Blue Unicorns in Jelly Bean Fields

Hello, lovelies! Glad to see you again. Well, I can't actually see you--don't worry, I'm not creeping up behind you or anything...or am I? (HA! You totally just looked.)

Unless you didn't...in which case, I feel silly.

So, I'm sure you've noticed there was no Tipster Tuesday post yesterday. (Or maybe you didn't. Whatevs.) Well, I just wanted you guys to know that feature is going on vacation for a little while. At least until I can come up with a good list of posts so I'm not smacking my face into the wall every week trying to think up a topic. Yeah, the nice man at the hospital told me another concussion could lead to a black hole opening and swallowing the moon...but I don't think he was a doctor. Do the doctors usually smell like old pizza and ask for change by the gate? Sorry, sorry. I'm off topic.

The point is, no more Tipster Tuesday until further notice. No big dealio.

Annnnyway, by now I'll bet you're scratching your head and saying, "Hey! What's all this about unicorns and jelly beans?"

Well, quit it because that's completely unrelated to the post.

Actually, the blue unicorns and jelly bean fields are just to prove a point, which will lead me into the subject of this post. When you saw that title, what did you think? Did that make you want to click it and find out what the hell I was talking about? I hope it did, because that's my point here.

While strolling through the bookstore, nine times out of ten, the first thing that will attract your eye to a book is...?

The title!

I mean, unless it's one of those displays that has all the books facing cover-out, instead of spine-out. But the only displays I ever see like that always look like this:

(Ugh.)

Anywho, back to my point. The title.

A good title is like a huge, glittery diamond tacked to your book. The potential reader will be so fascinated, they'll have to stop and take a closer look instead of just passing by it like all those other lackluster pieces.

And that leads me here...

Hello, my name is Kristina, and I suck at titles.

Yep. I said it. I hate all my titles. Well...maybe hate is too strong of a word. Let's just say I really, really, really don't like them.

Before being dubbed BROKEN, the project was called LIGHTS OUT. That title was "borrowed" from a song by Mindless Self Indulgence that had ABSOLUTELY nothing in common with the actual story. It just happened to be playing during a particular fight scene early in the book and, in my very young mind, I thought it lined up well enough to name the whole damn book LIGHTS OUT. After a few months, I despised that title, but because I suck at titles, I couldn't come up with anything better and was forced to leave it that way. Until, my boyfriend sat down with me to help me brainstorm. He threw out BROKEN and I gobbled it up. I like this title a lot more than the old one--and it's a lot more relevant to the story--but I still feel like it could use that extra omph, if you know what I mean.

OPHELIA...what, oh what can I say about this one? It's the most basic title formula: JUST USE THE MAIN CHARACTER'S NAME. Bleeeh. It's damn easy, but it also seems blander than hell. Buuuut...I guess I can't be too mad at this title. I do like the image of a title like this being paired with a description of the story. It seems like they'd contrast one another in a good way (to me anyway).

Finally, VENGEFUL DEEP. Oh, jeez. This title grates at the inside of my skull like nails on a chalk board. I'm the kind of person who just hates to leave a story untitled for long, so I will jump on the first thing that pops into my head and convince myself it sounds good. Of course, when that initial "Yay-I-named-my-story" phase wears off, I'm unhappy with the choice I made. (I needz self-control plz.) With VENGEFUL DEEP, my first choice was really DARK WATER. But I was a fan of The Pirates of Dark Water as a kid, so I decided against it and came up with something else. Now, I'm starting to wonder if, for once, I should've gone with my first choice.

Do you think having a good title really makes a difference?
What do you think goes into a good title?
How do you come up with titles?
What are some of your favorite titles?

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

New Things

 

Hello, lovelies. I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to pop by and tell you all about the very interesting day I had yesterday. I woke up knowing I had a couple of things on my plate--I needed to go to the DMV and get myself an ID card (never learned to drive and I didn't really need one up until now), then I had to go to the bank to sign a butt load of papers. But what I didn't know was Mom had plans to take me by Knotty Heads, the local tattoo and piercing parlor, to get me some new jewelry.

Now if you don't know, I've got metal in my face

Buuuuut...right after I found out we were heading by Knotty Heads, my boyfriend mentioned a nearly forgotten party memento on my left ankle--a blotchy homemade tattoo that was supposed to be a heart, but came out looking more like a weird black freckle. We got to talking about getting it fixed and when we got to the parlor, we went into the tattoo shop before picking up any jewelry. I talked to one of the artists and showed him my pathetic excuse of a tattoo and he suggested doing one that was "bigger, so it would just cover it up." I decided that sounded cool and the artist, a rather cool guy called Chuck, got to work sketching something up.

