Forgive MY Fins Contest Extension

I'm extending the Forgive My Fins followers contest, as I have very few entries. At present, every entry wins something, so there's no reason NOT to enter. Enter HERE. When I have 30 entries, I'll choose the winners!
Remember: There are FIVE winners!

Catchup Week: Packages and Pictures

Hey Blogger buds,
To continue Catchup Week, I have a bunch of packages to blog about from the past two weeks. In short:
Picture the Dead T-Shirt
Tyger Tyger

LOTS of library books
Infinite DaysTriskaidek

Let's start!
I received a Picture the Dead t-shirt from Adelle Griffin in the mail two weeks ago. The first picture is the front, the second is the back.

I got Tyger, Tyger, an ARC from Kersten Hamilton. I read it really quickly, and I'm reviewing it soon.
Hm, no pictures? I better go take some...
The same day I got the shirt, I got a third edition of the Trisaidek.
No pictures here either; it's nearly identical to my first copy.
Just today, Infinite Days, an ARC from debut author Rebecca Maizel arrived on my doorstep in my mail slot.

I've got some bookshelf pictures and some other pictures to show you, but too many for today!

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Wild at Haert by Gloriana
Current Mood: Cold, Tired, and Still Having to Make a Phonecall

-Wanna Guest Post? Info HERE-

-Win Forgive My Fins Swag! Enter HERE-

Character Cast Tuesday (1)

Character Cast Tuesday is a meme hosted by me, in which every Tuesday you post an actor that you'd choose to play various characters, if your book were to be made into a movie.

Today, I'm going to cast the vicepeg, the second-in-command of Emberhard. He's a side character, but the main one. He's a bit of a Gary Lew (which is the male version of a Mary Sue) but he's interesting to write about. The vicepeg is a very secretive character, with a mysterious past that isn't focused on, but will make a perceptive reader think about.
The vicepeg is 17, but I'm planning to give him another year or two. He's tall, and buff, with blonde hair and these scary icy blue eyes.
Rich, powerful, strong and handsome ;) (The MC, Becca*, isn't interested though.)

I originally went with Martin Johnson, lead singer in Boys Like Girls. He’s not an actor, but all he has to do is shave a bit and die his hair blonde. I heard he’s a natural blonde. I love his eyes. But, then I found Chace Crawford, the Gossip Girl star. He’s a bit old, but he doesn’t look it. He’s handsome, muscular, and overall perfect. I love his blue eyes.

But of course, there was also Zac Efron, who lost by an inch. His face is rounder and softer. The vicepeg is sharp, hard, more like Crawford.

They look identical, practically.

Can you spot the difference?

Final Verdict:
Chace Crawford 

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Run Joey Run-Gleed Version

Current Mood: Hungry

*Becca's cast isn't coming for a while. She's being difficult.

-Wanna Guest Post? Info HERE-

-Win Forgive My Fins Swag! Enter HERE-

Catchup Week: Barnes and Noble and TS3 Visit

Hello my bloggy friends,

So, I've got a lot I need to tell you about. I have book reviews, packages, pictures, and a little trip to B&N to blog about, so this week (minus Sunday and Tuesday) is dedicated to my updates.

Schedule:

Monday: Barnes and Noble Visit (and Toy Story 3)

Wednesday: Packages + Pictures

Thursday: Tyger Tyger Review

Friday: Break Review

Saturday: Hopefully I'll have an MM (Midway Mention) by this time.

MONDAY:

Last Friday, I went with my sister, T, and one of my brothers, E (E and T Re!), to see Toy Story 3. It was the epitome of all Disney movies. In some places you cry, in others you laugh. We didn't get to see 3D, but it was worth it anyways. It started off with this genius scene, and then it got better and better. The whole thing was very climactic, with a bittersweet ending.

After TS3, we went down the block to Barnes and Noble. I didn't buy anything and I don't have any pictures, but I saw some interesting books.

There were two tables dedicated to recently released teen reads. (Links go to B&N) Among them I saw:

Shiver (which I caressed a bit)

Hunger Games and Catching Fire

Dark Flame

Wanted

Burned

Reckoning

Spirit Bound

Infinity

The Carrie Diaries

Forgive My Fins (don't forget my GIVEAWAY)

Something Like Fate

Shadow Souls

The Necromancer

Rules of Attraction

Mockingjay Preorder

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Graphic Novel

And then I browsed the teen shelves, and some books caught my attention.

In the Twilight section, one book caught my eye in particular. I saw the words "Bella Should Have Dumped Edward" and I immediately wanted to pick it up. Full title: Bella Should Have Dumped Edward: Controversial Views on the Twilight Series

My sister picked up Happyface, and bought it. I am soooo stealing borrowing this from her.

