The Rising Authors Tag

Hi all, how are you this fine morning, day, or night? (It's currently 2:30 in the A.M. here as of writing this, so I beg your pardon if I start to ramble or just stop making sense completely.)

The lovely gal over at The Depth Of My Faith, Allie Taylor, invented a new and interesting tag recently, called The Rising Authors Tag, and she so kindly added my name to her list. Thank you. Allie! :) I truly do appreciate the thought.

Also, if you've not been to this girl's blog before, make sure to stop by sometime - she hosts a weekly writing contest with some great prompts each week, and she's just completed her first book, Jewel Of China.

Alright, I've got a delicious cup of honey lemon tea here that's bound to put me to sleep, likely mid-sentence, but let's get to work, shall we? 

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Rules:

• Write a post thanking the person who tagged you; include the tag, the 11 questions asked, your answers, and in reply to the request of a small piece of poetry or writing, write a brief 150-word story.

• At the end of the post, provide 11 new questions.

• Request a brief 150-word story from the people you tagged.

• Tag at least one person, and include a link to their blog.

Allie's Questions

1. What is your favorite type of writing style?

I don't think I have one! If it's done right, I can enjoy and be inspired by any style. Some examples of potential favorites, though, would be (of course) Edgar Allan Poe's mysterious, dark atmospheres; and Oliver Wendell Holmes's rhyme and rhythm, particularly in "Old Ironsides."

2. When did you write your first piece?

Ooh.. Uh, I believe I wrote my first piece around 7 or so. It had unicorns in it lol. I wrote a few stories (but no poetry) during that time, and then didn't write much of anything for years until I would get the urge to write every so often (which eventually lead to this blog!). Unfortunately, I never saved any of my work from back then.

3. Have you been published?

No, but I'm currently in the process of putting together a poetry collection titled Nightfall, which will be independently published. :) You can check out the details about that here, if you'd like!

4. Is writing a career or hobby for you?

Hobby, definitely, although I'd love to pursue it as a career. But I'd have to make sure it wasn't just a fleeting passion before I took any major steps in that direction... In all honesty, I think it'll simply be one of those things that I just enjoy doing from time to time.

5. Some writers can write no matter where they are... Can you?

Pretty much! I'm very adaptable when it comes to writing environments.. But I avoid writing when there are people around.

6. If you have an "Inspiration Spot" where is it?

My inspiration spot likes to change day to day! Hour to hour, even. But often a dark and quiet environment works best.

7. Do you sometimes become attached to your characters?

Oh, sure. Although it's only recently that I've actually started to put more effort into my characters, instead of simply writing quick, random names and personalities (though I still do this for stories that allow it), so I haven't written too many things with characters that I'm invested in yet.

However, I did really enjoy writing Garrett Marlowe and Mathias Pierce in the few chapters of Renegade that I managed to finish (which I cringe at now, by the way. Terrible writing).

8. If and when you do, is it hard to kill them off?

Hm.. I don't think I've ever killed off a character. Yet. For similar reasons as above. But I imagine it being hard to kill off Garrett and Mathias, so probably.. If it's a character I truly enjoy writing.

9. Do you do most of your writing on the computer or by hand?

Computer! I've tried to write by hand a couple of times, and I never make it past a few words before I crumple up the piece of paper and hop back on the computer.

10. Can you describe five characters from a few of your stories? (Or one, due to lack of material.)

Welllll, let's see...

- Elena Belletori is the main character in Renegade. She lives in Rivergate, Michigan (a fictional town), and lost her fiancé in a house fire that, at first glance, appeared to be a suicide. This leads to her becoming somewhat of a vigilante, which she hides from her parents, whose house she lives in while hers is repaired. Anything more would be a possible spoiler, considering I haven't finished yet! (And probably won't for a long, long time..)

- Garrett Marlowe is a guy, also from Renegade, with a sarcastic personality and a wry sense of humor. He's excellent with technology, and helps Elena find criminals to chase after.

- Mathias Pierce (you guessed it, Renegade) is another guy with a fun sense of humor, but he's a bit more playful and kind than Garrett is. He meets Elena while acting as envoy to the organization she gets recruited by. He likes to mess with Garrett. :)

- Isla Kivi (Renegade) is Elena's mother. She is from Tallinn, in Estonia, and she values family and the ability to protect oneself. She came to the US after meeting her husband, Elena's father, on a tour, and became an architectural historian due to her love for old things.

- Ryan Belletori (Renegade) is Elena's father. His family is most important to him, and he met Isla Kivi during a tour of Tallinn's Old Town area, when he used to work as a tour guide and spent the summer in Estonia. He then took up carpentry.

(I should probably note that all these details are subject to change..)

11. And finally, what called you to writing?

Just.. the urge to experiment with it. To create stories, and places, and things. It was just an activity that, while I only ever did it occasionally, I always went back to.

Can you show me a piece of your writing?

Of course! :D After asking Allie if this should be a new work or pieces of an old one, she said it just had to be something that I've written. So, here's an 150-word excerpt from one of my short stories, The Siren's Violinist:

     "In the halls of Castle Blaire, a heavenly tune can be heard drifting through the otherwise silent corridors.. A haunting melody that bears the weight of a thousand souls.

     Darkened skies loom above the black waters of Lake Ire, whose fury roars in the waves crashing upon the rocky shore. Lifeless these white sands seem, since no birds dare fly in such gusty winds, and no sea creature dares breach the surface in fear of being swept onto shore. But footprints, a single, long trail of them, are proof that there will always be those who find beauty in darkness, even in a landscape such as this that appears so dire and gloomy.

     The feet that walk and dent the sands belong to a lonely woman of fair height, whose garments flow behind her in a stream of black silk. She walks as if time itself had slowed, each step..."

Read more here

Questions for You

Since she asked some great questions, I'm going to be lazy, and simply copy/paste a clean copy of Allie's questions here for you:

1. What is your favorite type of writing style?

2. When did you write your first piece?

3. Have you been published?

4. Is writing a career or hobby for you?

5. Some writers can write no matter where they are... Can you?

6. If you have an "Inspiration Spot" where is it?

7. Do you sometimes become attached to your characters?

8. If and when you do, is it hard to kill them off?

9. Do you do most of your writing on the computer or by hand?

10. Can you describe five characters from a few of your stories? (Or one, due to lack of material.)

11. And finally, what called you to writing?

150-word story request: Can you show me a piece of your writing?

Tags

Katie Grace @ A Writer's Faith

Ellie @ On the Other Side of Reality

Faith P. @ Stories by Firefly

Emily McConnell @ The Imaginary World of Emily McConnell

Quayla @ Cheers LQ!

Tudda Pudda @ The Tudda Pudda Diaries

Hm.. I know I'm missing some people I wanted to add in here. But sheesh - I can't keep up with who is and isn't a writer! It's time to go through and thin my blog list, I think.. (Don't worry, if you're reading this, you're safe!)

(On that note, still waiting on a way to organize my dashboard, Blogger.)

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Thanks again for tagging me, Allie! Thanks as always for reading, and I'll try to have my next post out ASAP! :)