Thursday Thirteen: My 13 Favorite Movies

When people ask me my favorite movies, it's near impossible to choose one! Or even five. I can do 13, though. For sure. I'm not a cinema buff, for sure. One year, I watched nearly 100 movies. The next year, I probably watched 30. So, in no particular order, my thirteen favorite movies:

1. Clue
Okay, this is in #1 because it probably IS my favorite movie. It is so funny, so clever, and I could watch it over and over again. Actually, that's probably not true since it's nearly two hours long and the beginning moves a little slow. But I could have it on as background noise all day. Too bad I don't have a TV anymore for "background noise." My family had a DVD, then we lost it, because we're good at that. I searched and searched for the DVD a couple years ago, and finally scored when I saw it for $5 at one of those bargain bins at the grocery store where they have all kind of bad movies. I bought two - one for me and one for my family.

2. The Goonies
This movie - I LOVE IT. Funny story, I first watched it on TV, so they bleeped out all the bad words and added in the deleted scenes. When I saw the real one, I was thinking, "Holy crap, these kids swear a lot!" and "What happened to the octopus?" My husband and I can quote this movie up and down.

3. Up
So sweet. Of all the Pixar movies, this is probably my favorite, even though I love them all. It's hilarious, and yet I cry every time. And this video is so awesome:



4. Snatch
The Goonies kids may have sworn a lot, but Snatch has probably a hundred f-words. This movie is so funny. Hm, I'm noticing that a lot of my favorite movies are comedies.

5. Indiana Jones - preferably the whole trilogy, but if I had to choose one, The Last Crusade.
This trilogy was a staple in my house, along with Clue. The second one is my least favorite. I actually like the new one. It's so campy and bad that it's good. Harrison Ford is so nice to look at, and the movie mixes action scenes with witty jokes flawlessly. Except for it's funny to look at some of the old special effects. Like when they opened the ark. That part used to freak me out!

6. Inception
I saw this movie three times in the theatre. THREE. That hasn't happened since Lord of the Rings. The second time, I actually saw it on my birthday. I just loved this movie. The story, the acting, the effects. My husband thinks it's funny how much I love this movie. BUT IT'S SO GREAT.

7. The Dark Knight
Another Christopher Nolan film. This movie is awesome, too. Obviously, or it wouldn't be on this list. It really stressed me out in the theaters. That part where the Joker gives the ships the detonators? I was sweating up a storm. (Yeah, I sweat at stressful parts in movies. . .) But anyway, great acting and special effects.

8. Moulin Rouge
I had to put a romance movie here, or I might be perceived at heartless. No, I really do love this movie. I had the soundtrack before I saw the movie, so I knew half the songs when I finally watched the movie. I was so behind on pop culture I didn't realize these songs were originally done by other artists. Like A Virgin, yes, but I think that was actually the only one. I love how they add so much passion to Roxanne by the Police.



9. Wall-E
Another Pixar movie because Pixar is awesome. Wall-E melts my heart every time.

10. The Princess Bride
And another 80s movie! (I'm sensing a theme here. . .) This couldn't NOT be on my favorites list. I actually can't believe it's an 80s movie. It's so simple, but it has so much quality. The script is hilarious, of course, and you should definitely read the book if you haven't. Hey! I wrote a book/movie comparison post about The Princess Bride here. This post consistently gets the most traffic out of my whole blog. Mostly from Google image searches.

11. Romeo & Juliet (Baz Luhrmann's 1996 version)
We had this movie on VHS when I was pretty young. I remember not understanding half of what they were actually saying, but the beauty of the movie is you get what's going on even if the words go straight over your head. Reading Romeo and Juliet gave me a whole new perspective on the movie. I love the cinematography and the acting in this movie. Good soundtrack, too.

12. Lord of the Rings - again, the whole trilogy, but if I had to choose, Fellowship of the Ring.
This trilogy. I love it. I saw Fellowship of the Ring three or four times in the theaters with my friends. Legolas as my number one man. My friends and I even wrote a story. It was like fanfiction, but we took on the roles. So Mary Sues, but not really. It was more "secret diaries" style without the dirty jokes. Everything about these movies is gold. Reading the books really gave me an appreciation for the story, too. So did this video:



13. Young Frankenstein
Another staple in my house growing up. It's funny because this one moves slowly, too, like Clue, and yet every second is enjoyable. Some of my friends just don't get why this or Clue or other old comedies are appealing. They are totally missing out.

Finding Fiona: Live Online!

I am so excited: Finding Fiona is finally online. I put it up nearly a week ago, but I kept revising the product description or adding things to the copyright page. Fortunately, it's complete now.

The victim of a brutal attack, Fiona remembers little about her life until she meets someone who claims to be from her past. He tells her that her parents were killed for a human replication machine. He's shocked to discover she's still alive since her body was found in the wreckage of the fire. 

She soon travels to her old home in New York to figure out what happened to her and her family. She needs to find out who she is, but more importantly, confront the men who killed her parents. 

Finding Fiona is 45,000 words or about 180 pages. A scifi novella full of mystery, action, and romance, this book is a perfect weekend read.

Available on these ebook retailers for only $2.99:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
iBookstore

Please enjoy, and follow this blog for special giveaways, extras, excerpts, and more about Finding Fiona!

Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah

Earlier this year, I had a bunch of different blogs, and I kept them separate. This was my writing/reading blog, I had a blog chronicling my Rheumatoid Arthritis, and I had a religious/spiritual blog. Well, I have difficult keeping them all up, and I figure this blog should just combine all of them. Although it's chiefly about writing and reading, I don't mind posting about other things that interest me.

I'm a Christian by definition -- I believe Jesus was the Son of God, and his crucifixion and resurrection takes away our sins. I also believe that the Torah isn't "obsolete" and it hasn't "passed away." As such, I celebrate the biblical feasts. It's the fall now, which means the Jewish High Holidays are upon us.

Rosh Hashanah is the feast of trumpets which marks the Jewish New Year. It's referenced in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29 as a "holy convocation." The Israelites were to blow the trumpets and do no regular work. Some of the traditional foods of the holiday are apples and honey to symbolize a sweet new year.

