Sarah's Choice - Movie Review

I saw this move tonight when I was browsing Netflix and after reading the synopsis, decided it looked interesting. Netflix listed it as unrated so I check the Plugged In review first. The review said it was a fine movie and if it had been rated, probably would be PG-13. After watching it, I do agree with that.

The story focuses on a woman named Sarah Collins. She is a hard-working business woman who has just received the news that she is being considered for a promotion. She lives with her somewhat immature boyfriend Matt, who can't keep focused on his current job long enough to avoid many "get rich quick" ideas. Sarah and Matt finally think they know where they are going. That is, until she finds out she is pregnant.

Everyone is shocked, including Sarah's mother and sister. Her mother and sister both attend church and have been trying to get her to come back for years. Ever since their father died 10 years ago, Sarah blamed it on God and refused to return. From the moment she finds out she's pregnant, she starts saying "I will absolutely not have an abortion." She's shaken a bit from her belief however, when her colleague and close friend at work start telling her how it will ruin her entire career.

Eventually, Sarah has a break down. She doesn't know what to do and she can't wait around for Matt. He's too busy trying to figure out how to get rich quick and she "can't wait for him to grow up". Sarah's friend tells her that she needs to have an abortion. Unbeknownst to Sarah, this friend had one when she was just 16 years old. The guilt haunts her and as they are driving past an abortion clinic, they see pro-life supporters. The friend yells at them to stop making her feel guilty. That's when Sarah starts to realize this might be a bad decision.

It doesn't stop there, however. The story kind of reminded me of a Christmas Carol. After going to a hospital soon after she discovers she's pregnant, Sarah meets an older version of herself. She gives her a Christmas card and tells her that she'll see three visions. And that's just what happens. Over the next three nights, Sarah sees what will happen if she keeps the baby. One of the visions is when Sarah's daughter, Daisy, is about 6 years old. She wakes up early and makes breakfast for Sarah and then the two go sledding for her birthday. I think this is the vision that got Sarah going in the right direction.

Matt is struggling with what to do throughout this entire situation. He tells his uncle what's going on, discovering that his aunt and uncle married because they got pregnant. During this discussion, Matt's uncle says two of the best lines in the entire movie. "Love isn’t this thing that just sticks to certain people. Love is the result of fighting for a commitment YOU made. Love is never giving up, even when you just can’t go on any more," and, "You can have the great stuff (in marriage) but you only get it by going through the bad stuff. The great stuff is real."

Sarah has one more vision near the end of the movie. It's actually more like two of them combined into one. The first part shows her and Matt as grandparents. Their daughter and her husband come over, with a little baby of their own in tow. Sarah keeps asking Matt, "Are you glad we did it?" He eventually asks, "Glad we did what?" "Glad we got married," she replies. He smiles and kisses her on the forehead, then says, "Yes, I am."

It cuts to a nursing home. Sarah overhears a nurse talking to another Sarah Collins. She asks Ms. Collins if she has any family and she replies, "No, I'm all alone." The nurse smiles sadly and says that she's not alone--she's got all of us (the nursing home staff). The nurse leaves and the younger Sarah tries to talk to her, but she doesn't see her. She steps into the room and realizes that the lady who the nurse was just talking to is the same lady who gave Sarah her Christmas card. The older Sarah Collins tells Sarah not to have an abortion, and says that she did, which means she'll die alone.

The next day, Sarah marches into work to tell her boss that she's pregnant. This makes it so she doesn't get the promotion, but she decides to trust God, giving her life to Him and trusting that He has a plan for all this. Matt soon comes over and asks Sarah to marry him, promising that he'll never leave her side.

I wouldn't recommend the movie for someone under 12 or 13, just because of the subject matter it deals with. It's a wonderful story and it's easy to relate to the characters, even if you have never been through something like that. From the time you find out that Sarah is pregnant to the time she finally makes the decision to accept Christ into her life and keep the baby, you're rooting for her to do the right thing. And she eventually does, thanks to the many prayers of her mother and sister.

The End.

Total word count: 50,024
Words written today: 2, 235

As I promised, today is the winning post! I finished my novel about 5 minutes ago.

The month went by a lot faster than I thought. Honestly, I'm glad it's over. It's hard to write tons of words every day. I will miss writing every day though. Even though my novel isn't perfect and won't be for a long time, I've really grown to love my characters. I was teary eyed when I wrote my final chapter and it's not even sad. I'm teary-eyed now too...hm, maybe I should go to bed. It's probably my lack of sleep for 28 days that's done this.

I want to say CONGRATS to everyone who has done NaNoWriMo this year. Even if you didn't get to 50,000 words, it's a huge accomplishment to write so many words in a month. If you're not finished yet, you've still got tomorrow! You can do it, guys!

And with this, I close my NaNoWriMo blog posts for this year. I'm going to go to bed now and enjoy not worrying about a word count.

Chazak Amats!
Katie

P.S. I'll probably start blogging about the first round of editing before long, so stay tuned!

NaNoWriMo Update for the past week.

Total word count: 47,790
Words written since 11/26: 5,710

I haven't really been posting much the past few days. Obviously. I've been a little busy preparing for the SAT  on Saturday, so that's taken priority over blog posts.

Novelling is going quite well. I am almost finished with the rough draft and know exactly where I need to go. I'll probably get to 50,000 words tomorrow, but the novel won't be quite finished by then. I think the finished thing (this time around, anyways) will be around 52,000 words. When I go back and edit, it will get longer. There are lots of description things I need to add and lots of historical facts.

The most interesting thing that has happened in my novel recently is that my MC kidnapped the villain. I'm not entirely sure how realistic it is, but it was at least smooth to write. Again, something to fix in editing.

