I Should Be Writing

But I'm having way too much fun on this website! :D You paste some of your writing (a blog post, article, novel, short story, poem, etc.) and it shows which author matches your writing style!

I put in my last blog post and got Stephen King. (Yippee)!

I put in The Sorceress and got L. Frank Baum. (Nice . . .)

I put in Fantasya: A Giant Problem and got Margaret Mitchell. (WOO HOOOOOO)!

I put in Secrets and got . . . (drum roll please . . .) J.K. ROWLING!!!! (*Does a happy dance*)

Who do you write like? Leave a comment! :D

Read All About It!

I found this very cool blog meme/blogging thingy where you answer questions about the book you are currently writing. Technically you're supposed to get tagged for this but it looked like so much fun that I couldn't resist.

Please feel free to steal this idea and put it on your blog.

1: What is the working title of your book?

As I'm writing several books, I'll just choose the one that I am the most excited about at the moment. The working title (and probably the permanent title) is The Sorceress.

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that finishing The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce had something to do with it, along with reading The Hunger Games.

3: What genre does your book come under?

YA (or middle grade, but I'm not sure which) medieval fantasy.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Ooh, that's a tough one. I still don't know a ton of actors and actresses, but I guess for my main character (Anya Perriwinkle) I'd choose Jennifer Lawrence. Anya looks a lot like Katniss (minus the braid) in my opinion.

Anya Perriwinkle (Sorry for the slight blurriness. This was the best picture I could find that looked like Anya).

I couldn't find anyone for my secondary character (Ronald Smith), but Josh Hutcherson is the closest person I could find that looked like him, and even then he isn't what I pictured. Ronald is tall, has sandy brown hair, and brown eyes.

I couldn't find any other good actors or actresses for my other characters. I can picture a lot of my characters as people from The Hunger Games for some reason (for instance, my villain--Lional--looks a bit like Cato), but I didn't think oh my gosh, this person looks exactly like this character! with anyone except for Jennifer Lawrence.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

16-year-old Anya Perriwinkle tries to find a way to join the king's army, despite being a girl, while also trying to save the kingdom of Stormcastle from a power-hungry group of goblins and thieves.

That synopsis is something I just cooked up. I'm not very good at being brief.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Ha ha. It's not even finished yet, but I hope it can get represented by an agency!

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I haven't finished it yet, but it's taken me at least six months of me writing on and off to work out the first 40,000 words (or 114 pages).

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce and I guess sort of The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien. It's definitely more like Tamora Pierce's books, though.

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?



I think this is a lot like the second question, but Tamora Pierce inspired me. I love her novels, which are all medieval fantasy. She--like J. K. Rowling and so many others--has created her own world so easily and with so much detail.

10: What are some of the big differences between this book and other books you've written?

This book is one of the few books I've written that's in the third person. It was actually very enjoyable. I liked it more than I thought I would.

11: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

This book has a strong, female protagonist, unique characters, magic, and battles meant to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Now for the first chapter. Sorry for the weird formatting. Blogger doesn't like me today. Tell me what you think in the comments! :D