One of my favorite customs for Rosh Hashanah is tashlikh. You take a collection of bread crumbs and cast them off into a body of water. It's symbolic for the previous year's sins, and references to Micah 7:18-19:

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.

If one looks at the life of Jesus, you can see that he was crucified on Passover, and he can be our Passover lamb. As the blood of the Passover lamb protected the Israelites, so the blood of Christ can protect us from death. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was given on Shavuot (or Pentecost) which was the date when tradition says the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai.

Based on those events, some people believe that "The End Times" events will happen during the Fall Festivals. They predict the Rapture might happen on Rosh Hashanah because ome verses reference to the blowing of a trumpet with the rapture, including Matthew 24:31:

And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

I have no idea when that will be. There were plenty of people who thought the world was going to end May 21st. We'll always be surrounded by people pronouncing the end of the world, but can anyone really know when these things will happen? I don't think so. We can be ready, though, living our lives to love God and love others.

Rosh Hashanah starts tonight and ends Friday sundown. It's celebrated for two days because the actual position of the new moon (Rosh Hashanah is to be on the "first day of the seventh month") is hard to predict. I will be casting off my sins in the Willamette river, thanking God for forgiveness and for a new year!

In My Mailbox #3

At least I think this is the third one.

My "to read" list just keeps growing!

Wildefire by Karsten Knight -- Polynesian goddess reincarnated in the body of a sixteen-year-old girl. Picked up from the library. I'm about 50 pages in, and I like it. I just haven't had the time to finish it.

The Emerald Storm by Michael Sullivan -- Fantasy, political intrigue, quests, empires! Bought online - no longer available, but will be published this fall by Orbit Books. I haven't finished Nyphron Rising just yet (only about 10% left) but I love this series!

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch -- Middle grade fun that reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Only 99 cents from the iBookstore!

Two of a Kind by Celesta Thiessen -- A neat novella about a brother and sister in a dystopian world, written by a friend of mine. Only 99 cents on Kindle. I'm about 1/3 through.

Sample Sunday: Finding Fiona Chapter One

Finding Fiona was published this weekend! Here is the full first chapter -- no more of those 500-600 word excerpts.

Chapter One

Smoke choked her lungs and made her eyes water. The heat burned against her skin. She ran down the steps, tears streaming down her cheeks. Someone grabbed her from behind, strong arms wrapping around her torso.

She woke up gasping and coughing. Her surroundings came into focus. Salmon-colored walls. A hard bed. She was in a hospital room, not in the fire. She had escaped. Her heart pounding, she looked down at herself. She wore a hospital gown, and her arms and stomach stung with pain, though covered with clean bandages.

What had happened? Swallowing, she tried to think over the day, but all she had were blurry images that didn’t make sense. The fire was vivid in her mind, but she didn’t know how she escaped. She remembered riding in a car and bleeding from her stomach. She tried to recall how she’d started bleeding, but she faced the same maddening wall of blankness. She swore and clenched her teeth.

Her hands shook as she pushed aside the rail on the side of the bed. She needed to get out of here. She wasn’t sure why, but she had the feeling something bad was going to happen if she stayed here. Her legs were weak when she put weight on them, and she steadied herself against the bed.

She needed to find her parents. She tried to picture them in her mind, tried to recall their names, but there was a gap where they should have been. Instead, a crushing weight pressed down on her chest. She pushed aside her panic. It didn’t matter; she’d find them. It was just the shock.

An unfamiliar woman walked into the hospital room. She had wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, and her eyes widened. “You’re awake!”

She swayed, her legs nearly giving out, and the woman rushed forward to catch her arm. The woman eased her back onto the bed. “Don’t worry, it’s all right.”

The girl put her head in her hands. “I need to go.” But she didn’t remember why. Something important pressed the back of her mind, but when she reached for it, it faded.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked softly.

The girl’s eyes stung with tears, and she took a steady breath, trying to hold them back. “I don’t know.”

* * *

Four months later…

The windows next to them took up nearly the whole wall, showing the harbor. The seagulls were just black specks in the blue sky. The water ebbed back and forth, splashing against the rocks. Fiona could see the spot where Hannah had found her four months ago. She only faintly remembered being there; she’d been floating in and out of consciousness at that point.

They’d walked along the spot with the reporter an hour ago. Fiona had hoped for some revelation, but nothing new had surfaced in her mind. The only clear memory she had of that day was driving in Hannah’s car on the way to the hospital, mumbling the name James over and over again.

She turned to Hannah and Troy, who sat across from her at the table. They sat in a restaurant with a maritime theme: a model ship dominated one wall, and comics of Popeye the Sailorman lay between the tables and the glass over them.

“This is one of my favorite places in Mystic,” Hannah said. “You know the coffee shop area used to be a dance club? It was the coolest place in town on the weekends.”

Fiona grinned. “Did you come here with your leg warmers and Ray Bans?”

Hannah laughed. “Oh, yeah. You’ve seen the pictures. I was the next Madonna.”

Fiona exchanged amused glances with Troy. “But then you became a real estate agent,” she said. She tried to imagine Hannah singing Like a Virgin. She couldn’t. Hannah was too sensible, too normal.

“The world wasn’t ready for me.” Hannah flipped her hair off her shoulder.

“Wait, I need to see those pictures,” Troy said, bumping his shoulder against Hannah’s.

“No!” Hannah shook her head. “Too much teasing material.”

“You’ll show Fiona and not me?” Troy put his hand over his heart. “That hurts, Hannah.”

“Just goes to show she likes me more,” Fiona said with a shrug. If only that were true. She had asked Hannah not to bring Troy today, but she’d insisted that he would be fun. Right. Hearing him complain the whole trip about the follow-up article with the Boston Herald was really fun. She couldn’t believe he’d actually tried to talk her out of it in front of the reporter.

Troy looked like he might respond, but Hannah cut him off, perhaps to avoid an argument. “Do you two know what you want?” she asked.

