Hot in Honolulu

Oi.

Here's the thing about Hawaii they don't tell you, kids--

It's hot. And not like, a tolerable kind of hot where it's nice and breezy and sunny. It's the '86 degrees with the humidity set at 500% and a magnifying glass over the sun' kind of hot.

Not a good day to wear black.

But it has put me in a good place to reminisce on the icy-cold Christmas I spent in Salem, Oregon this year. Which is good, because my current side-project MS takes place in November, in the Willamette valley.

I have a weird relationship with Oregon. My first time back was when I was 17 in September a few years ago, and it stuck with me in a big way. I haven't been able to get it out of my head.

The trees and the hills and the mountains and the trees, and the trees, it was pretty huge to me. And ever since, I've totally been enamoured with the idea of mythical and mystical critters living there. It seemed totally plausible that there would be fairies running around in the forest on the way to the coast, and white stags hiding among the trees.

Also, I was really jetlagged and dehydrated the whole trip :) 

Advice for writers

Seriously, writers, this is all the advice you'll ever need. So listen up yo.

Write the book you will want to read 400000000000000 times.

Because you will.

CONSTANTLY. YOU WILL READ THAT THING SO MANY TIMES.

Read it a hundred times in revisions, read it a hundred more in editing, then in post-editing, then just because. You have to love that thing. Make it your favorite book ever.

And that's my advice. 

I am a terrible blogger!

I haven't posted a blog in ages! D:
To be fair, I've been doing stuff, like writing, which is really what I'm supposed to be spending the bulk of my time on.
And doodling, I suppose.

Bay

Bay

Lately I've been thinking about making a webcomic. I'm not really sure whether or not I'm going to do it, but while I'm dithering I've decided to try drawing potential characters. 

FWTYWHAIMB: Part 1 -- Boudicca

I. Love. Boudicca.
I really do. If I ever met her in person I'd run way in fear, but frankly, you'd run away from any tall, fierce, Briton-Celt Iceni queen, wouldn't you?
Who is Boudicca?
Boudicca was a queen of a British tribe called the Iceni about a hundred brazillion years ago. She had two daughters, and a nice husband (who is sort of irrelevant since the story doesn't start until he dies). When he kicked the bucket, he left half of everything he owned to Boudicca and their daughters, and half he left to the Roman Empire, since the Iceni had been on lovely terms with their civilized Eastern neighbors.
Only Rome didn't like that, and occasionally they liked to remind people that they were the Bossess of Britain, and pretty much the known world. They publicly flogged her, and her daughters were beaten and raped in front of her. Creditors called in their debts, all their stuff was taken, and their kingdom was annexed.
Obviously, Boudicca was not pleased.
Actually, she was really, really, really really really really really not pleased. So not pleased that she called up all her tribal friends, and rounded herself up an army of crazy, war-loving Celts, an army that was actually so big that some sources say it was the reason that they ended up losing the rebellion that Boudicca launched against Rome.
For a while, she did great! Ever hear of a little town called London? Burned it. 
Colchester? Smoked. 
St. Albans? You guessed it. 
Until she lost. Some say she killed herself, some say she got sick and died, but all anyone knows for sure is that she was crazy, mad, and that she had the guts to stand up to the ROMAN EMPIRE.
I use her as a reference often. I base characters off her legend, since there isn't much I know about her actual life. Olivia from Sterling is based on her. I talk about her all the time. I wonder what she was like. I watch waaaay too many documentaries on her (although that's Britain in general). I can't listen to a Florence and the Machine song without remembering her. Boudicca was a queen, a boss, and most definitely worthy of repeated mention in books by any author. 

Oh my gosh

I love my job. . . .

Today, I took my younger sister to work (she's five) and she played with the twins. Oh my goodness, is there anything cuter than three well-behaved kids hanging out and playing?
She taught them how to build a block tower and how to play with an alligator pop-up ball thing (I don't even know what it was) and they were just generally adorable.
I love kids. Really, even when they irritate the absolute living crap out of me, which happens often because I have a flash temper, I love them.

Just look at her! 

Frankly, I'd really like to give writing children's stories a shot later on, when my writing schedule clears up. I'd love to write a middle grade book. 

The most fun part of imagining any character --

THEIR CLOTHES OF COURSE!
Oh my gosh, I absolutely love imagining the clothes that my characters wear. I'm addicted to Polyvore and have tons of sets for my own characters as well as for other people's.
Frankly, I just love fashion. If I was to choose another dream to have I'd totally choose fashion designer or to make costumes for movies. I love thinking up whole closets for my ladies and even my boys. Everyone in my head looks fierce in my opinion.
Some of my favorite things you'll be seeing either in art or in prose are the Steampunk-inspired dresses that the main lady in my new project, with lots of 1870's silhouettes, pompadour-heeled boots, and tons of color. You'll see or read about Carrick's winter coat, which has a feather lining rather than fur. You'll read about Sophie's military-inspired style in Nightling #2, which is probably going to be released in March.
Clothes are a huge part of the world in anything I write. Usually there's a dressmaker or a tailor character, or someone who loves fashion. I use costumes and color palettes to describe characters or to set their moods. Cornelia, always in black and green is sly and a little mad. Olivia is always in blue. Corvyn in blacks and dark grays. Sophie in paler grays and olive greens.
I have way too much fun with this. 

Officially starting a new project

Outlook. hopeful. Thinking it will be a steampunky fairytale circus-y gypsy thing. No, I don't know either. But I've written a few pages so far and feel quite hopeful.

The Fourth Doctor for all the things!