Goodbye, Clutter

Well, it's the day after Christmas, and you want to know what we did today?  Packed up the Christmas tree and decorations, not able to see them for another whole year!!!  It was heartbreaking for my little brother who is a Christmas person, but not for everyone else.  There was sooooo much clutter (decorations) that we got rid of!  It's like I can breath again!  The house is now back in order, and I'm ready to start another book.  Or finish one that I really enjoy.  Speaking of books that I really enjoy writing...

The Iris-Windr is a book that I really want to finish.  The characters are so near and dear to my heart.  But we (me and the co-authors of the book) have been so busy that we haven't been able to find time for Velaan, Loren, and Athaliah.  I feel like I'm neglecting them.  :'< 


Note for Anastasia Cross:

Dear Miss Cross,

Please write with me and Hootie.

Sincerely,

Angelina




-Angelina


Please forgive this short post...

Traveling on the Long Road

What's the "long road", you may be asking?  It's NaNoWriMo.  Yes.  Almost done!  ALMOST!!!  Just a few more days!  I can see the light at the end of a dark, creepy, terrifying tunnel, and I am overjoyed and filled with happiness that I can finally see it.  Yes, just a few more days!

NaNoWriMo has been tough for me this year.  Last year I wrote my whole 40,000 word novel no problem in 31 days.  But this years seems different.  It has been very sssssssssslllllllllllooooooooowwwwwwww.  I've tried many different remedies, but nothing's working.  The book that I'm writing is really good!  It's not writer's block that's been keeping me, it's just... busyness, I guess.  I've already had to dramatically alter my word count.  But no matter.  I will make it through! 

The book that I'm doing this year for NaNo is a pirate book called Under the Stars (or Under the Sky, I'm not completely sure on the title yet).  It takes place in the mid to late fifteenth century in many places.  Norway, Spain, England, France, the sea (obviously).  I will give you a brief synopsis on it and a little view of some of the main characters. 

Synopsis:

As a young boy, Kai Lundstorm ran away from home to join a cargo ship heading for Barbados. But along the way the ship is attacked by pirates.  No one survives as the ship is blown up.  Except for Kai. 
Aubrey MacLennan longs to sail away from Ireland and be on the sea.  She's always felt at home when in the ocean.  She wants to sail away and find out more about healing,  But her guardians strongly oppose to her ideas and fantasies, and they tell her she will never leave Ireland while she is under their care.  But something happens to her that will change her life.

Characters:

name: Kai Lundstrom
age: takes place while he is 15-25
appearance: pale blue eyes, bleached blond hair, over six feet tall
personality: a born leader, has a sad/happy spirit about him

Name: Aubrey MacLennan
age: 22
appearance: red hair, jade green eyes, regular height for an Irishwoman.
personality: sometimes feisty, always very happy, very opinionated in what she believes


Name:  Gamaliel Ovid
age: unknown, but relatively young
appearance: blue eyes, greasy brown hair, wiry eyebrows, short for a man
personality: quirky and mysterious are the only words to describe his personality

Note!  HE IS NOT AN ELF, DESPITE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE PICTURE! 



Name: Griffin Smith
age: 20
appearance: hazel eyes, dark brown hair, a little above average height
personality: serious, but not un-fun (is that a word?), very responsible, compassionate



Name: Finn Lee
age: probably late 30's
appearance: blond hair, blue eyes, tall, always found with a cutlass in his hands
personality: happy, care-free, heart of the crew



Name: Harper, captain of the pirate ship the Red Saber
age: no one knows, although she looks around 28
appearance: dark curly hair, pale blue eyes, slender, tall
personality: gruesome, unmerciful, vicious


And those are just some of the characters (the most important ones) from my book. 

-Angelina Zoe

The Month When All Our Time is Eaten Up By a Monster We all Love and Hate

Picture this.  Bloodshot eyes.  Shakey hands that won't stay still.  Mouth hanging open with drool dripping down the side of your mouth.  You are in your room, the only light that's shining is your laptop's screen.  The only thing you can see is a page, partly blank and partly filled with words, and nothing can stop your addictiveness.  Nothing.

Can you guess what month I'm talking about.  November.  Yes, it's almost that time of year again.  The thirty days when the contest takes place.  NaNoWriMo.

THE END!!!

No matter what you do to try to keep yourself away from your computer and with your family, during November it's just so hard.  So hard!  During NaNoWriMo it feels like you just want to pull out your hair from pure frustration!  And when your mom says it's time for bed, you're saying, Just five-thousand words left!  Just five-thousand!  Five hours later, and what is your word-count?  Five more words than before.  Yep.  That's the power NaNoWriMo has over your life for one whole months.  Thirty days.  Seven-hundred-twenty hours.  Four-million-three-thousand-and-two-hundred minutes.  Talk about addictive!