Fiona picked up her menu. “You’re the expert. What should I get?”

“Their seafood pasta is amazing. I really like their soups, too.”

The waitress came over with their drinks. She was an older woman with corkscrew curls dyed red. “Are you ready to order?”

“Not yet,” Troy said, his gaze on the menu.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

“Thank you so much, Lisa,” Hannah said, smiling.

“You know her?” Troy asked.

“I saw her name on her name tag.”

Troy smirked, shaking his head. “You’re too funny.”

Fiona studied him for a moment, trying to determine if the comment was meant to be condescending or flattering. She generally couldn’t tell with Troy.

She looked down at her menu, but didn’t want to consider all the options. Seafood pasta it was. She trusted Hannah’s judgment in food. She trusted Hannah more than anyone, really. That wasn’t saying much, considering she didn’t know many people, but even if Fiona knew hundreds, she was sure Hannah would be one of the nicest people she met. She’d taken care of Fiona, let her live with her in Boston for the last three months, supported her search for her past, and had even given her something like a normal life.

The waitress retuned a few minutes later. Troy ordered first, then Hannah. “And for your daughter?” she said, turning to Fiona.

Fiona smiled tightly. “We’re not related.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” ‘Lisa’ said. “You really look like you could be!”

“It happens all the time,” Troy said, waving a hand. “Don’t worry about it. Fiona, you wanted the seafood pasta, right?”

“Right.” Fiona pursed her lips. She didn’t mind being mistaken for Hannah’s daughter, since Hannah was the closest thing she had to a mother. Thinking of Troy as her dad made her cringe, though. He couldn’t even let her order her own food.

Once the waitress left, Hannah leaned forward and squeezed Fiona’s hand. “I’m glad we came today. Maybe someone will see that article.”

“Hopefully the right people,” Troy muttered. “You know, we could still call her and ask her not to run it.”

“It’s running,” Fiona said firmly. “Maybe a family member or a friend will see it.”

“Yeah, or someone else,” Troy said.

“This conversation sounds really familiar.”

Hannah changed the subject, and Fiona tuned them out, gazing out at the harbor. She understood where Troy’s reservations came from. She had been stabbed, and she faintly remembered being pulled into a van, so she could have even been kidnapped. She had weighed the benefits with the risks, though. If her family saw the article, it might be worth the chance of someone else seeing it. Besides, an article had run four months ago, and no one had come looking for her then.

She tried not to dwell on the fact that no one might come looking for her this time, either. She had to hold onto some kind of hope.

They ate their lunch, chatting aimlessly. Hannah redirected the conversation every time Fiona or Troy mentioned the reporter, probably to avoid an argument. Fiona was fine with that. Troy didn’t seem to understand it was her choice, not his.

Hannah had a real estate meeting at one o’clock, and Troy wanted to visit a few shops in town. Fiona told them she’d walk to the library around the block.

“Shouldn’t you stick with us?” Troy asked.

Fiona made a face. Since Hannah had a meeting, that left Fiona with Troy. “I’m okay. I’ll just hang out at the library.”

“I don’t know,” Troy said, shaking his head.

“You don’t know what? Just go do your thing.”

He looked at Hannah. “You couldn’t take her to your meeting?”

Fiona huffed. “Troy, I’m old enough to go to the library by myself for a couple hours.”

“She’ll be fine, honey,” Hannah said.

Troy’s jaw tightened. “Fine. But you have your phone, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Fiona said.

Hannah stood, looking at her watch. “My meeting should be over in an hour and a half. You want a ride, Troy?”

“Sure.” Troy got to his feet, leaving some money on the table. “Keep your phone close by, Fiona.”

Fiona gave him a thumbs up and waved as they parted ways in the parking lot. She sighed with relief when they were gone. She walked to the library and went to the computer lab. She’d planned on doing some research, but the technician told her the lab didn’t open until one. Fiona didn’t understand why they didn’t open the computers with the rest of the library.

While she waited, she perused the periodicals. She dug through the old newspapers and found they didn’t keep newspapers for longer than two weeks. At Hannah’s house in Boston, she had the local newspaper from Mystic that had the article about her: the injured girl with only fuzzy memories of her childhood, waiting for someone to claim her.

Fiona walked through the aisles of the periodicals, running her fingers over the magazines and academic journals. She loved the smell of a library: the old, dusty books, the ink and paper.

Her gaze stopped on a journal called American Physics. The title sounded familiar. A social worker had suggested she take the SATs a couple months ago to see where she was academically. The science section of the test had been, without a doubt, the easiest section for her. She even had faint memories of learning those things, of working in a lab, of running experiments. She could explain certain concepts to Hannah.

She picked up the journal and flipped through it. She grabbed the last four issues before finding a seat. Some of the articles went straight over her head; some fascinated her. Her thriller novel hadn’t been able to keep her attention, but this could. Her mind made no sense sometimes.

On the last page was a short article. The black and white photos caught Fiona’s eyes first, and she gasped. A man and a woman, smiling in individual pictures. She knew them. She’d seen them in faint memories: the man’s deep set eyes and dark hair; the woman’s warm smile and bright eyes. Fiona had tried to describe their faces when she had access to facial composition software, but the faces never came out right. Yet here they were. Her parents. Real.

She sought out the name of the authors: Richard and Fiona Normans.

That was why the name Fiona had stuck out to her–it was her mother’s name.

The headline read, Human Replication–Is It Possible?

The article was only a page long and prefaced a longer study to come in the next issue. The two had studied the possibilities of human replication for nearly two decades. They worked primarily out of their lab in New York City while trying to replicate both organic and inorganic objects. On the surface, the theory sounded impossible, but Fiona found herself nodding along to their claims.

She swallowed, looking back at their pictures. She stood up quickly and checked to make sure this was the most recent issue. She looked at her watch. Still half an hour before the computers opened. She’d have to call American Physics. Maybe they could talk to Richard and Fiona for her. Maybe they’d tell them she was alive and well. Maybe she could actually be reunited with them.

