more issues, let me know. Thanks!

And Now I'm at a Loss....

I had such success wyth my first chapter but now I have to take the time and slow down in order to introduce some characters into the plot with Chapter 2... BUT I DON'T WANT TO SLOW DOWN!!!! Ugh, I'm at a seemingly boring point and I'm trying to make it not boring, but I doen't know how.

Ick.

Sooooo what to write, what to write?

I don't know.

I think I'll just work out some writing blockage problems on here and get out my frustrations.

Or perhaps I should just move on?

Though going back might be a pain.

I should probably just push through and get it done...but ugh all the exciting stuff is just about to happen and I have to get the story there but in order to have it be appreciated when it arrives I need to not rush into such high action...well, actions.

Here's what I've got so far in Chapter 2- there won't be any spoilers since I'm not going to post this in the CK-CT blog (aside from a recap like was originally done before).

Kat's just gotten home to her well, home. She's been greeted by her foster siblings. They're a wild bunch. Her three elder foster sisters care for each other, but also fight a lot. We learn how they all met and formed their house of orphans. Kat has shown them the apple and is trying to figure out how to duplicate it. Do I want to go into details how she goes about this? I'm debating....

Do I want to show how the foster fam makes dinner for fifteen people wyth dehydrated food? I don't quite know what to show here- I want it to be a typical day for them in their cabin for the next two chapters so we get a sense of what these people mean to each other, and most importantly what they mean for Kat.

While prepping dinner the girls shoulde have a conversation about Magibes and the prejudices against them. Some other foster kids all between the ages of 10-13 will join in the conversation to offer up their own questions, ideas and opinions regarding the situation between R's and M's.

That's one section down. What else coulde/shoulde I cover? Oh man, I'm at a loss now.

Ooh, chores! That's a new one considering there is no working dishwasher, hot water, working washing machine, or working dryer. Everything has been jerry-rigged by the kids to keep things running and working. Also it's winter and the days are turning to night much quicker, and wythout artilect (the Earythian-wide usage of artificial electricity as we will soon find out) they have to be inventive and creative. Right, that also means no heat. Gotta keep that in mind. They will have running water- that woen't be an issue.

Hmmm.....

The girls should be going into the town of Hawkfire to give an idea of what this kingdom looks like as the only one that has been covered is the city of Dovetail, Aircrest, not even in their own territory.

Now, there are two things I'm debating between, or perhaps combine: To portray the Hawkfire kingdom as failing AND/OR Kat can't go into the main towns.

If I were to write Hawkfire as failing: as mentioned Redwing Mountain is mostly abandoned by now. Their crops are dying, people are starving and migrating North to the other kingdoms, and lifegobs are starting to circle overhead more and more. How is this happening? Why? And why haveyn't Kat and her foster family left?

If I were to write about how Kat can't go into main towns: The only reason I assume Hawkfire is dying is because Kat went all the way into Aircrest. Unless she cannot show her face in Hawkfire because she was outed as a Magibe there. Either way, there has to be a reason she went there....

Hmmm.... this will be figured out later. There's too much to figure out right now.

Topics I want to tackle for sure in the coming Chapter 2:
-Racism against Magibes
-Poverty v. Class in the kingdoms (mainly Hawkfire for now)
-Clash of the kingdoms
-The Great Separation War
-Survival of the foster family
-Lifegobs

Well that's a good list to get me started I believe.
Just doen't expect to see a Chapter 2 recap up for some while.

POSTED!

It's up, ya'll! The all NEW chapter 1 is here ("Changing Kathryn - Chapter Teasers"). Plus all the other information has been updated and added in as a result. The perfect Valentine's Day accomplishment.

Wanna know just how happy I am? Check out my latest Twitter feed:

(account is private)

Happy Valentine's Day! 💖

Chapter 1 Almost Redone

So I am almost done reworking chapter 1 from the beginning and so far I think there is a vast improvement! I'm super stoked and I cayn't wait to post it (hopefully here in the next 30 minutes!!!!)

I'll also be adding here in the next few minutes some other new (and relevant) information such as maps, background info on the continents of Earythia, and so forth. I believe this has added to the depth of my 1st chapter. But tell me what you think and what works (or even what doesyn't work) for you.

Thanks!

New Novel Blog Update

I just switched my "Changing Kathryn - Chapter Teasers" blog off for the time being as I rework some issues that I was having. This will only be temporary I swear, and will probably be back up at the end of the weekend. However, once it's back live and running, you will certainly notice some significant plot changes....

Too Many Ideas

I have no idea how to continue. I decided I was moving way too fast in the novel making a jumbled mess out of a lot of information. Now I have to figure out how to reveal that information to the reader without it being overwhelming, and how to move the book along in a timely manner, and how to make the drama happen.

I'll submit my 3rd chapter of the book on my "Changing Kathryn" blog, followed by some ideas that I'm considering pursing, and perhaps I might get some feedback on how YOU might follow up the chapter? Because I am at a total loss. I would really just like to get something written on the page. I'm done rewriting and rewriting with no success. It's turning out too chaotic for even ME to handle. My poor readers, you will be so overwhelmed I'm sure if you had to read it how it was!

It would also be nice to take a moment to allow some time for character absorption; you know, getting to know who these people are emotionally, mentally, physically.... And what about the planet that they live on? There's some other information too I would like to bring out, but not all in one fell swoop. That's dangerously close to overcrowding.

Remember: Sincere input is always appreciated!

Exit All Distractions

This is not novel related, but it certainly is writing related. I have a take-home written exam that's supposed to be 7 pages long, for my anthro class. Thus I am officially not doing any creative writing until Monday the 6th as I have an exam due that day, thus I am setting aside my novel, facebook, hulu, and any other distractions so that I may focus. Blog included. This is going to be my last post until I can get this exam done.

So why am I announcing this?

Because sometimes (for me) it is easier to follow through with something like this when I have made my commitment public as it makes me feel more like I have to uphold my own promise to myself.

And there you have it.

Wish me luck!

Editing the Plot

After my last post I got some sleep (and a good thing too! My spelling from that day was much more atrocious than I realized at the time), and took my advice. I went forward to the end result, then realized once I got there where my problem was.

I jumped too far ahead too soon. I didyn't let the chain of events unfold as naturally as I wanted them to, and I didyn't allow the drama of a situation settle in. I just kept pushing on ahead adding more stuff to the story overwhelming it, and even my own self. That's never a good sign, by the way. If you have overwhelmed yourself as the writer, your poor readers are are going to have hell keeping up.

I have gone back to fix this now, but I'm going back from chapter 9 all the way down to chapter 4 where the dramatic sitch first showed itself. It shouldyn't take too long to resolve the problem, seeing as I am almost done completing the problem wyth Ch4.  Now I just have to make sure the story carries on wyth as little plot holes as possible.

In other news, it's 3:33! Make a wish!

Moving On Ahead

I'm exhausted as I write this do sorry in advance for a y spelling errors, especially seeing as I'm typing this out on my phone, whose keyboard has. Send known to be a little less than reliable.

I'm currently Stu k on getting through a chapter and it's been bugging me for quite some time know.  But as I'm going to take some old advice of mine and push on to the end result I was t to achieve. I'll go back and add the filler stuff in later. It worked last time so lets hope I can usr the same trick twice....

Also: happy February 1st, everyone!!!