Happy 1-year Anniversary to this Blog!

I can't believe it has been one year since I started this blog. During that year, I have rediscovered my love of writing as well as me discovering how best to approach my lack of motivation to keep writing. Thanks to this blog, I have been able to complete Camp NaNoWriMo, JuNoWriMo, and NaNoWriMo in record time.

And I have you all to thank for this successful year and I hope for many more years with this blog.

As for NaNoFiMo, I'll get to it tomorrow.

I Guess I Forgot About NaNoFiMo

Well, this is...weird.

Apparently, I had signed up for this site called NaNoFiMo, which is short for National Novel Finishing Month.

As in, you have one month to finish writing your novel.

Well, had I known about it back then, it would have saved me so many hours, weeks, and even years of complete embarrassment, providing that I should have used the site when I had the chance.

Now I am.

This year, I hope to wrap up the story "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird" after my embarrassing flop last year. I bet you've all seen the blog post where I was angry with myself for failing to properly write the story, so don't ask. This time, however, I’m going to pick up where I left off and hopefully, save the novel.

The revamped novel now stands at 16,276 words, so I’m kind of ahead of schedule. Hopefully, I can get to 20,000 words before Monday.

In case I forget, I’m going on the site to get ready to finish the novel, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment on this blog. I will get back to you shortly.

The Post NaNoWriMo Blues

I call this post "The Post NaNoWriMo Blues", because it's been a day since NaNoWriMo ended. I'm now wondering what happens next, since the blog was mainly used for keeping track of my NaNoWriMo novel during the month of November. What do I do now?

Well, I already know that have a ton of blog posts to make up and I'm not sure if I can do them all in a month. Also, I have seven books to finish writing, edit, and eventually publish. So I have one day to rest and then it's back to work.

With that, I will see you tomorrow.

Day 30 of NaNoWriMo 2016

OK, so I have one more word to write today and that word is...

"comment."

That's right. I have successfully made it to the end of the month, with just one word to write, making my word count 50,000 words!

*cue confetti cannons and fireworks*

Since I'm here, I want to thank the person who came up with the idea of reverse NaNoWriMo, as I couldn't have done it without them. I also want to thank everyone who has supported me on this endeavor, you all rock. Congratulations to all winners of NaNoWriMo 2016, whether you wrote 50,000 words or not.

With that, I bid you all a fond farewell and I'll see you in December.

Day 29 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's the penultimate day of NaNoWriMo, and I have 116 words left to write. I wonder how did that happen, seeing as I haven't exactly been up to par with my writing. But I'm at the end of the second part of my story and with that, I can't really start with part 3 until NaNoEdMo, when I'm free to edit this story and explain what that story's about.

With that, I give you today's word count;

• Today's words written: 116
• Total words written: 49,999

Day 28 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's Cyber Monday today and I confess that I've gone on a shopping spree on Amazon, buying as many books as I could, for free. As usual, I did my writing in the morning so I would have more time to shop online. Not to be a Boasting Betsy, but my word count is shorter than most people's. But I won't hold anything against you if you don't have 50,000 words written.

• Today's word count: 231 words
• Words count: 49,883 words

Day 27 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's the last Sunday of November (and NaNoWriMo) and while most people are panicking with trying to squeeze their way to 50,000 words, I feel at peace knowing that the fewer words I write, the more my word count rises. I don't have to feel any pressure at all, save for when I have to write for at least 30 minutes.

Well, I'll be back tomorrow!

• Today's word count: 346 words
• Words count: 49,652 words

Day 26 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Thanksgiving weekend is here and NaNoWriMo is now winding down, but that doesn't mean you can stop writing. By now, you should have made some serious progress on your novel, as I have. (Plus, writing 461 words is nothing to sneeze at.) But I do realize that I am not done with my book yet.

In fact, I have Part 3 to write as well as the glossary and other things.

Well, safe to say, I'm almost there! Just a few more words and I will have reached 50,000! (This is the first time I've reached 50,000 without using any cheats, so I'm proud of myself in that regard.)

• Today's word count: 461 words
• Words count: 49,306 words

Day 25 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Now that Thanksgiving has come and passed and the holiday shopping season is starting, I realize it's important that I don't get caught up in the holiday madness if it can be helped. Which means (with great difficulty) that I have no choice but to ignore Black Friday and focus solely on NaNoWriMo.

And it shouldn't be too hard to do that because I only have 576 words to write today. (See how quickly time flies when you have done the most hard work at the beginning of the month? It gets easier every day. I think I might do that with all my stories and see how far I get.)

Anyway, I really need to get back to writing, as these words aren't going to write themselves. I'll be back tomorrow!

• Today's word count: 576 words
• Words count: 48,845 words

Day 24 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's Thanksgiving Day, and I'm feeling the pressure. Its moments like this when I'm glad I used Reverse NaNoWriMo because if I didn't, I would NEVER get to where I'm supposed to be!

Anyway, I have written 690 words and with that, I'm off to watch movies and eat dinner. Yet I really wish I could end my story with these words: "And so, in the year 2020, America was turned into a benevolent constitutional monarchy with Gregg Porter as its king and Joseph Houston as the prime minister. Donald Trump died of a heart attack, but no one cared. Gobble gobble!"

• Today's word count: 690 words
• Words count: 48,269 words

Day 23 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's the day before Thanksgiving and on this blog, one author is struggling against the distraction known as he holidays.

Well, I don't like being distracted, as distraction has cost me many years in writing and other things. If I have learned anything from my years of unsuccessful NaNoWriMos, it's that I can become so distracted that I refuse to sit down and actually WRITE.

But not this year; this year, I fully intend to set aside an hour or two and actually get stuff done. And I have done that by managing to write 805 words, bringing the total word count to 47,579. I say maybe I should finish NaNoWriMo tomorrow, but I'm not pushing it.

• Today's word count: 805 words
• Words count: 47,579 words

Day 22 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's week 3 of NaNoWriMo and I'm feeling the pressure to write when I want to do other things. At the same time, my word count is rising as the number of words I'm writing shrinks.

Case in point:

Today, I have written 920 words, and my word count is now 46,774 words. I'm wondering how did THAT happen, seeing as how three weeks ago, I was writing over 3,000 words a day.

Where did the time go?

Who knows?

• Today's word count: 920 words
• Words count: 46,774 words

Day 21 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Week 3 of NaNoWriMo is over and I'm glad, since my book is starting to take shape. But I realize that now that I'm here, this will be the last day I write over 1,000 words. After that, it gets easier, since I will only be writing under 1,000 words for the rest of the month.

This is usually the time when I slack off, so to speak. But since the competition began, I haven't done much slacking off, but distractions are still evil.

• Today's word count: 1,035 words
• Words count: 45,854 words

Day 20 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Well, there's 10 more days to go in November, so this is the time where I usually start to slack off. It doesn't get really bad until the 21st or the 22nd, but when I slack off, I end up doing other things that aren't NaNoWriMo related. (And when I do, I usually start another story or delete the entire thing and start over. I never really just stick to the story, as it were.)

Well, not this time, seeing as I'm using Reverse NaNoWriMo and it's keeping me on track. I can't afford to slack off, not if I want to win this competition fair and square.

• Today's word count: 1,150 words
• Words count: 44,819 words

Day 19 of NaNoWriMo 2016

As I'm creating many silly stories that could have a dark side to them, I wonder how many people will believe those stories are true. After all, the book is actually a satire on everything pop culture related and it causes me to see how I really see the world of pop culture. I can't say I don't like where everything's going right now, but I know how it's all going to end someday.

• Today's word count: 1,264 words
• Words count: 43,669 words

Day 18 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Well, while I'm looking back on what I've written (and tearing up parts of the story and rewriting them to make them fit), I realize that there's no way I'm going to finish the book by the end of the month. It's just not going to happen. I mean, even with the decreasing word writing, I can't squeeze everything into one month, no matter how hard I try. But that doesn't mean I can't try.

• Today's word count: 1,379 words
• Words count: 42,405 words

Day 17 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Now that I'm here, it's getting easier for me to write, even if I inevitably delete and rewrite every last word in every paragraph. (which is a bad habit I need to break if I want to be a professional writer.)