This is my second year doing nanowrimo, and I'm telling you, I'm dreading every minute of November.  Don't get me wrong, I love writing novels in thirty days.  But... not the way they do it.  It's so addictive!  On one hand you really want to do it and win, even if it kills you!  But on the other hand, well, you see how it takes over your life.  So I've made myself a promise this year.  I will only type for an hour a day.  Yep, good luck with that, is what the other side (and probably all nanowrimoers) of me is snickering.  I'll tell you if I actually stick to that.  

Well, better go start on an idea for November.  *Sigh*  Back to the drawing board.  

-Angelina Zoe

Movies Coming Out in November! (and One in December)

Yes, I know.  It has been a looooooooong time since my last post.  I have been really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, (I think you get the picture) really, busy since school started!  But here I am again, ready to write another post!  :D

We just went to the movie theaters to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (OH MY GOODNESS!!!  IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!  YOU HAVE TO GO SEE IT, OR BEG YOUR PARENTS TO!!!  IT WAS THE BEST!!!), and there were so many awesome commercials for movies coming to theaters in November!  I was sitting next to my little brother (he's as much as a movie fanatic as I am) and we were both keeping screams inside us as we were mesmerized by the screen in front of us, showing us commercials for November.  Here are the three best movies (in my opinion) coming out in November in order of their dates.

*NOTE*  These are not in the exact order in which I would see them! 


Friday, November 1
Ender's Game



My older brother read this book a few years ago (and it's rare when you see my brother read a book and enjoy it), and he actually liked it!  He was quoting from it for days!  And he still does.  The commercial for this movie is enough to send shivers up your spine from excitement!  I'd like to see this one in theaters, but it's rated pg-13, so... I don't know how good it'll be. 



Friday, November 8
Thor: The Dark World
*Fangirl scream!*



Okay, I don't know about you, but I have to see this in the theaters when it comes out!  I AM A TOTAL THOR FAN!!!  This one looks so good!  And it has elves in it!  Combining my two favorite things!  Thor and elves!  I am so seeing this one in the theaters!!!  But then again, it is rated PG-13, and a lot of Marvel movies aren't the greatest when it comes to bloodiness in the movies.  So I don't know if I'll see it.  I'm praying that it will be alright, though!  The commercial for it made me scream!  Literally!  But in the movies I didn't scream.  Although I would've if it was the first time I saw it. 


Wednesday, November 27
Frozen



If you haven't already seen the cute short for this movie, you need to look it up.  Like, right now!  This is going to be the best Disney movie this year!  At least that's what I am predicting!  I'm hoping to go see this movie on Thanksgiving this year!  If I can convince my parents.  I'll just have to give them the innocent, adorable, puppy dog face.  ;)


Okay, I'm going to put a movie that comes out in December on this post to.  So get ready.  Hold on to your laptop so you don't drop it out of excitement!  Ready...? 


Friday, December 13
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug



I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE!!!  I probably love LOTR more than I love Marvel!  Yes!  I said it!  Go ahead, beat me up for it.  But it's true!  And the Hobbit is so awesome!!!  The first one was really good and it followed the book well.  I cannot wait for this one!  And it has Legolas in it (*another fangirl scream!*)!!!  How much better can it get?!


I am really saving my money up this winter!  I really want to see these movies, and I don't know if I can wait for them to come out on DVD.  So I'm going to get some extra jobs around the house so maybe I'll be able to see most of them!  :D

-Angelina Zoe 

The Best Short Story Ever!

Okay, I have a confession to make.  I can’t write a short story.  I just can’t!  Whenever I write a short story it always ends up being at least (at least!) twenty pages long.  And I’m just starting there!  But right now I’m taking this course called IEW that helps to develop your writing style.  So we’re on the short story section, and let me just tell you: I think I’ve finally found the key to short story writing!

Yay!!!

Yeah, Anastasia, I know you’re probably thinking, “Whaaaa?  Angelina, a short story writer?”  But I did it!  It’s the best short story that I’ve ever written!  And it’s only three pages!  And the third page only has one line on it!  It’s a story about a man named Scentus Smellius.  Yes… it’s beautiful. 

Prepared to be amazed!  :O

-Angelina Zoe

 

The Tragedy of Scentus Smellius

Once upon a time, in an unnamed land, there lived a middle-aged man by the name of Scentus Smellius. He was a poor man who made sweet smelling soaps and other scents for his income. Now one day while Scentus Smellius was adding some more vanilla to a new soap mixture he had just made, a group of young women carrying home water saw what he was doing and scoffed at his vanilla scent.