Of course, the doubt that her parents were even alive hovered in the back of her mind. She remembered being so panicked when she ran through those flames, sobbing uncontrollably. She wasn’t sure if they’d survived the fire.

She started jogging for the door. She turned the corner of an aisle and ran straight into someone, dropping the journal. “Oh, I’m so…” she trailed off when she saw the guy standing in front of her. He was a few inches taller than her. He had black hair, and he stared at her unabashedly.

Fiona couldn’t believe how familiar he looked: the narrow face, the golden brown eyes. She knew him.

He slowly reached down and picked up the journal. He looked at the title, then stared at her again. She clenched her hands into fists, hardly daring to hope. Could it be? Could he really be someone from her past? Why else would he be staring at her like that?

“Elizabeth?”

Recognition exploded within her. She'd been called that before; she just knew it. Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away, embarrassed. “I…”

“Oh, my god. Is it really you?”

“I don’t know.” Fiona’s voice shook. “Who do you think I am?”

He stared at her. “You don’t… you don’t remember me?”

“I recognize you. What’s your name?”

“James.”

* * *

Currently on sale for $1.49:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P44Z5W
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91316
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1105949851

Fiction Friday: Comparing Openings

The beginning is the hardest part to get down. I never know where to start, and the first 500 words probably goes through more revisions than the rest of the story. Here's how Finding Fiona started out, way back in 2008:

Something dark was approaching her. Fiona couldn’t tell what it was, but fear was rising in her chest. She seemed to be trapped, in a corner of some sort. The air smelled like fire and smoke, but she couldn’t see much. The dark figure came closer and closer, and Fiona screamed. 

She snapped awake, gasping for breath. It had only been a dream. Fiona wiped sweat from her brow; it had felt so real. She looked over at her clock. Seven fifty-three. She hated it when she woke up before her alarm. 

Fiona reached over and turned her alarm off, then lay still. It had been another familiar dream, almost as if she had had it before. She remembered her last dream like that - a dream where men in white coats had been holding her down and she had woke up screaming. 

Fiona sat up and turned on her radio. She didn’t want to think about her dreams, about the connections they could have to her past. Whenever she tried to remember, it exhausted her. Hannah told her to journal her dreams, that maybe it would help ‘jog her memory.’ Fiona had a journal hidden underneath her mattress, full of things she had only seen once, when she wrote them. She never turned the pages back to read them again. Maybe someday. But not today. 

Today was her graduation from high school.

Yes, it's the typical "wake up from a nightmare" beginning. I wrote about twenty pages of Finding Fiona, then got tired of it. This winter, I decided to return to it. I gave it a rewrite changed the beginning to this in January 2011:

Were they nightmares or memories? If they had any connection to her past, that only rose more questions about who she was and what had happened to her. Fiona reached under her mattress and pulled out her journal. It’d been Hannah’s idea, to help ‘jog her memory.’ She walked to her desk and turned to a blank page.

6/4/11. A new dream, she wrote. Two men pulling me out of the flames. Dragging me to a van, pushing me inside. My lungs burned from smoke. It was all around us, and I couldn’t stop coughing. I’m almost sure it was a memory.

Fiona dropped her pen, trying to recall any more details of the dream, and she sighed. Whenever she tried to remember, it exhausted her.

She thumbed the corners of the previous pages. She’d never turned the pages back to read her entries again. The thought gave her the chills. Why would she want to relive the nightmares and confusion?

She tentatively turned to the first page of the journal. The first dream she’d recorded. 8/31/10. I was running down the stairs. I think it was a spiral staircase. There was smoke everywhere, and I knew the fire was somewhere nearby. I felt someone grab me from behind, but then I woke up.

Fiona sighed, closing the journal. She couldn’t do this right now. She had to walk and get her diploma. She needed to be semi-normal.

Today was her high school graduation.

This summer during revisions, I cut the entire high school storyline. In the first drafts, she'd been with Hannah for a whole year. I thought there's no way she would have stayed hidden for a whole year, so why have the high school thing? I also decided to give Fiona some memories, just not very clear ones. Here's what I came up with next:

Fiona clenched her teeth, hoping for memories to come. Maybe if she wished for it hard enough, she’d remember.

The water ebbed back and forth, splashing against the rocks where Hannah had found her four months ago. Behind her, Troy mumbled something to Hannah. Fiona tried to block him out, crossing her arms and looking across the harbor.

Nothing new. The same disconnected memories floated around in her mind, searching for meaning. Pointless things like playing in a McDonald’s play place and taking a driver’s test. She wasn’t even sure if some of the images were memories. The fire and its suffocating smoke. The two men dragging her into a van. The girl who drove a different car while Fiona bled from her stomach. After that, the first clear memory she had was the ride in Hannah’s car and the name Fiona mumbled the entire way: James.

The strange images left her with nothing. Fiona didn’t know who James was, or who the other, blurry faces belonged to. She didn’t know what had happened to her. She didn’t even know what her name was. When looking through the name book Hannah had brought her, the name Fiona had stood out, but she didn’t know why.

Hannah touched Fiona’s arm, smiling softly. “How do you feel?”

Fiona shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”

Troy walked over to them from the car. “Do you remember anything?”

“Don’t you think I would have said something if I did?” Fiona asked.

“Sorry for asking.” Troy rolled his eyes.

“Hey, you guys hungry?” Hannah said, too brightly. “Let’s go to Cafe Mecca before I have that meeting.”

They walked back to Hannah’s green Land Rover. Fiona glanced back at the harbor once more before getting in the back seat. Someone had left her here four months ago. . .who? And why?

With this (or something very close to it) I participated in something on Critique Circle called The Hook. We posted out first 1000 words anonymously, and readers from Critique Circle read through as though they were editors or agents. They stopped reading when they lost interest, posted a line saying where they stopped, and moved on to the next "manuscript." I lost 1/3 of 32 readers in the first three paragraphs. I lost 1/3 somewhere in the middle, and the last 1/3 finished. From the comments, it seemed like I had a slightly interesting beginning, but it was bogged down by backstory and thought.