Almost finished! Hopefully tomorrow will be the "winning" blog post.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 23

Total Word Count: 37,025
Words Written Today: 2,731

Quote: "Are you crazy, Walker?”
            I shrugged again. “Maybe. Those are my terms. Do you agree?” - Dialogue between Charles and Eli, Chapter 11.


Writing this week has been kind of touch-and-go with Thanksgiving being in the middle of the week. I was starting to get really down about my book. It's really frustrating sometimes to just keep writing and writing and feeling like you have no idea what you're doing. And of course, it doesn't help that I like things to work out right the first time. I'm getting over that though. 

Today I went to the library from 3:30-6:00. I did some schoolwork and then started writing. Since I was short of ideas on how to move on, I started writing out what the Inciting Incident, Embracing Destiny, Black Moment and Showdown moments in my novel were. As I started writing all these, ideas for how to keep going came.

This morning I was sure that the only way to keep writing the novel was to end it. It really didn't seem like there was anything else I could do. Thankfully, that is not the case! I came up with a workable idea that should hopefully show some more conflict between the villain and the MC before I bring the story to a close.

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! And if you went Black Friday shopping and are reading this, I'm glad you didn't get trampled and killed.

Chazak Amats!
Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 20

Total word count: 32,913
Words written today: 2,895

Quote: "Investigation time. Again." - Eli Walker.

Today is my first day writing since Friday. It went pretty well, considering. I wasn't too far behind, so it was easy to catch up.

I've gotten to a point in my novel where I'm not really sure what's supposed to happen next. I know exactly where I need to end up, and even some events that happen immediately prior, but I'm not there yet. I think I'm probably more than 20,000 words away. That's exciting and kinda of depressing at the same time. It means this will be my longest novel yet, but it also means 20,000 more words. 

As usual, there are lots of things I'm seeing I'll need to go back and change, such as historical facts and what-not. 

This novel is my first time having a guy main character and it's not going as badly as I expected it to. Some of what he does probably isn't very realistic, but I think some of it is. I suppose we'll see what my awesome critiquers think.

I wrote out how one of the "travel mechanisms" in my book works today and I started coming up with ideas for more. Who knows? Maybe I can come up with something else involving mental travel. I think that would be pretty awesome.

At this point, only 9 days left. If I want to get to 50,000, I only have 17,000 more words to write. That's only 1,888 per day. Shouldn't be too bad.

Chazak Amats!
~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 16 (This is the month that never ends!)

Total Word Count: 30,018
Words written today: 5,006

I passed the 150 page/30,000 mark today!

Eli has mostly figured the important things out at this point. There isn't a lot of mystery now, but there are a few things that I'm planning to leave hanging until the end.

I need to get some conflict going in the next few scenes. Although I did just add another fist fight. I've really got to stop with these. I don't know why, but that just seems like the easiest way for the villain to be nasty. Kind of silly, when you think about it. I'll come up with something more interesting to do next time.

It's really encouraging to see how much I've grown in my skill as a writer since I last did NaNoWriMo. I'm now at the 30,018 point. I didn't reach this word count two years ago until the 26th. I'm hope 10 days from now, I'll be over the 50,000 mark.

I'm looking forward to the end of the month now. I'm really starting to get tired. Of course, it could be my lack of sleep working as well. Ah, forget sleep. I'll just write. I can do 14 more days of this.

~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 15 (Halfway done!)

Total word count: 25,102
Words written today: 2,280

Woo-hoo! Halfway done with the month!

However, I'm not halfway done with my novel. I'm getting close, but there is no way this story is going to end in 25,000 more words.

Eli finally starts figuring some important things out in the chapters I've written. This is moving the story along nicely, although I'm going to have to fix up some things with dialogue to make it flow better. I put in another fist fight, so I have to go back and make sure that's realistic.

I've also decided my story begins much too slowly. There is an exciting (or, it will be exciting after editing) scene in the beginning and then a couple more things, but I feel like I've just been "telling" for the past chapter . Some things do just need to be told I guess.

At the beginning of the month, I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the halfway point. I was pretty sure I'd be burnt out by now. Just the opposite though! Still going strong. I can do 15 more days of this. Hopefully that isn't my tiredness and slightly brain-dead self being over-confident.

~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 14

Total word count: 22,822 (I think it's cool how there is an 8 right in the middle...okay, maybe I'm a bit weird.)
Words written today: 2,007

I'll probably be writing more this evening, but since my posts have tended to be a little late, I thought I'd just play it safe and post now.

My story literally wrote itself today. I just word-warred with someone and did 2007 words in 45 minutes. We were both shocked after I counted them up. I was sort of dreading starting to write today, but as soon as I got into it, I had a hard time stopping.

So my writerly tip for today is to just start writing if you want to beat writer's block. I borrowed that from an article a good friend wrote for Kingdom Pen (which everyone should go subscribe to NOW if you're not already). It seems kind of obvious, but seriously, just sit down and start plunking out some words. It might not be the best thing you've ever written, but it gets the juices flowing.

I also decided today that no one will be reading this novel until I edit it. So, that will probably be Christmas time.

This guy looks like a character in my novel. Minus all of the science stuff.

My main character is going to start figuring out some of the mysteries I've planned, so the next chapters should be interesting. I also really want to add a sort of funny scene, but I don't have any idea how I'd do that yet. The character in the picture above and Eli would probably be the two who have the funniest interactions. Maybe something that has to do with...oh, I can't tell you that yet.

Chazak Amats!

~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 12

Total word count: 20,815
Words written yesterday: 3,815

Things are going well at the moment. My story has sort of started to write itself. I found something interesting to put into my novel the other evening during researching and I think that's helped out a lot.

I've also discovered I have the problem of forgetting to check my chapter lengths. I just keep writing and writing and before long, I have a 6,000 word chapter. So, I've had to go back and cut down on the length.

I have some exciting news as well. I (finally) reached 100 pages/20,000 words!!