Chapter 1
Anya ran through the woods, fear beating against her heart in a
rhythm worthy of a drum.
She wiped sweat off her forehead, breathing hard. She was sure the
goblins had seen her. How could they not have noticed the unmistakable
glint of green as she stole the emerald?
Anya quickly climbed a tree and removed her pack. She pulled out the
precious emerald and clutched it tightly, hardly daring to believe that it was
real. Was this the actual emerald she had been attempting to steal for months
now? Anya pressed her ear to the emerald. Sure enough the familiar buzz of
energy was there. The emerald was real.
Anya replaced the gem carefully, wrapping it in the cloth she had with
her. She closed her pack and slid down the tree, scratching her elbow as she
went.
Anya heard a branch snap and leapt behind a bush, landing lightly on
her feet. She moved a few branches out of the way so she could peer
through.
Ten naked green creatures were running through the woods on all
fours. They were extremely skinny and their arms and legs were long and
fragile looking. Their ears were long and pointed like an elf’s. Their eyes
were small and black. Their voices were either very high-pitched or very
low. It was never in between. They were obviously angry.
Anya squinted her eyes and strained to hear what the goblins were
talking about. They were speaking in loud whispers. One goblin was
pushing another to the ground angrily and seemed to be accusing him of
something. The other eight were huddled in a circle, talking a little more
calmly. They seemed to be plotting something.
“I told you to stay by the emerald!” a goblin said to another lying in
the dirt. “You were supposed to be on guard!”
“I—I—was guarding the C-Captain,” the goblin in the dirt
stammered. “H-he needed p-protection.”
“No he didn’t, you brainless git. We can get another Captain. What
we can’t do is get another emerald!”
“Please! Please!” A goblin armed with a smaller version of the sword
Anya held pulled the goblin off of the terrified creature cowering on the
ground.
“Stop wasting time, Snorc,” the deep-voiced goblin growled. He
grabbed Snorc’s arm. “We need to find the human.”
Snorc pulled his arm away from the other goblin and bared his teeth.
“I want to make sure I don’t get punished for this,” Snorc said. “When
we inform the Captain of what happened, I want it to be made clear that I
didn’t do anything.”
Goblins, Anya thought. Always looking out for others.
“We might not have to tell him anything if we find that girl fast and
get the emerald back.”
“You don’t understand,” Snorc protested, fear visible in his eyes.
“You don’t have to be scared of anything. The Captain won’t punish his
second in command. You don’t know the means of torture he punishes us
with.”
“I know full well what the Captain does for punishment,” the goblin
retorted. Anya saw his ugly green face change from green to yellow. He
gulped and continued. “And I agree with his methods completely. Now let’s get a move on.”
Anya waited with baited breath for the goblins to gallop off into the
woods. They were headed toward the king's castle, the same way Anya
needed to go. Anya gritted her teeth and hoped they wouldn’t actually go to
the castle.
Anya peeked around the bush for any remaining goblins and spotting
no danger, set off down the woods, landing lightly on the balls of her feet.
Anya stuck to the shadows, hoping if she ran into trouble that the goblins
wouldn’t notice her in the darkness.
Any noise that Anya heard made her jump: a squirrel scurrying across
the leaves, a bird singing loudly, or an occasional deer that snapped a branch
in half.
The woods were darkening faster and faster as the sun set. The trees
rich with leaves blocked out most of the sunlight, making it harder to
navigate through the large woods.
Anya had no trouble though. She could walk through the woods with
her eyes shut and her feet would take her right where she needed to go.
Anya couldn’t keep track of how many times she had walked this path. She
had come to these woods many times to hunt for food with a poorly made
bow and arrow before the king had sought her help. Those days were the
worst. Anya remembered the times where she had to beg for scraps from the
garbage can and people felt bad for her and tossed her change for food. She
remembered when her ribs were poking through her skin and half a loaf of
stale bread was a feast. She remembered a soldier coming through the
woods on horseback and watched her fight off two goblins with swords. She
remembered his stunned face as she finished them off with a flourish. The
soldier didn’t explain anything but told her to climb on behind him. She was
taken to the castle and was given a bath, some proper clothing, and more
food than she could ever imagine she’d be able to eat. Then she was brought
to the king and the soldier was right next to him. She listened to the soldier
explain to the king what he had seen her do. The king had listened
thoughtfully and then told her all about the emerald and the goblins want to
take over the kingdom. He had told her that the emerald gives the holder
magical powers and that the king needed it back so the goblins wouldn’t
over throw him and leave the kingdom in ruins.
Anya reached the entrance of the forest and saw no goblins. Hoping
they wouldn’t see her and follow her, she hurried down the lane and into
town where most of the shops were closing up for the day. The sun hadn’t
quite set and she ran to the castle, gave her name, and the guards let her in,
closing the door behind her.


More about Cosmo coming soon! :D 

Music In Writing

This post has been on my mind a lot recently. I love listening to music while I write. It helps me feel inspired. Even when I'm not writing, I'll hear a certain song on the radio or on my iPod and suddenly I'll be thinking about my stories. Have you ever flipped on the radio, heard a song, and immediately thought about a certain book or movie?