I decided to add a scene where Fiona wakes up in the hospital, then jump ahead four months to where she's on the harbor with Hannah and Troy. This is the new (and final!) opening:

Smoke choked her lungs and made her eyes water. The heat burned against her skin. She ran down the steps, tears streaming down her cheeks. Someone grabbed her from behind, strong arms wrapping around her torso. 

She woke up gasping and coughing. Her surroundings came into focus. Salmon-colored walls. A hard bed. She was in a hospital room, not in the fire. She had escaped. Her heart pounding, she looked down at herself. She wore a hospital gown, and her arms and stomach stung with pain, though covered with clean bandages. 

What had happened? Swallowing, she tried to think over the day, but all she had were blurry images that didn’t make sense. The fire was vivid in her mind, but she didn’t know how she escaped. She remembered riding in a car and bleeding from her stomach. Touching her stomach, she tried to recall how she’d started bleeding, but she faced the same maddening wall of blankness. She swore and clenched her teeth. 

Her hands shook as she pushed aside the rail on the side of the bed. She needed to get out of here. She wasn’t sure why, but she had the feeling something bad was going to happen if she stayed here. Her legs were weak when she put weight on them, and she steadied herself. 

She needed to find her parents. She tried to picture them in her mind, tried to recall their names, but there was a gap where they should have been. Instead, a crushing weight pressed down on her chest. She pushed aside her panic. It didn’t matter; she’d find them. It was just the shock. 

An unfamiliar woman walked into the hospital room. She had wrinkles at the corner of her mouth, and her eyes widened. “You’re awake!” 

The girl swayed, her legs nearly giving out, and the woman rushed forward to catch her arm. The woman eased her back onto the bed. “Don’t worry, it’s all right.”

The girl put her head in her hands. “I need to go.” But she didn’t remember why. Something important pressed the back of her mind, but when she reached for it, it faded.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked softly. 

The girl’s eyes stung with tears, and she took a steady breath, trying to hold them back. “I don’t know.”

I know we're kind of back to the "waking up from a nightmare" beginning, but it's not a nightmare. It's a memory. This one and the last one had small changes to it through advice from Critique Circle, Absolute Write, my husband, and my local writers group here in Salem. I'm so grateful for other writers and readers willing to offer their help! I hope this is the beginning that will snag readers and compel them to finish the story. 

Sample Sunday: New opening of Finding Fiona

I know I've posted the first 500 words of Finding Fiona before, but I added a new scene that is probably more exciting than Fiona staring at the ocean. Enjoy!

***

Smoke choked her lungs and made her eyes water. The heat burned against her skin. She ran down the steps, tears streaming down her cheeks. Someone grabbed her from behind, strong arms wrapping around her torso. 

She woke up gasping and coughing. Her surroundings came into focus. Salmon-colored walls. A hard bed. She was in a hospital room, not in the fire. She had escaped. Her heart pounding, she looked down at herself. She wore a hospital gown, and her arms and stomach stung with pain, though covered with clean bandages. 

What had happened? Swallowing, she tried to think over the day, but all she had were blurry images that didn’t make sense. The fire was vivid in her mind, but she didn’t know how she escaped. She remembered riding in a car and bleeding from her stomach. Touching her stomach, she tried to recall how she’d started bleeding, but she faced the same maddening wall of blankness. She swore and clenched her teeth. 

Her hands shook as she pushed aside the rail on the side of the bed. She needed to get out of here. She wasn’t sure why, but she had the feeling something bad was going to happen if she stayed here. Her legs were weak when she put weight on them, and she steadied herself. 

She needed to find her parents. She tried to picture them in her mind, tried to recall their names, but there was a gap where they should have been. Instead, a crushing weight pressed down on her chest. She pushed aside her panic. It didn’t matter; she’d find them. It was just the shock. 

An unfamiliar woman walked into the hospital room. She had wrinkles at the corner of her mouth, and her eyes widened. “You’re awake!” 

The girl swayed, her legs nearly giving out, and the woman rushed forward to catch her arm. The woman eased her back onto the bed. “Don’t worry, it’s all right.”

The girl put her head in her hands. “I need to go.” But she didn’t remember why. Something important pressed the back of her mind, but when she reached for it, it faded.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked softly. 

The girl’s eyes stung with tears, and she took a steady breath, trying to hold them back. “I don’t know.” 

***

I don't have a release date set in stone, but Finding Fiona should be out no later than October 5th. 

Fiction Friday: Finding Fiona Book Cover

I skipped this last week because I had family visiting, and I forgot to schedule a post in advance. But it's back now! Today, I'll show you the evolution of the Finding Fiona book cover. I previously posted this on my website, so it's not extremely new. Next week it will be though :)

 I'd like to start off by saying I have nearly 28 images I saved for possible book covers for Finding Fiona. My husband probably has 5-10. I'm showing you just a few. First, I requested one from the lovely Fena Lee. I wanted to see what she came up with, and I assured her that if I used the cover for my ebook, I'd compensate her. She made me this:

Now, I really liked the picture (found here), but to me, this didn't really say "Science Fiction/Adventure." It seemed more literary to me. My husband took the picture and made this cover:

But we essentially had the same problem. It didn't fit with the genre. Some people on Critique Circle forums suggest a superimposed face. They liked the fire image, but it needed more. I played around with some models (found the stock photo on deviantart):

To a few people, the model seemed too complacent, not like she was a character in a story where her life is in danger. So, I found a new model from a stock photo I downloaded from istockphoto.com. The model looked a bit older, but when combined with the fire, she had the appearance of looking younger.
 

 I really liked this model, but I also loved, loved, loved the book cover for The Venom of Vipers by K.C. May. I wanted the full face on the book cover. Well, I tried a few times to get the face to look good with the fire, but I finally handed it over to my husband and told him what I wanted. He flexed his mad skills with Photoshop, and gave me this gem:

 

 Now, he gave me another book cover that looked almost exactly the same, but I asked him to increase the contrast to make the colors more extreme. I considered having "Fiona" bold instead of "Finding", but "Finding" won. And now this is the official book cover! The only thing I might change: I may add a caption or a quote from a review along the top. That's how the cover for Finding Fiona developed. There were many more drafts, but these are the non-embarrassing ones ;)

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Paperback, first published in 1999, library copy.