“Vanilla,” they all agreed out loud, putting their hands naïvely on their hips, “is so last year. Why this year the best smelling scent it lavender. Now that would really sell well at the market.”

Scentus Smellius, who was quite a simple-minded fellow, shrugged and went into his house, bringing out a jar full of lavender that he had dried the year before. “Well, they are ladies,” Scentus thought to himself, throwing in the dried lavender. “And I’m sure they know what they’re talking about.”

So Scentus stirred the soap mixture, now a lavender/vanilla fragrance, until a small cluster of older gentlemen came hobbling past, leaning heavily on their bent canes. “I’ll tell you what smell in soap will sell the best,” one of the men rasped, his voice hoarse from old age. “Oatmeal, that’s what. It’ll rub years of dirt off of your feet.” All the other men nodded their shaggy, gray heads in agreement as they shuffled away.

“Oatmeal?” Scentus thought to himself. “Well, they are older gentlemen who would know what sells best.” Into his house Scentus went, grabbing from his shelf oats and some brown sugar. He then poured the right amounts into the mixture and stirred it in with a large, long-handled ladle.

As Scentus sat by his mixture, watching to see when it would be done, a small band of women and very dirty children came walking along. “What you really need to add,” one woman called out to him, holding her child who looked like he had played in the mud, an arm’s length away from her, “is mint. It’s fresh, clean, and tingly when you wash with it. Perfect for cleaning the young uns’ right after they’ve had a mud bath.”

Scentus raised an eyebrow and pondered on this for a while. “Well, I guess she does know what she’s talking about. After all, she does have to bathe dirty children.” So once again Scentus hastily darted around to his little herb garden, gathering some fresh mint from his mint bush. He threw it into the pot of mixture before anything couldn’t be added anymore, and stirred it in with much difficulty. The mixture was almost done, and Scentus finally poured it into a square mold for it to dry and harden.

When market day came, Scentus Smellius’ soap was finally ready to be taken out of the mold and cut into individual squares so he could sell them. All packaged nicely and ready to be sold, the soap bars were carried under Scentus’ arm as he rode into town to sell them. He set his soaps up so that they looked presentable and waited for his first customer. But no one came, for the smell from the soaps was drawing people away. The smell was horrid!

Across from his booth and over the bridge that separated the road from the town, Scentus saw people pointing at him and laughing. “Can you believe that he would even try to sell something that putrid smelling?” One of them asked, laughing hysterically. “Look, even the ever-present-flies are staying away!”

Ashamed and vexed with himself, Scentus packed up his soaps and put them under his arm, riding his donkey home. He didn’t earn anything from his soaps, so now he wouldn’t have enough money to buy food for the oncoming winter. With a strong jerk, Scentus Smellius threw the package of soaps into the river, thinking to himself, “In trying to please everyone, I pleased no one.” And with a heavy sigh Scentus Smellius rode on home.

My Big Writing Problem

I'm having a really hard time right now with writing.  Yes, the Writing Queen has writers block!  I don't know how I accumulated it, but I have it.  And I have had for the past two months!  But inspiration is starting to slowly creep back into my mind, my idea-less brain.  So what happens when in the middle of school I have a really good idea for my book?  I can't write it down or type it because I'm in the middle of a class.  Then the idea is lost completely to the world!  *Sigh*  That is one of the many joys of being in high school.

I think it's safe to say that I've never gotten writer's block this severe before.  I've tried every exercise to blow it away for the day, but nothing helps it!  But today... yes, this glorious morning, I got a brilliant idea for my book!  Yes, yes!!!  Life!!!  GIVE MY BOOK LIFE!!!

Ahem...

Anyways, so I was reading my Bible study, and a line came to me.  A line that a little boy was speaking, and it gave me the best idea ever!  It's for a character of mine named Noah Cruse who is a redheaded four year old.  It was such a cute line and I didn't forget it!  So after that happened, BOOM! another idea came to my head for that same book little Noah is in.  Under the Cover of Darkness.

An idea finally came into my mind!  Into my dusty brain!  An idea had arisen from the ashes from the burning of the writer's block (yeah, I have no idea what that even means)!  IT WILL ARISE!  MY IDEA WILL SURFACE IN TIME!  Just wait and see!  Wait and see!  It will break through the un-penetrable bubble of writer's block!

So now it's Idea vs. Writer's Block.  And this time I'm sure Idea will win!