And, no, that song can't have been part of a movie soundtrack.

I might not be making much sense. It's okay if you don't get it--yet. Let me give you an example.

I was in the car on my way back home from a violin lesson when I heard "I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons. I've heard that song dozens of times, but for some reason when I heard it this time, my thoughts went straight to a book I've been writing recently, a medieval fantasy novel called The Sorceress. I could imagine certain scenes in the book set to that song perfectly. Suddenly, I was designing a trailer for the movie adaptation of the book in my head. I had a whole cast and everything.

Now I may have been getting ahead of myself, but that's how you get inspired. Not by trying, but by not trying. Inspiration strikes you like a bolt of lightning. It's quick and sudden. If you don't grab it and hold on to it, it'll slip away.

Something I love to do in my writing is to imagine my whole book as a movie and design a soundtrack for it. If I can imagine certain scenes set to a certain song, I'll add it in my soundtrack. I can tell you exactly when each song would play in the book/fake movie. Sometimes the soundtracks only have two songs, and other times they have twelve. "The Sorceress Soundtrack" has been revised multiple times. I've added and taken out songs too many times to count. When I'm writing that book, I'll listen to my soundtrack for inspiration. I'm listening to "The Sorceress Soundtrack" as I write this, since I was just writing The Sorceress. Here is the soundtrack at the moment:

"Eyes Open" by Taylor Swift.
"Kingdom Come" by The Civil Wars.
"Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift.
"Lights" by Ellie Goulding.
"Counting On You" by Mikey Wax.
"Home" by Phillip Phillips.
"Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol.
"I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons.

These songs are some of my favorites. A few of the songs in the soundtrack are from "The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond." That album is one of my favorite albums. The songs are either intense, calm, or moving, but they are always inspirational. Sometimes I see similarities between my main character, Anya Perriwinkle, and Katniss. My inspiration has come from The Hunger Games, whether it be the book, the soundtrack, or the movie, multiple series by Tamora Pierce, and music.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have more writing to do.


What do you do for inspiration? Do you listen to music while you write? Do you think you'll make a soundtrack for your book in the future? Leave a comment! :D

An Interview With Katherine Fauccet and Kristen Willowfeather

Please give a warm welcome to Katherine Fauccet and Kristen Willowfeather, the protagonists of my most recently completed NaNoWriMo novel Secrets. They ventured here all the way from Zundra. And here to interview them, Hermione Granger! (Just kidding). No, the person who is really interviewing them is a random maid from the castle in the Kingdom of Zundra. And, who knows? Maybe the maid is the person who is trying to kill the queen. (Dun dun dunnnnnn).

Will you please introduce yourselves and give us the basics? 

Katherine: Of course! My name is Katherine Fauccet, I'm 12-years-old, and I will tell your more about my family later. (Katherine winks).

Kristen: I'm Kristen Willowfeather, I'm also 12-years-old, and I will also tell you more about my family later.

Katherine: Copycat.

Well then, tell us about your families.

Katherine: Well, there's my mom, who has a strange obsession with sewing and making clothes, and then there's my dog Sweetie. My dad was bitten by a werewolf when I was a baby and died soon after that. Apparently the werewolf was very aggressive.

Kristen: My mom died giving birth to my youngest sister. I have my dad, who taught Katherine everything he knows about carpentry, then there's Alyssa, who is lazy and always wants to be the center of attention, then there's Sophia who loves dancing, and Hope who copies everything her older sisters do. I also have a dog named Lion, though he doesn't look remotely scary or like a lion at all, really.

Please tell us more about your hobbies. 

Katherine: I love anything that has to do with the outdoors. I like to explore, build things made of wood, and practice my combat skills.

Kristen: I like to sew, listen to music people play in town, read, write, and relax. Katherine and I are very different from each other.

What are your favorite outfits?

Katherine: A simple tunic and a pair of trousers. You can't get much more simple and comfortable than that.

Kristen: A plain dress. Nothing too fancy, but nothing dirty or old.


Who do you think is more in control: Yourselves or Kate?

(Katherine laughs).

Katherine: Verrrry much ourselves. I think Kate likes to think she's in control, but we're really the ones running the show.