I've heard of Speak many times before. It's an award-winning young adult book about a young girl just entering high school. At the end of the summer, she calls the cops on a party, and she is treated as the outcast of the school. She struggles with making friends, with communicating with her parents, with her grades. She goes through a lot in the course of a year. All in all, it's a story about her overcoming her depression and moving on from the things that have happened to her.

I enjoyed the read. It was quick: I started it last night and finished it this morning. The narrative style, first person present tense, makes the story easy to read. Melinda's voice is great, she's very sarcastic and funny. I also loved the struggle between the school's mascot and other funny things like that. The author addresses problems teens face everyday, and I think that's why it has resonated with so many people. Melinda chooses to stay silent about what's happened to her because she feels like no one will listen or believe her, and this is how a lot of people react to things.

I kind of wish there was more to it. A lot of it happened in Melinda's head, which I liked, because it shows how isolated she is through the year. Her friends felt kind of one-dimensional, though. They definitely didn't seem like true friends if they deserted her so easily. I wanted more of David, too; he was a nice guy.

The story was meaningful, and I liked it. I'd probably recommend it to other people, but it wasn't "OMG amazing!" for me.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand 


Published 2011, Hardcover, 435 pages, library copy. 

I'll start off saying I wasn't really sure about this book at first. I'd seen the cover all around the internet, but the whole "paranormal romance" hasn't appealed to me after trying to read Twilight and Hush, Hush and not getting past the first chapter (and on top of that, reading scathing reviews of those two on Goodreads :P). I picked this book up from the library, though, and let it sit around my house until I got an e-mail saying it was due in three days. I thought, 'Well, I'll give it a try. Either I can finish it in three days or I can't.'

Talk about addicting writing. I read this book most of Sunday. I had to force myself to put it down so I could get some writing done. I finished it today.

Clara has recently found out she's quarter-angel. She has a purpose in life, a vision, and this vision involves a forest fire and a mysterious boy. When they find out where this boy lives, her mom (half-angel) moves her and Clara's brother to Wyoming. So for a while, the book suffers from "new girl at school in a young adult novel syndrome" as she tries to make friends and fit in.

This book's pacing was kind of off for me. The first half is slow, and then the book really takes off once it gets into the romance. And then the ending is a huge bundle of what-the-hell-is-going on! I think I said, "Oh, my gosh" like a thousand times during the last fifty pages.

In general, it's great storytelling. Cynthia Hand has some great writing. All of her characters are likable and relatable. I especially love Angela and, you guessed it, Tucker. I thought Clara's relationships with her friends, families, and love interests were very realistic. I liked Clara, too. A few times I thought she was kind of a jerk to her mom, but she was going through a lot. I hope we learn a lot more about Clara's mom and her life in the next book. And more about angels and fate and God and the war and everything.

Towards the end, I loved the mystery of the story. I had no idea how it was going to end. I did predict some things, but others totally came out of left field. I have a feeling the next book will lay the love triangle on pretty thick, and I'm actually not sure which boy I want Clara to choose. It's not as clear cut as most YA love triangles. I mean, I love, love, love Tucker and his personality, but I also love the whole destiny concept between Clara and Christian. We'll see.

I think this is a gem in young adult paranormal novels, even though I'm definitely not an expert. I'm excited for the next one, Hallowed!

Heroes 'Til Curfew by Susan Bischoff

Heroes 'Til Curfew (Talent Chronicles, #2) by Susan Bischoff

Published 2011, Kindle Edition. 


Hush Money was the first self-published book I read on my Kindle, and it was awesome. The Talent Chronicles are about people who have Talents - telekinesis, super strength, invisibility, etc. The NIAC (National Institutes for Ability Control) is a big threat in this world, as they pick up kids who have Talents and ship them to State School. The story follows a certain group of high school students. In the middle are Joss, a girl who is just getting used to having friends; Dylan, the kid who is leaving behind his life of crime; and Marco, the bully who makes both of their lives miserable. Joss and Dylan have it bad for each other, but both are too afraid to mess their friendship up.

This book is equal parts adventure and romance. Joss and Dylan slowly grow into their relationship, skirting around miscommunication, difficult families, and life threatening situations with jerks from their school. The author weaves together the fear of the NIAC with high school drama flawlessly.

I spent all day Friday reading this book. It was great. Her writing is so addicting; I literally didn't want to put my Kindle down. I love that she takes on a different angle of the "boy needs to save damsel in distress." Dylan struggles with this, wondering how he could protect Joss when she seems physically stronger than him and more accomplished in her ability. I thought it was very refreshing. Joss, who's been a loner most of her life due to her dad's controlling nature, has a hard time getting used to friends and a boyfriend she's head over heels for. Their dynamics were very realistic, and I found myself absolutely loving these characters. The action scenes were great, too. Does this need to be a movie? YES.

This book is more than twice as long as the first, which I LOVED. I liked finding out more about Dylan's family. I liked seeing a bit more about how the world worked: Syndicate, the NIAC mole, etc. I honestly can't wait for more, and I'm hoping we see even more of the NIAC and the State Schools. Bischoff works well with relationships, but I'm eager to see more world building. As last time, it took me a while to get used to the point of view, but I think her writing has improved. It wasn't as stream-of-consciousness, and it was easier to tell who was talking when.

If you like young adult, adventure, fantasy, romance, superheroes - check this series out. There's Hush Money, Heroes 'Til Curfew, and a short story about a different group of kids called Impulse Control. Can't wait to see more from this author.

Fiction Fridays: Amnesia in Pop Culture

I'm starting a new weekly post on my blog - Fiction Fridays! From now on, I will post something relating to my fiction on Fridays. This month, posts will be about Finding Fiona. The novella will hopefully be released the third week of September, and these posts will get you ready for it!

This week: Amnesia in Pop Culture.