That was my random talk...  

Angelina Zoe  

Epic

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  My family and I just watched Epic today for the first time, and let me just tell you: IT WAS AWESOME!!!  It was one of the best movies that I have ever watched!  It compares to a Disney movie, that's how good it was!

My father at first was wary of watching.  He thought that it would be lame and childish (and my father loves animated movies), but boy was he in for a big surprise!  I would recommend this movie for all ages!  From young child, to old aunts and uncles.  Yes.  It was that good.  Believe me.  Epic was... epic!  A movie for all ages!

My two favorite characters are:  MK (Mary Katherine), the main character.  She somehow gets shrunk (by the queen of the leafmen) and is given the major responsibility of protecting a Pod, the next queen.  And then there's Nod, a rebellious ex-leafman, who assists MK and the head leafman, Ronin, try to get the Pod to safety.

The movie had a really good plot and the animation was absolutely stunning!  And we didn't even watch it with the Blue Ray!  One of the themes that was going on in the movie was, "There are many leaves, but one tree.  No one is alone."

This movie was comparable to Rise of the Guardians, which was a very good movie also.  I rate Epic 9 out of 10.  A great family movie!

Angelina Zoe

At the Coming of the Dawn

This book only has a chapter written in it so far.  It is a really sad book, and I hate writing sad books.  But alas, I can’t help myself.  I love to make my readers cry as they read!  I like it when the tears stream down the reader’s face, making agonizing sounds.  If you think I’m bad, you should see the stuff that my fellow writer, Mel N. Cholly, writes.  It is absolutely heartbreaking!  Heartbreaking, I tell you!

Believe me, this is going to be a really, really, really, really, really, really, sad book.  So read on, readers, read on...

Angelina Zoe

               It was the third of July, that dreadful day, when my life was turned upside down by a powerful rainstorm and a misery so great, and so painful.  The day that no one will ever forget.

               It started out as any other sweltering hot day in June on the island of St. Simons, Georgia.  My father worked in the lighthouse as the lighthouse keeper, and my younger sister and brother and I lived with him in the little house that was attached to the bottom.  Being the eldest, and the strongest, I helped my father in the daytime with the keeping and cleaning of the light.  During the afternoons, when the sun shone, our father would sleep and prepare for the upcoming night.  At night, father would stay up and tend to the light, and during the day it would be my responsibility to take care of my brother and clean out the glass and mirrors that reflected the huge light at dusk.

               It wasn’t a hard job, cleaning the lights, but it was tiresome.  In order to get the glass to shine like the sun, I had to lug two buckets full of soapy water up five, winding, steep, flights of stairs.  I’d never complain, though, because I know what father does every single night, and has done for the past fifty years. 

               It was the night before the third of July when my younger brother, Elroy, and I were sitting on the jetties right on the ocean.  It was almost dusk and a storm was brewing to the east.  The clouds above in the sky were an ominous black color, threatening to break open at any moment, and I could hear the distinct sound of thunder in the far away distance.  It was faint, but I could still hear it. 

               I should have known that trouble was brewing.  I should have known that something bad was going to happen.  I could just feel it in the air as it whipped at my face, stinging my watering eyes.  Elroy tried to persuade me to get inside the lighthouse before the storm started.  But what did I say?  I told him no.  No.  Why did I not listen to him?  Listen to my heart?

Under the Cover of Darkness

Under the Cover of Darkness is sort of an experiment book for me. It started out as a spy book, but then it turned into something different.  It wasn’t supposed to be a book about family coping together in hard times, but it did.  I did not have control over my characters!  It was my idea to make it spy, but it was David’s (the main character) idea to make it a touching story.  Well, I never win arguments with my characters.  So... David won and it’s now a sentimental book. 

Angelina Zoe

               David Cruse walked out of his bedroom and into the tiny kitchen in the three bedroom apartment that he and his three siblings lived in.  His younger, and very mischievous, little brother, Noah, was already at the table, trying to scoop as many Lucky Charms into his mouth as he could.  Next to him slouched in the chair was his other brother, Brian.  

               Brian was a tall, skinny, fifteen year old with streaked blond hair that had natural highlights of red and sea blue eyes with green specks in them.  Pimples freely populated his face, and he had little, white pieces of toilet paper stuck to his skin where he had cut himself shaving.  He wore a stained, once white undershirt and grey, gym shorts that were too short for him and were pulled in many places.  “Nah, I’ve been up for a while.  You just can’t tell my by sleepiness.”  He followed that phrase with another loud yawn.  “Hey, where’s Molly?  I was sure I heard her little voice somewhere this morning.” 

