Thus it begins.

Camp NaNoWriMo started today. I have 3,286 words already! Of course.... 1,800 of those words were written last December so.... Yeah. I didn't exactly start at 0 but I figure that's alright.
My novel is, as I've said before, the third in my spy series, though it is written second.
It's working title is Partners in (Solving) Crime.
Here is the synopsis:

When the Big Boss is kidnapped, Daniel and Varina decide to try find him - without orders! Their search takes them from New York City to Seattle where they find out that the Big Boss might not need as much rescuing as they had originally thought.

Now I'm sitting in the chair watching Mulan ("Dishonor on you! Dishonor of your cow!") and trying to do an eleven-strand braid in Josefina's hair. So far it is an eight-strand braid.... I'll finish it real quick and post a picture.

 

I like this braid. It's kind of complicated... But it was fun (enough). I didn't have to start over very much, which is good.
This is how you do it:
You separate the hair into three sections. One big section in the middle and two little sections on the sides of the head. Then you do a five-strand braid with the middle section. Then, with one of the side sections, you start doing a regular braid, but then you intertwine it with the five-strand. You do that with the other side as well... Then you have an eleven-strand braid! It really isn't as hard as it sounds.
Now I'm going to try french braid Linda's hair... I can do eleven-strand braids, but not french braids!

Live long and prosper!

A writerly tag. And some Liberace.

Jack tagged all her followers and I am going to take the tag as it is a fun writerly one.

1. What is the working title of your book?
You Don't Find Them, They Find You.

2. Where did the idea come from for your book?
This is a loooooooooooooonnnggg story.....
It starts with my favorite cousin. When I was younger, I used to make up spy stories about us. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them got past one or two pages....
Well, sometime at the beginning of last year I was at the thrift store and this new and improved secret agent idea popped into my head. I had to write it down right THEN. Luckily my mom had some paper and a pen with her....
Well, that idea evolved into my present spy SERIES!

3. What genre is your book?
Espionage.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition.
Varina would be played by Michelle Dockery probably.... Although she would have to fake an American accent.

 

 

I don't know who would play Daniel..... Alexander Siddig has the right face shape, and is thin enough (at least, he was in his Deep Space Nine years). He also has the perfect accent. But Daniel is white, not east indian; and he has blond hair and blue eyes.

 

 

 

Soooo... that face/body shape with Michael W. Smith's hair and eyes?

 

 

If such a person exists.....

Really, though, I would be happy with a younger Alexander Siddig.

 

5. Give the one sentence synopsis of your book.
A race to find Liberace's rhinestone before the bad guys!
(If you don't know who Liberace is, shame on you. Here is a video for you:

 

That, above, is early in his career, I believe... Before he wore his flare, literally, on his sleeves.

Here is a picture for you:

 

 

 

If you are interesting in learning more about Liberace.... buy my book when it comes out. xD Kidding. Really, though, if you want to hear more of his music, I highly highly highly recommend the Muppet Show episode starring him. It can be found on youtube.)

6. Is your book self-published, published by an independent published, or represented by an agency?
It isn't published yet. When I finish all the books and edit them... I am going to try get an agency interested (because by that time I'll be in college or out of college and I'll have the knowledge to try do something like that. Right now I don't know enough about publishing).

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
One month - last year's NaNoWriMo!

8. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
My favorite cousin.

9. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Ummm... It's got a bunch of pop culture references that I will be forced to take out later (which will be sad). Also, Daniel and Varina go poking through the (sadly, closed. In real life and in my book) Liberace museum in Las Vegas. That was pretty fun to write since Liberace was such an extravagant guy. They try on some of his rhinestone-covered clothes.

And there you have it. I am going to (evily) tag Jessica at Authorly Insane. And my friend Jen too. You guys just have to answer the same questions I did.

Live long and prosper!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas everyone! It's time to celebrate our Lord's birth!
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I have a Christmas short story for you.
I wrote it for something called Character Encounters, which is a get-to-know-your-character hosted by Kendra at Knitted by God's Plan.

 

I did, however, take some liberty with it.... The first rule I broke was that I used my NaNoWriMo characters because they are the only interesting characters I have.
The second liberty I took was that instead of my characters coming into my world, I went into theirs. I didn't see any regulations saying I couldn't, and I wanted to visit their world to help them along.

Some things to know before you read the story....
Daniel and Varina are the characters.
Trench Coat Woman is Your's Truly.

 

The Wolf is the continuing bad guy of the series. He disappeared for awhile... But now he's back.

Without further ado.... Christmas Shopping!

   “Daniel! Come on! We’re here to Christmas shop!”