With that, I shall give you the word count of the day:

• Today's word count: 1,494 words
• Words count: 41,026 words

Only less than 10,000 words to go!

Day 16 of NaNoWriMo 2016

It's been 24 hours since Halfway Day, and now that I'm more than halfway done with the word count, things have gotten easier since November 1, when I had a fun time trying to write 3,346 words in one day.

Well, I have to get back to writing, as this story isn't going to write itself.

Today's word count: 1,609 words

Words count: 39,532 words

Day 15 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Guess what today is? It's Halfway Day!

It's November 15, 2016, and if you're still writing for NaNoWriMo, you're halfway there! Well, it doesn't matter how many words you wrote; all it matters is that you’ve been writing for 15 days.

Don't forget you still have another 15 more days to write. Plus, you can't forget about Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so be careful how of you spend your time. The second you slide off track, you won't be able to catch up.

Today's word count: 1,724 words

Words count: 37,923 words

Total word count from November 1 until now: 38,623 words

Day 14 of NaNoWriMo 2016

On the day before halfway day, I'm sidelined by a cold. I hate getting sick, because that can cost me a single day. (I've been through enough of those!)

Plus, I had to put the glossary in a separate column and make up fake news articles in the stale grapes news, which are always funny in a weird sort of way.

Despite that, I managed to write 1,838 words today, bringing my total word count to 36,199 words. How many words have I written in two weeks? 36,899 words. Now that wasn’t so hard, wasn’t it?

Day 13 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Week 3 of NaNoWriMo is here, and I have once again crashed and burned, inevitably. I realized that I might have pushed myself a bit too hard and rewriting sections of the story that I don't like. I really hope I can get this story under control soon.

Today's word count: 1,953 words

Overall word count: 34,361 words

Day 12 of NaNoWriMo 2016

As I've already written on my other blog, today I crashed and burned. I guess it was inevitable, seeing as I had pushed myself way too hard. Writing is supposed to be enjoyable; the second you treat writing like a chore, it becomes painful.

And I've done that enough times already.

Anyway, here's the word count for the day: 2,068 words, which brings the total word count to 32,408 words. As the second week of NaNoWriMo ends, I should be proud of what I’ve done so far, which is what I have never done before.

Day 11 of NaNoWriMo 2016

OK, so it's Veteran's Day and I'm on the verge of a breakdown. so far, i was really enjoying the game of Reverse NaNoWriMo, but now it's starting to get to me. the pressure to write the correct words has me going back and deleting some things I could have kept. But it's not like I haven't been though this before, or have i?

No?

OK then.

Anyway, here's the word count for the day: 2,183 words, which brings the total word count to 30,340 words. Not bad, but I feel that I could be doing more.

Day 10 of NaNoWriMo 2016

After the madness has died down some, I know it's time I got back to work on my story, as like it or not, NaNoWriMo must still go on, despite who got elected president.

Or maybe it's time we all sat back and rethink our lives and how we got to this point in time. We can't turn back the hands of time, but we can think back to our lives before the madness began and go in a different direction.

But that's for another blog post.

Anyway, here's the word count for the day: 2,298, which brings the total word count to 28,157.

Day 9 of NaNoWriMo 2016

With the madness surrounding the person who was elected the 45th president of the United States, I decided to ignore it and keep going. After all, NaNoWriMo doesn't stop just because someone is elected president.

And even then, who cares who wins, as long as I can get something done. (Or maybe not, if the madness is anything to go by. But we shall see...)

And what's the word count for today: 2,412 words, which makes the total word count 25,859. I'm halfway there! But I've got so much more to do until the month is done, so I can't celebrate my victory just yet.

Day 8 of NaNoWriMo 2016

OK, I'm biting the bullet and publishing what I have written so far on Smashwords, so here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/680164

With that, I'm going to plow into writing this story and try to ignore the election day madness that's sweeping the country. It's NaNoWriMo, and we don't have time for that!

Anyway, here's the word count for the day: 2,527, which brings the total word count to 23,447. Almost halfway through, and I'm only 8 days into NaNoWriMo!

Day 7 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Well, since daylight savings time is finally over, I can have more time to write and not have to worry about setting any clocks forward or backward.

But that doesn't mean anything if you have so much to write and not enough hours in the day to do so.

In that case, I want to only spend an hour writing and the rest of the day doing other things. My blogs are being neglected and my other writing projects are crying for my attention, so I must do this and get them done quickly.

Not to say that I will get them all done this year, but I can very well try.

Word count: 2,642 words written, adding to 20,920 total words completed.

Day 6 of NaNoWriMo 2016

OK, so staying up late to watch Saturday Night Live and then taking almost 2 hours to completely overhaul my book was not a good idea, but daylight savings time kicked in, meaning that I got an extra hour to work and FINALLY get some sleep.

And then I woke up later, being all caught up. But it's not over yet.

Today, I watched as my word count slowly decreased, as I have written 2,757 words. At this point, I'm practically doing the happy dance, not knowing that things are going to get tougher as I have to know where to stop writing.

And sometimes, when I start something, I can't stop.

Total word count: 2,757 words, leading to 18,278 total words written.

Day 5 of NaNoWriMo 2016

OK, so as the first weekend of NaNoWriMo approaches, I have to be careful not to lose my head. It would be nothing short of a disaster to fall apart after I've gotten so much further than what I had done in my entire life.

And guess what? I'm going to see Dr. Strange in theaters today, so I really can't be playing around. Not where it counts.

Fortunately, I managed to write 2,872 words, marveling at the fact that the story is coming along nicely. (Although after looking over it, I realized that I had to make some much-needed changes, so I'll have to do that later on tonight.)

Total word count: 15,521 words

Day 4 of NaNoWriMo 2016

So yesterday, I wrote 2,986 words, putting my total word count at 12,649. (Which can practically be a novella, if I wanted to write a novella. In fact, I can write as many as 5 novellas in 50,000 words, but I'm not going to chance it just yet.)

And yet, I've not been done, as I've gotten past the 10,000 mark in four days. (Thank you reverse nano; I don't know what I'd do without you!)

Anyway, with that in mind, I need to keep going, and yet, I want to see the Dr. Strange movie that's out in theaters today. (Mom says we might go to the movies this weekend, but who knows?)

Total word count: 12,649 words, which is an improvement over last year's word count on that date.

Day 3 of NaNoWriMo 2016

OK, so I've got 3,101 words written today and yet, I'm still stuck on chapter 2. I'm finally learning that the first draft is just a first draft an most of what I've written so far is going to be deleted anyway, so why bother crying about it? Plus, I'm going to post snippets of the book on Smashwords this weekend.

So what should I do, seeing as I still can't stop working on my novel? The reverse nano method isn't something for the casual writer; it's for writers who want to get serious about their writing. That's why I'm going to use this method for NaNoWriMo from now on.

(Camp NaNoWriMo and JuNoWriMo are still up for debate, as I haven't made my decision regarding the use of that method for those projects yet.)

So as I close out this blog post, I must do the total word count (since I forgot to do it yesterday):

Word count: 9,663 words. I must be doing something right, as last year on this date, I wrote 8,000 words. But that's for another blog post.

Day 2 of NaNoWriMo 2016

Sometimes, I wonder why I haven't used the reverse NaNoWriMo method a long time ago. If I had known about that when I was creating my stories and eventually starting NaNoWriMo back in 2008, I would have written more stories faster.

but hey, that's why we make mistakes; mistakes help us learn. (plus letting go of past regrets over not finishing a story has taken a huge weight off my shoulders.)

Today, I wrote 3,216 words, which puts my writing at 6,562 words. In less than 2 days, I have surpassed the 1,667 and 5,000 word count goals. I know I'm on my way to greatness because I've gotten the hardest part out of the way.

Only one more day of writing over 3,000 words and I'll be done.

So, for all of you who are choosing to take this crazy NaNoWriMo journey, I salute you. You're doing something you thought you'd never do. Just keep going and one day, you'll have a novel that you can be proud of. As will I.

Word count: 6,562 words.

Let the Games Begin!!!

And now for the main event...NANOWRIMO 2016!!!