So, I am now the proud owner of this...

And because I love it so much, here's a picture of it before Chuck colored it...

I'm pleased to tell you it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would...or maybe I'm not as much of a wimp as I thought I was. I'm happy either way. But I will admit it was a little painful around the top and the bottom--those are pretty tender spots for a tattoo. Actually, the ankle is just an awkward place in general for a fresh tattoo. It might not be as painful as you expect in the chair, but it gets really sore afterwards and moving just makes it worse (so walking is pretty much out of the question).

I also want to say the artist did an amazing job. He originally told me it should only take about forty-five minutes, but it ended up taking two and a half hours and, honestly, I'm glad he took that much time with it. Really! There are two other work stations in the parlor and I watched four other people sit down and finish up before me. Normally, you're pissed when things take longer than estimated, but this was one of the rare exceptions where that's a good thing.

What are your thoughts on tattoos?

Do you have an tattoos I should know about?

If not, would you ever consider getting one?

HAPPY INKING, LOVELIES!

Tipster Tuesday (7)*

I want to apologize for today's post being up a little late. I thought I'd typed this up over the weekend, and woke up late this morning to find I hadn't. (Sooo forgetful.)

Today's Topic:

Sympathetic Characters

I've already covered creating likable characters, so I thought I should probably cover sympathetic characters. Well, that seems redundant, doesn't it? I mean, if a character is likable, naturally, they'll be easy to sympathize with, too. Right? Sorry to burst your bubble, but no, not necessarily. Of course, there are lots of characters who ride on their likability, but those characters are just alright. And you don't want an "alright" character. You want a great one. And great characters are ones you can sympathize with.

Now, what goes into making a character sympathetic?

--It helps if they're likable

Yeah, I know I said just because they're likable, blah, blah, blah. Hear me out. While it can work if your character is likable but not necessarily sympathetic, it's harder the other way around for a couple of reasons. A) It's hard to sympathize with someone you don't like, and B) they can come off as a pity pot...and that gets pretty annoying. Buuuut...

--If they're not likable, they need a good reason for being that way

Ahhh. A good motive can save an unlikeable character. If they have a good reason for doing the mean/cruel/douche-y things they do, we can still try to see eye-to-eye with them on some level.

--Seeing the MC feed a stray kitten doesn't help their case

I'm sorry, but your character is going to have to help a lot of stray kittens before I start marking down sympathy points. Cliched "look at me, I'm being a good person" scenes don't work. All scenes like that will accomplish is making the reader roll their eyes.

--Let's see those emotions
Even hard-shelled characters like Katniss Everdeen of THE HUNGER GAMES have pangs of emotion. Without that, they're nothing more than robots acting out a story. But it is possible to have a character who swallows most of their emotions--you've just got to keep it realistic. There's only so much one person can repress before things come boiling over.

--They don't need a sob story past
I see a lot of characters who lean on what happened to them in the past for sympathy. Your character doesn't need to be trapped in their tragic past to be a sympathetic character in the present. Grubbs Grady of Darren Shan's DEMONATA series had a fairly normal life until the events of LORD LOSS, but I don't have any trouble sympathizing with him.

--But a realistically painful back story never hurt
Look at Harry Potter. And Katniss. Hell, my characters aren't even immune from the dreaded SOB STORY. It's not a bad thing. But you've got to keep it realistic. There's a fine line between "Oh, that poor character had it so rough" and "Jeez...this writer is pushing it."

For those of you who skipped to the end:
*Likability without sympathy is okay, but sympathy without likability is tough unless your character has a good motive.
*Helping stray animals and giving money to the poor won't get you any points.
*We need to see some EMOTIONS!
*A painful past isn't required, but it should be okay as long as you keep it realistic.


What makes you sympathize with a character?
Are there any characters you just couldn't sympathize with?
What about the characters that were easy to sympathize with?

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

*This is technically the 8th Tipster post, but one of those was posted on a Thursday...sooo...

The Hunger Games

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I just finished THE HUNGER GAMES over my morning coffee and I must say...

I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!

I'm sure you've all heard people gush all over THE HUNGER GAMES before, but I'm about to do it again.

I started it right after I got it for Christmas and finished about a hundred pages right off the bat, but my schedule got so hectic I didn't have any time to read. I couldn't sleep last night, so I grabbed it and, quite literally, couldn't put it down. Even well after four AM when my eyelids were finally starting to get heavy, I refused to stop reading. Yeah, I've been up all night gobbling down Suzanne Collins' amazing writing. 