Kristen: Same. We take Kate all over the place. I'm not sure what she had in mind, but whatever it was, we sure spiced it up.

Who is your greatest enemy and why?

Katherine: Whoever is trying to kill the queen. We're not sure who it is, but we know where their diary is and we keep reading it for clues. We'll find and catch them eventually.

Kristen: With some help from our closest friends Selena and Esther. I'd say our other greatest enemies would be any monsters in the Forest of Yojar.

Katherine: Especially the werewolves.

(Katherine and Kristen shudder).

What similarities do you see between yourselves and the two people your characters were based off of: Kate and Kirsten?

Katherine: Well Kate is funny, saracastic, and outgoing, but sometimes I can be a bit too . . . much. And Kate can plan ahead wayyyy better than I can.

Kristen: Kirsten can be shy and timid, but not nearly as much as I am. And I'm the main planner, most of the time, while in real life Kate is the main planner. I also think Kirsten's a bit more brave than I am.


Thank you for being on my blog, you guys! It's nice to see you out and about.

Katherine: You're welcome! But now we really have to go. We need to meet Esther and Selena. We're trying to figure out how to reveal the evil maid who is trying to kill Queen Talia Snowflower!

Kristen: Yes, thank you for having us!

Though I'm not sure who I will be interviewing next, you can be sure that I will interview two other characters soon! And be sure to read Day 14 of my 30-Day Blogging Challenge! :D

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.

NaNoWriMo!!!! :D

First of all, Happy Halloween, Everyone! :D We had mummy hot dogs for lunch and Thing 2 made a haunted house for us. (It was really a haunted room, but it involved a chair moving by itself and a dead owl. Very creepy).

But what I really wanted to talk about was NaNoWriMo! :D Today is October 31st, as you all know, so that means that tomorrow is the start of another National Novel Writing Month! My word count goal this year is 40,000. Next year I'll be going for 50,000.

My dad even made these awesome charts to keep track of our word goal. Thing 2's chart was a role playing game theme and Mommy's was "The Wizard of Oz." Daddy's chart is a music note and mine is a sun.

I'm going to be coloring it in with yellow (of course).

I've made a few buddies on the Young Writer's Program website that I have never met, and made a few blogging friends along the way. Most of them LOVE Harry Potter almost as much as I do.

 My story this year is going to be set in medieval times. Every single one of the characters is going to have a few personality traits that are like someone I know. For example, the two main characters of my book (Katherine Fauccet and Kristen Willowfeather) are going to be a little bit like me and my best friend. They aren't going to be exactly like us, but a little. My mom even gave me the idea to have silver tinsel in Katherine's hair to have the shiny aspect of braces, since there was no such thing as braces back then.

My story is going to be called "Secrets" and is going to be about two peasant girls (Katherine and Kristen) who are best friends and find out that one of the queen's maids is plotting a rebellion after they find her diary full of secrets. When they figure out that the rebellion involves an army of evil magical creatures, they decide to go to the Forest of Yojar and try and create their own army of good magical creatures so they can stop the evil maid.

I've been using this awesome website (http://www.namegenerator.biz/) to get some great fantasy names that sound a lot like the characters from Lord of the Rings.

I'm really excited to start NaNoWriMo this year! :D

The Sorceress Chapter 2

If you haven't read Chapter 1 click here. I'm open to all comments! :D

 Chapter 2

          “Your majesty!” Anya called breathlessly as she ran to the throne room in a buzz of excitement. She opened the doors with such force that they slammed into the wall. The king sat up with a jolt, eyes wide with hope and fear.

          “Your majesty!” Anya said again. “I got it! I got the emerald.”

          The king stood up from his throne and walked over to her as she pulled out the glowing, green stone. The king took it from her and held it up to the light as if he was trying to make sure it wasn’t a fake. He pressed his ear against it, listening for the magical hum that Anya had heard in the woods.

          “So you did,” he said quietly. A wide grin broke out onto his face. “Well done, Anya. Well done!” He patted her back and handed her a heavy sack of coins.