I saw City of Bones, Mistwood, What Curiosity Killed, and White Cat.

The teen books were all on the second floor. My favorites I saw near on the ground floor.

I saw the Nook, and stared longingly at it.

And I saw two that were interesting.

This is Not a Book

New Moan: The First Book in the Twishite Saga: A Parady (Author: Stephfordy Mayo)

Hope you enjoyed this ultra book-filled post!

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Go by BLG (love the song)

Current Mood: Kinda....hungry

-Win Forgive MY Fins Swag HERE-

Goodreads and Guest Blogging, Anyone?

Hello my bloggy friends,
So, as I'm going away soon, I want to set up some blog posts to post throughout August, so you don't get too lonely. As part of this, I want to have some guest bloggers. If you'd like to guest blog, comment here* or e-mail me at rivkarno1[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Also, I've recently joined Goodreads.com. If you've an account there, stop on by, request me as a friend! I'm right HERE.

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Boston by Augustana
Current Mood: Sneezy...again, and HOT

*If you leave a comment, make sure you've added your e-mail to Blogger, so I can send you an e-mail.

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins swag! Click here!-

Elana Johnson's Five Step Writing Guide

This is the best post. Ever.

Dude, I've got it down to a science. And I'm going to share it with you. You wanna be a writer? Publish books? 

Here's what you do.

1. Sit down at the computer. 
2. Open Word.
3. Type some words. 
4. Keep typing until you get to the end.
5. Repeat for book #2.

That's it. It's not that hard, really. *dodges Coke cans* (Of course, there's more to it than that, but really, that's it, right? If you boil everything else away...you sit down, open Word and type. If you're struggling, try this formula.)

Well, how would you do it? What am I missing?

Best post ever? Definitely. Direct linky, because EJ is awesome?
Right here.

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Dance Hall Drug by BLG
Current Mood: Tired, cuz I need to be up in a few hours

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins swag! Click here!-

Book Blogger Hop and Follower Friday

  

I forgot to mention! Today I'm participating in the Book Blogger Hop. It's a fun meme hosted by Crazy-for-books.com
And, I'm participating in Follower Friday, hosted by Parajunkee

Happy hopping!

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins swag! Click here!-

Darn You, Writer's Block

Dear Brain,

Why must you torture me so? I feed you food, books, air, books, minerals, books, Twizzlers, books, music and...did I mention books?

What did I ever do to you to deserve this? You give me 52,975 solid words, plus several thousand hypothetical words*, and then you just QUIT!!

Why? Why? Why?

(This post is dedicated to Mary Cambell of Writer's Butt Does Not Apply To Me, in honor of her latest post.)

Now, where was I....

I finished up a chapter. They gallop off into the sunset. (Well, not quite into the sunset, as much as into the trees.) That's chapter sixteen. I write "Chapter Seventeen" in a fancy font. (Chapter Seventeen) Well, I write in bigger than that, but that's besides the point.

I write "Chapter Seventeen" and then I put in some open quotes, because I was planning to open with speaking.

And.

Then.

I.

Stare.

Sad? Very. I ate a WHOLE TWIZZLER while staring. And I try not to waste Twizzlers.

So brain, tell me, why do you inflict this torture on me?

LoveHate,

Me

Current Music: She's Got a Boyfriend Now by BLG (I recently put Love Drunk on my computer, so it's the first time I'm hearing the song.)

Current Mood: Mildly PO'ed

Break-Midway Mention And Did You Notice My Avatar?

Hello my bloggy friends,
So to start off, did you notice my new avatar? If you take a look-sy to your right-y, you'll see my new picture; me reading Linger.

Now, on to the post.

Midway Mention

It's a new thing I'm starting, as part of a book review. Around halfway through a book, I'll give you a sort of mini-review; what I think of it so far, what my current rating is, etc.
If you want, you can participate in MM too! All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me you're using MM, and link back to me whenever you do it!

To start off, I'm reviewing Break, by Hannah Moscowitz. I'm about 15 pages away from the halfway, so here it goes.