~Katie

The Baltimore Plot

I was searching for the layout of Washington DC in 1861 this evening and I found something else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Plot

"The Baltimore Plot was an alleged conspiracy in late February 1861 to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln en route to his inauguration. Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, played a key role by managing Lincoln's security throughout the journey. Though scholars debate where or not the threat was real, clearly Lincoln and his advisors believed that there was a threat and took actions to ensure his safe passage through Baltimore, Maryland."

I'm thinking of incorporating this into my novel. Perhaps having my main character and the ally figure out something about the plot and try to stop the person behind it. The ally might even be related to the evil conspirator...still need to think about that.

Needless to say, I'm getting WAY more energized about my novel.

If I had more energy, I would be dancing excitedly like this alligator.

~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 10

Total word count: 17,000

Words written yesterday: 3,000

This post is a bit late. I didn't have the time to write it up until now and my computer was dead. So, that made it a little tough.

As most of you probably know from my "Destination: Fairlawn" post, we were in the car all day yesterday. I managed to get 3,000 words written, mostly due to the fact that my sister and I managed to blow a fuse on the power adapter. Dad bought a new fuse today, so I should be able to write more tomorrow.

I started using my outline again and my book is going SO much better than the end of last week. I will not be straying from my outline ever, ever again...I hope. We'll have to see what the rest of the month brings.

Tomorrow my plan is to write AT LEAST 5,000 words. I'd like to get to 30,000 tomorrow, but that might be a little unrealistic. Although...it's a really long drive.

I'm not planning on writing today, but if I do, I'll try to blog about it.

Until tomorrow!
~Katie

Make Your Slitted Denim Skirt Modest!

My little sister got a skirt from the thrift store today that had two knee-high slits on either side. My Mom didn't realize it when she got the skirt and told my sister that she wasn't allowed to wear it unless I could add a panel in. After about 20 minutes of cutting, pinning and sewing she has this now adorably modest skirt!

This was really easy to do. I had an old denim skirt that was kind of weirdly made, so I decided to take out the lace inserts in it to put into my sister's skirt.

I cut a wide triangle around the lace so I had about an inch of excess fabric on either side to work with. I flipped my sister's skirt inside out and pinned the lace panels onto either side of the slit.

This isn't my sister's skirt (it's mine that I haven't sewn yet), but the same pinning applies. You can see from the picture how the pins are in a triangle--the same shape as the slit. Be careful when you're pinning so you don't pin both sides of your skirt together! That could get messy while sewing.

After you have your fabric pinned in, flip the skirt right side out.

Since this is a denim skirt, there are alright some guide lines for you to follow while sewing. Make sure you have dark blue thread and sew with both "right sides" facing out, keeping the yellow stitching on the edge of the slit in the middle of your presser foot.

This skirt is the same one picture above in the pinning picture. If you cut out a triangle panel (like I did with my sister's skirt) you'll be finished after the sewing step.

As I said, it took about 20 minutes to cut, pin and sew the panels, so it went together really quickly. Please comment if you have any questions. I'll probably be posting pictures of mine when I finish it.

NaNoWriMo - Day 7 (No, I didn't write today)

As the title says, I did not write today. I was a bad girl.

However, I DID go over my outline. I think I'm unstuck now! The two big planning things I have for this novel are a 1,500 word summary and then a list of the events that need to happen. I read over the list of events and figured out where I was stuck. Tomorrow (if I have a chance to write) should be a good day.

My writing tip for today: Outlines are useful things if you use them.

I thought this was funny. It pretty much described me yesterday. Except I was finished a riveting episode of Robin Hood. 

On a side note, I went to the library today and checked out quite a few books on the Civil War. I got one about the battle of Antietam, the First Battle of Bull Run, Civil War weapons, Soldier's lives in camp during the war and...I think there was something else. I can't remember the name of it though. :P

Chazak,
Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 6 (Any volunteers?)

Total word count: 14, 553

Words written today: 1,805

I said at the beginning of NaNo that I'd be honest in my posts. So, I'm going to be honest. I really don't like my story right now. I'm pretty sure I just rambled for an entire chapter, so I'll be taking that out when I edit. I really need to look at my story outline again and see if I can figure out what's going wrong.

So, I was wondering if anyone would like to volunteer to write my novel for me!

Just kidding. I probably should just suck it up and finish. I mean, I've got 24 more days left. I can survive...right?

The plan for tomorrow (or whenever I have the chance to write again) is this (and in no particular order):
-Read over my outline again to figure out what's wrong
-Eat chocolate and drink coffee for motivation
-Listen to epic music
-Pray about it

I know every author probably thinks this, but I really think that--if I do it right--this novel has potential. So, I'm probably being harder on myself than I should.

I'm just going to keep reminding myself that December is now officially 'National Novel Editing Month'. NaNoEdMo.

Until tomorrow!
~Katie

Destination: Fairlawn, New Jersey

My Dad sent this email out last night to lots of people in our area. We will be leaving Saturday morning to drive to New Jersey to take food, water and warm clothing to the people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. If you live in this area, please consider donating something (information on how to do so below). If you live in another state, please pray that we'll be able to take a good amount of things to these people and pray for the people affected by this.

Also, please pass this on to anyone in the Central Ohio area! We'll be accepting donations at our home until Friday evening. 

Thank you,

Katie

______________________________________________________

Central Ohio Friends:

As you know, Hurricane Sandy ravaged areas along the New York and New Jersey shore.  Residents have lost everything – homes, cars and all their possessions.  Many people are still without electricity and thus without heat, clean water or even the most basic of necessities – the temperatures are plummeting with nights below freezing.  The stores have been emptied and families could not even buy supplies if they were able – there just aren’t any left!  The sheer number of people affected along with lack of gasoline and public transportation has left many residents trapped with no way out and without needed supplies. 