               David shrugged, picking up a marshmallow rainbow from the table that had escaped from Noah’s overfilled bowl.  “She and Noah woke me up this morning.  I haven’t seen her since.  She’s probably in her room.” 

               Noah nodded eagerly.  “Yup.  She’s in hur woom, twying to hide from me.  We were pwaying hide and seek, and I towld hur to hide.  And then I was hungwy.” 

               “And you just left her still hiding,” David asked, looking at the little redhead with question in his eyes.

               Noah nodded and noisily slurped the milk from his bowl so that there was only cereal left.  He wiped his milk moustache with the sleeve of his dinosaur pajamas and smiled.  “I’ll go get hur once I’m done.” 

               “Which will be in, like, forever,” said Brian, taking the bag of Lucky Charms cereal and pouring a bowlful of it into his mouth. 

               David sighed and watched Brian.  “Come on, Brian.  Really?  Use a bowl, dude.”

               Brian crunched noisily and looked at David, shrugging carelessly.  “It’s a waste of dishes,” he said through his loud crunching.  Or at least that’s what David thought he said.  It was kind of hard to tell what he was trying to say with him eating and all. 

               Noah laughed at Brian and started to do it himself, jumping out of his chair and onto the table, trying to grab the bag with his chunky hands.  But David quickly snatched it away before Noah could pour any into his mouth.  “Nuh uh, Noah.  You know better.  You have much better manners than Brian.”

               Noah stuck out his lower lip in a pout and plopped back down in his chair.  “Bwian did it,” he whined, rubbing his face. 

               “Yeah, well you’re not Brian.  You’re Noah.  And Noah has better manners than Brian.”  David placed the Lucky Charms bag in the refrigerator on the top shelf where Noah couldn’t get it and went to go sit back down at the table.  Noah wasn’t pouty anymore and was now scoffing down the rest of his mushy cereal.

               “So,” Brian started the conversation, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms around his chest.  “What are we going to do today?”

               David shrugged while he took a napkin and wiped up Noah’s milk mess.  “I dunno’.  What do you want to do?” 

               Brian’s smile was replaced by a sad frown, and his eyes became gloomy.  “I’d like to... to visit mom,” he said quietly, his voice becoming hoarse.

               Noah suddenly looked up from his eating and furrowed his eyebrows, complexed.  “Visit mommy?”  He asked, cocking his head sideways.  “But I thouwht that she is in heaven.” 

               David smiled sadly and nodded his head.  “Yes, she is in heaven, right now.”

               “Then how can we visit her?”  Noah’s face still had remints of cereal and milk stuck everywhere.  

               “Brian means where she is...” David sighed heavily and looked at the little redhead. 

               “Where she is buried,” a soft girl’s voice finished David’s sentence.  It was his little sister, Molly.  

Not Alone (title pending)

Not Alone is the fantasy book that is the sequel to Alone In the Dark.  It is going to be a series of three books in all.  That is if I get them all completed.  The second one is mainly about Fëllon Xrëeon’s (the main character from the first book, Alone In the Dark) daughter, Žashŧä.  Yes, I know.  The name looks very fancy.  Almost too fancy.  But I had fun creating it.  :)  Here is an expert from Not Alone.

Comment and tell me what you think of it!

Angelina Zoe

               Žashŧä leaned her head back against a branch of the tree she was up in and sighed deeply.  She drew out a dagger hidden from somewhere on her person and flipped it in her hand, muttering as she did.  “‘Princess’ don’t flip daggers in their hands, Žashŧä dear,’” she mimicked her mother in a high voice, making a sour face.  “Well you know what, Mother?  This is one princess who does!”  She hurled the dagger with all of might forward, hitting a tree in front of her.  It hit it with a thunk and was rooted firmly there. 

               “What do you think of that, Mother?”  Žashŧä growled as she pulled another dagger from her boots.  She flicked her wrist, still holding the blade in her hand, and licked her lips.  “When am I ever going get out of Yilla and into the real world?”  Žashŧä sighed, hating the life she was living now.  She never wanted to be the princess’s daughter.  She wanted to be normal.  A normal, twenty-one year old elf.  But that was impossible, being the granddaughter of the king of Yilla.  Everyone wanted to serve the granddaughter of King Glandias, and no one would ever leave her alone.  No one.  Not even her own mother. 

               Žashŧä made another face as she thought about her mother.  Her father wasn’t bad, she admitted to herself.  He didn’t raise her the way that the ancient elves of Yilla had raised all of their children.  He did it the way he thought best.  And that is where her mother and father didn’t always agree on.  Life just isn’t fair, she thought to herself.  I’d rather be a villager, starving and not having enough clothes than to be the Princess Aurïa’s daughter.