As this day arrives, I realize that even if I had gotten a head start by starting at midnight, I need to keep going. Using the reverse NaNoWriMo method was a lot harder than I imagined, and it was not easy writing over 3,000 words in one day. (Thankfully, I have two more days of doing that, which makes me feel a lot better.)

Anyway, so I've been able to get everything started and so far, everyting's going great. Not that I want to brag, but I'm just glad that I planned head and got everything together BEFORE I jumped into the fray. As a result, even though I hit my required word count, I couldn't stop writing. (Of course, I forced myself to stop at a few points, but I'm picking it back up again after my break. Must take breaks during events like these, which was another reason why I failed so many NaNos!)

But enough about that.

I'm going to sign off now and get back to writing, as this novel isn't going to write itself!

UPDATE #1:
So I have to go back and read over some old info that I have on a few certain characters I wanted to feature. Back to writing...

UPDATE #2:
And the word count goal has been reached, but I can't seem to stop writing. This is what happens when you've built up something and it seems to overflow.

UPDATE #3:
Already planning for the next day's writing. If I can get to at least 1,000 words, I'll be able to cut my writing time in half. Who knows?

Word count: 3,346 words.

NaNoWriMo is Coming...

OK, in about a few hours, I'm going to start writing the first few words to my novel "The Imaginary Magical Worlds of Jacquel Chrissy May". Even though this story is supposed to be a collection of short stories and essays, it's going to take a good long month to write it all down. I've already got a checklist ready and will make sure that everything is set, as i don't want to make the same mistake of not coming to NaNoWriMo prepared to write.

And that's the last thing I need.

Anyway, with that in mind, I'm going to finish getting ready and then hit the streets. It's Halloween after all, and I've got to steal from the candy bucket before someone else does.

See you in a few hours!

Backup Novels

In being a terrible person that I am, I have come up with a list of ideas which I will use in case I am unable to complete the story "The Imaginary Magical Worlds of Jacquel Chrissy May". These ideas are as follows:

1. February 30, 2012: in which February 2012 regains not only February 29, but February 30.
2. The House of Pain & Pride: in which a girl is forced to leave her family and move to a boarding house for disabled people.
3. Redeeming Devon Kirby: in which a longtime fan of "The Spirit Keeper" converts to Christianity and attempts to rewrite the book to reform the hated gay character Devon Kirby.
4. Hobbit Town: after watching The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies, an elderly man decides to rebuild his town into a hobbit village.
5. The Aspergerian Club: in which a girl joins a secret club at her new school.

I understand that this is just a list of ideas and if I manage to complete the story beforehand date ideas will be written for NaNoWriMo in the future.

What I'm going to do differently with "Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner"

OK, so now that I've gone through everything that went wrong with "Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner", I now have the tools to correct those mistakes and make some much-needed changes to the story.

One of the changes is that the story is about a young pop star who never really got the chance to grow up; her career tanked, not because of what she had done, but because she lived in a country that liked to keep their celebrities as children instead of the adults those young pop stars should have become. (No wonder why most of them go crazy in their 20s!)

Also, her connection to several celebrities will be explored, yet the story of Mimi Johnson is a minor subplot that won't be explored until Candy goes to Arizona.

With that in mind, I'm ready to begin the story again. But I can't do anything about it now because November is coming and I have to get ready for NaNoWriMo. But I'll start again in January.

Candy Cane's Albums

In the story "Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner", Candy Cane had released three music albums before her career tanked. The albums are as follows:

Sweet Candy

Candy Cane's debut album (which she made when she was 12 years old), in which she gains her musical footing. With songs like That’s How I Want It (her first hit single), All-American Girl, Let Go, and The Best of Both Worlds, Candy exudes a childlike innocence that captured the hearts and minds of many Americans, especially adults looking for a positive role model for their daughters to follow. (Most boys weren't allowed to listen to her music.)

The songs on the album are as follows:

1. All-American Girl
2. Let Go
3. Pretty in Pink
4. That’s How I want it (which became Candy Cane’s #1 single)
5. Manic Woman
6. I Dare You
7. This Time Again
8. In the Dreamtime
9. Oceanside
10. Bear With Me
11. Sweet Rhythm
12. The Best of Both Worlds

***

Candy & Spice

Candy Cane's second album, released in 1998, appears to be a carbon copy of "Sweet Candy". Although most of the songs on the album became popular, the content was still the same, as if Candy Cane never grew up.

Anyway, the songs are as follows:

1. Cross-Country Tour
2. Teenage Blues
3. Victorious
4. I’m tired of being the foolish one
5. Rhapsody of Life
6. Hope Is What I Got
7. Blast from the Past
8. Live from the Big Rock Candy Mountain
9. Friends
10. Dream on

***

A Trip to the Candy Shop

In Candy Cane's third album, released in 2004, Candy Cane is beginning to grow up, due to songs like "Whole Lotta Reason" and "Goodbye to Innocence". Yet, the song "Notorious" explores her difficulty with attaining fame; the song replaced "Mysterious Star" on later releases.

1. Candy Bomb
2. Toxic Illusion
3. 1 More Nightmare
4. Bad Runaround
5. *Notorious (This song quickly became Candy Cane's biggest hit single, as well as the theme for the story.)
6. A Flash Of Destiny
7. Eternal Soldier
8. Petals
9. Weapons Of Religion
10. Just Another Crusade
11. Whole Lotta Reason
12. The Fallen Glory
13. Goodbye to Innocence

***

Bonus:

Candy Cane wrote the theme song to the popular supernatural movie "Frostfall", which won two Grammys and an Oscar. “Notorious” replaced “Mysterious Star” when the song became popular.

• Burning Frost (Theme song from the 2001 movie "Frostfall")
• *Mysterious Star (replaced by "Notorious")

Did Mimi Johnson really destroy Candy Cane's Music Career?

OK, this might sound like a creepypasta, but let me explain:

On Tuesday, August 1, 1995, a disabled girl named Mimi Johnson was kidnapped and murdered while she was on a family vacation. The news of Mimi's death spreads throughout her hometown of Bolindale, New Mexico, where many concerned families with disabled children decided to send their children away to cities in Oregon, Nevada, and California rather than allow them to be targeted and killed. The next year, a young woman named Pamela Jensen wrote the song "Mimi" in memory of Mimi Johnson. Pamela's band, The Psychic Symbols, later performed that song during a summer concert. The crowd's reaction to the song led to a 19-year-old man named Derrick Fischer to confess to killing the little girl. He was later beaten to death by a group of angry people.

But that's not all, as the Psychic Symbols discovered that the song "Mimi" was the cause of Derrick's false confession and senseless death, so they decided the song would never see the light of day. However, on Wednesday, April 24, 1996, the band's first album The Fallen Dreams was released in music stores, with "Mimi" being the most-played song on the radio. This upset Pamela and she ordered radio stations to stop playing the song. She also ordered Odin Entertainment to take "Mimi" off the soundtrack and replace it with another song.

Yet the DJs and the businessmen didn't listen to her which was when the tragedies began.

On Tuesday, July 23, 1996, 23-year-old Paul Kleeson of West Port, Florida was struck by a car and killed while he was walking his dog. The driver of the car that killed him was listening to "Mimi" on the radio.

On Friday, December 13, 1996, a family of three teenagers and two adults, looking to start a family rock band, were struck by lightning and killed after playing a song cover. What was the song in question? "Mimi" by The Psychic Symbols.

When The Psychic Symbols released a reissued version of The Fallen Dreams as well as their second album The Valley of Storms on Monday, October 6, 1997, 15 people were killed when a fight broke out due to the fact that the song "Mimi" had been replaced with a song called "Scryer". The band eventually got their wish and "Mimi" was removed from the radio.

By then, it was too late, as "Mimi" was responsible for many more deaths.

On Thursday, May 6, 1999, the popular punk-rock band The All-American Princesses were scheduled to performed the song "Mimi" at an end-of-the-year concert at Gothanburg Academy in Miami, Florida. Yet, a riot broke out and 37 students were killed. The band in question barely escaped with their lives and later sued the school for damages.

On Monday, October 16, 2000 , popular karaoke singer Jackie Stanley (given name Matthew Knox) was beaten to death after performing "Mimi"; this prompted many bars and clubs in the United States to ban the song.