   Daniel Adams was jolted out of Debussy’s Reverie. He let his hands fall from the piano ivories into his lap. Still in the daydream produced by the melody which had so recently poured forth from his fingers, Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he looked up, blue eyes flashing open. In front of him stood his friend, Varina Webb, her dark hair cascading down her shoulders in waves of soft curls.

   If Daniel had to pick one instrumental piece to accompany Varina through life, it would be Debussy’s Reverie. Starting soft and sweet, it soon unexpectedly turned wildly minor. Like Varina, it was altogether mysterious.

   “Daniel?” she said again.

   “Hmm? Oh sorry.” Daniel had drifted back into his muse. Varina smiled at him, though behind her patient exterior, Daniel could tell she was annoyed.

   “I know you love the piano store, and that playing a grand is wonderful-“ Daniel’s own grand piano had been left in London when he moved to the United States- “but we came to the mall to do some Christmas shopping, not to the play the pianos.”

   “I know,” sighed Daniel heavily. He reluctantly left his spot at the piano bench, casting longing glances behind him at the Steinway as he and Varina left the store.

   “Maybe we can come back after we’re done shopping,” Varina said kindly, “and after we meet… you know,” she whispered the last few words and Daniel was reminded why they had come to the mall in the first place.

   Under the false pretences labeled “Christmas shopping,” Daniel Adams and Varina Webb had come to the mall to acquire intelligence. For Daniel and Varina weren’t just friends out searching for the best deals, they were partners. Partners in solving crime.

   Daniel and Varina were secret agents who worked for L.U.K.E., an acronym which stood for League of Undercover Knowledge and Espionage.

   They had been contacted by the Big Boss himself the previous afternoon. The message had been short, and in code. Thank goodness Daniel was the world’s best code breaker (though he only ranked fifth in lock breaking).

   He had the message decoded within the hour.

   It read as follows: 

TOP SECRET:

An agent has important intel. Meet her at the mall tomorrow, 3:00, food court, under the palm tree. She knows who you are and she’ll find you. Ask her why she’s wearing sunglasses in doors. She will reply with, “Oh dear, am I still wearing my sunglasses? They’re clip-ons… etc,” and you will know who she is. Tell no one.

-BB.

   So Daniel and Varina had prepared to meet this mysterious woman, travelling to the mall under the guise of Christmas shoppers. They fit in perfectly.

****

   It was exactly 2:48 when Daniel and Varina entered the food court. Varina groaned.

   “What?” Daniel asked.

   “Look how many palm trees there are in here!” Varina said. “How do we know which is the right one?”

   Daniel looked around. “Hmmm…. I don’t know, how?”

   “It wasn’t a joke,” Varina rolled her eyes, a slight smile playing across her lips. They stood and stared for awhile, scanning the trees but trying to appear as if they were really scanning the food vendors.

   “There is only one live palm tree in here,” Varina muttered. “The rest are fakes. I say we choose the tree that is alive, it is the only thing that sets it apart from the others.”

   “Good eyes Holmes,” said Daniel with a nod.

   “Why thank you, Watson,” Varina replied with a smile.

   Daniel glanced at his watch. “2:52… Hmm, we’re eight minutes early. Can we get something to eat?”

   “I suppose so,” replied Varina.

   Seven minutes later they were seated at a table next to the live palm tree, trying to block out the noise of the court, and trying to enjoy their gyros without making a mess.

   “Mmmm, Greek food,” Daniel shouted over the din, taking a sloppy bite. Varina handed him a napkin. Daniel glanced at his watch. 3:00.59. Daniel was about to say , “she’ late,” when a woman in a trench coat, Indiana Jones fedora, and sunglasses clipped to her regular lenses, bumped into their table, a tray-full of food balanced precariously in her hands.

   “Oop!” she said. “Mind if I sit here for a moment to get my bearings?”

   “No problem,” Daniel said in a friendly voice. He stood up and pulled out a chair for the woman. She gratefully sat down with a plop and set her tray on the table.

   Varina cast a glance at Daniel who nodded slightly.

   “It must be awfully bright if you’re wearing sunglasses inside,” said Varina casually, casting a sly glance at the woman.

   “Oh dear, am I still wearing my sunglasses?” the woman said, putting on a practiced embarrassed look. “They’re clip-ons, see? Much easier than getting a prescription pair of sunglasses.”

   “I prefer contacts myself,” Varina replied.

   As the woman asked about the medical benefits of contact lenses, she slipped a scrap of paper to Daniel under the table.

   “Thanks for letting me sit here! I’ll be off now! Nice chattin’ with ya!” the woman smiled broadly at Daniel and Varina and then grabbed her tray and promptly left, disappearing into the crowd without so much as a backwards glance.