The plot of Break is really interesting. I was interested when I first saw it. Why would a boy break all of his bones? Why does he need to be stronger.
Jonah, the MC, is growing up in a messed up family. His brother is allergic to everything. His other brother cries all the time. Like, never stopping. And his parents argue. always.
Whatever. So, I was intrigued by his messed up family, and the breaking his body part. Obviously. There was a lot of swearing in the book. This can mean different things. It can give you an idea as to who the characters are, for example. Angst-ridden teens? Rebel teens? Angst-ridden rebel teens? Regular teens, which is the same as angst-ridden rebel teens?
In my opinion, a lot of swearing in a book is pointless. A few times has an impact, a lot just makes the words as plain as the other words-except certain readers will put the book down. If I swear in my writing, it's few and far between. Because every time you do, it's BAM! My character is angry, and the reader knows it. Break had too much swearing for my taste. It seemed pointless; swearing for the sake of swearing.

Visit Hannah's blog.

***3 stars so far. I wonder how it'll turn out.

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Thunder by Boys Like Girls
Current Mood: Hungry. What initially made me hungry was Shannon Whitney Messenger attempting to make pirate ducky cupcakes.

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins swag!-

Character Cast Tuesday-New Meme!

Hello my bloggy friends,

So, two or three weeks ago I planned on starting a new meme; Character Cast Tuesday. But, stuff happened, and it's starting today!

The point of CCT: Every Tuesday you choose one character and cast them.

Rules:

• To join, leave a comment with a link to your webpage!
• You can cast your characters in any order you like.
• It has to be a real person.
• It can't be your best friend. It should be an actor, but if you can't find one you can cast a singer/dancer/etc.
• Link back to me if you choose to do this meme.
• Enjoy!

Note: I'll be posting my first CCT in just a few moments...(This will prompt me to start telling you about my book.)

So, what do you think? Leave a comment with a link to you blog to join!

Peace,
RR

Current Music: If I Fail by Boys Like
Current Mood: Giddy to start a meme

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins swag here!-

Picture Post- Linger and Contest Prizes!

Hello my bloggy friends,
So today I got a package in the mail; Vintage Veronica. So, I decided to bring back the pictures! I took a bunch of pictures of VV, and then some of other books that I haven't posted pictures of (Linger and If I Stay). So, I'm going to be giving you some pictures today, and probably throughout the week! I got some help from my sister T this time, so there's new types of pictures.
Today I'll show you some tons of Linger pictures, in honor of the review...

But first, I have a gorgeous picture of what you can win in my contest! This is both sides of the bookmark, and the tattoos!

The computer screen, announcing my victory. It's a bit blurry.

The front of the book.

The back. It has a short clip from the prologue.

The front flap. I'm only posting this because I've seen it online before, so I know it's not a spoiler.

Hugging Linger (There's the blue bracelet!)

And reading Linger. (I assure you, I haven't fallen asleep with it falling on top of me.)

Le gasp! The first page!

Sadly, I didn't get a green ink copy, so it's in dull black. But you get to see the word "Grace"!!

Enjoy!

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Current Mood: Mildly Bored

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins Swag!-

Another Bit From My Linger Review

I appear to keep on forgetting things in my Linger review, so I'm posting today for the third time.
One thing that irritated me immensely was Maggie's overuse of a certain character trait and plot developer.
Isabel and Cole had many heartfelt discussions. Every time, the character whose point of view it is does something like,


I wondered why I was telling him/her everything. It was because I knew s/he wouldn't care.


Every time they spoke, whoever was telling had the same thought: I'm doing it because Cole/Isabel doesn't care anyways, and won't feel bad for me.
Once or twice this is fine, but it got increasingly annoying as the book progressed.


Peace,
RR

Hundreds of Dimly Lit Corridors...

Hello my bloggy friends,
I never knew that there were so many dimly lit corridors in the world. Did you? It seems that every time I read a fantasy/historical novel, or sometimes other types, there's at least one dimly lit corridor. I noticed this the other day when I was reading Mistwood by Leah Cypess. I saw the words "dimly lit" and then the word "corridor" was on the next line. I knew it would say "corridor" before I'd even read it.
There are some phrases that are overused. I mean, why are all corridors dimly lit? And why say corridor? Why not stick with "the dark hallway"? Dramatic effect?
I think we use too many cliche phrases without even realizing it. Because we all think that no one will use "dimly lit corridor" and it's the only thing that fits my dark hallway. I think we need to stop using other people's phrases and start using something basic.
I'm going to start a non-campaign. When you write, think; is this something another writer came up with? Or myself?
Remember: You're a good writer. You don't need to use any cliche's; you have your own phrases to use.

Rant over. *steps off soap box*

So who's with me? Am I write about our "dimly lit corridor" cliches? Or do you beg to differ?

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Still Love Drunk

Current Mood: Still with a cold

-Enter to win Forgive My Fins swag! Click here!-

Forgotten Linger Review

Last night I posted a review on Linger. After it was up, I remembered that there was one thing that I wanted to add in, but forgot.