Fiona has retrograde amnesia, meaning she can't remember her past. She remembers bits and pieces of memories. Certain things stand out to her, like the name Fiona or Indian food. She can recognize places, like New York City, or faces, like the guy she meets in chapter one. The story follows Fiona as she tries to remember what happened to her the day she was found on the harbor with stab wounds in her stomach.

Amnesia, unfortunately, is a trick that's been done quite often in books, movies, and comic books. Many times, the writers will just throw in amnesia when they want to hide something from the viewers and have a plausible reason to do so.

Here are some instances of amnesia in pop culture, whether fake, trauma-induced, magical, or brought on by a small gadget.

Jason Bourne
The Basics: Robert Ludlum's Bourne Trilogy was adapted for screen in 2002. In The Bourne Identity, the first in the trilogy, Jason Bourne searches for his true identity while running from various groups that are trying to kill him. While in the books Bourne regains most of his memory, in the movies, Bourne struggles the entire series with the amnesia. He has still kept his training as an assassin and his sharp wits, but he has difficulty remembering where he grew up and what kinds of things he did for the CIA. Usually in the movies, he remembers things just when the plot couldn't go any longer without the information the memory holds.

Rating on the Realism Scale: 1 being "this would never happen" and 10 being "best representation of amnesia ever", Jason Bourne rates at a 4. (To be honest, this is kind of where Fiona is, but just how the Bourne movies are so well-written, you don't care. . .it's the same thing with Finding Fiona. I hope.)

Lost
The Basics: Claire is a pregnant woman who crashed on the island with the rest of the survivors. In the first season, she vanishes for almost two weeks. When she returns, she doesn't remember anything that happened on the island, especially not who kidnapped her or why. Like Fiona, she reads an old diary of hers to try to remember the past couple weeks of her life. She slowly regains her memories in season three through hypnosis and revisiting places where her kidnapper left her.

Rating on the Realism Scale: Perhaps the most realistic plot device used by Lost. Though blocking traumatic memories isn't common by any means, it's more common than losing every memory you've ever had, like Bourne. Lost and Claire get a 6.

Push
The Basics: Push was a science fiction thriller movie, and I feel like I'm the only person who liked it. I thought it was fascinating, and one of the many special classes of people are "Wipers." As you may assume, they can wipe memories. The main character does this to himself so the enemies can't figure out their secret plan.

Rating on the Realism Scale: -5.

Men In Black
The Basics: The agency of alien hunters maintains their secrecy chiefly through the neuralyzer, which conveniently wipes the memories of those who come into contact with the men in black or aliens. It's even used on old agents once they retire. The men in black used it about a dozen times in the movie, at one point wiping the memories of the entire city of New York. Like I said, how convenient.

Rating on the Realism Scale: -100.

While You Were Sleeping
The Basics: This isn't actually a real case of amnesia. Sandra Bullock plays in this romantic comedy and she saves a man from an oncoming train. Through a strange series of events, his family starts to think she's his fiance, and when he wakes up from a coma, he obviously doesn't remember her. They blame it on amnesia. (I used to have this movie on VHS and I watched it all the time. This and Forces of Nature were why Sandra Bullock was my favorite actress.)

Rating on the Realism Scale: 7. If you're one who can carry out a lie as long as a protagonist in a romantic comedy.

Harry Potter
The Basics: Obliviate. The spell that can erase memories in the Harry Potter world. Gilderoy Lockhart is quite an expert with them, having used them for years to take other people's achievements and pass them off as his own. When he tries to memory charm Ron with Ron's broken wand, the spell backfires. Lockhart loses his memory - all of it. He spends the rest of his life in St. Mungo's.

Rating on the Realism Scale: -10. Don't ask why this is more realistic than the neuralizer. It just is.



Community
The Basics: In the Halloween episode of season two, Dean Pelton gets food for the Halloween party at Greendale Community College from the Army surplus store. They soon find out this food had some kind of disease or, well, I don't really remember because I can't find the episode online. POINT IS, everyone starts to turn into zombies, and the disease spreads through biting. Someone has the theory that lowering the thermostat would save everyone, and Troy is the first black man to make it to the end and save everyone. But not before the government shows up looking a lot like Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in suits and sunglasses and-you guessed it-their very own neuralizer. But Troy doesn't escape the knowledge that Shirley and Change hooked up, as seen in the video above.

Rating on the Realism Scale: 10. You know the government is covering up zombie breakouts ALL THE TIME. (And don't ask why they got a positive rating when MIB didn't. This is MY blog!)

There is also anterograde amnesia, which is the inability to create new memories. It's used much less often.
50 First Dates
The Basics: In this comedy, Adam Sandler meets a girl, has a wonderful day with her, falls in love. . .and the next day, she doesn't remember him. Lucy got in a car crash and relives the same day over and over again since her mind is unable to form new memories, but Adam Sandler's character is determined to be with her. He plans different ways to speak to her each day and maybe, just maybe, she has some memory of him after a while. . .

Rating on the Realism Scale: 3. Cute movie, but this is a far cry from true anterograde amnesia (trust me, I'm an expert).

Memento
The Basics: A Christopher Nolan film, our protagonist Guy Pierce can't remember anything for more than a few moments. He takes polaroid pictures and takes notes to keep himself in the present. The film takes on a nonlinear structure, following the main character as he tries to keep a struggle on what's happening to him and who the people around him are. You really have no idea what's going on until the end. When Christopher Nolan wins everything.

Rating on the Realism Scale: Apparently scientists loved the portrayal of anterograde amnesia in this movie. 10.

I know I missed many. What are your favorite amnesia-stricken characters in movies, books, and TV shows?

NOTE: I wanted to add Wolverine, but I couldn't decipher the movie plot from the comic books. I didn't want to sort through the thousands of plot lines in comic books (wikipedia wasn't enough) or offend someone by using the movie plot (which I know) when the comic book one was a lot cooler or something. Long story short: Wolverine required too much research for a blog post such as this. If someone wants to explain THE BASICS to me, go right ahead.

Also see: This article at BMJ, written by a guy who does way more research than I.