On Tuesday, March 26, 2002, 16-year-old Laura Mercer was killed in the infamous Lochland High School shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. (57 people were killed in the shooting.) She was listening to the song "Mimi" the night before her death; the tape containing the song was found in her bookbag.

At this point, Pamela found herself regretting that she had written "Mimi" in the first place. She felt as if little Mimi Johnson was tormenting her from beyond the grave. A trip to a local psychic revealed that in order for her to save her dying band and bring peace to Mimi, Pamela would have to find a way to destroy the song. Despite the anger at the deaths of many people and calls for "Mimi" to be taken off the air, the song continued to be popular. Not even The Psychic Symbols' third and fourth albums The Radical Tedium and Salvation of Night was able to shake off the public's obsession with "Mimi". Pamela wondered if she was forever doomed to be a 1-song wonder, in which the song killed anyone who listened to it.

But a miracle happened on Monday, August 22, 2005.

Famous pop singer/actress Candice Canelva Brenner, better known as Candy Cane, came to Bolindale, New Mexico to participate in a charity concert to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Yet many people were convinced that Candy Cane was actually Mimi Johnson and began singing the lyrics to "Mimi" whenever they saw her. Yet Candy Cane created the song "Notorious", which expresses her displeasure with being referred to a murdered child. She also sang the song "Mimi" at the concert, yet changed most of the lyrics to scold a town obsessed with the memory of a dead child and rejecting their own disabled children rather than raise them.

And the rest, they say, was history.

The song "Mimi" was eventually taken off many music websites and the radio; it had already been banned from clubs and karaoke bars. It was also removed from The Psychic Symbols' discography and deleted from Pamela's LiveJournal blog and MySpace page.

So, did Mimi Johnson destroy Candy Cane's music career? Before we can answer that question, there was an unexpected outcome to this story. The band responsible for "Mimi" was later killed in a bus accident on Tuesday, August 1, 2006, 10 years to the day Pamela Jensen had wrote the song "Mimi". She was 27 years old.

As for Candy Cane, she announced in 2011 that she was taking a permanent hiatus from her acting and singing career. She was 27 years old. Did Mimi kill Candy Cane? The answer to that question is still unknown.

So why did Notorious fail?

Actually, I'm glad you've asked that question, even though I wished you paid attention to the last blog post, as well as the blog posts about it on my other blog.

Still want the answer? Here's why the story has been left unfinished: "Because the story stopped making sense after chapter 5. Also, the story really needs to be rewritten."

So there you go. Notorious failed because it stopped making sense after chapter 5 and the entire story needs rewriting. But when I'm going to be able to rewrite the story is up for debate.

What is the story supposed to be about?

Actually, I'm very glad you asked that question, seeing as I have a lot of info to go over and I don't have a lot of time to explain in full detail, but here we go:

I first created the story about a bullied disabled girl who ran away to Hollywood and later became a famous singer/actress, but I realized that that story was unrealistic and lame. So I had to scrap that plan.

But then I thought to myself what if there was a case of mistaken identity? Suppose that the little girl disappeared and everyone in the city believed that the pop star was her, not knowing that the little girl was probably dead. I wrote a good part of the story with that premise, but then it quickly fell apart BEFORE the main story could begin.

This also left me feeling unfulfilled.

At the same time, I discovered that several unnecessary subplots began to clog up the story and many unnecessary characters were taking attention away from the main character, so I had no choice but to pull the plug on the story.

Guess this goes to show you what happens when you get an idea for a story and forget to plan it out.

So what I must do is figure out what goes in the story instead of deciding how I want the story to go. Also, I have to decide which character can go into the story and which character doesn't. Plus, the events of the story (and the year the story takes place, as I'm a sucker for real-time fiction) must affect the characters involved, and that event must change the main character as well.

With that in mind, I know that the story "Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner" will be profoundly different from when I first made it up in 2004. In that sense, I can finally begin the story.

Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner

The next story featured on this blog is called "Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner". In this story, famous pop singer/actress Candy Cane Brenner attends a charity concert in Bolindale, New Mexico. Naturally, she performs in that concert, as it benefits the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Yet, while she is there for the concert, she finds herself involved in a decade-old mystery, which was the murder of a little girl named Mimi Johnson.

That began the end of her music and acting careers.

This was my first story for NaNoWriMo, and I created the idea in 2004. But it was supposed to be about a bullied girl who runs away and becomes a pop star, which looked like a great idea at the time.

Of course, I had written the story using that idea before the story crashed and burned, as that plot was unrealistic and boring. So I had to scrap it.

As I've said in another blog post on another blog, "when it came time for me to write the story, I couldn’t get a single idea out without failing. The main character wasn’t Candy Cane Brenner, but a girl named Mimi Johnson, whose short life and tragic death put a huge damper on the story."

Then I had to abandon the story because it refused to cooperate with me.

But the story's theme is "you may think you know about a celebrity, but how much do you know about who they really are?" And that's what eventually puts this story in perspective.

Now you know.

Let's see how much I can salvage this story.

The Reboot and Cosplay Sequels?

OK, so now that we're at the end of the Cosplay segment of the blog, I have two things I need to discuss: the reboot and any possible sequels Cosplay could have.

First, the reboot.

It’s no secret I was disappointed in the way the original story had gone, which was why I had to reboot it. Plus, there were too many subplots that weren't working and characters that showed up and took over the story. Nobody wants those. I mean, NOBODY wants a character who isn't the main protagonist to take over the story.

That’s why I had to pull the plug on the story.

Second, I had to restructure the story in a way that it makes sense. (At this point, I’m still trying to rebuild the story.) That way, no unwanted surprises can come unexpectedly, as it did with the first story.

However, I will do my best to make sure that the story will be ready for publication next year.

As for any possible sequels, I know I've said that there won't be any possible sequels to Cosplay, but then I wondered about Nicholas's family legacy and how it was affecting him. I’m sure that maybe he would try to do something about his family and redeem the family name, but it won't be in a sequel.

Maybe I might be able to pick it up in a side story, as opposed to a full-blown sequel. (I don't want to ruin anything by turning Cosplay into a series or literary franchise; it wouldn't work, nor would it be good for the story. besides, not all stories need sequels.) But who knows.

I'll start with the story "Notorious: The Ballad of Candy Cane Brenner" on October 17, 2016.

The 19 Best Animes in History

OK, are you feeling nauseated from the last list? Here's 19 BEST anime movies ever!

1. My Neighbor Totoro
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
3. Grave of the Fireflies
4. Spirited Away
5. Castle in the Sky
6. Princess Mononoke
7. Akira
8. Kiki's Delivery Service
9. Porco Rosso
10. Howl's Moving Castle
11. Ghost in the Shell
12. Paprika
13. Perfect Blue
14. Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
15. Whisper of the Heart
16. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
17. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
18. Tokyo Godfathers
19. Ponyo

I suggest that when you find the time to watch these brilliant movies.

Source: http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?genre=Anime&perpage=100

The 19 Worst Animes in History

There's a rule out there that says for every good movie made, there are 9 others that totally suck. The same thing applies to anime. With that in mind, here's a list of the worst anime moves ever!

1. Sea Prince and the Fire Child
2. Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie
3. Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals
4. Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy
5. ALL the Pokemon movies! (yeah, they're ALL *THAT* bad!!!)
6. Tekken: The Motion Picture
7. Patlabor Movie 3: WXIII
8. Urotsukidôji I: Legend of the Overfiend
9. Little Norse Prince
10. Naruto the Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
11. Highlander: The Search for Vengeance
12. Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
13. Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
14. Iron Man: Rise of Technovore
15. The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury
16. Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly
17. Digimon: The Movie
18. Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie
19. Tekken: Blood Vengeance

So, *don't* even think of watching these movies if you want to keep your sanity. I'm just saying.

Source: http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?genre=Anime&order=desc&0perpage=20

Anime vs. Cartoons: Which is Better?

If you find yourself debating with your friends about if anime or cartoons are better, pay attention, as you're about to learn the differences between anime and cartoons:

Anime:

• made mainly in Japan
• visually distinct features for characters
• "limited animation" for movement
• centers mostly on life issues; may contain sex and violence
• lasts between 22-25 minutes per episode (though movies are longer)

Cartoons (especially the American-made cartoons):

• made in America
• facial features not relative to the rest of the body
• made to make people laugh
• varies from 5 minutes to an hour

Well, if anyone decides to bring up the debate about Korra or the Last Airbender being anime, that's another topic for another time.