I grew up in New Jersey and still have family in the area – this coupled with the images of suffering we’ve seen in the news has motived my family to action.  These people need our help!  They are regular people – just like you and me – just like your children and babies – just like your grandparents!  This evening, I spoke with my Aunt and her Pastor.  Pastor Boone is also a police officer and he said the devastation is more than you can understand or appreciate from TV.   He told me that access to the hardest hit areas is limited to only residents and relief crews.  A firehouse in Fairlawn, NJ is acting as a clearing house for donated items.  They then deliver the items by ambulance to the victims most in need of help.  We would like to take a box trailer full of items to the Fairlawn firehouse for distribution to the flood victims.  Because the needs are immediate, we plan to leave this Saturday November 10 to deliver the items on Sunday November 11. 

This is where you come in.  I have observed first hand that the businesses and residents in the Marysville and surrounding communities are very generous with their time and treasures.  We are greatly blessed here and my request to you is that you use some of those blessings to help us fill a trailer so we can help those in desperate need along the New Jersey shore.

Items needed are:

Food – non-perishable, easy-to-open, nutritious items

Peanuts and peanut butter

Raisins and dried fruit

Beef Jerky and dried meat products

Meal replacement bars

                Cases of water bottles

One gallon size and personal-sized

                Baby Supplies

                                Diapers – all sizes

                                Wipes

                                Premixed baby formula and bottles

                               Baby Food

New or clean used:

                                Blankets & Pillows

                                Coats, gloves, hats, sweatshirts, sweaters, warm socks, etc.

                Cold weather supplies

                                Hand-warmers, foot warmers, etc

I urge you to consider all the blessings you have at your disposal, including your warm dry bed and search deep for what you can do to help those who have lost everything.  Donations of supplies will be taken at our home all day Tue-Friday this week.  Please email Pam to arrange a time to drop-off supplies (pcomstock@clarityts.com).  Remember, we’ll be transporting these items in a trailer that we’d like to fill floor to ceiling.  Purchase water and food by the case whenever possible to make them easier to stack and pack.  Aldi is a great place to shop by the case – they have great prices and their cases are right there in the aisle for you to easily purchase.  If you have extra boxes to bring clothing and blankets in, please prepack those items and clearly mark the contents on the outside of the box.  If you have additional empty boxes, please bring those along for us to pack items that arrive unboxed.

If you’d prefer to donate cash and have us shop for you, please do so before noon on Friday.  We will go shopping Friday afternoon to purchase needed items at a local store.  Speaking of local stores, we encourage you to think outside the box when gathering supplies.  If you know of a local business owner who might be willing to donate items in their store to help the victims - please contact them.

To transport these items, I need to borrow or rent an enclosed trailer.  We’d prefer to borrow one so that there is more money available to buy supplies for the victims.  If you have a trailer we can borrow, please contact us.  We have a van that will tow 8,000lbs, so can handle a good-sized double-axle trailer.

We realize that to some this may seem like a short turnaround time to perform such a huge task of filling an entire trailer full of relief items.  We believe in miracles and are trusting in God and in the generosity of our community to fill the trailer that will provide relief and some practical help to the people who have been so devastated by this storm.

Please pass this note long as you see fit.

God Bless You All,

Jason Comstock and Family

jcomstock@clarityts.com / 614-306-0535

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land. (Deuteronomy 15:11)

“When the Son of Man (Jesus) comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’  (Matthew 25:31-40)

NaNoWriMo - Day 5

Total Word Count: 12,748

Words written today: 1,688

Today was a busy school day, so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. At this point, I think Chapter 4 is a lot of quantity, but it doesn't have much quality. Because of that, I'm having a very hard time continuing with this, because I want it to be perfect the first go around. However, that's not realistic.

The good news it that I'm going to be getting to a (hopefully) more exciting part in the story soon. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Chazak,
Katie

(I apologize for a short post. I'm a bit...distracted. Post coming on that either tonight or tomorrow morning. So, stay tuned.)

NaNoWriMo - Day 4

Total word count: 11,060

Words written today: 1,039

There's really nothing too exciting to report from today. I took it easy after writing 4,000 words yesterday. I was SO exhausted this afternoon that I was considering taking a break. But, then I decided I should just make myself do it, so I did.

Eli got out of the hospital today. He's on crutches and he's kind of grumpy. I guess that's to be expected when it's after midnight, you have a leg wound and the whole town is talking about how you were injured and passed out in front of a crowd. Not to mention you're confused about...well...not to mention you're confused.

I've gotten to what the OYAN curriculum refers to as the 'Middle Cycle' and honestly, I'm not looking forward to it all that much. The middles of my books before have always been boring for me to write and because of that, are probably boring to the reader. I've got some events planned to happen and I think (I hope) enough mystery to make it more interesting. I might have to add some action when I go back to edit.

I'm still ahead of schedule according to the NaNoWriMo site. It says that if I continue at this rate (so, approximately 2,800 a day) I'll be done with the 50,000 by November 18th.

My evil Inner Editor is starting to get really annoying. I'm such a perfectionist sometimes. Maybe I'll duct tape it's mouth shut. Yes, I think I'll go do that now.

~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 3

Total word count: 10,021

Words written today: 4,012

I passed the 10k mark today! Actually, I passed it about 5 minutes ago. I spent the entire evening writing and word warring with some good friends. Chapter 3 is the longest chapter now and my book is currently 50 pages long Microsoft Word.

Chapter 3 was a big chapter and very defining for the story as a whole. I laid out some of the mysteries that are going to be a big part of my novel. Oh, Eli also got wounded today. Yes, he's fine. He'll survive...most likely. 

I've not decided yet if I'll write tomorrow. I might be too tired. Then again...I'm having a hard time just letting this story sit on my laptop unwritten for a while. I took the SAT this morning and I'm pretty sure I came up with half the new ideas during the breaks.