In Shiver, I was hoping that Sam would go visit his parents in jail. He didn't. When I received Linger, I was looking forward to possibly meeting his parents. He didn't go to them, which left me with a feeling of disappointment. I doubt any of you are like this, but I was looking forward to meeting Mr. and Mrs. Roth. I sincerely hope that Maggie Stiefvater brings them into the picture in the final book.

Official blog post coming soon.

The Review You've Been Waiting For....LINGER!!!

Hello my Bloggy Friends,
To start off, I apologize for my continued MIAness. A friend of mine was in town the other day, and I was busy. To make up for it, though, I have a special review for you! And, for the occasion, the review is GREEN!!!


Goodreads Blurb:
In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love--the light and the dark, the warm and the cold--in a way you will never forget.


My Review:
I was a little tentative to start Linger because of the multiple points of view. As you know, instead of Shiver's two characters-Grace and Sam-we have four; the original two along with Isabel and Cole.

I felt like the plot buildup was a little slow. It started out awesome; I had high expectations. Then something happened that made me really excited, but then it died down again very quickly. The main problem was something wrong with Grace, and I felt like this problem wasn't emphasized as much as it should be. This could be done on-purpose, but I felt like I was ignoring it, just to find out it was the main problem.
Instead, I found myself focusing on Sam and his problem with Cole, which didn't turn out the way I expected it to. Look to the right for a line graph I made on the buildup.
On to Cole. He surprised me. He started off as this obnoxious kid, doing idiotic things and being an overall jerk. But...he was really intelligent. The intelligence doesn't seem to fit with the image I have of him; and I don't like it. It's fun to watch him not be a jerk though, like with Isabel...
Which brings me to the romance. In Shiver, Sam wanted to stay human so he could be with Grace; the romance was a key part of the book. In Linger, I felt like the romance wasn't emphasized like it was supposed to be. There was no "I love you" and only a bit of "I miss you" when Grace and Sam weren't together. There was also very little kissing between the two. This brings us to the Cole-Isabel relationship. I was led to believe that there was something there but...there wasn't.
One of my favorite parts of the book was when Cole showed some of his genius and came up with a theory about the werewolves. It put a whole twist on the generic idea of why werewolves (or at least these werewolves) are the way they are.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this part.
Overall, I think Shiver was better, but I enjoyed Linger too. I loved the ending, and now I'm dying for Forever. You may have heard "I now have to wait forever for Forever" so I'm going to spare you the cheesy lines. It was good. I look forward to Forever. I'm the type that when I finish a good book, I'm excited for the next because I liked it. But after a while, that initial desire fades a bit and my thoughts change to "I'm excited because I know I liked it." I know that I know that I want it.  After reading Shiver, I felt this way about Linger; the initial desire is slowly fading as I await book 3. I hope you enjoyed the review, and weren't annoyed by the length.


OVERALL RATING: ****/ 4 and a half stars, but because I'm prejudice nice, I'll give it 5.


Peace,
RR


Current Music: Love Drunk by Boys Like Girls (just the chorus. I hate the song.)
Current Mood: Tired, sick again

Some Quick Announcements

Hello my bloggy friends,
To start off, I apologize for being MIA so much. Today was my last final, so I'm going to have some more time now.
Now, on to business.
I'll be posting a real blog post in a few minutes, but I have some announcements for now.

1)Remember when I won The Triskaidek? Well, I was recently speaking to Basil Sprig, the author and I was guilted offered to mention the book on the blog. Now, it's only $13 and it has a gorgeous cover, so take a look.(You may recognize the pictures of the book in the Product Image Gallery as the ones  uploaded onto here.)
I own a first edition of the book. This is the second, and the third is going to be there soon. But if you can't wait for the third edition, CLICK HERE to see the Amazon page!

2) I still don't have a single entry into my contest for Forgive My Fins swag. That means your chances are good! Contest ends July 1st.

3) Congratulations are in order for The Bookshelf Sophisticate on recently reaching 200 followers. She has an awesome contest running, so check it out!

4) On the topic of contests, I recently won one from Shelli on Market My Words. Throughtout this months she's having contest for some of her BEA book, meaning ARCs! Currently, The Duff ARC is up-for-grabs!*

5) Later today, expect another post. This on a new meme idea that was supposed to be posted yesterday.


Peace,
RR

Current Mood: Overtired
Current Music: Rose's Turn, Gleed version

*No, Shelli did not bribe me with chocolate to link back to her. **
**Nor did she bribe me with Twizzlers.
***Or any other delicious edibles. ****
****I do this from the goodness of my heart. ******
*****Yes, as much as I deprive you of book contests, I have a heart.

