Karina Sanchez

I think you guys have this very well under control, so I will assume it is safe for me to bow out. I have been succeeded by one my superior in all matters of outlining, it would appear. I seriously had no clue where this was going. Thank you, Sarah, for saving my face.
I will simply say that I have realized that a perfect protagonist is an entity…[Read more]

Yeah, isn’t it funny how some characters you just know their name has to start with a certain letter to fit them? I have no idea why that is, but it seems to be almost always the case.
Your methods for finding names sound very similar to mine. One thing I like to do also is look up the meaning of the name and see if it fits the character’s…[Read more]

I would not be comfortable either reading or writing about zombies, because I don’t like messing with the natural laws (life and death) God has set in place. To resurrect, however imperfectly, anything that was once living and once dead, is to take the place of God and say that you know better than God who should have died and who shouldn’t. Even…[Read more]

Did you mean to say ‘illusions’? Would not the word be ‘allusions’? I really struggle with those kinds of words myself. They sound the same, for goodness’s sake! Why should they be different? *sigh* Words are such malicious creatures. I can’t believe I love them as I do. There must be something wrong with me.

Despite my earlier protest about…[Read more]

Excellent thoughts! (subtracting illusions to egosexual psychopaths.)

I especially love the idea of having the villain win or persuade the protagonist to his opinion. There must be some resolving factor though. It is not very biblical to have evil ultimately triumph, but for our story we could show evil gaining the major victory, or at least a…[Read more]

BRILLIANT! Thank you Sarah, you saved our imaginary story from the doom of a nightmare ending… literally. Karen’s sister can be named… Kimberly. Or Kim.
This is a little corny, but what if Karen sneaks aboard the submarine and discovers that all the people are imprisoned here as a giant government project. (No, I am not a conspiracy…[Read more]

All good points.
And Ezra, what you said about emotion… sniff… sniff… well, let’s just say suggestion has a lot of power. And I’ll have you know the end of the RotK makes me bawl. I can’t just sit there and cry sedately like any normal, civilized person… I have to bawl. With both the movie and the book. But you’re right— it’s fulfilling.…[Read more]

Wow… I knew you could do it. I knew it was somewhere in you. All that wisdom… how can you bear to hide it?
No, seriously, that was a great post.
Love this point: ‘The point is for the reader to feel fulfilled in reading the story, but also to take away what the author was trying to say.’
That is true for every theme and sub-theme and…[Read more]

He’s still thinking.

Maybe I can help. I’ve got a new take on this. What about female villains? What about them, hm? Why are the rules different for these gals than for male villains? Are the rules different? Does it matter? How will female villains act differently than male villains? Are they stronger? Weaker? Craftier? More stupid? More…[Read more]

This is the independent girl who lived on a farm… you know, the one you said turned into a witch and lived happily ever after? She’s looking for her sister, who went missing ten years back, and she finally had to resort to taking the same cruiser that her sister took just before her sister disappeared. She found a ledger in the captain’s cabin…[Read more]

You know, Sarah… I have no idea. I guess I probably should have ascertained the genre of this tangled novel before I started adding all sorts of weird, freaky things to it, but it was pretty late when I did my last post and I don’t think I was thinking straight. I’ve backed myself into a corner. If one of y’all can’t get me out, I’m stuck for…[Read more]

Uh… thanks. Yeah. Thanks. I appreciate that… I think.

We must have been posting at the same time. Nd yes, feel free to jump in, anyone! The more the merrier. I’m starting to get the impression that I’m going to end up making a mess of this. ;P
I think I see what you’re saying, though. She has to decided whether she’s willing to risk everything she ever wanted for her life for someone she loves. Is…[Read more]

I wish I could say it was original… *gulp* but I will be a very good little girl and dutifully admit that it is not of my own invention.

OW! N-n-no! Bad plot twist, bad plot twist! *starts hyperventilating, biting fingernails with chattering teeth*
NOOOO! HELP!

I suppose I asked for that. So much for theme. So much for good triumphing over evil. So much for everything the hero went through to defeat the villain. SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT!
Okay, I’m done being upset now. The idea is…[Read more]

That’s what I figured you meant. 😉
And… I have absolutely no idea where this going. I’m clueless. Absolutely clueless. I think I went into way too much detail on my last post, and therefore added some very vexing and unneeded little things that need resolving. So… ummm… the cruiser wrecks in the middle of the night just as Karen was about…[Read more]

I don’t think I’d like being normal. By either definition. I like being strange. I like making people laugh insanely and stare at me with that odd look in their eyes that tells me they’re trying to figure out whether I was serious or joking, and all without letting me know that they didn’t get my joke and don’t understand me.

If you can’t be…[Read more]

That would be good suspense and a good way to keep the pages flipping! But I would only do it if I were certain I was going to be writing a sequel, otherwise it’s just like ‘what? I mean, come on! I wanted that to be resolved!’
I like happy endings as well as sad endings, provided both are well done. I myself believe a bit of tragedy and trauma…[Read more]