Lavender Bleu

@gracie-j I disagree that historical fiction has significantly more strengths than contemporary. I think they simply have different strengths. Contemporary is the genre with the most potential to directly relate to a reader’s own experiences. It can also help make sense of current events and current social/political/theological issues in a…[Read more]

@gracie-j Yep. Being homeschooled is definitely worth the lack of drama… but that lack of drama sure makes contemporary tricky. XD

@godlyfantasy12 Agreed! Fantasy is my favorite. Building worlds is absolutely fascinating in so many different ways, lol.

@gracie-j I think a lot of my problem is that I don’t have much of a life. XD So I don’t really have experience to draw from that would make for a compelling story. But I’m aiming to have this book center around mental health and theological disagreements, the former of which I have some experience with and the latter of which I have a lot of…[Read more]

@warrioroftherealm That’s pretty similar to my method! My cultures tend to be mashups of different real-world cultures and other unique details I want to include. Often I’ll center them around one or two core values, too, either from the get-go or as I develop them further.

My earlier worlds were heavily based on Medieval European tropes, since…[Read more]

Sooooo many. I have no fewer than 80 story ideas on my list. BUT, since I have to pick one… I read Love and the Sea and Everything in Between by Brian McBride a few months ago and loved the overall tone/feel of it. Between that and other aesthetic things I accumulated around the same time, I decided I really want to write a contemporary novel…[Read more]

@gracie-j, @devastate-lasting, @kathleenramm

Cool beans.   Thanks!!  I like all those characters (Scarlett O’Hara got under my skin tho, haha )

@seekjustice Thank you! ^-^

@lewilliams Oof. I kind of feel like that with the first MC of my other WIP. This is a rewrite of a story I started in… 2009? (Granted, it’s gone through a lot of changes and I maybe haven’t developed the characters quite as well as I should…) But the first MC’s voice is just awful. >.< It’s soooo flat. POVs two and three are fine. But #1……[Read more]

@e-k-seaver Cool. ;D (I do the same thing, lol.) I appreciate you sharing the article’s conclusion! It allowed me to work out my thoughts on it more concretely, and it’s definitely a valid observation to be considered with everything else. 🙂

Also, if you’re interested: I posted this on the Story Embers forums, too, and Daeus Lamb recommended the…[Read more]

@e-k-seaver That’s true… I personally think it’s unlikely, though. He created humans specifically, giving them alone the breath of life and dominion over the rest of creation. Plus, I feel like creating life-like AI could have an underlying current of trying to be like God, which would be a no-go. And even if not, I don’t think humans have the…[Read more]

@le-williams I know. This is just one of the WIPs where I’d prefer to have more description and to go more in-depth with character voice. There are other stories where it doesn’t bother me as much. 🙂

It’s in 3rd person limited, with several different POVs. A couple of them are easier to get into than others. (Unfortunately, those are the two…[Read more]

@leon-fleming Thank you! 🙂

What was your starting point for the mythology in your main fantasy project? Was there something specific that sparked it?

Ah, yes, Into the Deep was the one I heard about. Was there anything in particular about Greek mythology that caught your attention?

Lost Girl is more of a short story or a novella, actually. I…[Read more]

I’m not much of a linguist (or a cartographer, for that matter… While I used to love fictional cartography, now I tend to make maps only out of necessity since I’m not very good at it. XD), but I definitely love the worldbuilding aspect of fantasy. I find cultures and mythologies especially fun to develop, and I love using them to explore…[Read more]

Oof, I definitely relate to the internet procrastination (and general poor time management) @gracie-j mentioned. That’s a huge one. Sitting down to write is such a difficulty. XP

Also, balancing out my dialogue with description. This one is infuriating because I know I can write strong description. I’ve done all sorts of writing exercises and…[Read more]

@leon-fleming The enneagram is a personality type system. There are nine types, with various configurations (as evidenced by my long ramble, lol). It’s my personal favorite, since it seems to me the most accurate and helpful of those I’ve learned about.

@leon-fleming LOL. I think the snow globe was inspired by the trailer for the Barbie Nutcracker movie. XD (And then, of course, there are the characters ripped off from The Boxcar Children… and the following stories were rip-offs of Terry Brooks’ Landover books… XD XD)

Yours is really good for a first story! It’s definitely stilted in places,…[Read more]

@gracie-j Will do! 🙂 (I actually have a lot of enneagram blogging stuff planned for the semi-near future, lol.)

I’m instantly inclined to say 4. Maybe with a 3 wing. I can also maybe see 7? But I think probably 4. (And a 4 would integrate to 7, so it’s possible that’s where the 7 comes in. Or it could be in his tri-type.)

@gracie-j Oh dear… There are so many exclamation marks… XD

The last paragraph sounds like so many of my early stories. “Let’s make kids spies/royalty/etc! Clearly they’re perfectly qualified! :D”