Quote from the day:

(to give you a little bit of context, my MC got injured in the Civil War. He's talking to one of the nurses in this bit of dialogue).

"She stopped reading and looked up. “Yes, sir?” 

     “Do you have ibuprofen?”

     “Eye-bu-pro-fin?” she sounded out the word, bemused." --Nurse and Eli (MC), Chapter 3 of One Thirty-Six PM.

I almost forgot! Something else very exciting happened today! I came up with a working title. It's One Thirty-Six PM. Now, I'm not sure if I'll keep it, but at least I have something better than CWHF (yep, that stands for Civil War Historical Fiction. So creative.)

I'm thinking of getting some sleep now. Or maybe watching a movie. Ah well, doesn't matter.

Until tomorrow!

~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 2

Total word count: 6,009

Words written today: 2,758

2 days down, 28 to go! Today was awesome. I came to the library around 9:30, did a little bit of school and then got to some writing. I'm getting to more interesting part (at least, I think) in my story.

At 11, I went to my online Civil War class and we all talked about how expensive the war was.

I wrote pretty consistently this afternoon, with a break for some novel planning with a friend in between. I'm starting to get even more excited about this story than I was before.

Eli (Elijah) Walker, my main character.

 A word picture with the most commonly used words from my book (so far).

The pocketwatch Eli gets from Elijah Walker I.

In addition to my awesome writing, I found two books. One is a science fiction research guide for authors and the other is a Historical Fiction genre guide. I'm really looking forward to reading them. The funny thing is, I was sitting by the shelf they were on all day and didn't see them until about 1:45 PM.

Emily and I also had some interesting discussions about internet history and bodies falling from ceilings, trees, and the sky. The library workers probably think we're very strange now. Oh well.

Sadly, I have to take the SAT tomorrow morning, so that's going to cut into my writing time. Silly test. At least it won't take too horribly long to complete.

Auf Wiedersehen!
~Katie

NaNoWriMo - Day 1

Total Word count: 3, 251 words

Today was both a good and bad day. I can't exactly judge it against any others since this is only day 1, however.

Wouldn't this be an awesome place to write?

So the bad part. I figured out that I have absolutely no clue how to write a fist fight. Zero, zilch...yeah, you get the picture. The first chapter opens with my main character getting beat up by some other guys. However, I'm not sure if they did too much talking or too little talking. Or for that matter, too much "fist throwing" or too little "fist throwing". I guess that's what my guy critiquers are for (thank you!).

I'm also starting to wonder (yeah, starting to wonder. It's the first day.) if my beginning is exciting enough. In the past I've always had fight scenes to open something off, but this is a little less exciting, at least I think so. Whoops, Eli (that's my main character, in case you were wondering) said to tell you that getting beat up is plenty "exciting".

I think I should try to turn my inner editor off.

The good part about today is that I had 1,500 words done before lunch. If the rest of the month goes like this, the word count feature on the NaNoWriMo site says I should be done with my 50,000 by November 17. We'll see if I can keep it up. :P I did an hour long word war with Julia (thanks so much!) and got up to 2,878 words. After that, I wasn't exactly sure of what to do next, so I went into town to get some bobby pins and decaf coffee (Mom said I shouldn't have caffeine). I ran into another WriMoer at Walmart and we talked for a bit (she had to get coffee too, except she is allowed to have caffeine) before heading back home.

This evening I wrote 350-ish more words and finished the first chapter. It's got to be the longest chapter I've ever written.

Tomorrow is a writing day, so I'm planning to write Chapter 2 and 3, or at least, most of 3.

I'm off to do a bit more planning and maybe watch a few episodes of Robin Hood.

Until tomorrow!
Katie

NaNoWriMo -- Day 0

4 hours, 38 minutes.

I've spent the entire month of October building up to starting my novel tomorrow. To be honest, I'm starting to get a little nervous. If you're friends with me on Facebook, I'm sure you've seen my various posts about being excited. That is very true as well. I don't think my family will be letting me near any sugar this evening, for fear that I may start bouncing uncontrollably.

My goal for this month is to write at least 50,000 words. While looking at my novel however, I've been starting to think it's going to need to be longer, maybe 70,000 words. I've never written anything that long before, so I suppose we'll see how it goes.

I'll be posting some snippets (you can't have the entire thing yet!), as well as how it's been going and just general updates on my crazy endeavor.

If you're reading this and doing NaNoWriMo, please comment below with your blog link and I'll add it to the list.

I should probably go for now. I have some motivational dried fruit and coffee (oh, did I say I like coffee?) that need to buy. Until tomorrow!

Chazak Amats,
Katie

Other's doing NaNoWriMo:
A Writer's Corner in the World - HorseRidingWriter
Hybrid Student - Reagan Ramm
Inkyocelot - Marissa Norris
The Bookwyrm's Den - Nicolae Holley
Thought Doodle - Jared Vincent
A Novelist's Notebook - Sarah Millz

NaNoWriMo 2012--Civil War Historical Fiction

Hello everyone!

This week has been a little crazy, so that's why there has not been a description. I've been furiously working on finishing my outline for National Novel Writing Month (and it's finished!).

NaNoWriMo starts on November 1--next Thursday. During November, I will most likely be posting descriptions from my novel on my blog. Maybe I'll even post some entire scenes that I do.

Here is a (working) synopsis of my book. If any of you have title suggestions, please feel free to comment and let me know! I'm sure it will be better than what the current name is: CWHF (Civil War Historical Fiction).

