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Friday, March 30, 2012

Walking to the Shop - PUBLISHED!

So the good news is, I AM OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED!

By this I mean that someone at SpineOut magazine decided that a short story I had submitted to them, 'Walking to the Shop' was good enough to go into the latest edition. I am so excited by this... and it still doesn't quite feel real.

The bad news is, I have been unable to access it. Why? SpineOut is an ONLINE magazine, right? Well...

Let's start at the start. When I went to submit this story, I had to fill out a form, and some of the required information was which school I am from. I submitted this short story some time in December, if my memory serves me right. I hadn't heard back so I'd accepted that it hadn't been good enough. Today - three months later - one of my school teachers walked past me during one of my study periods and said:

Miss D: Hey Bonnee, I just read that story you got published online.

Me: Yeah? Which one? (this is me thinking that she had found my FictionPress or Wattpad account...)

Miss D: Oh the one about the kites and the homeless man.

Me: Wait... WHAT?!

She showed me the email with the link, and opened the link up for me, and there was my name and my story on the latest online edition of SpineOut magazine. I jumped on a computer and tried to access it myself... which failed. I couldn't get to it. So my teacher sent me the link. And it's not working.

So here is the flood of emotions: Overjoyed, because, hey, I just got published, this is brilliant! I want to cry, because I cannot for the life of me access it! And I'll admit I'm a little confused... why didn't they email me to say that they were publishing me? What was the point of asking for my email address in the submission form if they weren't going to use it? I found out through a teacher; they emailed the school. I didn't give them the school's email, I gave them mine... they only had the school's name... hey, I'm not complaining by any means, I'm just confused... and so excited... my head hurts... gah...

If anyone knows how I can access this stuff, please let me know, I want to be able to share a link that works with the world!

Lots of love and I'll let you know if I find access to it myself.
- Bonnee.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Wonderful Words - Cellar Door

Cellar door is often used as an example of a phrase in the English language which sounds beautiful, with no regards to it's actual meaning. I'm not completely sure why this is, but I agree that the phrase does sound lovely. It's something about the way it rolls of the tongue.

But why this phrase, of all phrases?

What makes these two words so phonetically pleasing when they are put together and spoken?




I first heard this phrase when I watched the movie Donnie Darko. It is an excellent movie and please do watch it if you ever get the chance. I didn't understand what the characters were on about when I first watched it. My initial thoughts were, "How random can you get?" and I probably disagreed with it being a beautiful phrase at the time.

What are your thoughts on these words?

Is 'cellar door' beautiful to you? And if so, why?

- Bonnee

Friday, March 23, 2012

My Canon of Literature

After reading a blog by The Bookshelf Muse last night, about 'canon of literature' I had a bit of a think about it. The blog entry I read explains that your canon of literature is a list of books out of all that you've read which touched you so deeply that you still go back to them years later. The Bookshelf Muse blog explains that it is important to identify your own canon; it shows where you came from and what you value as a writer.

So today, I thought I'd share my little list. I'm only 17 and was not a big reader as a child, so it's not an extensive list at this point. But here it is.

Jenny Angel by Margaret Wild. Yes, it's a picture-story book, wow! This was illustrated by Anna Spudvilas and I remember first reading it in yr 2... well, I remember my teacher reading it to the class. And I remember thinking that it was beautiful. After I moved schools and began to hang out in the library a lot, I remember seeing it when I was in yr 7 and picking it up to read it, because of all the books from my childhood, I remembered it. Since finding it in my school library, I have returned for the pleasure of reading that book over and over and over again. It's a sad story about a girl who's little brother is sick, and she believes that she is his guardian angel and can save him. Now I see that I value sibling relationships in my writing, which is very evident in my novel Evergreen: A Fallen Star, where the three protagonists are brothers and sisters, yet best friends all the way. I will eventually obtain my own copy of Jenny Angel... it's been a whole 10 years since I first read it and I'm still in love with it.


Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. I read this for the first time in yr 6, so I was about 12. How many times did I read it? At least 5 in that one year. It's by the same author who wrote the Inkworld trilogy (Inkheart, which I also loved, and Inkspell and Inkdeath which I am yet to read). This story is about a silver dragon and his brownie friend who are on a mission to find a new place for the other silver dragons to live safely, because humans are invading their home. On an epic journey to the Himalayas, they befriend a human and a manikin worker of their enemy; a gold dragon, who's diet had consisted of silver dragons until they had disappeared. Obviously fantasy and friendship; topics which I love to write. The idea of the epic journey to an unknown place, and an enemy who remains unknown to the protagonists for a long while, is found in Evergreen: A Fallen Star. I will admit now that the copy of Dragon Rider I own is actually my mothers, but she's never read it and never will, and I doubt she'll notice it's absence now that I've abducted it from her bookshelf and placed it on my own.


Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French. I read this first in yr 5 (so I was 11 yrs old) and I didn't understand much of it at all. But what I did understand, I enjoyed, and I fell in love with it completely two years later, when I had to study it for English at school, and understood it better. A girl tells her friend a story as they wait for their bus to take them to school; the story of Hitler's daughter. As far as her friends are concerned, it's just that; a story. But one boy is suspicious and curious and wants to know more, undecided on whether he believes the story to be true or not. All the while, the story is told beautifully to the readers as they flash-back through time to World War II. The end of the story has that good old sting-in-the-tail effect and leaves the readers unsure of how fictional the story is too. I can't think of any examples where this books has been reflected in Evergreen: A Fallen Star, except that on more than one occasion, stories are told between the characters. I did have a copy of this book at some point, but it's disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm pretty sure I gave it to my best friend's little brother when he had to study it for English a few years later, and I never got it back because the friendship fell apart and I am no longer on speaking terms with that family. Damn...

