Thursday, March 20, 2014
The Adventure of the Romantic Hero
Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime.
But, this feeling of floating on clouds isn't just around in the spring for those who read.
Love at first sight? More like, love at first paragraph.
There is a fever known to many readers as "Fictionalitis". It is a sickness that has no cure. Yes, this is the condition in where people are in love with fictional characters. Every reader is guilty of this. These characters float right out of the black and white pages of our favorite books and right into our hearts where they refuse to leave. Not that we mind.
You never forget your first love.
Mine was none other than Gilbert Blythe, the hero from one of the best books known to literature, Anne of Green Gables. Anne might not have liked when he called her "carrots", but I certainly found it charming.
But even as bad as it may be to carry torch for a fictional character, the fall is even harder when you go head over heels for a character you wrote for your own story.
Of this I am quite guilty.
In fact, in the novel I'm writing right now (on page 82) I just introduced the romantic hero. I know, I'm already on page 82 and am just now introducing the romantic hero? Trust me, he's worth the wait. There's nothing like a handsome fictional character to get your inspiration tank to full.
Now, it might be those blossoms that are hugging tree branches in the spring sunshine that is making my sentimental heart want to write about a romantic hero. For a hopeless romantic such as myself, writing about the leading man and how he settles in the heart of the main character is always my favorite part. It's also the part I work the hardest at. The romance is the heart of the story and therefore the beat needs to be strong and true.
I had my writing partner read the first part where I introduce the romantic hero and judging by her giggles, I'm guessing he had the same effect on her as he does on me.
Hopefully one day you will read my novel and fall in love with the romantic hero as well!
Enough rambling for now!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The Adventure of Peter Pan
I'm back!
And it's only been a week!
Be proud!
As before mentioned I have been writing every day and I said I would put some different short stories on here. So here we go!
I might be a fairy tale believer, and some of you already know this.
So it probably won't be a shock about the subject of this next story!
Never Grow Up
“
‘All of this has happened before, and it
will all happen again’.” I breathed, mustering up every ounce of
enchantment in my voice.
“I’m
pretty sure this has never happened
before.” My friend, Julie scoffed, her sarcasm covering my darkened backyard.
“Now,
missy, is that any kind of attitude to have?” I demanded as I closed my
well-worn copy of Peter Pan and put
away my story-telling voice.
Her
sigh winged its way over to me through the darkness. “And what exactly is the
attitude I’m supposed to have? Why did you even bring that old book out here? It’s
too dark to read.”
I
snuggled deeper inside the blanket covering my shoulders, “Yeah, because that’s
what I was doing…reading it…not reciting it from memory.”
“You
have Peter Pan memorized?” Her
disbelief covered me more than my blanket.
I
reached for my binoculars. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s
not…if you’re ten! It’s the eve of your eighteenth birthday!”
I
looked through the binoculars, searching behind every star. “Your point? And,
where are your binoculars? You’re supposed to be watching the roof!”
With
a groan, I heard Julie fidget with her own binoculars before she continued. “We
should be doing something adventurous. But no, we are out here sitting in the
cold, catching pneumonia like two old ninnies.”
I
dropped my binoculars in my lap. “Hey! Don’t make me any older than I already
am.”
Julie
looked over at me, her binoculars reflecting off the moonlight, her eyes taking
on the glow of fairy dust. “Speaking of ‘older’, don’t you think you are just a
bit too old for this?”
I
leaned back and took in the show of the night sky, complete with shooting
stars. “ ‘This’ being?”
“Jane!
You are turning eighteen tomorrow, and we are looking for Peter Pan!”
I
smiled at the sparkling night, “I fail to see the problem here.”
“And
that’s what scares me.”
I
tucked my arm behind me, turning it into a pillow. “The only thing scaring me
is the possibility of missing Peter, because you keep forgetting to watch the roof!”
“Jane!”
“And
as for you, the only thing you should be scared about are pirates, especially
Captain Hook.”
Julie
threw herself down on the ground by me and peered over me, her face blocking my
view. “Jane, listen to me. Peter Pan and Captain Hook aren’t real.”
I
shoved her away. “Excuse me please. You are blocking my view. Sounds to me that
you need a little more faith, trust and…”
“No!
Don’t even say it!” She completely collapsed onto the ground and rolled over
onto her back.
“Pixie
dust!” I finished, my storyteller voice in full effect.
“I
can just see us now. We are going to
be old ninnies with pneumonia in wheelchairs still looking for Peter Pan.”
I
blinked the stars from my vision and sat up. “No…no that won’t be us.”
Julie
sat up, her binoculars still glued to her face. “Why not?”
My
sigh shot across my backyard like the shooting stars in the sky. “Because, by
then we will be grown up.”
Julie
put her binoculars down. “Oh.”
“Yep.
Once you’re grown up, you can’t ever go to Never land.”
“Is
that what this is all about?”
I
hid behind my binoculars. “I turn eighteen tomorrow. It’s my last chance to go
to Never land and not grow up.”
“What’s
so bad about growing up?”
“I
forgot. You’re already eighteen.” I threw my head back searching for the second
star to the right.
“What
does that have to do with anything?” Julie joined me in looking, following my
gaze.
“Because
you’ve already forgotten!”
“Forgotten
what?”
I
threw my binoculars down. “What its like to be young! To have dreams. Not get
caught up in the way the rest of the world is.”
Julie
picked up my binoculars. “What are you talking about Jane?”
“Every
one always has dreams. But they all end up settling and then the next thing
they know, life has passed them by and everything they wanted is out of their
reach. People forget what it’s like to have a young and hopeful heart.”
“You
think that’s going to happen to you?”
“It’s
what happens to everyone.” I played with the unraveling fabric on my blanket.
Julie
handed me back my binoculars. “I don’t think that’s going to happen to you.”
“How?”
“Because
you won’t ever be like those people.”
I
looked back at the sky. “How do you know that?”
“Because
I don’t think any of those other people have the faith like you do.”
I
smiled at the moon. “Really?”
“Would
anyone else be sitting outside waiting for Peter Pan?”
I
replied with picking my binoculars back up and searching the skies.
Julie
laughed as she followed pursuit. “You know, if Peter Pan does indeed show up
tonight, I have a bone to pick with him?”
“And
what would that be?”
“He
didn’t come to take me away to Never land.”
I
almost dropped my binoculars again. “Is that right?”
Julie
tightened her grip on her binoculars. “You’re not the only one who has Peter Pan memorized.”
I
shrugged. “Well just keep thinking happy thoughts. He will show up.”
“How
can you be so sure?”
I
cleared my throat. “ ‘All of this has
happened before and it will happen again.’”
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