It's that good. Really. It propels you forward and leaves you DYING to know what happens next. But what I loved best is, you feel like you're there beside Katniss the entire time. Speaking of Katniss, I believe I've finally found a character that is everything I want from a female lead. She's capable of taking care of herself without coming off an aloof bitch. She's spunky and well thought out and all-around awesome. Probably one of my favorite literary characters of all time. (Side note: I <3 Peeta and wanna hug him.)

Also, THE HUNGER GAMES has officially been added to the very short list of books that have made me cry. (There's only one other book on that list.) I cried two or three times total before making it to the last page...and I nearly cried there, too. It's just a completely amazing book and deserves its fanbase a million times more than TWILIGHT. I want to start the sequel, CATCHING FIRE, right now, but I'm actually going to read A CLOCKWORK ANGEL first. (Rane wants to know my opinion, and I don't wanna keep her waiting :D)

If you haven't read THE HUNGER GAMES yet, please find your way to the nearest library and pick up a copy. It's a very worthwhile experience.

HAPPY READING, LOVELIES!

Made It Through Another Year

I just wanted to pop by and say:

Yep. I'm officially another year older. (And wiser, perhaps.)

I'm going to be taking the day off from writing to hang out with my family. We're going to Frankie's Fun Park, which is this little family place with lots of games and go-carts and stuff like that. (Because there is no better way to ring in adulthood than by going to a dinky fun park. lol.) Afterwards, we're meeting my God brother and his family for pizza. Yay!

Mm'kay.

That's all.

(lol. I'm so lame.)

When's your birthday?

How're you planning to spend it?

Life is Good Award!

Hello, lovelies! I apologize for the huge gaps between my posts lately. I'll get that fixed right after my birthday rolls around! Oh! I forgot to mention that, didn't I? My birthday is on January 9th. Yeppers.

Annnyway, now on to the actual point! I wanna give a huge THANK YOU to Rane Anderson of The Lit Express for the Life is Good Award.

I've got to do the following tasks for this award:

1. First, thank and link back to the person that gave the award.

2. Answer the 10 survey questions.

3. Pass the award along to other bloggers whom you think are fantastic.

4. Contact the bloggers you have chosen to let them know about the award.

10 Questions:

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you are not anonymous, do you wish that you had started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?

Nah, I'm not interested in blogging anonymously. I like to think a little bit of my personality bleeds through in my posts, but what would that matter if no one knew who I was?

2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

Oh, this is a toughy. I'm not actually all that stubborn. Let's see...hmmm...Oh! I know. I refuse to play newer video games. I'm very loyal to the classic systems (Genisis, Dreamcast, NES, N64, original PlayStation) and I'm too stubborn to make the transition into Xbox, Wii, and PlayStation 3, so I just stick with old favorites.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

Oooh jeez...like Rane said, who picked this question? Seriously? Umm...I see a young aspiring writer who needs a few more cups of coffee and who slacks off on occasion, but tries to put her all into everything she does.

4: What is your favorite summer cold drink?

Sweet tea. My boyfriend makes a killer glass of sweet tea. No joke.
 
5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
 
I play Sims 3. It's one of the few new age games I will play (probably because it's a PC game) and that's usually what I turn to when I need to relax and kill some time. If I'm not doing that, I'm probably reading or creeping around on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com or Failblog.org. And I draw the occasional comic/crappy doodle.
 
6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
 
I wanna get published. But everyone already knows that. What's something you guys don't know? Ah! I want to travel. A lot. One of my big dreams in life is to see as much of the world as physically possible.
 
7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?
 
Ahhh, why'd you have to ask that? You're about to make me look bad. *Sigh* I was a ditcher. The only classes I really showed up to where algebra (because I had to pick up my best friend before leaving) and biology (because I liked the teacher and because three of my good non-ditcher friends were there). I usually showed up for lunch too, but I don't think that counts for anything.
 
8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?
 
Grr. Difficult questions. I guess it would be when I was younger and my parents seperated for a while. I'd visit my dad in the rundown trailer he was staying in every Sunday to watch The Simpsons on a faulty TV set that barely got any reception. I was always worried he wouldn't come home and we'd be like that forever--only seeing one another on Sundays to watch a few cartoons on a half-busted TV.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I don't mind sharing about myself. I want my followers to know the real me, so I might as well get used to sharing things with them. Lol.
 
10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
 
Finally! A question that doesn't require much thought! (Hah. I've got a case of the lazy brain today.) READ! But here's a fun little tidbit most people don't know about me: I don't like talking on the phone. I dunno why. I've just never liked it very much and will avoid it whenever I can. If it absolutely has to happen, I'll do it, but it's gotta be a pretty dire situation.
 

I'm going to pass this award along to:

Seeing, Dreaming...Writing

Stephanie Lennox's Book Blog

 

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!