               She flipped the dagger again in between her fingers and hurled it right next to the blade she had thrown before.  She needed a way to vent her anger, and this wasn’t enough.            

               Suddenly, Žashŧä was aware of another presence near her.  “That’s one way to let your anger out,” a voice from behind her echoed. 

               She turned around quickly, drawing another dagger, and suddenly stopped when she recognized the elf.  Sitting in front of her, twenty feet from the ground, above in a tree, was her father, garbed in black.  She sighed, relieved she didn't hit him accidentally, fueled by her anger.  “Father?  What are you doing here?”  She asked, looking at him with her quizzical blue eyes that still had anger behind them.   

               Fëllon adjusted himself on the tree branch he was sitting on and gazed into Žashŧä’s face.  She knew that he was thinking she looked so much like her mother.  That just made her sourer.  “I've come here to see you, my dear.  Why else would I be here?” 

               Žashŧä didn’t meet his piercing black eyes and turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Not a lot of people can sneak up on me like that,” she mumbled, staring at the decorated handle of her dagger.  It had an intricate design of two wolves under the three suns of the far away land Freelane.  

               “It is a gift of mine, sneaking up on people.  And it is much easier when that person you are sneaking up on is angry or absorbed in troubling thoughts.”  For a split second, Fëllon thought back to his adoptive father who taught him the meaning of stealth.  But only for a second.  “Žash, what’s bothering you?” 

               Žashŧä sighed angrily.  “Mother!  Mother is what’s bothering me!  I can’t be with her for more than a minute without her telling me what to do and what not to do!  You don’t know how annoying it gets!”  She brought her dangling legs up and held them close to her chest.

               “She is your mother,” Fëllon commented, leaning back a little.  “And you owe her your respect.” 

               “You don’t understand, Father,” Žashŧä whined, putting her hair behind her pointed ears.

               “Oh, yes I do.  You should’ve seen your mother before you were born.  Even before we were married she was giving me orders!  Ordering me around like a slave!  Like I was her personal bodyguard.”  Fëllon lifted an eyebrow and smiled.  “Then again, I was her personal bodyguard.”  

               Žashŧä gave him a wary look and narrowed her eyes.  “You are just making that up.”

               “No, I’m not.  If you think she’s bossy now, it’s only because she loves you so much.”  Fëllon paused for a moment and then went on.  “If she didn’t care about you, then do you think that she would worry about your future?  Or her wanting to bring you up as mothers bring up daughters that will soon rule Yilla?”

               Žashŧä’s expression didn’t change at all.  She still held the dagger in her calloused hand and looked at it wistfully.  “She wants me to stop sword fighting.”  She then looked up at her father with pleading eyes.  “Father, you know how much sword fighting means to me.” 

               Fëllon nodded slowly, looking at her thoughtfully.  “No one said that you had to stop it if you didn’t want to.  Your mother just expressed her unhappiness with it.  That is all.” 

               Putting her dagger away, Žashŧä unfolded her legs and let them swing again.  “I guess I never thought of it that way.”  She was quiet for a while, pondering on what her father had just told her.  “I, uh... guess I should go talk to mother.” 

               Fëllon nodded, a hint of a smile on his handsome face.  “That would be a wise thing to do.” 

               Žashŧä shrugged and stood up unsteadily on her thick branch, holding her arms out for balance.  “I guess the sooner the better.”  Then she quickly added, “But I’m not going to repent.  Just talk to her.”

               “You’d better be quick about it.  You know how your mother can worry.”

               “Oh do I ever!”  She jumped from the branch and clung onto another one further down, doing that for each level of branches until she got down to the ground.  “Are you coming?”  She called up to her father.

                “Yup, I’m coming!”

Alone In the Dark

Here’s an expert from my fantasy book Alone In the Dark.  The book is completed, but it was written for NaNoWriMo.  Yeah, that tells you everything.  Right now it is under construction.  I’m about half done with rewriting it.  Yay!  So it’s almost there!  Halfway!  

If you’d like to read more, comment and I’ll have more.  

Angelina Zoe

Fëllon held tight as Ash, his dragon, pointed his body upwards, flapped his wings with powerful strokes, and straitened his thick, spiraling tail, pushing him higher in the air.  When they were far away from the dark and foggy Black Mountain and above in the bright sky, even with the clouds, Fëllon let go of Ash’s spike and extended his arms, holding on to the dragon’s body with his legs and closing his eyes.  

