SW 2013: Day 2

Lindsay ended up getting on campus around 3:15. She accidentally set off some sort of alarm by keeping the outside door open too long, so quite a few people woke up. She’s in the room with my Grandma and I, so I think that will be fun.

I got up way too early this morning: 5:30. I got ready for the day a lot quicker than I had planned and sat in the gazebo for over an hour with some other OYANers. Most everyone was too tired to really talk much. 

Around 7:10, we all prayed and I read a passage from Matthew 5. We talked about mourning and hard times and how you can learn a lot from that. It was a good discussion, but like I said, most people were much too tired to actually talk.

Backtracking to this morning. I have been designated Kristin and Abbie’s alarm clock. Kristin thought I somehow managed to walk through doors or use a sonic screwdriver to get into her room this morning, because she’d locked the door.

Breakfast wasn’t all that exciting. I had fruit and pancakes, but they were way too sugary. I’m hopefully I’ll find something not quite so sweet tomorrow.

The first sessions were great. Mr. S talked about ordinary heroes and how they can really be extraordinary. I really enjoyed his talk. Someone named Mark Wilson talked about Rivendell for writers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, I’ll explain what Rivendell is. BUT. Only if you promise to read the books and see the movies. Yes, in that order. They’re amazing.

Anyways. I digress.

Rivendell is this peaceful place where the elves live. It’s always quite there. Beautiful streams and waterfalls run all throughout this city. Everywhere you go, there is light and the sound of nature. It looks so peaceful.

Mark Wilson was talking about the importance of a Rivendell like place for writers. Back in the late 17^th century, many poets would dedicate a poem to someone like a nobleman. In return for that, the nobleman would sometimes let the writer come to his house and write. It was really peaceful and a Rivendell like place.

After hearing that session, it’s kind of my goal to find a Rivendell now.

Lunch wasn’t interesting either. Just plain old lunch food. I had a really good salad.

Critique groups were next. I’m in the ‘Elephant Trunks’ group and I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in a group before. I didn’t know anyone, but we all get along really well. They LOVED my first excerpt and I got much unexpected cheering and applause. That was a little intimidating, but I think it may be why I like my group so much. We went about 30 minutes over, but no one really minded. The best quote from today (and of course, it made more sense in context) was someone in the group saying, “Girls have horns!” All the girls laughed and the guys look at him like he was crazy. Ah, I love this group.

Free time started after we finished with our critique group. I wandered around for a bit before gathering with some people in the auditorium of the Bell Center. We’re going to be performing ‘Do You Hear The People Sing’ from Les Miserables on Thursday night, so we all got together to practice. It went really well and, if I do say so myself, we sound pretty good.

The last two sessions of the evening were by Jill Williamson and Jeff Gerke. Both sessions were wonderful. Mrs. Williamson was very humorous and talked about world building and all the things that go into that.

Mr. Gerke talked about how to make a believeable hero and give them “knots”, or sins. He said, “We’re playing God, except for one thing. We GIVE the character the sin and then punish them for having it!” I got some really good story ideas for my current novel from that session, so I’m looking forward to being able to write again.

After sessions ended, I just hung out with some people until I decided to be mature go to bed. I did manage to get some pictures today too, so those will follow this post.

Keep Shmiling!

~Katie

Pictures Below:

I ate breakfast with these lovely ladies this morning. From left to right: Kristin, Abbie and Savanna.

This girl is awesome. We're the stinkers. I'm Stinker 1 and she's Stinker 2. It's a rather long inside joke with another OYANer who couldn't make it this year. 

Our lovely ice cream and my coffee. We sent this picture to the Queen of Stinkers. We're her minions. 

I'm in this dorm. The last window on the left on the first floor is my room. 

Volleyball nets. 

The beautiful gazebo where we have Bible studies in the mornings. 

And last, but certainly not least, the Bell Center. This is where most of the epicness takes place.

SW 2013: Day 1

We left the house at 6:00 AM sharp and arrived around 6:30 (CST) to the MidAmerica Nazarene University campus. I managed to drive and not freak out from excitement. Still not quite sure how I did that.

The registration line was really quick to get through, so after saying hi to a few people, I got my things and went to set up my dorm. I'm rooming with my Grandma and another OYANer this year, so that will be fun.

For most of the evening, I hung out with some people in the Tipping Lounge/Gym. I don't know as many people as last year, but the few people I do know are pretty close friends. So, that's a benefit.

I also talked to Mr. AND Mrs. S tonight, so that was pretty cool. If you're reading my blog and you're not an OYANer, then you should know that Mr. and Mrs. S are somewhat of celebrities around OYAN.