The Link for Show vs Tell

If you look at my post from early this evening, you'll see that I mentioned a show vs tell post. Well, I found it!
Sisters in Scribe wrote about Telling When You Think You're Showing.

Peace,
RR

A Quick Post on Exploding Brains

Hello my bloggy friends,

So today I' going to give you a quick post on Exploding Brains.

My brain is exploding for several reasons.

1) I'm thinking about my Linger review, which is coming up soon. If you want a shortened version of it, scroll to the bottom of this page and look through my Shelfari books. Click on Linger and explore a bit until you find it.

2) I have not a single entry in my followers contest.

3) I'm failing at least a class or two, and I've got 2 more finals left.

4) On top of it all, I'm trying to squeeze in some writing AND a post on writing. But for now, I'll just redirect you to a great blog...

Wait. Forget it. I can't find it.

Anyways, a blogger that I stalk follow wrote a post about Show vs. Tell, and this one really made me get it. She used the example, "My heart pounded with fear" and explained how you can just say "my heart pounded" and the reader will know it's with fear. I never really got this one, but now I think I do! Thank you, whoever it is, and please tell me if this is from you! I'd love to give credit!

5) I have a mound of books that I'm desperate to read. A bunch from the library plus about 5000 that I own and need to read. (Okay, maybe not 5000.) A friend of mine is bugging me to read a book, because she wants to know what it's about.

I think that's all.

Peace,

RR

Current Mood: Head busting

Current Music: Thunder by Boys Like Girls

ENTER MY FOLLOWERS CONTEST FOR A CHANCE TO WIN SOME FORGIVE MY FINS SWAG!!

Quickie Post

Hello my bloggy friends,
As I've already posted today (if you count after midnight) I just have two little announcements.

1) I finished Linger. It was incredible. A review to come.
2) The contest will be over on July 1st. That gives you more than 2 weeks to enter!

Click HERE to enter!

Nineteen Followers Plus One Brother (Forgive My Fins) Giveaway!

Hello my bloggy friends!

Well, I know you've been waiting with baited breath (and if you haven't, I'll pretend you have), so here it is! The Forgive my Fins (FmF) Giveaway !

Ready?

Set?

Swim!!

...

...

...

Okay, maybe not.

So here's the deal:

Note: Since it's after midnight here, I missed my Saturday posting day, and this is my Sunday post. Meaning that give you another hour (or whatever) to become an old follower.

Requirements:

You've got to be a follower to enter. (Sorry, this is my 19 Stalkers + One Brother) Giveaway.

U.S. mailing address. (As these are coming in a plain white envelop, you need to be here for regular postage. I'm still broke.)

Prizes: (The best part!)

First Prize: 4 Temporary Tattoos (that look really awesome and stay on, might I add) and 4 FmF Bookmarks. You can give some away, to help me spread the word! TWO WINNERS!!!!(!!!!!!!!!!!)

Second Prize: 3 Tattoos and 3 Bookmarks. TWO WINNERS!!!!(!!!!!!!!!!!)

Third Prize: 1 Tattoo and 1 Bookmark-you get to be selfish and keep it.

(Non-Existent Grand-prize: 1 Copy of Forgive my Fins by TLC)

To enter, FILL OUT THIS FORM Contest is Now Closed. Good Luck!.
(Sidenote: I'm 1 one of those people that likes a variety of backgrounds for these forms, so I don't get confused.)

Good luck everyone!

Contest ends when I have 30 entries!

So (for your boredom and my ego), tell me, are you excited?

Current Mood: giddy from Linger, tentative about massive finals, and mildly overtired (that means hyper)

Current Music: Great Escape by Boys Like Girls

Peace,

RR

EDIT: Here's a picture!

ABCD: Apologies Boxes, Contests and Decor!

A

First off, I apologize for not being on lately. School's ending, and Final schedule is crazy. I'm going to be on even less then week, when the subjects are more difficult. Are narrowly passed my history final and science could go in either direction. I'm only confident about math (didn't get the mark yet) and English.Vocabulary. (I got 100. Writing is always a plus when it comes to vocab.)

To apologize, this is going to be a kick-butt long post with a CONTEST!!!

B
Well, it's more of a manila envelop than a box, but I got a package in the mail today. I came home and saw it and wondered, "I'm only expecting 2 packages, neither of which should have come yet. This is also an awkward size for a book. It came from Novel Novice. I wonder who they are?"
And then it hit me.
LINGER!!!!
Yes, my beautiful green book is in my arms right now! I'm sooo excited to read it. (I've already sniffed it, but it doesn't have the New Book Smell.)