Fëllon saw Ash turn his head slightly to look at him - careful not to let that slight movement affect his flying - and saw that he was very much in his ‘happy time’ right now.  “How long has it been since we have done this,” Ash asked, lifting his right wing a little to turn.  

Fëllon opened his eyes and shrugged.  “It has been awhile since,” he replied, dropping his arms to his side.  “Sorry I haven’t had much time for you lately, Ash.  It’s just that Lord Ȅrräd expects so much from me now.  He has doubled my dark arts training!  Can you believe that?”

Ash nodded.  “He knows you don’t like it.  That is why he does it.”

Fëllon looked down at the scenery below - a bright green forest with a small lake in the center - and sighed.  “He thinks he can harness me with black training, but...”

“But it’s not working.  For him or you,” Ash said, leveling his wing with the other.  

“I don’t know what he thinks he can accomplish making me learn the dark arts.  I mean, if he’s trying to make us closer, then he could just, you know, say so.”

“What has he decided now to make you so upset with him this time?”  Asked ever-knowing-his-young-charge-Ash.  

“He wants me to go to Yilla and pose as the Yillan princess’s bodyguard.  He wants to make sure that she doesn’t succeed in getting the White Mountain dwarves to join the war against us before our forces are ready with ‘The Cannon’.”

“Well that can’t be so hard.”

“It isn’t.  It’s the fact that he just orders me around like a... like a... a slave!  I’m not his slave.  I think the reason he’s doing this is because he wants to see me fail.  He thinks I can’t succeed in anything I do.  He thinks I’m not such a good heir to the throne.  He just wants to test me to see if I’m anything like him in the ruling department.” 

“I don’t know if that is the reason, but I do know that you two are as different as a rainforest and a desert.”

Fëllon sighed, rubbing his hand on Ash’s side.  “I know that.”

“Well, that’s because you aren’t a moronic Mernic.”  Ash chuckled at his little joke and then grew serious again.  “I remember the day that Lord Ȅrräd brought you to the Black Mountain to live with him.  You were just a baby, all pale and pointy eared.”

“Yeah, I know I know.  He didn’t have an heir to the throne so he needed one and he found me.  I’ve heard that story many times.”

Suddenly the world around them changed as Ash dove downwards into the little clearing in the sunlit forest with the small lake.  He slowed down as he hit the ground and gracefully brought his wings towards his body.  

My Novels

Right now I have about a hundred and a half books going on; in my head and in the process of writing.  Every time I watch a movie, or read a good book, or go to some inspiring place, I get an idea for a book.  *Sigh*  And unfortunately that also means new characters develop in my mind!  I don’t know about the average writer, but the worst thing for me is to think of a character and get excited about them and their future, or what they will accomplish, and then have to throw them away to a place in the back of your mind labeled, “Forgotten and Not Remembered... Ever Again.”  It just kills me when I have to do that.  It’s like murder! 

But back to the subject of books.  I’ve gotten off track thinking about my “lost” characters.  There are only three books that I’m working really hard on right now.  One is finished but undergoing major deconstruction and rewriting.  And when I mean major, I mean major!  It was written in exactly 29 days.  One word.  NaNoWriMo.  Need I say more?  The second one is the sequel to the one that’s being rewritten.  And the third is sort of what I call a spy book.  Although it has nothing to do with spies.  Just crime.  But just the word spy makes the book instantly cool.  Like what Jase from Duck Dynasty always says.  “Adding camo to anything instantly makes it cool.”   For me the quote changes to this.  “Adding the word spy and ninja to anything instantly makes it cool!”  Oh yeah... :)  Here are a few main outlines from some of my books.

Alone In the Dark
Genre: Fantasy
Completed, but under major rewriting

He was found as a child, abandoned and alone, by a dark lord and was raised as an assassin in the dark arts.  His play toys as a child were curved swords and battle axes; his playmate and best friend was a scaly dragon and his neighbor was a deadly bounty hunter.  Now at nineteen years of age, Fëllon Xrëeon is sent on an extremely important mission assigned to him by the dark lord Ȅrräd.  Make sure the elven princess doesn’t succeed in her ally mission.

The dark lord Ȅrräd is gaining power over to the west of the peaceful elven providence, Yilla.  His army is growing stronger every day and the elves know they need to prepare for an attack.  The princess of Yilla is sent by her father, the bold King Glandias, to convince the neighboring dwarves to join their forces.   The journey is dangerous, and the princess will need an accompaniment; an accompaniment and a mysterious bodyguard, named Fëllon Xrëeon.     