          “This should provide enough food for a month. An elderly woman has generously offered me a small house if I should ever need it. I would like it if you took the house. It would be your very own home, and you could do whatever you would like with it.”

          “Thank you,” Anya said gratefully.

          “The house is in town next to the grocer.” The king gave a sad smile. “But you should hurry. I don’t think the goblins are very happy with you or me. I wouldn’t be surprised if the goblins started attacking the kingdom. They’ll want the emerald back.” He gave a sigh.

          Anya nodded and started to walk out of the room when the king stopped her.

          “Would you be willing to do me a favor?” He asked. Anya nodded. He had already given her so much, it was the least she could do to thank him.

          The king sighed again.

          “I know for a fact that the goblins are going to attack again. We need to keep the emerald safe. We can’t let it fall into their hands again. Would you be willing to act as a guard? I already know about your fighting skills,” Anya blushed at this. “And you don’t have to guard all the time, only some of the time. Is that okay?”

          “Of course,” Anya answered. “It’s the least I can do for all you’ve done for me.”

          The king smiled.

          “Thank you. You’ll start tomorrow from noon to two. Everyday from that point on, except on weekends, you will guard from noon to two. I can promise you three gold coins for payment. I’ll have some of my guards guard the emerald in the meantime. We are hiding it in the castle because the goblins will think that we'll hide it somewhere else since the castle is so obvious a place to put it. You may pack your things.”

          Anya walked out of the room with a feeling of nervous excitement. The king had chosen her, a sixteen-year-old girl, to help guard the emerald. He had hundreds and hundreds of soldiers and servants that could’ve helped, but he chose her. Girls were often discriminated against. Their only purpose was to cook, clean, sew, and do more cleaning and sewing. Anya didn’t mind the cooking, but she hated cleaning and she was horrible at sewing even a button onto a shirt. She preferred the rougher life where she could climb trees and get dirty and wear pants. She loved archery but most of all, she loved sword fighting. She wanted to be the first woman soldier in the king’s army, but she knew it was going to be very difficult. She had been training by herself in the woods. She could now shoot almost any moving target in the exact place she wanted to hit it in and her ability to fight with a sword was even better than her archery. Guarding the emerald would be good practice as well.

          She reached her room in the castle.

          It was a small, but cozy room. It was comfortable enough. There was wooden bed in the corner with a mattress and a fluffy white blanket for when it got chilly and there was a poufy pillow that your head sank into as soon as you touched it. There was a window that had a nice view of the royal gardens and a small bookshelf that held a dictionary, a history book, and a couple other fantasy books that Anya enjoyed very much. They were all gifts from the king. There was a pink throw rug that was no longer soft and clean. It had a nastier, brownish-pink color that reminded Anya of vomit. The brown factor of the color was because of the mud and dirt that Anya tracked in when she walked through her room with her boots on. There was a gas lamp sitting on a nightstand next to a short, mahogany wardrobe that held Anya’s clothes from the king. Above the wardrobe was a mirror.

          Anya looked into the mirror. She was surprised to see how much she had grown since she had taken the time to look at her reflection. Her wavy, light brown hair was longer and windblown. It covered some of her oval shaped face. Her black eyes sparkled and she was taller. She had filled out some since she was no longer starving, but she was still thin.

          Anya dropped her drawstring bag and began to pull out her clothes. She added it to her already bulging bag. Inside the bag she had some bread, a couple of apples, and a chunk of cheese. There were also a few rags inside from an old coat Anya had owned. The rags now helped to conceal valuable objects that Anya occasionally found from pick-pocketers or goblins.

          Anya moved her rug to the side and pried a loose floorboard from the ground. She wasn’t wary of anybody in the castle, but you could never be too careful here in the kingdom. Inside the floor was her quiver of arrows and a bow. There was also a large sack of coins she had earned from the king over the years. She added the gold she had just earned to the larger sack. She wrapped the sack of gold in the rags and put it in her drawstring bag before slinging the quiver on her shoulder and picking up her bow. She scribbled a note to the king and nailed it to her door, letting him know that she had left.

          She set off down the road in the chilly night air. The sun had set completely and she had to find her way by following the lights of lanterns that were bobbing up and down from the people holding them.

