Why Do We Write?

Last summer at my first overnight writer's camp, I wrote a poem called Why Do We Write? The first day of the camp in one of the classes, everyone was asked to go up to the chalkboard and write one of the reasons we write up there. I used a bunch of the reasons that resonated with me in the poem. A couple months ago I submitted the poem to my local library's poetry contest, and it was one of the winners! It's one of my favorites that I've written.

Why Do We Write?
Kate I. Foley

Why do we write?
You may as well ask, "Why do we breathe?"
We write to explore different realities,
To be more than ourselves and for
Self-expression.
To take control.
To give us life.
To see.
To build the worlds we wished we lived in,
To immortalize our thoughts and
Make people feel something.
Because we just love stories and to
Keep ourselves sane.
For freedom.
Because we have to.
Because our souls say we must.

Giveaway Winners

The giveaway has ended! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Winner of On Writing: nevillegirl

Winner of The Maze Runner: Rich

Winner of Divergent and Insurgent: Travis

Congratulations, guys! :) I'll be e-mailing you for your mailing addresses.

Winner of the Fauxpocalypse Giveaway

And the winner of the Fauxpocalypse giveaway is . . .

Robyn LaRue! :)

Congrats, Robyn! I've just sent you an e-mail. Thank you for entering, everyone!

Be sure to check out my post below!

I Won!

I just found out that I am one of the winners of my local library's poetry contest! :) My winning poem, "Dear Dr. King," is actually one I wrote last year in April as a letter to Martin Luther King Jr. Here it is.

Written on April 4th, 2013

Dear Dr. King,

45 years ago today,
You were shot and killed by James Earl Ray.

Sometimes I wonder if you hadn't died,
If you could've done more when you were alive.

Then sometimes I think that by being the martyr,
You helped to do more with things that are harder.

Did you know I walked on your bedroom floor?
That I touched your house,
The kitchen door?
Today you could have been 84.

Marching,
Leading,
And teaching what's right.
All of that ended with a bullet in flight.

Racists,
Bigots,
People filled with hate.
By the time we changed,
It was far too late.
For this never should have happened
To the human race.

How is it that we creatures
With brilliant minds
Could be so hateful
And so blind?
How is it that deep down we knew what was true,
But we would keep screaming terrible things
Until our faces turned blue?

Dear Dr. King,
I'm writing to say,
That I hoped while you lived
You lived every day.

Sincerely,
Kate

Book Giveaway Winner

The giveaway is closed! If you didn't get a chance to enter, don't worry, I'll have more giveways here at some point. ;) Now for the winner.

And the winner is *drumroll please* . . . Kirsten! :D Congratulations, Kirsten! You have won three Vampire Academy paperback books by Richelle Mead, including Vampire Academy, Frostbite, and Shadow Kiss. You should be receiving a package very soon. ;)

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Updates From MV:


Is it strange that I know practically everything that will happen in my NaNoWriMo book but I don't have a title yet? :/ If you think you might be able to help me come up with one, please, send me an e-mail!

Talking about red-haired heroes (and heroines) HERE.

Just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I sooooooo want to see the movie, but when I checked to see what date it's coming to Redbox I found that they don't know what date it'll be there yet. (!!!!!) And our library doesn't have any copies of City of Ashes in. The universe is trying to torture me (especially with tantalizing photos of the production of "The Fault In Our Stars" and "Divergent" being tossed around on the internet).

(If you have something you'd like me to share in "Updates From MV" please send me an e-mail at themagicviolinist(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Thank you! :D)

And the Winner Is . . .

The giveaway for the signed copy of Contaminated is over. And we have a winner!

(Drum roll please) . . .

Ashley T.! :D Congratulations, Ashley! I'll be sending you an e-mail to get your mailing address.

Sorry to everyone who didn't win, but thank you for the entries and support you showed Em and me! I hope to have more giveaways in the near future. (Any authors want to step up)?

Poetry Contest

Remember how I won our local library's poetry contest in 2010? Well guess what?

I won again this year!

My winning poem, "The Monster Under My Bed" won alongside my friend Dana's poem, "I Love To Read." I think Dr. Seuss (along with my dog Scout) inspired me when I wrote this:

The Monster Under My Bed

I yawn and stretch and look around.
The world is quiet.
There is no sound.
But then I hear a growl below,
And with a startled jump I know,
That something green from toe to head,
Is lurking under my bed!
Slowly I lean down to see,
If this thing is scary and wants to eat me.
Then I think that I might be,
Overreacting and being silly.
This monster may not be so bad,
He might be the best friend that I never had!
He might want to eat cookies and play hide and seek,
This monster might be very meek.
But then the monster growls again,
And I jump and squeak and cover my head.
I take a deep breath and lean down and see,
That the monster isn’t a monster,
It’s just my silly puppy.