   Daniel and Varina finished their gyros, not wanting to draw any unexpected attention to themselves, and were just about to get up to leave when two men loomed up in front of their table, casting a shadow over them.

   “May we help you?” Daniel asked in his sharp British accent.

   “Where did she go?” asked one of the men.

   “Who?”

   “Don’t play ignorant with us skinny boy!” said the other man. Daniel glanced self-consciously at himself. He could eat and eat but never gain any weight – giving him many uncouth nicknames.

   “Where did she go? Short, trench coat, sunglasses, she was sitting at your table.” The first man glared at Daniel and Varina.

   “There has been no one sitting here but us and a pesky little fly that keeps trying to steal my food,” said Daniel casually, batting at the fly which had landed on his gyro wrapper.

   “What information did she give you?” demanded the first man.

   “We don’t know what you’re talking about and we’re beginning to feel threatened,” said Varina.

   “Threatened? I’ll give you threatened! I’ll call security! They’ll make you talk!” said the Second, becoming flushed.

   “I’m not the one making a scene and threatening people,” Varina said coolly. “I think security guards would enjoy our story much more than yours. Now, you can either let us go, or we’ll call over that nice, burly guard and tell him you’re threatening us.”

   The two men scowled at Daniel and Varina and then skulked back from whence they came.

   Daniel and Varina chuckled and after throwing away their trash, proceeded to actually do some Christmas shopping.

   Then they left the mall, heading to L.U.K.E.’s New York City HQ building.

   “Trench Coat Woman sure was mysterious,” said Daniel as he pulled to a stop in the busy NYC rush hour traffic.

   “Yes,” agreed Varina, fighting to be heard over the angry yells of other drivers and their furious, impatient laying on of their horns.

   “Did Trench Coat Woman seem at all…. familiar?” Daniel asked.

   Varina thought for moment. “Come to think of it… she did! Actually, I can remember seeing a woman dressed exactly like Trench Coat Woman at nearly every mission we’ve been sent on!”

   “Me too! Creepy,” said Daniel.

   “I wonder who she is,” mused Varina.

****

   Half an hour later Daniel and Varina locked themselves in one of L.U.K.E’s sound proof meeting rooms. No one had questioned their doings and Varina was glad. Not that L.U.K.E. agents went around blabbing about former missions. Everything was top secret for security reasons and questions pertaining to missions were rarely asked and answers never given, unless permission had been granted beforehand.

   The only people – outside of those that went on the mission – that were required to know about the missions were the Loggers, who wrote down mission notes to send to the Big Boss and the other L.U.K.E. bigwigs.

   “So did Trench Coat Woman give you something?” Varina asked when she and Daniel had locked themselves in the room. “She left in such a hurry! I hope we didn’t miss the message.”

   “She slipped me a slip of paper,” Daniel said. He pulled it out of his pocket and uncrumpled it. Two words were written across it:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

   “Why would the Big Boss send us to get Season’s Greetings?” Daniel asked.

   Suddenly the light bulb above Daniel and Varina’s head flickered and died.

   “Oh great…. We’ll have to call the janitor,” said Varina, feeling around in the dark for a light. 

   The light flickered back on above their heads and simultaneously Daniel and Varina had the same idea.

   “Microdot,” they said at the same time.

****

   Microdots enabled entire messages to be given in small areas – for example, the dot on a. lower case “i” or the period at the end of a sentence. The only way to recover the message was to read it with a microdot reader.

   Luckily, Daniel and Varina had one handy.

   “This looks like a job for the Sleuth42!” Varina said, pulling out to instrument from her trench coat pocket. The Sleuth42 had many features. It worked as a flashlight, a microdot reader, a master key, a syringe, and many more things (Varina even claimed it made good French fries).

   Varina handed it to Daniel who carefully swiped it across “MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

   “I got something!” Daniel said after a few minutes. He pressed a few buttons and the message hidden in the exclamation mark projected onto the wall.

   “I found a new use for the Sleuth,” said Daniel. “Projector! We could watch movies on this thing.”

   “Except that the message is scrambled and up-side-down,” said Varina.

   “I can fix that,” Daniel pressed a few more buttons and the message turned itself around, slowly aligning itself in the right order.

   Daniel and Varina gasped when they read the message.

The Wolf is in the flock. 

THE END.

Merry Christmas!

Life goes on.

Contrary to popular belief, life still goes on during National Novel Writing Month. At least for me it does. I've been very busy with school.... Lots of music - about 12 hours a week.