Source: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Anime_vs_Cartoon

The 7 Best Cosplay Twitter Feeds to Follow

If you're serious about cosplay and you want to follow some of the best coplsayers on Twitter, here they are:

1. Holly Conrad – @Holly Conrad
2. Cosplay Blog – @cosplayblog
3. SCG Official – ScGofficial
4. Cosplay Gen – @CosplayGen
5. Meagan Marie – @MeaganMarie
6. Elffi – @ElffiCosplay
7. Maridah – @maridahcosplay

Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2014/09/feed-your-feed-11-cosplay-twitter-accounts-worth-following.html

How to Cosplay

So, you think you got what it takes to be a cosplay, don't you? You want to dress as your favorite character and hit the streets? Well, not so fast, bub; there's some rules that you have to follow when it comes to cosplaying. Let's go over the rules, shall we?

1. pick your character. (choose carefully!!!)
2. find a way to get your costume. (budget time and money wisely!)
3. how will you make your costume? (study your favorite character's style of clothing.)
4. same goes for hair and makeup.
5. try on the costume. (make sure everything fits. practice as many times as you need.)
6. when you're ready, hit the streets!
7. more important, have fun!

Nicholas learns quickly that many people, even those who aren't Japanese, enjoy cosplaying. Cosplays are popular, especially at conventions. Cosplaying isn't limited to anime, as anyone can dress as their favorite character from any book, movie, or TV show.

I'll return with another blog post.

What is Cosplay?

According to dictionary.com, cosplay is the art or practice of wearing costumes to portray characters from fiction, especially from manga, animation, and science fiction.

When Nicholas becomes a member of the Anime/Cosplay Club at his high school, he learns that people have been cosplaying for years, even if he hasn't heard of it. When he starts performing in skits based on various cartoons, he learns that not only must the skit be accurate, but the costumes are accurate as well.

Also, Nicholas learns that many of the cartoons he watches on TV contain missing parents, as most Japanese children lost their parents during world war II. he also discovers that not everyone in the school is into anime, so he takes great pains in hiding his interests from the other students.

The story is mostly about him learning about the different subcultures of Japan, which include cosplay. He also learns to love anime and mangas, both of which seem off limits to non-Japanese people. As he describes his fascination with cosplaying, he learns about himself in the process.

Yet here's another part of the story:

When Nicholas was younger, a few people tried (and failed) to get him interested in Pokemon. (He also refuses to watch the TV show and movies based on the game.) when he voices his objections to his classmates, they scolded him for not being interested in Pokemon and claimed that his parents are beating him because he didn't like Pokemon. (The same thing happened when he expressed his disgust for Harry Potter, but that's another story.)

As I end this blog post, I know that Nicholas will be able to survive in his new school, even if it is resorting to joining a Japanese group.

Cosplay, the Novel

Oddly enough, I'm going for a double hitter this month, which means TWO stories will be featured on this blog. The first story is called "Cosplay! The Novel", where a boy ignores his own heritage and embraces Japanese subculture.

This story might also be interpreted as a warning against cultural appropriation.

To start, Nicholas Blue Prater (yes, his middle name is Blue; don't ask!) moves with his family from Owasso, Oklahoma to Pacific Grove, California in 2003. As he battles the worst of all evils (often called high school), he discovers anime and cosplay via a sympathetic classmate.

That's when most of the trouble begins.

As Nicholas and his new friends explore Japan's many subcultures and attend many anime conventions and festivals, Nicholas unknowingly turns his back on his own heritage (much to his family's chagrin). As well, Nicholas also embraces his inner nerd and discovers role-playing, which makes him a target for the student council (which frowns upon role-playing and anything not having to do with being part of high school).

As he goes about his year in high school, Nicholas discovers the dark side of anime and wonders what his friends are watching on TV. He also discovers that one of his ancestors committed a grievous crime, one that history ignored and tried to bury. He must face his worst fears when his family confronts him about his many interests.

OK, so I haven't finished writing the story, but that's why I have this blog; to help me finish the story. Unfortunately, I don't see this story having a sequel in the near future, but that's for a later post.

Let's get this month started!

JuNoWriMo Begins!

Well, the first day of JuNoWriMo is here and as always, I'm off to a great start. But as we all know, I usually start strong in the beginning, but in the middle, I tend to crash and burn towards the middle of the month. By the time the month ends, I am completely burned out and tend to abandon the story.

(You already know of my history of abandoning various writing projects, so that shouldn't surprise you.)

But this time, I'm doing this thing blindfolded. That means no planning, no outlining, and certainly no guessing the ending of the story. I'm going to finish this project if it kills me. (Or maybe not, as I tend to rush through things just to get to the end. I need to stop now or else it'll kill my creativity for good.)

OK, I'm going to wrap this up and get to work. This story isn't going to write itself!

Preparing for JuNoWriMo

OK, since June is right around the corner, I figure that I would write a blog post outline what I want to write for JuNoWriMo. In case you don't know what it is, JuNoWriMo is like NaNoWriMo, except this event takes place in June.

And the story is: Do You Remember?

What's it about? In 2012, the diary of a young boy is uncovered, revealing the truth behind a decade old high school shooting.

Well, it's going to be written in diary form. Sure I could write it as a regular YA tale, but since a diary has been found at the scene where the high school shooting took place, it's in diary form. (Plus, I need to recover from the epic NaNoWriMo bomb of 2015. Don't ask me about it; it's only going to hurt me.)

With that, I'll see you in a few hours.

Well, it's that time again

Once again, we're going to have to bring this month to a close.

*audience groans*

But not to worry though, because I plan to pick the story back up in the near future. Now that I know exactly what I'm doing, I can safely jump back into the story and go over everything I missed. So there you have it.

Thank you for reading this blog, and don't hesitate to leave your comments and share this blog with your friends. I will be back in March with the third NaNoWriMo story called Janette Lennox.

The Characters and Places Featured in this Story

Well, we come to my favorite part of the story, the part where we feature some of the characters that you'll meet in this story. And they are as follows:

1. Noelle Forbes: Noelle is the main character in the story. She is notorious for being a Dylan Drake fan, yet she doesn't have much of a social life. Her dealing with an addiction to fanfiction is the main story.
2. Aaron and Valerie Forbes: Noelle's parents. They are usually tolerant of her online activities, yet when she gets an "F" in English, they are forced to intervene.
3. London, Paris, Boston, and Juneau Williams: Noelle's cousins. They were raised by Carolyn Williams, an anti-social Christian woman, and had never set foot outside their house, not even to attend school. Yet when their mother dies, they are sent to stay with Noelle's family. They discourage Noelle from taking part in a Christian play, as how Christianity was presented in the play is extremely offensive to them.
4. Sarah Wibley: Noelle's best friend. She is the most hated student at Wellstone High School, as she is bullied by many students. She and Noelle try to maintain their friendship, yet that fails. She is later sent to Iowa after a tragic nervous breakdown.
5. Marina Gibney: A classmate at Noelle's school who is a bigger fan of the "The Silver Stones" than Noelle. She and Noelle challenge each other to write the most fanfiction stories before the school year is over. She lives with a foster family.
6. Simon Webster: Another classmate of Noelle's; he wrote the play called "The Third Noel", which stirs up controversy, for not just its subject matter, but for the overall story.
7. Mr. Elliot Dodderidge: Noelle's English teacher, who sees fanfiction as the end of decent writing and tries to ban fanfiction from the school.
8. Angelina Greer, Autumn Elliott, Julianne Nichols, Walter Brooks, and Benedict Dodson: Noelle's new friends; they are more content to be in the background rather than participate in the school's activities.