          Anya saw the house the king had talked about. It was a small cottage about the size of a log cabin. In fact, it was made of logs. And it was right next to the grocer, a great convenience to Anya.

          Anya stepped inside the cottage and bolted the door behind her. She did not want to be interrupted by un-invited visitors.

          The house was dusty, but was otherwise very clean. Nothing had been left behind and Anya took no time in unpacking. She dug a floorboard out of the ground and placed her bow and arrows, her sword, and her gold inside. Anya set her bag in the corner and was about to settle down for bed when she realized she hadn’t brought any blankets or a pillow with her. She kicked the ground and tried to figure something out. All of the shops were closed so she couldn’t purchase a quilt or a pillow. Maybe she could go back to the castle and get a blanket and a pillow from her bed.

          She pulled the floorboard back up and grabbed her sword. Attaching it to her belt, she ran off back towards the castle. It was a good thing it was just down the road.

          Anya didn’t stop running until she reached the guard at the entrance of the castle.

          “Anya . . . Perriwinkle,” she gasped. In order to get into the castle, she needed to give her name. She thought it was a rather stupid security rule since any goblin or thief could give a false name, but the guards only paid attention to their appearance. The only reason she knew her last name was because when she was taken in after her parents died, there was a photo of her with her name on it.

          Anya made towards the door, but she was surprised when the guard blocked her path.

          “Excuse me,” she said hotly. “But I am trying to get in.”

          “None shall pass,” he said in a gruff voice.

          “But you know me!” she yelled shrilly. “And I know you, Bert."

          “Rules are rules, Anya,” he said. “You know that. My orders are to let no one in after dusk.”

          “But that’s absurd!” Anya argued. “You know who I am, I’m not a thief or a gobl-!” She broke off. Of course. The king didn’t want to take any chances with a thief or goblin getting into the castle at night now that they had the emerald. Thieves and goblins usually attacked at night when it was darker and harder to see. Of course, goblins could see pretty well in the dark.

          “Fine,” she said with a harrumph! “I’ll just go then.” And she set off back down the path towards the tiny house that was now hers.

          Anya slammed the door behind her as she walked into the house, sending a cloud of dust all around the room. She heard a faint achoo! Anya drew her sword faster than lightning and looked around.

          “Show yourself!” she demanded.

          “It’s just me!” a quiet voice said. A shadowy figure stepped out from the darkness.

          Anya lowered her sword.

          “Hello, Ronald,” she said. “What’re you doing here?”

          Ronald stepped into the faint light from a window. Anya noticed his sandy hair was shaggier and covered parts of his eyes. He was even taller since the last time they met. Anya always joked that he shot up straighter and faster than a bean sprout.

          Ronald gave Anya one of his goofy smiles.

          “I heard you were living here now,” he explained.

          “Word travels fast,” she said with a snort. Ronald laughed. Gossip spread wider and faster than wildfire in Stormcastle. The kingdom was given that name back five hundred years ago when the castle was struck by lightning.

          “Mrs. Melly saw you going into this house after she closed up the shop,” Ronald said, jerking his thumb at the quilt shop across from Anya’s house.

          Anya sheathed her sword and kicked the floorboard. The floorboard flipped up and slid across the room. She set the sword down and replaced it.

          “So what’ve you been up to?” Ronald asked.

          “Nothing much,” she said with a shrug. She smiled and poked him playfully. “I got the emerald, though.”

          Ronald raised his eyebrows.

          “Really. This isn’t a joke, right?”

          Anya shook her head.

          “No joke. I got it just an hour ago. The king gave me a sack of gold and offered me this house as reward. Oh yeah, and I’m on guard duty to protect the emerald.”

          Ronald smiled.

          “Good for you.”

          “It’s more than good. It’s great! This is a wonderful start to my soldier career.”

          Ronald gave an exasperated sigh that told her he was tired of this subject.

          “Anya, we’ve talked about this-.”

          “I know we’ve talked about this,” she said impatiently. “You’ve said many times that girls can’t be soldiers, but who knows? I may be the first. I see no point in why a girl can’t be a soldier. What’s the difference between a girl and a boy, anyways?”