C
I was planning on posting this by itself, but Linger and finals invaded, so it's going in my big post. You noticed my Splash Team button for being a Forgive My Fins promoter. Well, in my Promoter Manila Envelop, I received 20  temporary tattoos and 20 bookmarks (along with a pin and a note.) This contest will be my First Followers Contest, in honor of 19 people + my big bro stalking following me. I plan to have a full post about this tomorrow, but I'm setting it up today.
I'd like to say that I have 20 people following me and 20 bookmark-tattoo sets, but my sissy, T, and I both have stolen. And I gave a bookmark to a classmate, so we now have 17 bookmarks and 18 tattoos. (And the tattoos are really cool!)
So this contest is to kill 2 birds with one stone: have my first contest, and recruit my bloggy friends as promoters.
Prizes:
1) 4 tattoos and 4 bookmarks to spread the Mer love! (Don't worry, you can keep one!)--TWO WINNERS!!
2) 3 of each--TWO WINNERS
3) 1 bookmark and 1 tattoo. One winner.
Now, I'd love to say that the Grand Prize is a copy of Forgive my Fins, but....not quite.

To win, you must be a follower. You get bonus entries as an oldie, so, as I'm announcing this in advance, if you follow TODAY or TOMORROW BEFORE IT STARTS, you'll be counted as an Oldie too! If you stalk follow after I post the form, you don't get the bonus entry.

D
Like my new layout? The left sidebar is for blog stuff, the right for ME stuff. Enjoy it! Tell me what you think in the comments!


Peace,
RR

Mood: Joyful
Music: Beth by Kiss, Glee Version

Casting Your Characters Tuesday-New Meme?

Hello my Bloggy Buds,
I was taking a stroll over at Spunk On a Stick today, and I saw a post on who Spunk would cast, in a movie, to portray their book characters. Spunk originally got if from the Alliterative Allomorph. I actually saw AA's post, but forgot about it. Spunk jogged my memory.

So, I had an idea for a new Meme. Every Tuesday, you cast one of your characters. How do you have enough? You start with the main character, then go to the main side character, and work your way down from main character-est to smallest and least important character. Get it?

So, what do you think of this new Meme? Should I start it? Does it already exist? Good idea, but bad? Let me hear it!

Why Follow, and Call Me a Hypocrite...

...but I'm doing some promoting today.
Hello all,
If you mosey on over to my sidebar, you'll notice my new Badges section. So, if you want to give me a reward/award/badge thing of some sort, I have no problem with it ;) Shiny, sparkly stuff!
Anyways, Tera Lynn Childs, author of OH. MY. GODS. has written another book, Forgive my Fins. I haven't read it yet, but I will very soon. It's aiming high.
Feel free to pick it up at Amazon.








Now, there are a couple of reasons to follow me. Today I planned on giving you a brief overview of the main ones.
1) Exclusive reviews. Until I get more followers, the only people who'll be allowed to see reviews of ARCs or books that recently came out are my stalkers.
2) I'm currently trying to think of things that'll fit in an envelope to give away.
3) You'll be fortunate enough to spend time with the glorious (and humble) Riv Re and my great sense of humor.

...

...

Okay. Fine. Forget the last part.

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Beth by Kiss. Gleed version.
Current Mood: Getting over a cold (finally)!!!

Teaser Tuesd- Whoops, Teaser Sunday

Hey all,
Since I've got nothing to post, and I'm not gonna leave you guys hanging, I'm going to give you a little teaser from Eberheardt. I'm planning on writing a nice, long, post on what it is, but for now, here's how the prologue of Eberheardt starts.

People screamed, clinging to their loved ones as they tried to escape. Men laughed as they ran through the streets carrying torches and swords, slaying all who rose up against them. A young boy-he couldn’t be any older than sixteen-was hidden on a hill, watching it all happen. He was wrapped in a traveling cloak, formerly colored royal shades of red and gold, but now tattered, muddied, and devoid of its former splendor. The hood covered short black hair, startling green eyes looking out from beneath it.

The boy watched in horror as the capitol city burned. He ducked low into the bush he was hiding in as soldiers rushed passed. The boy fought the desire to throw his dagger at the man and kill one of the murderers. But he could not afford to reveal himself, or lose his weapon, at such a time.

The boy’s grandparents were elderly and had been oblivious to the uprising. They had been unable to quell the rebels, and now all that the boy could do was watch in horror as the castle-and his life-burned.