Thursday Thirteen - Characters

I read somewhere about "Thursday Thirteen". On Thursdays, you post a list about any 13 things! Well, today, this is a list of 13 characters of mine, old and new.

Now, keep in mind. . .these aren't polished blurbs for the stories. I'm just telling you a bit about the character and what kind of situation they are (or were) in. Some of these stories are retired. Some will be published soon.

Current characters first!

1. Fiona from Finding Fiona

Fiona woke up on the harbor with burns on her arms and stab wounds in her stomach. She remembered little about her life. She was taken in by a real estate agent named Hannah. She likes cheesy science fiction and horror movies, thriller novels, and physics. In Finding Fiona, she tries to figure out what happened to her. The novella will be published next month!

2. Heath from The Second Generation

Heath is a Vara, an offspring of the humans that mutated when the Var plague swept the Earth. He and his friend are traveling to Thatcher, a refugee city for Varum where Heath grew up, when they meet Natalie and Tracey. The girls seem more trouble than help at first. When a group of Varum extremists come to Thatcher to find something that will help them secede from the nation, the four of them have to work together to keep Thatcher and its inhabitants safe. The Second Generation is currently in revisions. When it's finished, I'll send out queries for an agent. It's an awesome story. Just needs some polishing up.

3. Alexa from A Game of Illusions

Alexa wants one thing: to be queen. The tournament their island holds every seven years, however, has been won by the same tyrant king for nearly thirty years. Alexa joins the Council to help dethrone him by placing two contestants into the tournament. It's not going to be easy, though. Not with Alexa's scheming father, her romantic feelings for one of the contestants, and the king seeking out a member of the Council who has magical powers. If all goes according to plan, A Game of Illusions should be published sometime next year.

4. Anna from Aaron and Anna

When Anna was eight years old, she met a boy with whom she had a mental connection to. She could feel Aaron's feelings; she could even feed off of his knowledge--anything he knew, she also knew. They were best friends for years until a falling out involving Anna's ex-boyfriend. She endured a year of relentless bullying from her peers, but she's a resilient girl. She gets top grades, works on the yearbook staff, has a great boyfriend. When Aaron seeks to rekindle their friendship, they find out there's much more to their connection than just what's in their heads. Aaron and Anna is about halfway done, and I love it! Whenever I finish it, I will probably query for an agent.

5. Dar from Promising Light

Dar has a mysterious family and a past he likes to keep quiet. He's romantically involved with Grace until someone warns her that Dar is dangerous. Agreeing, Dar leaves the country. He soon finds out how far his family is willing to go to break the curse set on them by the Protectors. He'll do anything to keep Grace safe, but she seems determined to help his family. Promising Light is a fantasy novel that should be published this winter.

6. Laura from Magnitude

Laura is the older sister, the sensible one. Her father just died, and she and her younger sister Jessica start a road trip. Their first stop: The Grand Canyon, where their dad always wanted to take them. Magnitude was published in Literary House Review. I will probably republish it in a short story collection called Beyond Our Edges.

Inbetweeners:

7. Dakota from The Seeker

Dakota is a helmsman who studied environmental science. She goes to Florida, her childhood home, to join the science team who's investigating the Bermuda Triangle. The team has adversaries also searching for the true meaning of the Triangle, but those problems dissipate when the team is transported to a parallel universe. On this island, the people want to blame Dakota and her team for trouble that's been happening in their world. The Seeker is put on hold for now, but I may bring it out again sometime in the future.

8. Jennifer from Stones of Cilean

Jennifer is a Water. In her world, people have one of six gifts: water, fire, earth, air, life, and death. She and her sister Kellie find out about the mysterious Clarnden Foundation, who seeks to dismantle the Council. They find the Stones of Cilean, which give them powers beyond their comprehension, and they soon have to flee the Clarnden Foundation to stay alive. Stones of Cilean is retired for now, but my husband and sisters really want to see it revived. We'll see!

Retired stories:

9. V from Running

V was the FBI's youngest agent. She was put on a mission to impersonate a girl named Tessa to protect her. Tessa looked exactly like V, and V soon finds out her estranged father who became a serial killed has connections to Tessa and her family. Running was one of the first stories I ever showed people in real life (as opposed to people online). I would bring new chapters to school, and my friends would read them during class. I'm sad because I have no idea where the whole story is now. It's retired mostly because I only have bits and pieces of it. It'd be fun to rewrite it if I knew where the heck it was.

10. Brian from Untitled

Brian and Melissa had a happy relationship until Brian got caught up in underground crime. A year after they've broken up, Brian comes to Melissa for help. He regrets leaving her behind, but he also wanted to keep her safe from the dangerous people he works with. He and Melissa are soon pulled into the world again when Melissa's brother goes missing. This untitled story is definitely retired. If I were to bring it out again, it would need an extensive rewrite since I knew very little about underground crime or long-term relationships when I wrote it.

11. Alex from St. Mary's Boarding School

Alex is the bookworm at the posh St. Mary's Boarding School. He's the kind of guy who takes a book to parties. He's smart, cheeky, and he just barely survives the snobs at his school. He had a crush on the new girl, Samantha, until she gave him the "just a friend" speech. In the sequel, he gradually fell for the school's queen bee, much to his chagrin. St. Mary's Boarding School, which I wrote about five years ago, is also retired. It resembles It Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar just a tad too much.

12. Lily from Altair

Lily was the General's Daughter in my 2004 Nanowrimo. Feisty with short black hair, she was kidnapped by an aide of the king, but I honestly don't remember why. She must have been a threat or something. She was part of a prophecy about four people destined to save the world. Altair is very, VERY retired. It is never seeing the light of day again.

13. Todd from Todd's Videos

Todd was a creative guy obsessed with his video camera. He videotaped everything: his girlfriend Valerie and their relationship, his family's ups and downs, his mission trip to Sudan. He was passionate and loving. When he's killed in Sudan, his girlfriend Valerie pours over his videos for his mom. I started Todd's Videos in 2005, but I don't think I'll ever finish it.

There you have it. Probably way more than you wanted to know about my characters!