Never Alone (title pending)
Genre: Fantasy
Uncompleted
Sequel to Alone In the Dark

Žashŧä Xrëeon hates the life she has now.  As the daughter of an elven princess, and granddaughter of the King of Yilla, she is expected to be a lady, and a feminine lady at that.  But she doesn’t want to be a lady.  She wants to be a swordmaiden.  She wants to lead an army of Elves, not sit in a stuffy castle, learning what to do and not to do.  Her chance comes when the supposedly extinct race of vicious Mernics rise to power with a new leader.  Yilla doesn’t stand a chance against the rising Mernics, even with her allies of Gnomes and Dwarves. 

Fëllon Xrëeon, along with his daughter Žashŧä, in a desperate attempt to stop the attacking Mernics from destroying their beloved city, travels to the ancient country of Uörmiaŋ where there are sure to be more troops.  Along the way some mysteries start to unravel... maybe even the mystery of Fëllon’s shadowy past.       

Under the Cover of Darkness
Genre: Modern day fiction
Uncompleted

David Cruse is your typical college student who lives with his family until he can get a job.  That is until his mother falls ill and dies.  He is then left with three younger siblings to raise, care, and provide for.  But money doesn’t come easy where David lives.  Will David Cruse choose the path that will lead him down to ruin and destruction, or will he use his faith, the faith that his mother instilled in him when he was just a young boy, and get through these hard times? 

The Iris Windr
Genre: Fantasy
Uncompleted
Co-authored with Mel N. Cholly and Anastasia Cross

The Elven island of Virialis has been peaceful for the past many years since the wicked Snaidraug Elves were banished from the kingdom.  Since then, only peace and happiness has ruled over Virialis.  But it is not to last forever.  The king and queen of Virialis are murdered, along with the three protectors of the royal: the ancient race of the Iris-Windr. 

Chaos and havoc wreak Virialis as the three new Iris-Windr try to cope with the murder of their former mentors, and the new responsibility of protecting the only royal left.  The princess.  As they try to unravel the mystery of who killed their beloved mentors and the princesses parents, other secrets start to unfold.  Dark secrets. 

At the Coming of the Dawn
Genre: Historical fiction

No synopsis yet.  Idea still not fully developed.  I think I have writer’s block on this book!  Ironic, isn't it?

Journey Into the Shadows

Genre: Fantasy
Almost completed

Ian Ilias, a vagabond, along with his twelve year old companion Cedric, is hired to steal important official documents for the kingdom of Nossalia.  He is supposed to steal them from the princess of Yamalif, Nossalia's sworn enemy.  But along the way, Ian finds out some disturbing facts.  About his country and himself.           

I will have an excerpt from each book in the upcoming posts.  I hope you find these titles and synopsis quite 

interesting!  Thanks for reading!

Angelina Zoe 

My Random Life

Hi!  My name is Angelina Zoe, and as you probably can guess, yes, I am a writer, and yes, I often say and do very random things.  This is my first time ever having a blog!  Yeah, I'm new to the party.  Although I do write on another blog about conquering and momentarily defeating writers block.  Can I get an amen?!  Anyone?  DEFEAT THE WRITERS BLOCK!  :D

So anyways, I love writing!  I've written over a million books, but I've only finished about two.  It is so easy starting books, but so hard to finish them!  Ahg!  It is so overwhelming, all these novels that I've started buy haven't finished.  Either I've lost the inspiration for them, or else I haven't the patience and lost interest in it.  Yup, that's the sad life of a writer.  It's very agonizing when having to put that novel, and especially your well loved characters (I'm tearing up just thinking about them [*sniff sniff*]), in the back of your mind, or in the trash!  Thinking about my forgotten characters makes me want to bang my head against my laptop and cry, trying to get the inspiration for them back!  But I can't do that.  This is my only laptop and I don't want to have to replace the keyboard.

Anywho (I stole that from my bff!), my other hobbies include: ballet, pointe, tap, reading, writing (obviously), watching movies, singing, playing the guitar, playing the piano, playing the ukulele, emailing, blogging (very new), trying to put down my competitive spirit, um... I like doing a lot of things.  I LOVE EATING CHOCOLATE!!!  CHOCOLATE!!!  Ahem... sorry.  That was, uh, the other side of my chocolate eating self.  I will devour anything in sight that's made out of chocolate!

Please forgive my sudden outbursts...

This blog is also dedicated to the glory and the advancement of Jesus Christ!  I am a true follower of Jesus and I believe in giving Him glory through all that I do.  In all I do I hope to bring a smile to His face.

With that in mind, I hope you enjoy reading, and hopefully following, this blog.

Always,

Angelina Zoe