          “Well,” he started. “Boys are naturally stronger.”

          Silence fell.

          “See, that’s all you can think of. I’ve trained, I’m strong, and I can fight! Who cares if a boy is stronger than me, I’m still strong and I can handle a sword and a bow and arrow just as well as any boy can. If I challenged you right now to a sword fight-!”

          “You would chop me to pieces,” Ronald interrupted calmly, trying to cool down her hot temper. “But I’m not good at fighting. You know I need training. It’s just not right for a lady to be a soldier.”

          Anya bared her teeth angrily.

          “I’m not a lady,” she said. “I’m nothing like a lady! If I were to chop my hair off right now, I would look and act like a boy. No one would know the difference except for you, the king, your mom, Jane, and Bert.”

          Ronald pursed his lips.

          “I know that. But the king would never allow-.”

          “How do you know what the king would and wouldn’t allow? I’ve worked for him for almost a year now. He knows what I’m capable of. If I have the proper training, I could become a great soldier. I could fight off goblins, armies, and so many other things! It’s just not fair.”

          She broke off and bit her lip, trying to think of another argument. Ronald placed his hand on her shoulder.

          “I know, Anya. It’s not my fault that girls don’t get treated fairly.”

          “It’s not that they don’t get treated fairly,” she replied. “It’s that they’re expected to do normal girl stuff like cooking and sewing and housekeeping. They don’t even get asked if they want to do something different. I never keep things neat and I prick my thumb every time I stick a needle through a piece of cloth. I’m different, Ronald. I’m not like Jane, I’m not like Mrs. Melly, I don’t want to get married. Why can’t I do what I want to do?”

          “I don’t know, Anya. Maybe you’re right and the king will let you become a soldier once you’ve worked for him for a while, but I just don’t think people will like this idea. No lady has ever been a soldier before.”

          “I’m not a lady,” Anya said through her gritted teeth.

          “Fine, no girl has ever been a soldier before.”

          “Because no girl has ever had any interest! At least I’ve never known any girl that has wanted to be a soldier. And no one has ever given a girl a chance. I might be the first girl soldier in history.”

          Ronald shook his head slightly and looked out the window. He knew better than to argue.

          “It’s getting late, you’d better get some sleep if you’re going to guard tomorrow.”

          “What? That’s it?”

          “What do you mean ‘that’s it’?”

          “I mean, you’re not going to talk to me more about this?”

          Ronald looked completely bewildered.

          “What else is there to talk about?” he asked.

          “I don’t know. I just thought we were going to talk more.”

          “We’ve already talked about it. There’s nothing else to discuss.”

          Anya clutched her hands behind her back.

          “I have one more question.”

          “Okay, shoot.”

          “If I’m going to be a soldier, I need some way to convince the king I’m worthy and able enough to be a soldier. Can you think of any way to show him that I’m ready?”

          Ronald sighed.

          “I’m not sure. Just work for him and train in private like you’ve been doing and after a while when you ask him, maybe he’ll let you.”

          Anya nodded, taking this into account. Work for the king, train in private, ask after a while. She was positive that she already had his trust and he knew of her abilities, but she just wasn’t sure if it was enough to let her be a soldier. There was never a girl soldier in an army in history. Would the king break this long and foolish tradition? Or would he keep it, seeing what Anya was capable of?

          “Now I really need to go, otherwise my mother’s going to be worried sick. Bye, Anya.”       
“Bye, Ronald.”

       

The Sorceress

I am writing a new book called "The Sorceress." Here's the first chapter. Tell me what you think! :D As you already know, I am open to all honest criticism.