Here is a Beethoven song on piano:

I have also been practicing essays and paragraphs to be put into essays.... Here is a paragraph I'm particularly proud of (except for the fact I used the word 'essay' a million times):

Ignorance of proper technique breeds improper essays. Treating an essay like a close friend leads to first and second person writing and words such as, "me, you, they, I, their, and your." Such words are inappropriate for essays as the point of the essay is to convince. Personification makes arguments weaker. Essays also need to pop with creative sentences and colorful descriptions. Too many words, however, may clutter the point and confuse the reader. Succinct sentences that prove points without personification take practice but pave the way to proper papers.

I have also been doing science.... We did an experiment with an egg which was very interesting. It went this way....
Take an egg and soak it in white vinegar for 24 hours (I did 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 apple cider vinegar).

The shell disolved off the egg and it was very squishy. The egg also swelled from 5 1/2 inches to 6 inches because of osmosis.
After rinsing off the egg, we put it in some syrup for 24 hours. In the morning we were pleasantly suprised with a deflated egg that measure 4 1/2 inches!

 

 

After 24 hours we rinsed the egg again and put it in a glass of distilled water for another 24 hours.
What a surprise we had!! The egg swelled to 6 1/2 inches around the middle!! It was huge!

And it bounced like a ball.

I've also been drawing.... I got the idea from Doctor Who when he said, "The doctor is in!" It made me think of The Peanuts gang.

And then.... Well.... My imagination took off.

I spy with my little eye.....
The Doctor (wibbly wobbly timey wimey! And his sonic screwdriver!)

A Cyberman with a serious problem....

Snoopy, K-9, and a Dalek.....

And of course Woodstock is nearby. (You wouldn't believe how hard he was to draw!)

 

And the TARDIS.

 

 

Oh yeah, and a banana. Bananas are good.

 

 

 

I've also been reading.... I just finished Larklight by Philip Reeve which was really good! I wasn't planning on doing a review unless someone wants me to.

And oh oh oh! I FINALLY finished the Two Towers chapter I have been reading for the past two months!

 

NaNoWriMo is also going well.... I'm at 28,375 words. Here is a little snippet for you:

 

“Are you going to stand there and collect water or are you going to come aboard?” a friendly all-American voice called from the top of the stairwell leading into the plane. Daniel and Varina exchanged a glance and then hurried up the stairs. Two towels were waiting for them at the top.
“This is an airplane, not a lake,” explained the man. He was handsome with brown hair, swoon-worthy bright blue eyes and a broad smile filled with perfect, shining teeth.
“Thanks for the towels,” Varina was saying when suddenly her face flooded with recognition and she moaned, “Oh no….”
“I take it you know who I am,” said the man, his blue eyes sparkling with mirth and a smile playing around his lips.
“No no no,” said Varina. “I refuse to go anywhere with you as our pilot! Let me off this plane right now!”
Varina turned around and tried to push her way past Daniel but, thin as he was, he blocked the door.
“Hold on Webb, who is this man? Why can’t we fly with him?” Daniel asked.
“You don’t know who he is?” Varina asked incredulously.
Daniel shrugged. “I’ve never seen him in my life.”
“He’s Tony Leslie!” Varina spouted, as if by name alone Daniel would be able to decipher who their pilot was.
“Who is Tony Leslie?” Daniel asked, his face blank.
“You haven’t heard of me in the UK?” Tony Leslie said to Daniel, his face assuming a crushed look.
“I don’t know… Maybe we have,” Daniel shrugged. “I wouldn’t know because no one will tell me who you are!”
“He’s a stunt pilot!” Varina said.
“Not just a stunt pilot, but the best stunt pilot in the United States. No, in the world! Dare I say; the universe!” Tony Leslie smiled gallantly.
“I’ve seen his stunts on TV,” Varina said. “He purposefully puts his life in danger and does these outlandish tricks… I won’t fly with a stunt pilot!”

 

Don't get too attached to Tony Leslie (who looks like Captain Jack Harkness and is named after Tony Curtis who played the character The Great Leslie is one of my favorite movies). Just sayin'.

 



The madness begins!

Day one of NaNoWriMo... I was nervous all day, the novel and it's plot in the back of my mind all day. Finally it came time to open the document and start the novel.... The first few words which had been spinning in my head for the past number of days.... Finally, on paper!

It was a cold, crisp night in October.

Mwahahaha....

Final word count for day #1?
2,101.
I call that a success. Even though it is now 11:30 and my mother desperately wants me to go to bed.
Thus far I have murdered someone and made someone else late for their plane.

We shall see how tomorrow goes!

I must say, however... I have already procrastinated. My dad showed me a forum on BoardGameGeek.com full of funny Doctor Who pictures.
When I came across the following, I determined that it must be a sign and that I should get back to work:

How about you all, how is NaNoWriMo coming for you?

Live long and prosper!