Ever since their ancestor, Elijah Walker, fought in the Civil War, a taunt has followed the Walker males. “Walkers always walk away with other’s things and life.” In 2011, this taunt haunts 17 year old Eli Walker in the halls of his school. A feud has gone on between the Bishops and the Walker family since the war and Eli can’t figure out why. That is, until a reenactment when he gets mysteriously transported back to the war as his great-great-great-great grandfather. Eli experiences the war the exact way his ancestor did, receiving all the same wounds and meeting the same people. Then he wakes up in a hospital bed. Confused, he asks his wheel-chair bound father to explain what just happened. That’s when he figures out he has a gift—the gift of mental travel. Eli starts to research more about his grandfather and finds the reason the Bishop family hates the Walkers and there’s only one way to stop it—he has to go back and change his ancestor’s actions. As he goes between worlds, his energy quickly starts to wane. With his present family in danger, he has no time to spare. When he travels to the war or back to the present, an unknown amount of time passes. Will he be able to save his family from the murderous Bishops?

4:13:25:59 (Days, hours, minutes, seconds) until NaNoWriMo starts!

~Katie

How I Learned to Eat an Elephant--Guest Post

This article was written by Mary Beth Loveless for the Landry Academy student newspaper, Scholar's Script. I found it encouraging and got her permission to post it here. I hope it's encouraging for you all as well!

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            At first glance, this seems like a very- uh- interesting statement. Learning "how to eat an elephant," however, is probably one of the most important things you can learn as a student, especially when you are dealing with change.

             I faced a difficult change of my own at the start of this school year. As can be expected for a sophomore in high school, my school load took a huge increase this year (I went from having only one online class a year in addition to my regular school load to having four - two of those being Pre-AP and AP).

            The first five weeks were a total nightmare. I was drowning in a sea of deadlines, homework assignments, and projects. I struggled to make it through each day and balance my school with my relationship with God, my family, my friends, and my extracurricular activities. Every time I looked at my schedule for the week, I wanted to cry. In short, I was an emotional wreck.

            I finally reached my breaking point when I had a meltdown over a confusing math problem that my mom was trying to explain to me. After pouring out all of my frustrations and anxiety with my new schedule in-between sobs, I buried my head in my arms and yelled,

            "I just can't do this anymore!"

            After a few seconds of silence, my mom wrapped her arms around me and said,

              "First of all, Mary Beth, you have got to get a grip on yourself." She gave me some time to calm down, hugging me and giving me tissues. After I quieted down she looked right at me with a sparkle of humor in her green eyes and asked,

            "Mary Beth, do you know how to eat an elephant?"

            It was such a weird and random question, that, in spite of how upset I was, I started laughing. She laughed too, and after giving me another hug, she whispered, "One bite at a time."

            This seemingly silly statement paved the way for a great conversation about perspective, a conversation that God used to help me grow both emotionally and spiritually.

            Perspective is the way we see the world and all of the things that happen to us. It's a vital part of who we are as people because it shapes our attitudes about changes in our lives.

            During the first several weeks of school, I was looking at all of the changes in my schedule from a "me" perspective. I constantly felt sorry for myself and began believing that I was some sort of "victim." To put it bluntly, I was being selfish and unthankful.   

            Instead of complaining about my school load and allowing it to get me down, I should have dropped to my knees and thanked God for all of the many blessings He's given me: a country where I can worship Him freely, good health, financial blessings, 3 square meals a day, clothing, a comfortable home, doctors and nurses who care for me when I am sick, clean water, parents who desire to protect me and stay involved in my life, brothers who want to spend time with me and who treat me like a princess, a bed to sleep in, a car, AND the opportunity to get an excellent education so that I can be well equipped for advancing His kingdom. The list goes on and on.

            After I had this eye-opening conversation with my mom, I tried putting this into practice. I found that when I started to count my blessings and open my eyes to the world around me, my "overwhelming school schedule" didn't seem so important anymore because I realized that there are so many other much more difficult changes that I could be dealing with (my dad losing his job, moving away from all that I've known, losing a relative or friend). Now, I am so grateful to God for where He has put me in life and find joy in dealing with change because I know that it is a God-give opportunity to prepare myself for whatever He has in store for me.

             My prayer for each one of you (especially all of you students!) is that you will start to see changes from God's perspective. When you feel like you can't eat your elephants anymore, take a deep breath, count your blessings, and remember those elephants, by God's grace, can be eaten...one bite at a time.

          

By: Mary Beth Loveless

Guard Your Heart

It's important to guard your heart. So many lies are out among us that we have to truly know God's word to discern what is truth and what are lies.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your lips. Light your paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. --Proverbs 4:23-27

It is our responsibility to guard our heart mentally and spiritually, but what guards it physically?

The ribs are a very important part of everyday life. They shield our lungs and heart from external damage. Without them, we wouldn't be able to do anything--even lie on the couch--without a risk of your lungs being punctured, bruised or something happening to your heart. God placed the ribs as a cage around these vital, life-sustaining organs to protect them.

The ribs are made of twelve pairs of individual bones. Ribs 1-5 are called 'true ribs' because they connect directly to the sternum. Ribs 6-10 are called 'false ribs' because they connect to the sternum by cartilage. The remaining two ribs are called 'floating ribs' because they do not connect to anything except the lumbar vertebrae in the spine. At the end of the sternum, there is a little piece of cartilage called the xiphoid process. You can feel it about a hand width up from your belly button (just don't press too hard.)

Several months ago, I went out to the garage to welcome Dad home. We keep two deep freezers out there to store the meat from our livestock. The alarm on one of the freezers went off, announcing that it was open. My Dad asked me to shut it, so I walked over to do so. There were several bikes in the way and a trashcan and I really didn't feel like moving them. Instead, I came up with a brilliant idea, or so I thought. I could just stand on one of the bikes (they were lying down) and kick the door shut with one foot. I went ahead with my plan and ended up smacking my side on the bikes and then the cement floor of the garage. I was on the couch for the next week with a bruised rib. I think I bruised the 4th or 5th rib. At least, that's my self-diagnosis.