What do you think? Which one do you like better?

Winner!!!!! :D

(PSST! Be sure to read the last gratitude post below).

Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo and this morning I tried to get up before anybody else so I could come downstairs and finish my word count goal. And it worked.

I now officially am a winner of NaNoWriMo 2012! :D I reached my word count goal of 40,000 words and next year I'll be shooting for 50,000.

Of course, my novel isn't done yet, but I'm still working on it.

Here is the Prologue of my novel. Please tell me truthfully what you think! :D

Prologue

    For years, Glaewyn and Yojar lived peacefully as the best of friends. They were known as the best wizards in the entire kingdom of Zundra, and perhaps even the world.
    Yojar lived in his tower just beyond the Forest of Zundra. King Robert had it specially built for him. It was fifty feet tall, made of stone, and had a large wooden door with his name on it, written in silver. There were many windows with a perfect view of the castle and the Forest of Zundra. Yojar painted stripes on the stone in purple, for that was his favorite color.
    Glaewyn preferred life in the Forest of Zundra. King Robert made him a small, but cozy cottage in the exact middle of the Forest on request. He painted it gold and wrote his name on the wooden doors in bronze. There were a few windows where he could look out into the Forest at all of the magical creatures that lived there. All of the creatures lived in harmony, none wanting to upset the others. Unicorns, fairies, pixies, sprites, druids, centaurs, dwarves, elves, merpeople, and many other magical beings lived there.
    Yojar and Glaewyn each created magical spells that would be used for hundreds of years to come. They cheered each other on and complimented each other’s skills.
    But after a while, their friendship slowly began to fall apart. Glaewyn remained as gracious as ever, but Yojar grew more and more arrogant and bitter. Glaewyn kept on creating successful spells. Yojar tried and failed to best him. Glaewyn’s popularity began to shadow Yojar. Yojar would crumple pieces of parchment after failed spells. The stack of papers in Glaewyn’s cottage towered over him. His desk was covered in spells.
    One day, after another spell of Glaewyn’s took off, Yojar stormed out of his tower and headed for the woods. He muttered a spell and the wind picked up.
    The sky became dark and stormy. The trees bent lower and leaves flew everywhere.
    Lightning struck the ground, and with every strike a magical creature would appear. But not creatures that were like the ones that already lived there. No, these creatures were evil. Demons, banshees, devil dogs, gargoyles, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, ogres, orcs, werewolves, vampires, salamanders, mud monsters, and many other evil beings appeared. Yojar laughed and took off for his tower. He watched from his window. The evil creatures ran straight for Glaewyn’s cottage. The salamanders set the house on fire, and minutes later it was no more. His house was ash, and Glaewyn was dead.
    Very soon after Glaewyn was killed, King Robert’s best knights rode into the Forest and killed off as many evil creatures as they could. About half of the evil beings perished, but the other half ran and hid. It was obvious at once who had caused that great tragedy. Yojar had made the mistake of dropping his wand as he fled. No one else in the entire world had a wand like his. His wand was a deep purple and had decorative silver vines wrapped around it. Glaewyn’s had one almost exactly like it, but it was gold and had bronze vines.
    The door of Yojar’s tower burst open and twelve knights ran in and captured Yojar almost immediately.
    Yojar just laughed and did not fight them. He was taken away to the dungeons.
    The kingdom was in uproar. They pounded on the castle gates and screamed for Yojar’s blood. Glaewyn’s name was shrieked all throughout the day and late into the night. They wanted Yojar to be dead. They wanted him to suffer. One man yelled that he wanted Yojar’s head on a pole so he could put it in front of his house.
    Two days later, Yojar had a short trial. In the trial he said that his act was an act he would always be proud of. He was publicly executed minutes later by Glaewyn’s own brother, Fubeth. The axe that cut off Yojar’s head now hangs in King Robert’s great-great-grandaughter’s castle, Queen Talia Snowflower. She often says that the axe gives her nightmares and she wishes that she could remove it. But it has hung there for years, and it wouldn’t be very wise of her to get rid of it. The peasants that live in the Kingdom of Zundra are glad that it is there. It reminds them that they will never live in danger because the Queen and her knights will protect them.
    After Yojar was executed, people began to call the Forest of Zundra the Forest of Yojar. The name stuck and now very few dare to enter the Forest, for they fear that they will perish as Glaewyn had. If the most powerful wizard since Merlin couldn’t stand up against the creatures, they thought they most certainly could not fight them.
    But the kingdom of Zundra had not seen such utter evil since Yojar’s time, and now they live in peace, knowing that their kind queen will protect them if anything like that would ever happen again.