The only reason I'm up this late right now is because I'm actually waiting for my roomate--Lindsay--to arrive. Her flight got delayed for 3 hours and someone just went to pick her up. Hopefully she'll be arriving before too long.

A more interesting post will be coming tomorrow after I actually have a full day here. And...I'll take pictures. I forgot to do that.

Keep shmiling!
~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

Writing Day

I attended my very first writing day at the Mustard Seed Retreat July 26. When I first got there, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

The retreat and yard surrounding it are lovely. It’s an old farmhouse with beautiful flowerbeds around it. Lots of cats and kittens roam around and really like to get attention. A red barn is outside and Miss Pam (the lady in charge) said that she holds classes out there.

Inside the retreat is just as nice as the outside. There is a small kitchen, where candy, fruit and drinks are kept for the writers. Miss Pam has three different rooms set aside for writing. One it a library and has a shelf of books and a whiteboard. Emily and I had a good time doing some character development on the whiteboard near the end of the day.

I arrived at 10 AM. Miss Pam greeted me at the door and showed me around the house. Reagan  had already arrived and Emily texted me to say she was on her way. I met two of the other writers who were there that day and settled myself on the couch in the library. It was such a quiet environment that it was actually a little hard for me to concentrate the first 15 minutes or so. I’m used to being at home with my siblings running around and playing, so it was definitely a switch.

Before lunch (around 2 PM) I managed to get about 1,000 words written using my new idea for ‘Freedoms Bonds’ (look for a post on that in the near future). During lunch, the 6 writers sat around and chatted.

Reagan and I got some brainstorming done for a futuristic, dystopian, sci-fi idea we had. I’m not going to say too much about the idea though. I decided, for now at least, that all of you who read my blog (all 8 of you :P) will be kept in suspense.

A huge storm blew in around 3:00 and we got a little distracted. At least, the four females who were there did. One girl left after lunch, so there were only five of us at that point. It was raining so hard that sheets of water were pouring down the windows. The internet access went out, followed shortly by the electric. The electric only stayed out for 5 minutes. I don’t know about the internet.

No,this isn't the storm. I just thought this was an interesting picture.

Starting around 4:45, I started to lose any ability to focus. I think that’s when the coffee kicked in. It was either the coffee or the tiredness from the fair week. Either way,  Emily and I were struggling to find any semblance of focus. So what do writers do when having focusing issues? Character development, of course!

We used Emily’s medieval character and my futuristic character and started it on the whiteboard. For some reason, my character was a grouch. Maybe it was just because I don’t know a whole lot about her yet. The two of us had quite a lot of fun, since some of the things my character (Alexis) mentioned, were things that Emily’s character (Kesiah) had never heard of before. Take nail polish for example. Alexis was complaining that her nail polish chipped and Kesiah couldn’t figure out what she was talking about and why her nails were an unnatural color.

Overall, I absolutely loved being able to go somewhere and just write for a day. I wrote 2500+ words, edited and read both Em and Reagan’s chapters, brainstormed with Reagan and character developed with Emily. I’m anticipating the next writing day very much.

Scene from Freedom's Bonds - Chapter 1

Hatred contorted his face as he stared at me in disbelief. We stayed locked in that position, swords above our heads, for several minutes. I stared directly at him and tried to be as intimidating as possible. It was hard considering the fact that I was only five foot four inches tall and he was at least six feet high. I pushed against his sword and threw him off balance for a second. That was all I needed to get the upper hand. I put my sword to his neck and watched as a small stream of blood trickled from the scrape.  

“What are you doing here?” I asked, placing great emphasis on the ‘you’.

“I could ask the same of you. Do you know the penalty for threatening one of the king’s soldiers?”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I knew well the penalty – years of work in the labor fields, followed by torture, then death. Yes, I knew of it. Still, it didn’t keep me from challenging this one.

“Of course I know the penalty. Only a brainless person would threaten a soldier knowing the penalty.”

He smirked and countered, “Then I suppose you are the brainless person.”

I felt the blood rushing to my face as I tried to keep my anger under control. Withdrawing my sword and re-sheathing it, I replied, “No. I am not the brainless person. I am simply protecting whatever freedom we might have left in this land. Which is near none.”

The soldier took this opportunity to scurry for his sword and picked it up without stopping. I had expected this and so I readied myself for his attack. He raced towards me, twirling his sword in an intricate pattern. I recognized it from the training I had done when still living in the palace and reacted with the same series of intricate twirls.