And now for the places that were mentioned in "Confessions of a Fanfiction Addict":

1. Wellstone, Arizona - The city of Wellstone is a moderately-sized town located in the mountains and has a futuristic look. It is best-known for its fine dining, a tumultuous history, and for being the home of a famous scientist. Also, there is an old ceremonial site nearby.
2. Wellstone High School - Wellstone High looks a bit old-fashioned as it was built over the remains of a school that was destroyed in a fire in 1987. Overall, the school has a horrible reputation, which is starting to change, thanks to the school's drama club. Also, it was one of the filming locations for a well-known drama movie. Recently, the school's culture club organized a charity event and a member of the cheerleading squad was given an award for community service.
3. White River Presbyterian Church - The church that sponsored Simon's play "The Third Noel"

The Bloodstone Key vs. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone

While almost everyone knows about "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone", here's what "The Bloodstone Key" is about:

14-year-old Cyrus Nicholson, a shy nerd, is suddenly whisked away from his home and sent to Atarerra Institute of Magics, which is in the city of Yarlford in the magical land of Erthana. While he struggles to understand why he was taken away from his family and sent to a magical school, he meets Jesse Barham, David Harrison, and April Weinstein, three children who were taken away from their broken and abusive families and sent to Atarerra Institute.

But when Cyrus meet the famous mage Dylan Drake (who survived an attack from the wicked mage Estazius Bloodworth when he was 2 years old), he gets more than what he bargained for when Dylan ends up taking him and his unexpected new friends on a magical adventure.

In spite of the book being well-received by critics and Publishers alike, Scholastic Books accused Theresa Beckett of plagiarizing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. Yet, many people who read The Bloodstone Key believed that J.K. Rowling had stolen the plot from Beckett. Unfortunately, many bookstores and Britain and the United States refused to sell copies of The Bloodstone Key because they wanted children to read Harry Potter. Ironically, The Bloodstone Key became more popular than Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone among the high school and college students.

And to make things even more ironic, Dylan Drake became more popular than not just Cyrus Nicholson, people who read the Harry Potter books appear to like Bill and drink more than they like to Harry Potter, as Dylan ( who is seen as sassy and arrogant) is more confident and smarter than Harry Potter.

So what's the debate over The Bloodstone Key and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? I will let you know that in a later blog post.

What does Noelle have to confess?

Noelle claims to be a fanfiction addict, but that's not all she is. She is also friends with an unpopular girl that the bullies and other students beat up on a daily basis. Noelle also challenges a disabled girl to a fan fiction writing contest; both girls are fans of "The Silver Stones" series while their classmates have moved on to other "pointless" young-adult books.

While Noelle deals with the contest and classmates that want her to stop being friends with the bullied girl, she is cast in Christian play with a subject matter that angers many people. Also, the English teacher is an application as a bad thing and has all fanfiction sites banned from the school. Noelle ends up getting an "F" on an essay for using fanfiction characters and is forced to attend a support group for fanfiction addicts. That event forces her to deal with why she is addicted to fanfiction.

So with the play in limbo, a friendship that is all but torn apart, a writing contest that saps all creativity, and even an unexpected movie, Noelle learns that it's better to balance your life instead of just being stuck in the world of fanfiction.

What were Noelle's other fandoms?

It's safe to say that before she became obsessed with “The Silver Stones” , Noelle was obsessed with The following TV shows:

• Magical Monkey Girls (derivative of "My Little Pony)
• Tiny Petting Zoo (derivative of Littlest Pet Shop)
• Megabears (derivative of Care Bears and Gummy Bears)

Yet, when a group of people decided that kids were watching too much television and not reading mind-numbing books, they tried to shut down TV shows for children. (It's safe to say that they failed on a number of occasions.) “The Silver Stones” book was promoted by the anti-TV group, yet children were reading other books, books that advocated being kind to one another, telling the truth, and taking care of the Earth, three things “The Silver Stones” did not advocate.

Yet, the biggest blow to "The Silver Stones" was the much-maligned Harry Potter series. In fact, many fans of “The Silver Stones” who read the Harry Potter books believe that J.K. Rowling had stolen most of the Harry Potter story from “The Silver Stones”. The eventual success of the Harry Potter movies left many people feeling very bitter.

Not to worry though, as Logan Dara's "Frostfall" movie took down "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at the movie theaters, which angered many Harry Potter fans. I will give you Noelle's opinion about that later.

In spite of everything, Noelle was a normal child until she turned 11, which was when she picked up a copy of "The Bloodstone Key" and begin reading it.

And the rest, they say, is history.

So, what on earth is "The Silver Stones" series?

I'm going to leave it to Fantopedia.com to have this explained.

The Silver Stones Fantopedia page

From Fantopedia, the Ultimate Fantasy Encyclopedia

This article deals with “The Silver Stones” fantasy series. For other uses, please see The Silver Stones (disambiguation).

“The Silver Stones” is a young adult fantasy series written by Theresa Beckett. The books describe the adventures of Cyrus Nicholson and his friends Jesse Barham, David Harrison, and April Weinstein, who are all students at Atarerra Institute of Magics. Atarerra is a magical school that is located outside of Yarlford, Erthana, and is home to Funior the Vigilant, the most powerful mage in the world.

Cyrus also befriends Dylan Drake, who is the orphaned son of Harold and Susan Drake; his parents were killed by the wicked sorcerer Estazius Bloodworth when Dylan was just 2 years old.

Since the publication of “The Bloodline Key” in 2001, the book series has enjoyed some mediocre success (due to it being all but drowned out by the more popular Harry Potter series). Despite that, “The Silver Stones” series was translated into 12 languages and sold over 11 million copies.

Theresa (sister of famous author Julianne Perkins/Jodi Beckett) was criticized for putting some scenes of violence, sex, and bad language in her series as well as creating characters that were selfish, bad-tempered, and cruel towards other people. One of the books, “The Quantum Mystery”, infamously called for the death of “God-Worshippers”, which led to Christians around the world to boycott the book. Plus, a gay character named Shane Dinanham (which was featured in “The Cracked Roses”) drew some considerable ire and controversy for his unfavorable views about women and people of color (of which Theresa was accused of refusing to add some diversity to her novels).

Despite that, “The Silver Stones” continues to score a hit with high school and college students who are looking for something to read after Harry Potter. In fact, The Science Fiction & Fantasy Weekly calls “The Silver Stones” "one of the better-written fantasy series of the last decade".

A movie combining "The Bloodstone Key", “The Quantum Mystery”, and “The Hunter of the Night” is currently in negotiation with Moviemagic Films, which was responsible for the award-winning movies The "Frostfall" Trilogy, "Return to Her", "Atlantis 2020", and "A Tale of Magic".

*****

Publishing history:

Book 1: “The Bloodstone Key” (June 9, 2001)

Book 2: “The Quantum Mystery” (October 8, 2003)

Book 3: “The Hunter of the Night” (December 12, 2004)

Book 4: “The Edge of Night” (April 26, 2005)

Book 5: “The Cracked Roses” (July 2, 2006)

Book 6: “The Force of Magic” (November 7, 2006)

Book 7: “The Seventh Moon” (July 7, 2007)

Book 8: “The Cold Shadow” (June 21, 2009)

Book 9: “The Frozen Legacy” (September 5, 2009)

Now you know.

What is Fanfiction?

According to dictionary.com, fanfiction is "a fictional account written by a fan of a show, movie, book, or video game to explore themes and ideas that will not or cannot be explored via the originating medium".

As you can see from dictionary.com's definition of fanfiction, fan fiction is just a simple homage to a movie, TV show, book, or video game. Yet. many of us forget that it's just fanfiction, and as such, we center most of our lives around fanfiction.

The story starts out with Noelle telling us how she became obsessed with a fantasy series called "The Silver Stones". "The Silver Stones" is a young adult fantasy series written by Teresa Beckett and it describes the adventures of a group of young students who attend a magical school. The series, although very popular with high school and college students, is unable to topple the much-maligned Harry Potter books.

But we'll talk about that later

According to the story, Noelle said she became obsessed with "The Silver Stones" when she was 11 years old, after picking up a copy of "The Bloodstone Key" (the first book in the series) which was meant for her cousins. After that, her interest and toys and watching television inevitably takes a backseat to "The Silver Stones"

And that's how this problem happens. (I'll get back to you later on how Noelle reacts to the Harry Potter books.)

Story of the Month: Confessions of a Fanfiction Writer

The next story featured on the blog is called "Confessions of a Fanfiction Writer". The story deals with a girl named Noelle Forbes, who is obsessed with a Harry Potter like fantasy series. Her biggest obsession is fanfiction, which she loves to a point of shutting everything else out.