Chapter 1

Anya ran through the woods, fear beating against her heart in a rhythym worthy of a drum.
    She wiped sweat off her forehead, breathing hard. She was sure the goblins had seen her. How could they not have noticed the immistakable glint of green as she stole the emerald?
    Anya quickly climbed a tree and removed her pack. She pulled out the precious emerald and clutched it tightly, hardly daring to believe that it was real. Was this the actual emerald she had been attempting to steal for months now? Anya pressed her ear to the emerald. Sure enough the familiar buzz of energy that meant the emerald was real was there.
    Anya replaced the gem carefully, wrapping it in the cloth she had with her. She closed her pack and slid down the tree, scratching her elbow as she went.
    Anya heard a branch snap and leapt behind a bush, landing lightly on her feet. She moved a few branches out of the way so she could peer through at what had just followed her.
    Ten naked green creatures were running through the woods on all fours. They were extremely skinny and their arms and legs were long and fragile looking. Their ears were long and pointed like an elf’s. Their eyes were small and always black. Their voices were either very high-pitched or very low. It was never in between. They were obviously angry.
    Anya squinted her eyes and strained to hear what the goblins were talking about. They were speaking in loud whispers. One goblin was pushing another goblin to the ground agrily and seemed to be accusing him of something. The other eight were huddled in a circle and were talking a little more calmly. They seemed to be plotting something.
    “I told you to stay by the emerald!” a goblin said to another goblin lying in the dirt. “Where were you when you were on guard?”
    “I-I- was guarding the C-Captain,” the goblin in the dirt stammered. “H-he needed p-protection.”
    “No he didn’t, you brainless git. We can get another Captain. What we can’t do is get another emerald!”
    “Please! Please!” A goblin armed with a smaller version of the sword Anya held pulled the goblin off of the terrified creature cowering on the ground.
    “Stop wasting time, Snorc,” the deep-voiced goblin growled. He grabbed Snorc’s arm. “We need to find the human.”
    Snorc pulled his arm away from the other goblin and bared his teeth.
    “I want to make sure I don’t get punished for this,” Snorc said. “When we inform the Captain of what happened, I want it to be made clear that I didn’t do anything.”
    Goblins, Anya thought. Always looking out for others.
    “We might not have to tell him anything if we find that girl fast and get the emerald back.”
    “You don’t understand,” Snorc protested, fear visible in his eyes. “You don’t have to be scared of anything. The Captain won’t punish his second in command. You don’t know the means of torture he punishes us with.”
    “I know full well what the Captain does for punishment,” the goblin retorted. Anya saw his ugly green face draing of color slightly. “And I agree full-heartedly. Now let’s get a move on.”
    Anya waited with baited breath for the goblins to gallop off into the woods. Unfortunately, they were going the same way Anya needed to go to get to the King’s castle.
    Anya peeked around the bush for any remaining goblins and, spotting no danger, set off down the woods, landing lightly on the balls of her feet. Anya sticked to the shadows, hoping if she ran into trouble that the goblins wouldn’t notice her in the darkness.
    Any noise that Anya heard made her jump: a squirrel scurrying across the leaves, a bird singing loudly, an occaisonal deer that snapped a branch in half.
    The woods were darkening faster and faster as the sun set. The trees rich with leaves blocked out most of the sunlight, making it harder to navigate the large woods.
    Anya had no trouble though. She could walk through the woods with her eyes shut and her feet would take her right where she needed to go. Anya couldn’t keep track of how many times she had walked this path. She had come to these woods many times to hunt for food with a poorly made bow an arrow before the king had sought her help. Those days were the worst. Anya remembered the times where she had to beg for scraps from the garbage can and people felt bad for her and tossed her change for food. She remembered when her ribs were poking through her skin and half a loaf of stale bread was a feast. She remembered a soldier coming through the woods on horseback and watched her fight off two goblins that had swords. She remembered his stunned face as she finished them off with a flourish. The soldier didn’t explain anything but told her to climb on behind him. She was taken to the castle and was given a bath, some proper clothing, and more food than she could ever imagine she’d be able to eat. Then she was brought to the king and the soldier was right next to him. She listened to the soldier explain to the king was he had seen her do and how she seemed to glow when she was fighting. The king had listened thoughtfully and then told her all about the emerald and the goblins want to take over the kingdom. He had told her that the emerald gives the holder magical powers and that the king needed it back so the goblins wouldn’t over throw him and leave the kingdom in ruins.
    Anya made it out the entrance of the forest and saw no goblins. She hurried down the lane and into town where most of the shops were closing up for the day. She ran to the castle and the guards let her in, closing the gate behind her.