If the ribs weren't there to protect me, I would have damaged my lung, both lungs or my heart. Let me advise you that it is a very bad idea to stand on a bike, even if it is lying down and you think you've got good balance. It didn't work out so well for me.

God put the ribs in place to protect us, just like the many other things He has put in place, such as our parents and the rules they establish. So, the next time you bump into something with your chest or you fall and hit your side, thank God that He put both kinds of protection there.

(reposted from my Anatomy and Physiology blog)

With a friend like you, who needs enemies?

This comic was my inspiration for the following short story.

 “I’ll take a mocha frappuccino please, and that’s all.”

The cashier pokes a button on the black cash register. It dings and the amount shows on the screen in glowing numbers.

 “That will be $3.50, please.”

I hand him my card and look around the coffee shop. Most of the tables and couches are full, with the exception of the in the middle. College students pound furiously on the keys of their laptops. A young couple is cuddled up on the love seat, whispering and sipping their drinks. Near the windows, an elderly man sits in a rocking chair. The smell of fresh ground coffee fills the store and I inhale deeply, enjoying the aroma. The cashier slides my card towards me. Smiling, I take it and move to the other end of the counter. A cheerful young barista places my coffee in front of me.

 “Thank you and have a lovely day!”

I nod in reply and grab the cold drink. Readjusting my purse strap, I amble towards the tables and sit down at the only open one—one in the middle of the room. I pull out the chair and it squeaks against the floor. I am barely in my seat before the one across from me is pulled out, sat in and pushed back in.

 “Hi!”

Setting my coffee on the table, I pull my chair in and look at the hyper friend sitting across from me. Where did she come from?  She holds a coffee in her hands as well. A white label peeks out from under her fingers and I just make out the word ‘espresso’ before she raises it to her lips and takes a drink. Wonderful.

 “Are you sure you should be drinking that?” I ask, raising my eyebrows just a little bit.

Turning, she hangs her purse on her chair and then replies, “Oh sure. It’s fine. I get these all the time. They got like, no affect on me.”

My eye starts to itch and I blink, trying to dislodge the invisible speck. I close my lips around the straw of my drink and take a sip before replying.

 “You do?”

She nods. “Yeppers! They’re like the bestest.”

A peculiar burning sensation comes over my eyes. I reach up and rub them. They start to water up and I blink again.  My friend cocks her head to one side, her bright green streaked hair brushing her shoulder. She places her coffee on the table and folds her hands in front of her, her ring glinting on her left ring finger. I smile at her before taking a tissue out of my purse and blowing my now congested nose. The charm bracelet on my right wrist rubs against my cheek.  What is going on?  I felt fine just a minute ago!

 “You like look terrible. Do you like got a cold or somethin’?”

This time I reach for a napkin and blow my nose. “No, I don’t have a cold.” My voice sounds funny and seems to echo in my head. I pick up my drink and place it against my forehead.

 “I just remembered somethin’. You haven’t learnt how to play Settlers of Catan yet. Do you want to like come over later?”

My throat starts to constrict and my lungs began to burn. Taking a sip from my coffee, I have difficulty swallowing it, but the cool feels wonderful against my throat. I turn to my right and lean down, picking up my purse from the floor. Placing it on glass-topped table, I dig through it. I’ve got to find my inhaler! My fingers grasp the familiar shape of the medicine and I pull it out. I shake it and then inhale the contents. The burning in my lungs starts to subside. A long stream of endless chatter comes from across the table, my friend oblivious to my discomfort.

 “So me and him finished the game. I want you to know how to play too! It’s like the funnest game ever!”

My heart starts to beat quicker and I struggle to breathe. The itching in my eyes continues and my nose seems to be congested faster than I can clear it out. Shaking my inhaler, I again breathe in the medicine. My friend pauses to glance up, realizing I hadn’t responded in a while.

 “Oh Mylanta! I should of called 911 by now! You look terrible. Your eyes is all red and weepy,” she pushes my drink towards me, her nails squeaking on the glass top. “You got to drink this. It will help.”

Breathing becomes more labored now and I raise the drink to my lips. The sweet drink fills my mouth, but I barely taste it. I try to swallow and a round of coughing happens instead. I clap my hands over my mouth, attempting to keep the drink in. I can feel the glares from other people around the coffee shop. One even has the audacity to say, “Shhh.” The coughing subsides for a moment and I swallow.

Wiping my wet eyes, I turn to my friend, pleading, “Please-“

 “-call 911? Well, you could of told me that a while ago. I’m so sorry, honey! I ain’t been much help!”

She reaches into her purse as another round of coughing overcomes me. My lungs burn and at this point, I know the inhaler won’t help.       

“Hello, is this like, 911?”

A muffled voice comes across the other end of the phone. I try to drink my coffee, thinking the liquid will subdue my coughing. It doesn’t. Instead, I spew it across a table next to me, completely soaking someone’s novel. They jump up and shout something at me, but I’m too distracted to hear their words.

“My friend like has got this like allergy thing going on and well, she like can’t breathe. What caused it? How would of I known? I ain’t never seen her like this before. How pacific do you need me to be? Y’all just need to get yourselves here now.”

I start to feel lightheaded and place my head in my hands, still coughing. The cough racks my body and everything starts to feel swollen. Breathing heavily, I try to focus on the line the runs around the edge of the table. It seems to wobble and move in a million different directions.

The bell above the door dings again and I’m vaguely aware of someone talking to me. My friend chatters in the background, along with a deep voice I don’t recognize. Several hands grip my arms and gently pull me up from my chair. They guide me to lie down on something and I try to get my eyes focused. All I can see is the color they are wearing—white. Something sharp jabs into my arm and I wince, and then continue to cough even more.

After what seems like hours of coughing, my breathing starts to return to normal. The coughing subsides. My throat feels scratchy and I raise my hand to scratch around my neck, knowing it won’t help. A man with dark hair leans over me. He also wears a white uniform.

