A to Z: Stories

I can barely begin to tell you how relieved i was that I didn't have to write a blog yesterday. The boyfriend usually does his blogs beforehand and I leave them to the day, and then to the last minute, and yesterday I was pretty exhausted. I was in need of a good break. So I did some reading and some thinking.

As you may know my sister and I are writing a book, were still working our way through the second draft, but I'm stuck. I have writers block. I was hoping this challenge would help and inspire me, but no such luck so far.

But instead I decided I would read more, and look at how other writers have done it and use that to help improve my own writing. I also thought about doing some short stories about different topics (say, fairy tales or Arthurian tales or something), and though I've had a few ideas, there's nothing concrete at the moment.

So today instead of sharing with you something new that I've written, I'll share with you something older.
It's a short story based on the tale of 'The boy who cried Wolf'. It's short, but I think if I copied and pasted it on here it would take up a lot more of this blog than I would like, so here's a link:

The Wolf-Boy.

Please give it a read and tell me what you think. You would be doing me a huge favour.
Or even better, give me some suggestions for other short stories you'd like to see me write.

A to Z: Letters

I thought Letters was quite appropriate, as in the A to Z challenge we are celebrating how diverse letters can be, and what words you can find that begin with them, and hopefully using that letter to inspire a great post.

The kind of letter I'm thinking of though is a letter that you might send by post or e-mail or that you could type or hand-write. A form of communication. A love letter, a dead letter, a lost letter and so on. A piece of prose that's frank and sometimes beautiful.

Now I've typed the word 'letter' so often that it seems like a weird word. Does it seem weird to you? So many e's and t's.

So now I'm going to write a letter. This one in particular is to my younger self, because she really needs it. The question 'What would you say to your teenage or younger self now?' is one that is asked a lot. I think it's about time for mine.

April 13th 2013

To me,

Now that your teenage years are starting, there are a few things you should know. I'm here to tell you all about them. Please heed my words. I know you're stubborn (and you will only get more so), but just listen, it'll pay off.

First off, don't listen to the bullies. They're morons. You'll grow into your looks one day, it'll take some time though. Now some of them have fallen pretty darn low. You'll love the payback they get.

Secondly, don't waste your time with people who you're not sure about. You're actually not a bad judge of character. Listen to that, and also, tell your sister to listen to it too. These people will turn out to be just as awful as you thought they might be. Definitely don't waste time on boys who are up and down like a yo-yo. You're better than that. But take a chance on one and see how well that turns out.

Thirdly, liking different music is not a crime. Embrace it. In time it'll be pretty cool that you like the golden oldies.

When you want to die your hair red (yes, you really will) just do it, and don't listen to teachers telling you how bad it is, because nowadays you've reverted back and people seem to think it suits you. Red hair rules.

Do the things you want to do. It doesn't matter what people say. Grab life and shake it up a little. I know you will anyway, but do it more so. Jump at chances, and for God's sake try to get a job at 16, you really need the experience.
If you're proactive and happy, everything will fall into place.

Yours Faithfully, me (only older and hopefully wiser).

The 10 Day you Challenge : 1 Picture of Yourself

For the last day of the challenge, it's a picture of yourself.

Well, instead of posting an actual picture (not a good idea for me) I decided the best way to show how I view myself is to write and draw things that I love, and to do a small self-portrait in the middle.

I don't think picture's really show who you are, they're more how you were in that moment, or the face you put on. But drawings and paintings.. and a collage maybe. that really shows what you love.
So I gave myself a little project and this is what I came up with:

I just went ahead and drew it in biro quickly, but I hope it sums me up well. (Reminds me of a childs drawing, but I can't draw people at all.)

To sum it up a little, I'm holding a phone, theres a cupcake, a pencil and paintbrush, lots of nature, a laptop, a book, a handbag, a DVD, some musical notes and a host of random words. oh, and a badly drawn nail polish in the corner. There should be a camera, a holiday and loved ones on here, but I couldn't fit it on the piece of paper (and can't draw them). This shows the things I enjoy, without being too nosy. :)

Thank you for taking your time to read my post, and possibly even the whole challenge (if you did that I'm impressed).