So that's my short list of canon literature, and my little rant about it. Has anyone else read any of these books? What about you guys, what do your canon lists consist of and why? I hope to add more titles to this list in due time.

- Bonnee.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

21

I have now edited 21 out of 37 chapters in Evergreen: A Fallen Star and man do I love/hate this book. There has been so much re-writing and shortening and taking away of fluffy, pointless, good-for-nothing sentences, scenes, moments and the like. I cannot believe I thought the book was so much as 'good enough' not to mention 'publishable' in September last year, and I'm so glad I've decided to look over it again.

With more than half the chapters edited, and important plot and character development dead ahead, I can't say that I'm not excited to edit more, more and more. It's gotten to the point where I'm editing when I should be studying. No, that's a lie; it was already at that point. Maybe it's because I'm thinking about it more that I deceived myself into thinking otherwise. Either way, I'm too keen for life right now and I cannot wait for people to be reading it and giving me feedback.

I wonder if there are a few people I actually personally know who would be interested in giving Evergreen: A Fallen Star a read. I already gave last draft to one of my teachers (kudos to Mr Gorton), but I've ordered him to delete the file after I got to about chapter 12 of editing. And my beautiful friend Rachelle has also offered to read it, but once again, she has the old draft, which I have told her she shouldn't bother with. I'll definitely have to ask!

- Bonnee.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Read My Writing

Hello all,

If you've investigated the tabs I've added to turn my blog into a website, you may have found some of my other online accounts. 

I'd like to particularly draw attention to my wattpad.com account. If you would like to read some of my work, see what I read and see what I have to say about it, go on ahead and check it out

My personal favourite from my collection there is 'Colours of Sunset and War', which I wrote in 2008 and edited before submitting. More of my writing which I will select as not-for-publishing will be added to the collection on this account. As for my major works, and anything I wish to get published, my readers will have to survive of teasers until I'm successful. 

Let me know what you think, particularly about 'Colours of Sunset and War' and I'll let you all know when I add new material worth reading to my wattpad.com account. I'd also like to point out that not-for-publishing material will include material that absolutely sucks, and I probably won't make a specific mention when I upload such thing. 

- Bonnee. 

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Weird and Wonderful Ways of Writers: With Hana Brightside

A quick recap: last blog entry, I spoke of a conversation with my friend Hana and explained the art of writer role-play. This post is about one of my writer role-play experiences.

Wild and wonderful as Hana and I are, we decided to have our first Skype conversation together and try a bit of a character role-play workshop, where I was Chihiro from my novel Evergreen: A Fallen Star and she was a character from her current writing project; the historical character Billy the Kid. It was an awkward and short lived conversation that was sidetracked by spiders and dinner, but it was totally fun and totally worth it and we're totally going to do it again. 

I do believe that this is one of many examples of the weird and wonderful ways of writers. :) 

Anyone care to share any of their own wacky experiences or tactics? 

- Bonnee 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Writer Role-Play: With Hana Brightside

In the same conversation about Evergreen: A Fallen Star with my friend Hana, which I spoke about last blog entry, I went on to admit that whenever I did writer role-play to develop characters and plot, I usually became Chihiro. Then I had to explain writer role-play... me and my big mouth.

Writer role-play, as far as I take it and use it, is when an author acts out the part or parts of one of their characters. This could be anything from a conversation to an action scene, and the process could be repeated with changes until the author is satisfied they have created something worth adding to their story.  

I think of it in terms of drama, which I studied at school as one of my final subjects. It's like a private improvisation work-shop where you get to theatrically explore and develop your characters. I find that if I am having trouble doing this on paper, an activity like this will give me a bit of a boost. I can establish my character's voice, movement, gestures, facial expressions, and I can explore their moods and reactions to circumstances on a physical level. Or I can literally talk myself through a conversation with them until they say what I want them to say, rather than having to backspace every time I write it and am not happy with it.

Has anyone else out there tried writer role-play or something similar?

My next blog entry will be about a particular experience of my own, so stay tuned.

- Bonnee.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Relating to Your Characters: With Hana Brightside

My friend Hana, a fellow young writer, asked me recently what my novel was about and so I began to explain Evergreen: A Fallen Star to her. She was kind enough to ask about the main character(s) and then asked me which one I related to most. 

I'll share my answer here: of the three main characters, I relate most to Chihiro. Not because she is based on me, but because she is someone I strive to be like. I will admit that she was originally based on me, but she is a far more awesome version of myself which hasn't been fully generated into reality... yet. 

Chihiro: The 19-year-old older sister of the Imperial siblings. Chihiro is a motherly figure for her younger brother and sister and an understanding, thoughtful friend whom they confide in and often receive good advice from. She is strong willed, influential, intelligent and the immediate heir to the Imperial Throne providing she marries before the responsibility is passed down. 

More information about Evergreen and it's characters can be found in a previous blog entry here.

- Bonnee.