The sun rose behind what was left of the beautiful palace. Mere hours ago, the boy had been celebrating the summer festival with his family. He had been laughing with a friend of his, a nobleman’s son, and they had been courting the many governors’ daughters of the land. Of course, what fair maiden would deny the wishes of a prince? That sunrise, the boy’s grandparents were planning to pass on the crown to his father and mother, making him crown prince.

But alas, at midnight these marauders had attacked the castle. And word had come from many a breathless messenger that the same was happening through the vast kingdom, and even a boat sailed up the Fortuin River bringing news from Lors, the island of Eberheardt. The country was under siege, and the soldiers, drunk from the evening’s festivities, were incapable of retaliation.

The attack had been planned brilliantly, with no flaws in the plan. Except one; the boy had managed to flee from his burning home, dodging hostile enemies, and find solace on this hill.

So, tell me, what do you think? Is this something you' like to read more of? Do you think it's written too formally? (If you do, don't worry, that's not the way the whole book is written, only the prologue.) I want to hear your opinion on my work!

Peace

RR

Current Music: Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

Current Mood: Sneezing in sets of 4, 5, or 6.

Stuffy Nosed Saturday and Naming Fantastical Characters

Exactly.
What.
It.
Sounds.
Like.

I haz a cold.

Now, as I'm watching Benjamin Button very soon, here's a quick post on fantasy names.
But first, a little question on the title of this post:
Isn't fantastical the most awesome-est word in the entire English language?


I knew you'd agree with me.
Of course, my friend Peanut Butter (just a nickname, don't worry. I don't use real names here) didn't believe me when I told her it was a real word.

Ah, the sacrifices we make for awesomeness.

Now, on to the post.
In case you haven't figured this out yet, I love fantasy. (The understatement of the week.) So, most of the names I use aren't random. I only have a few critirea criteria. (When I can spell it, that is.)
1) It has to sound at least remotely right. Meaning, it has to fit. Sometimes, a name just doesn't work for a character.
2) It has to have a meaning that matches. All names have meanings. When I name a character, often I'll look up the meaning of a word. For example, Eberheardt focuses around a war, right? So, there are two army commanders. 'Marcus' means soldier, or something like that. 'Gabriel' means something along the lines of "G-d is strong". I won't name a bad guy 'Simcha', which means happy. I plan to rename my bad guys something like, "Akser". It comes from a word "achzar" (the "ch" is guttural) which means "cruel". Get it?
3) It has to be old-fashioned. Eberheardt takes place in a fantasy world with no new technology. Like, say, medieval times. Meaning, no blogging. (Some people did have travel logs, though!) They see with torches, fight with swords, and travel by foot or horseback. Nothing even remotely new. So,to fit with that old-fashioned theme, I use names like "Annabell", not, say, "Derek".
4) It can't be reused, or share the same letters as four other characters. Meaning that unless they're triplets, I won't have John, Joe, and Jack. I usually avoid names that start with the same letter or are similar to another character's name. In one place in my book, I have a character Aero and a character Art who are buddies. That's because it seemed right. As for what I said about reusing names, this is in most cases. In Eberheardt, there's a character of lore with the same name as a character you actually meet. This is done on purpose. It's part of the plot. Only do it if it's part of the plot, so as not to confuse people. For example, in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, it's what the plot is based upon.
5) Don't mix real and fake names. Unless you're me. I mentioned the name Aero before. I love it. It's fake. I'll change it. All of my names are real, except for that one and another character, Janko, based off a kid I know.

When I pick names, I use behindthename.com and babynames.com.

So, how about you? Any naming tips?

Cheers,

RR

Music: Rose's Turn-Glee version

Mood: Sick

Have a Six Flags Day with the Green Lantern (and participate in another contest!)(and see some of my writing crituqued at BF&F)!

So, our class went on a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure yesterday. (We got back late and I couldn't post, sorry!)
Backstory: My school has a charity event every year. The class/es that bring in the most miss a day of school to go to Great Adventures. Last year my class won, but I hated upside-down roller coasters. It was dull. Last summer, however, I was on the Hydra in Dorney Park. First. Looped. Coaster. Ever. And it was awesome.
Totally.
Awesome.
So I was really excited to go to the very-intense, very-crazy amusement park. And I had a blast. I went on Rolling Thunder, Mine Train, El Toro, Batman, Dark Night, and Scream Machine. Unfortunately, Nitro was closed, we forgot Bizarro and Superman, and I had to wait with a friend during Kingda Ka, so I missed that one.

Now that that's all said and done (that sorta starts Over You by Chris Daughtry), on to the best part. After the roller coasters, we went wandering (passing one Dip'n Dots around 4 times) and came upon a little section (like, five square feet) where two superheroes stood. We saw Flash and Robin at one point, but didn't say much to them.