Noelle gets a lot of flack for having no social life; plus most of her classmates have already dropped the series in favor of teen books. She also deals with a fanfiction writing contest as well as getting the part of an angel in a controversial school play.

When her English teacher decides that fanfiction is the end of creative writing and bans fanfiction, Noelle is forced to confront her addiction and why she is addicted to fanfiction in the first place. She ends up having to attend a meeting for fanfiction addicts as well as getting the creative rights to the play after the play's original writer is criticized for trying to force Christianity on people without giving them a choice.

OK, I've already said enough, so let's get this month started.

Here We Go, Folks, It's the End of the Month!

We have now reached this thing called the end of the month, which means I have to put the project "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird" on hold.

(audience groans)

But not to worry, because I plan to pick the story back up in the near future and finish it, no matter how long it takes. And you can certainly bet on that.

Next month, I plan to talk about my next story which is called "Confessions of a Fan Fiction Writer". Plus, I will post lyrics to the songs I'm writing for February Album Writing Month, which takes place in February. So watch for that to happen in the coming hours.

With that, I bid you all adieu and I will see you in February.

Winding Down...

OK, so this month is almost over and I have to wrap the story up. This means I'll have to take it down and rewrite the whole thing and who knows how long that's going to take. But not to worry though, because I have plans to publish the story next year.

With that in mind, I must say this:

Thank you all for reading this months blog post; I hope you have enjoyed them and will send me as many comments as you can begging me to please hurry up and finish the story so you can read it. I bet that most of you want me to finish the story while some of you want me to take my time writing it. But it doesn't really matter, because I don't know if I'm going to be able to write the story with so many writing projects going on.

Well, that's that.

Other Characters Featured in This Story

Oh, I am such an idiot! I almost forgot about these characters, and I can't believe I did that! I'm going to have to correct this mistake right now.

1. Arianna Ward, Adrian Olson, Micheal Baxter, and Jamarcus Johnson: Arianna, Adrian, Micheal, and Jamarcus are Kristin's old friends from the 5th grade. The group was notorious for making YouTube videos that poked fun at many children's books. Kristin has not seen them since the 7th grade.
2. Jaslyn Escobar: student president of Northview High School; she had Kristin expelled from the school's Facebook network and was responsible for destroying her social life.
3. Sabrina Bell, Alicia Wilkins, Erika Candelaria, and Adsila Archuleta: Kristin's former friends; they don't speak to her anymore since David Lewis called the police when Kristin didn't invite him to her 14th birthday party.

Places Featured in This Story

And now for the places that were mentioned in "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird": 

1. Shawneetown, Florida - Shawneetown is a small town located near the Atlantic coast (and 7 hours away from Miami). It is best-known for its beautiful parks and its diverse population. Also, there are some unusual ruins near the city, possibly the remains of an old settlement from the 1500's. Kristin and her parents lived in the city until recently.
2. Northview High School - The school looks a bit old-fashioned. It was built during the 1980s. Overall, the school has a bad reputation, which may not entirely be deserved. Recently, the school's football team lost a championship and a faculty member was arrested for child abuse. Kristin was once a student at the school until she and Nora exposed a student teacher who abused special ed students. Both girls ended up being expelled from the school.
3. McDermitt, Arizona - McDermott is a moderate-sized town with a population of 45,612 people. It is 5 hours from Phoenix, Arizona. It is located in the desert and has a rustic atmosphere. It is best-known for the nearby military base, which was used during World War II. (The base is still in use, by the way.) Many artifacts from that era are still lying around the base. The MacPherson family lives in the neighborhood of Copperhill Haven, which is near downtown McDermitt.
4. Cimarron High School - The school has a space-age look to it. (Yet the use of social media and some technology is explicitly forbidden by the student council.) Overall, the school has an average reputation. Also, a local writer once donated to it. Recently, the school's knitting and crocheting club organized a charity event, the school's journalism club won a prestigious award, and the school's cheerleading squad won a championship. Kristin is sent to this school instead of attending McDermitt High School with her cousins Velvet and Nader.

Regarding Kristin's Parents

At the beginning of the story, Kristin talks about how her parents, Scott and Tilly, are getting divorced after 19 years of marriage. The divorce upsets her and she wonders if her activities at school brought about the divorce.

But the truth is more dangerous than that.

According to Kristin, her father's parents did not approve of his marriage to her mother and they ordered him to divorce her and marry a Hispanic woman. The woman in question is severely disabled and has the mental capacity of a child, both of which is not suitable for marriage. Kristin's mother is upset about this, so she files for divorce.

Later on, we will see if Kristin and her father can reconcile or if their relationship is over.

As for Kristin's mother, she's  a best-selling author named Ariel Cross, whose books are on the New York Times Bestsellers List. She writes mainly fantasy/science fiction stories, but she sometimes writes historical and contemporary fiction. She rarely writes young-adult or new adult fiction (as she's not fond of YA fiction). If she writes young adult fiction, she avoids dystopias and focuses on issues that teenagers face every day, such a divorce, cancer, bullying, even suicide. One of her YA book series deals with a girl dealing with homosexuality and going to church while another of her YA books, "The Love Fool", is popular with the middle school crowd. Kristin, ironically, has yet to read any of Ariel Cross's books.

It was Tilly who gave Kristin a diary after reading Kristin's blogs and being upset that she's keeping "her real self" off the Internet. She also insists that Kristin reads some of the books that she dismisses, even if they are YA fiction. Towards the end of this story, Tilly uses Kristin's addiction to social media as a topic for her new YA book, "Disconnected".

Characters Featured in the Story

Well, we come to my favorite part of the story, the part where we feature some of the characters that you'll meet in this story. And they are as follows:

1. Cristina Maria "Kristin" Fernando: Cristina Fernando (who usually goes by Kristin) is a social media addict who enjoys her life as a normal American teenager. But when her parents divorce and she is sent to stay with relatives in Arizona, her life changed forever.
2. Alison Weaver, Mercedes Wood, Stefanie Doyle, and Deanna McCoy: Alison, Mercedes, Stefanie, and Deanna are Kristin's best friends. They are known to text each other and chat on Facebook. Yet when Kristin is forced to move to Arizona amid a divorce and a school scandal, the other girls are forced to break their friendships with her.
3. Tilda Sawyer Fernando: Kristin's mother moonlights as Ariel Cross, who writes urban fantasy, paranormal, and supernatural stories with a dash of historical fiction. She also writes chick-lit and teen fiction on several occasions even if she avoids YA and dystopias. She sends Kristin to Arizona to help her get over her parents' divorce.
4. Reynaldo Scott Fernando: Kristin's father is from Morelia, Mexico. He once worked for Clover Technologies as an executive until last when, according to Kristin, the company was forced to shut down because of a frivolous lawsuit. And to make things worse, Scott's parents (who didn't approve of his marriage to Tilly) forced him to divorce his wife and marry Belicia Deltorrez.
5. Belicia Deltorrez: Belicia is a severely disabled woman being forced to marry Kristin's father, Scott. She doesn't like Kristin.
6. Tybalt and Cassandra MacPherson: Tybalt and Cassandra are Tilly's cousins who offer to take care of Kristin while her mother handles the divorce and the move from Shawneetown, Florida to Savannah, Georgia.
7. Velvet, Nader, Jacquala, and Siegfried MacPherson: Velvet, Nader, Jacquala, and Siegfried are Tybalt and Cassandra's children and Kristin's cousins. At first, Velvet and Nader don't exactly welcome Kristin to Arizona, as they had not seen her in many years. Velvet is as old as Kristin, Nader is two years younger, Jacquala is 10 and Siegfried is a baby.
8. Nora McAndrew: Nora was one of Kristin's classmates until a scandal involving a student teacher sent her away from her parents and straight to her grandmother, who lives in Harpwood, Minnesota. Kristin's involvement with her was one of the reasons she was banished from Northview High School.

The "Family" in "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird"

You seriously thought this month (and story) was all about social media?

Think again!