Blog Carnival Winner- Halloween

I only had one person enter this Blog Carnival, so Didi at "Didi Readin' in the Rain" is the clear winner. But I really liked her story. It was creative and fun. Here it is!

A Chill, a Thrill, and a Yard Sale

     I was getting ready to say 'Trick or Treat!' as I knocked on my last door for this Halloween night. As the door opened, I was greeted by a young hand of which seconds after,  pulled me into the unusual house. When I realized that I was inside, I decided to close my eyes, and turn around. Then I slowly opened one eye, then came the other. A witch! I knew it! Just kidding. Continue. It was my friend, Leila. She said "I've tried too hard too keep you safe, I can't leave you now. (still, in being prepared for saying trick or treat...) "Trick or treat....Ahem...I mean: What?! I don't understand."
(Leila mumbling: you know what! I am still working on understanding YOU.......) "Huh?"  "I said I don't understand." "Anyway, there's no time. lock the door, and you will be safe for now. Who knows what could be lurking about on a night like this, especially today. It's a perfect opportunity for the.... never mind. It's better for you not to know. Let's go." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me down to the basement. "I want you to run into that wall. Now! " I looked at her with a puzzled look.
"NOW!" She repeated. "I don't know what you're playing at." I said. "But okay." I started sprinting towards the wall. But instead of crashing, I wheeled around, and ran upstairs. Leila shouted after me "Wait! I was going to eat... I mean... help you! Come back!" After hearing this, I shouted back "NEVER!" The horrifying response I got was a chilling cackle coming from behind me. I knew that the person I was just talking to was definitely NOT Leila. I opened the door, and sure enough, there was something waiting for me...

AAAAAAAAH! Addison slammed the book shut.  She threw it on the floor, stepped on it, hid it under the stairs, sent it through the washing machine, tried to donate it to the library...but nothing could shake the truth; she couldn't bear the suspense.

"Fine," she said, as she slowly peeled open the back cover of the book.  "I'll read it.  I'll finish it."

 I opened the door, and sure enough, there was something waiting for me... my worst nightmare.  An angry mother! Worst of all... My angry mother. 

"Where were you?!" Mom asked me.

"In there," I said, pointing towards the house behind me.

"I told you to never talk to strangers, let alone to ever go into their HOUSES!"

"But Mom, It was Leila--"

"You know telling lies is not allowed!  You're grounded.  Forever!"

"But Mom..."

"No.  You lied. Groundation.  Forever."

"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"


That was not what Addison expected.  The thrill she had been seeking on this dark spooky night was over.  She dropped the book in the yard sale box at the foot of their stairs, and didn't think twice about her Mom hauling it away the next day.  She settled back into her bed sleepily with nothing left of her fears...until next Halloween.

Blog Carnival: And the winner is . . .

Thank you to everyone who entered my Blog Carnival! :D The deadline passed three days ago, so if you wanted to enter and didn't get a chance, you can enter my next one, if you would like. ;)

Now for the winner! :D The winner is . . .

Didi at "Didi Readin' in the Rain"! :D Here is her story titled Fear:

Fear

  I was running through the woods, on a dark stormy night. Lightning was striking everywhere within two feet of myself. I had dropped my basket miles back, groceries flying everywhere. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought I would burst any second, and my feet were aching. Who knew that  on a night like this, I would be left alone with wolves running loose and me running for my own life. Every Midsummer's eve, the wolves break through their boundaries, and start running wild to feast on whatever they can get their paws on. I hoped that this year, I wouldn't be that. My parents would never dream of letting their daughter stay home alone tonight, let alone send me to walk to the store. Or so I thought. I never knew that fear could be so strong. Just then, I jerked forward in my bed, exhausted, and all tangled in bed sheets. There was sweat all over my forehead. Phew! It's only a nightmare. 

Congratulations, Didi! :D And the most creative story goes to Julia at "British 'A' Aligator"! Thanks again, and I hope to have even more entrants during my next Blog Carnival! :D

My Winning Poem

I can't believe I didn't post this, but I won last year's library poetry contest! Here is my winning poem.

Farm Animals

Dogs are yapping,
Cats a napping.
Horses neighing,
Also braying.
These are the sounds of the farm.

Chickens squawking,
Also walking.
They’re doing this in the barn.

Roosters crowing,
On the roof.
Acting like a bird alarm.
They’re doing this,
On the barn,
In the farm.

Bye!