Note: We interrupt this blog with an important message: This post is dedicated to S.R, a classmate and Six Flags gal.
Now, after Flash and Robin, Green Lantern and Wonderwoman made an appearance. SR walked over to say hello, attempting to play dumb blonde. She made some jokes, at my expense, and wonderful GL (Green Lantern) backed me up. The three of us spoke about everything from getting mugged, to babies, to leather boots, to karma to the Beatles (he started singing Lucy in the Sky, and I told him it was before his time). It was fun. Oh, and high-fiving (can't forget, that's very important!).
Afterwards, we were still talking about him. SR, getting all jealous, claimed that he thought I was older, and that's why he liked me better. Never mind that we both wore identical uniforms. I'm almost a head taller than SR.
With my oozing sarcasm and awful jokes, with help from some friends,  we came up with my celebrity superhero crush. You know what I've decided? He's keeping his distance in order to protect me!
Now, here's SR attempting to draw (love ya, SR)---->
That's a picture of his ring and our initials in a heart (in case you can't tell) The awkward turtle moment came when another friend, DKP, said, a bit loudly, "and then Riv's boyfriend said..." and the bus fell silent.
Completely.
Utterly.
Silent.
And then we cracked up and I faked annoyance. This isn't the kind of thing I want my eachers knowing about, as non-existent as it is.
I'll never see him again.
I'm learning to accept the heart-ache.
*sniffles*
There are a couple questions we regretted not asking him:
1) How old do you think we are? (me and SR)
2) What's your alias?
3) (We forgot this one, so I'll make it up now) Which one of us did you like more? After you called SR mean.


In other news, the lovely Natalie Whipple of Between Fact and Fiction critiqued the first 500 words of Eberheardt yesterday. View it here. This isn't actually the beginning of Emberhard. Scroll down to the comments to view my reason for not posting the prologue.

And finally, Ink In All Forms is hosting a kick-off contest! Win some lovely books (almost as lovely as Natalie)! Go here. Now.

Peace and enjoy your day,
RR

Current Mood: Overtired
Current Music: Do You Know (Where You'll sleep Tonight)? by Gossip Grows on Trees (They're a small-time band, but they sound wonderful. Amazon is selling two of their songs for free. Check them out or I will steal Snuggles.
(<---------New feature: Amazon Associates)

Writing Rush, Contests and Comics! (oh, and packages)

Hello my blogging buddies!

Well, today is a writing day.

Meaning?

My arms and screaming at me to open up Microsoft Word and set them free.

First some back story.

Sometimes when I'm bored in class I'll write on my notes. Meaning: it could be anything from a time traveling paragraph* to scene from Eberheardt** to peoples' initials***, to a poem****. Today I wrote one little scene from Eberheardt. First period finished. Then I got bored during second period, so I pulled out a yellow legal pad thingy and began to write a battle scene. Now, this pad is, maybe, 8'5 (I'm probably way off). Splitting each line in half (more than twice as many words per line than usual!) I filled two pages, "just finishing the scene". Well, the scene, a very intense one, isn't finished.

I'm one of those people that, when they need to write, they feel it. Right now, the veins in my forearms and the muscles in my fingers are yelling at me. The veins is a weird thing. I get a weird feeling where I assume my veins are, and I need to write. Anyone else get like this?

No?

Anyone? Anywhere?

Guess not.

Anywho, I would never leave you like that. So, I've got two contests to speak of, and a comic.

First off, La Femme Readers is giving away an ARC of Hunger!

And Cleverly Inked is giving away Necromancer and a water bottle!

And, I just remembered. I got a package today(!!!!!) Sorry, it's not Linger yet. I actually got 2 packages. I got If I Stay by Gayle Foreman, from the wonderful Candace of Candyland. And, my gorgeous TImex watch came from Gearloop on eBay. No pictures, but I'll try to get you an image from Timex. :)

Now, for the comic:

(click on it to see the cut-off part)
This is from xkcd, the hysterically funny webcomics posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It's definitely worth it to bookmark them! (And no, I have not been bribed to say that ;) )

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Honestly by Cartel//Follow You into the Dark by Death Cab for Cute (the 2nd song started while I was finishing up this post but after I posted Honestly)

Current Mood: Overtired and Writing Rush-filled. (I got 2 hours of sleep last night.)

*Done it. I might post it some time, if I can read it XD

**Done it several times

***You should see my 3rd period notes

****Can't recall doing it, but I'm sure people have.

DISCLAIMER:

I hold no responsibility for failed courses as a

result of following in my footsteps and writing during class.