In the story, Kristin tells the reader (which is you) that she's being forced to move to Arizona to stay with relatives while her parents undergo a nasty divorce. According to Kristin, the MacPherson family was once the stereotypical American family until they moved to Arizona and became the long-lost cousins of Ozzy Osborne. yet, Kristin's cousins Velvet and Nader refuse to welcome her, with Nader claiming that Kristin was one of those spoiled rich princesses from Malibu. (Malibu is in California, in case you forgot!)

Well, Kristin appears to be the stereotypical American teenager (albeit one with too many social accounts) and yet has to put up with a family that's determined to be anything but the average American family. Kristin also longs for normality, which was almost impossible for her to obtain, as her parents' divorce gets nasty and former friends and classmates blame her for it. They seek to make her new life a living nightmare.

But the title of the story is called "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird", which means that even if you think your family is messed up, Kristin's family is ten times worse. But most of Kristin's blog posts in he story seem to center on her family, which is why I titled the story that way.

Go figure.

Kik and Wattpad

It was already established that Kristin's mother, Tilly Sawyer Fernando, writes YA fiction, which she publishes using the name Ariel Cross. Kristin follows in her mother's footsteps by getting a Wattpad account and publishing stories there using the name FernFayeCross.

Wattpad ( launched in 2006) is an online writing community where users can publish essays, articles, original stories, fanfiction, and poetry. (I have an account on Wattpad.) Once she starts using the site, Kristin learns to separate the person she created in her blogs from her real self.

The texting app Kik is also featured in this story, as a number of the kids in Cimarron High School use the app to text each other. Kristin becomes a reluctant user of the app (her username was Fernanger55), but her new friends use the app. But when a student was caught texting a mentally disabled student using Kik, the student president ordered the school to delete the app from their phones.

As for Wattpad, several people use the app on their phones, so Kristin is mainly all by herself when it comes to the site. But when she gains a following based on her fictitious character, she learns that while making up things about yourself is harmful, yet making up things about a fictitious character can be rewarding. (Plus, Kristin unknowingly becomes the subject of her mother's latest YA novel, which is ironically called "Disconnected", but that will be saved for later.)

Well, by the time the story ends, Kristin goes from social media addict to a well-balanced person who learns to use the Internet in moderation. She also learns to appreciate her family instead of always shutting them out. Plus, she learns that it's OK to have offline friends, even if they're fewer in number.

Now you know.

About Google+, Blogger, and Tumblr

Kristin decided to get a Tumblr account for her 16th birthday, but she didn't start using it until January 25, 2014. (Which was when she had to stop using her LiveJournal blog.) While doing so, she grows into her Tumblr account, using it to post funny pictures and rant about which movies and books she hates (and she has a crapload of them). She starts enjoy using Tumblr when the few friends she makes at Cimarron High School are into Tumblr. Plus, Tumblr leads her to enjoy watching movies and reading instead of bashing books and movies.

As for her Blogger account, Kristin is forced to use that to replace both her LiveJournal and WordPress accounts. Blogger is slightly dated, but she uses it to unleash not only her anger at being forced to give up her other blogs, but to rant about the school in general.

As for Google+, Kristin isn't particularly a fan of using it, as it seemed to be a poor replacement for Facebook. Yet when she is forced to delete her Facebook account and migrate to the site, Kristin realizes that she has wasted a good part of her life on Facebook, especially after most of her other friends abandon her (at the orders of the Northview High School student president). In addition, Kristin's cousin Velvet calls Facebook "poison on the computer". Go figure that one out.

To cut this blog post short, Kristin starts losing everything that once held meaning for her. Not to worry, as I'll be talking about her other online activities in the next blog post.

Regarding Kristin's WordPress Blog

At the start of "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird", Kristin maintains a WordPress blog, which isn't exactly popular as her LiveJournal blog. (In fact, most of her blog posts are just repeats of her LiveJournal posts, with very few original blog posts.)

Well, to make this blog post short, Kristin goes to her new school and is forced to delete her WordPress accounts, posting her blog posts on Blogger. This upsets her because she swears to never use Blogger due to a previous bad experience with that website.

My analysis of Kristin's LiveJournal Blog

In the story "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird", Kristin once owned a LiveJournal blog, which she had since the eighth grade. (That was when everyone learned about Internet responsibility.)

Anyway, Kristin writes on her blog about the things she doesn't like. She doesn't like movies or TV shows and will only read a book if it's for a homework assignment. More often than not, she rants about her boring, uneventful life.

But reading her LiveJournal causes her to reconcile with her cousins, who she hasn't seen in almost 10 years. Reading about how her cousins treated her better than her own parents shocks her into understanding her own issues.

When Kristin gets to her new high school, she's forced to stop using LiveJournal, as the student council banned the usage of LiveJournal (whether at school or at home). With great reluctance, Kristin closes her LiveJournal blog and migrates all her blog posts to Blogger (as everyone in the school is ordered to use Blogger). Yet she vows that her time on LiveJournal wasn't a waste, as it taught her what she learned about blogging.

The Future of Social Media

In this blog post, I will tell you where I think social media is heading in the next five years. (And if you say "down the toilet", I will hunt you down and shoot you. That kind of loser talk is not allowed on this blog.)

So anyway, I have this to say about where social media is heading:

If you recall, everyone you knew had a MySpace profile, which was the big thing back in the day. There, you could chat with others and share fun things. In 2005, Facebook was founded, and almost everyone flocked to that site, leaving MySpace in the dust. On Facebook, you can find people who are part of your network, making those dreaded high school reunions more bearable.

In 2006, Twitter was founded, with many people flocking to that site. Twitter is known for micro-blogging, in which users are allowed to post 140-character tweets. Most people combine the usage of Facebook and Twitter.

There is also Tumblr, which was founded in 2007. Tumblr is a site where users can post whatever they like on a short blog. Users can follow other users' blogs.

(And before you ask, yes, I'm on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.)

Next to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, there is also YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Vine, but that's for another blog post.

In the story "And You Thought Your Family Was Weird", Kristin is a major social media addict, with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and LiveJournal. But she soon decides to get a Tumblr account, which leads to her addiction. She is later forced to use Google when her new school decides to convert to using Google-only products.

So, how will Kristin's social media usage survive these changes? I'll let you know when I finish the story.

Kristin's Social Media Accounts

Here's a short list of every social media account Kristin uses in the story:

1. Twitter - MissEnergeticRants
2. Facebook - Cristina M. Fernando
3. Tumblr - journeys&memories.tumblr.com (A Heart's Lament)
4. Wordpress - invisiblevolume.wordpress.com (Another Useless Blog)
5. LiveJournal - notanotherblog.livejournal.com (Not Another Blog)
6. Email (Yahoo) - FlamingDream181@yahoo.com
7. Blogger - thewiredmuses.blogspot.com (I've Got the Write Stuff)
8. Email (Google) - KrisMFern0109@gmail.com (school), WritingThief2@gmail.com (personal)
9. Google+ - Kristin Marie Fernando
10. Wattpad - FernFayeCross

Story of the Month: And You Thought Your Family Was Weird!

OK, while everything else is starting to fall into place, I will explain my story here:

The year is 2014 (I know, how original), and Kristin Fernando is being shipped off to stay with some relatives in Arizona while her parents deal with a bitter and nasty divorce. Kristin is a huge social media addict, with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Wordpress, and Livejournal. She also texts her friends as often as she can.

But once Kristin gets to Arizona, she is given a less than stellar welcome and finds herself in a new school where the use of social media is not allowed. Due to an incident in her old high school, Kristin loses most of her old friends and has difficulty making new friends. And to top it all off, her cousins aren't exactly the traditional American family that she sees on TV.

But when her online life is exposed to the school, Kristin will have to make a radical change to her entire life or else her life (both online and offline) will end up going down the drain!

This month will be dedicated to not only blog posts about the usage of social media, but about Kristin herself and the world she lives in.

Now you know.

The New Year Begins

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone. I'm happy to announce that this blog is off to a good start and I'm ready for action. And when I say action, I mean, getting ready to take care of those pesky things called my unfinished stories. You can't call yourself a writer and have half a thousand unfinished stories, am I right?

Anyway, I'm going to update my other blogs now and then I'll come back here. These stories aren't going to finish themselves, you know.