“Ma’am, I want to explain what just happened to you.”

I nod.

 “Your friend here tells me that you’re a writer. You suffer from an allergy very common in this job. Miss, you’re allergic to grammatical errors.”

I open my eyes wide, instantly regretting it. The cold air reaches the still itching parts and causes them to water once again. “Grammatical errors? Why haven’t I noticed this before?”

The paramedic starts to reply, but is pushed aside. My friend stands in his place, a worried expression on her face.

 “You ain’t going to die are you? I got them here. I know I should have like called them sooner. You were like all red and like coughing and stuff. ”

My throat starts to constrict again and my lungs burn. Covering my mouth, my cough returns.

“Miss, I need you to leave please,” says the paramedic, in an authoritative tone.

The man escorts her out of the coffee shop. She screams (using bad grammar of course) about the “injustice of the situation” and I use my inhaler again. After my cough calms down, I glance around the coffee shop. 

People sit at the various tables, some holding their coffee cups halfway to their mouths. Others look annoyed and still others have their cellphones pulled out, recording the entire scene. Embarrassed, I decide to stare at the ceiling instead.

I turn to the paramedic. “Sir, why haven’t I noticed this before?”

He rubbed his mustache and then replied, “What you thought was asthma was the beginning of your allergies. 

With the repeated exposure to grammatical errors, it has caused your condition to worsen.”

“Holy cow. You ruined my book over that? That made me so mad,” a voice yells behind me.

Oh, I’ve just got to get out of here. I struggle to my feet. Blood rises to my cheeks. Walking forward, I grab my purse off the chair. The room starts to spin and I grab the edge of the table. Just leave. I barely make it two steps before I black out.

Creepy Library--Part 2

The scratching continues and I pull myself up from the chair, clenching my dead cell phone in my quivering hands.

“Who’s there?” I ask, my voice shaking.

Some sort of hiss replaces the scratching. Timidly, I step into the shadows and towards the noise.  I weave my way through the bookcases and as I get closer, a low growl joins in with the hissing. I come to the end of the row and peek out. A window sits in the wall directly opposite, moonlight pouring in from the night and illuminating the area. I squint my eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden light.

A dark shape sits plastered against the wall under the window. I inch a little closer to investigate.

“It’s a cat! Just a dumb old cat,” I laugh at myself.

Relief overcomes me and I slide down the wall about twenty feet away from the feral animal. The cat continues to growl at me and cower against the wall, but doesn’t make a move to run.

“I would let you out, but the doors are locked. Guess it’s just you and me tonight.”

He hisses in reply and I roll my eyes. After a while, he quiets down and only growls every couple of minutes. 

The cat is completely jet black, except for a small spot of white on the tip of his nose and the end of one of his paws.  His skin is stretched tight over his bones and it looks like he hasn’t eaten in days. Scratches cover his body, some bloody and infected. I reach out my hand toward him and my jacket crinkles. He jumps up, hair standing on end, and hisses.

“Okay, nevermind,” I quip.

I bring my knees up to my chest and rest my head on top. “Well, goodnight cat.”

~*~

A sharp slap wakes me up. I jump up, still clenching my phone. Looking out the window, I can see frost covering the ground. Sun pours in through the window.

“What have I told you about sleeping in here, you hooligan? Out, out! This is not a hotel!”

I turn toward the voice and instantly wish I hadn’t. An irate librarian stands in front of me, several books cradled in one arm and what looks like a ruler clenched in her other fist. I stumbled backwards, tripping over a children’s bookcase in the process. The contents spill out all over the red carpet floor. Nervously, I stoop down to pick them up, only to get another string of irate comments from the woman.

“Okay, sorry. I’ll leave.”

She places her books on the nearest table and glares at me. I reach out my hand and shake her free one.

“Have a lovely day.”

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Next week I will resume my normal, random descriptions. Hopefully happy ones too. If anyone has any suggestions for the description practice, let me know in the comments below! :)

High of 75--Relient K

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.

Creepy Library

Tables sit in the middle of the room, a light hanging over them. I run my fingers over the small plaque on the side of the table. ‘Property of the City Library’. Bookshelves line the walls, casting eerie shadows from the light. I shiver and wrap my arms tightly around myself before plopping down in one of the chairs.

Just stay in the light and there’s nothing to worry about. Go to sleep and you can leave when the librarians come back in the morning.

I glance around the room suspiciously before letting myself doze off. Several minutes later, I hear a scratching sound. I leap up from the chair, sending it flying behind me. It clatters to the floor and the sound resonates around the room. Wincing, I listen again for the sound. Nothing.

With caution, I pick up the chair and set it down again facing the table. Looking around, I see there is no way to turn it so that only my front is exposed. If I face the table, my back is open on that side. If I face away from the table, my back is open to the other side.

“Great,” I mutter to myself.

I plop down in the chair, deciding it’s a better idea to face the way the noise came from. I stare out into the darkness, mentally challenging something to come after me. The library air conditioner kicks on and before long, the building starts to feel much cooler. Cars pass outside every few minutes. Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pull out my cell phone and set it on my leg. I throw the hood over my head and zip it all the way before grabbing my phone again, accidentally pressing one of the buttons as I grab it. The display remains black. My heart starts to beat faster and I push down the power button, hoping that it will turn on. Again, nothing. It’s dead.

Another scratching noise comes from the direction of the bookcases. I stiffen and sit straight up in my chair, clutching at my dead phone until my knuckles turn white. 

I've started sketching...

Our family went on the Covered Bridge tour yesterday and this was the sketch that turned out best.

Of all three of these sketches, this is my favorite one.

There are a couple of things I've learned doing this one: 1) There are more than just a few colors in pictures and 2) grass takes a really long time to draw.