Steel clashed on steel as our swords met, still moving so fast they were almost a blur. Sweat poured down my brow as I fought him. I had never fought someone as strong as this, but then again, I hadn’t fought someone for a while. The last time I used my sword was against some wild animals that attacked our village, but they were no match for me. This general…he was different.

Freedom's Bonds--Chapter 1

I decided to start posting chapters of my book, Freedom's Bonds. It's going to be around 26 chapters (as of now) and I'm on chapter 7. I'm hoping to start chapter 8 tomorrow. We'll just see how that goes I guess. Enjoy the chapter! =)

______________________________________________

Chapter 1:

     The sound of clashing swords forced me to look up from my work. I raced inside my hut and grabbed my dagger and sword, stuffing my dagger into my dress pocket and strapping the sword in its sheath by my side. I lovingly fingered the leather that had my name, Kacia, embossed on it. Someone outside screamed and I left my hut.

     Coming out into the yard, I looked towards the noise and saw a crowd gathered at the center of town. There were two people fighting in the center of the circle, but I couldn’t see any more than that because of all the people. I raced out the gate as fast as I could, almost slipping on the pavement. My hair streamed out behind me as I ran. I hastily tied it back with a piece of twine and continued running.

     I had reached the circle now and forced my way into it. The sight I saw shocked me. A Lipatovian soldier fought a basically unarmed village man. Twirling and slashing his sword in only the fashion someone trained could have, he gave the man multiple gashes all over his body. The man looked up wide eyed at the soldier, who I assumed to be a general.

     A evil look filled the general’s eyes and he raised his sword above his head to deliver a final blow – a death blow. I knew I had to act quickly and raced toward him. Unsheathing my sword, I raised it to block his blow. It came down so hard that it knocked my teeth together and I had to struggle to hold on to the sword.

     I glanced back and saw the man crawl away, bleeding from multiple wounds. It infuriated me that a soldier would fight someone who was obviously unarmed and untrained. I turned back to the soldier and stared into his face.

     Hatred contorted his face as he stared at me in disbelief. We stayed locked in that position, swords above our heads, for several minutes. I stared directly at him and tried to be as intimidating as possible. It was hard considering the fact that I was only five foot four inches tall and he was at least six feet high. I pushed against his sword and threw him off balance for a second. That was all I needed to get the upper hand. I put my sword to his neck and watched as a small stream of blood trickled from the scrape.  

     “What are you doing here?” I asked, placing great emphasis on the ‘you’.

     “I could ask the same of you. Do you know the penalty for threatening one of the king’s soldiers?”

     I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I knew well the penalty – years of work in the labor fields, followed by torture, then death. Yes, I knew of it. Still, it didn’t keep me from challenging this one.

     “Of course I know the penalty. Only a brainless person would threaten a soldier knowing the penalty.”

     He smirked and countered, “Then I suppose you are the brainless person.”

     I felt the blood rushing to my face as I tried to keep my anger under control. Withdrawing my sword and re-sheathing it, I replied, “No. I am not the brainless person. I am simply protecting whatever freedom we might have left in this land. Which is near none.”

     The soldier took this opportunity to scurry for his sword and picked it up without stopping. I had expected this and so I readied myself for his attack. He raced towards me, twirling his sword in an intricate pattern. I recognized it from the training I had done when still living in the palace and reacted with the same series of intricate twirls.

     Steel clashed on steel as our swords met, still moving so fast they were almost a blur. Sweat poured down my brow as I fought him. I had never fought someone as strong as this, but then again, I hadn’t fought someone for a while. The last time I used my sword was against some wild animals that attacked our village, but they were no match for me. This general…he was different.

     The muscles rippled under his bronzed arms as he pushed me back, knocking me off my feet. I hit the cobblestone street, hard, and was temporarily stunned. He rushed towards me and I rolled onto my back, pushing him the stomach with my feet. This did little to him because of his armor, but slowed him enough that I was able to jump up and regain my footing.

     I rushed towards him and struck his sword as hard as I could, trying with all my might to knock it out of his hands. He held onto it and pushed back. This time I expected it and didn’t let him throw me off balance. I pulled my sword away and swiped at his legs. He easily jumped it and laughed.

     Without warning, he shrieked at the top of his lungs. I was so surprised that I dropped my sword. As it clattered to the ground, at least forty soldiers came racing out of the trees brandishing all sorts of weapons. I stood there staring at them, dazed.

     I regained my senses and dashed for my sword, picking it up only moments before a horse came clattering over the cobblestone where it had lay. Breathing quickly, I darted into a nearby alley and sat there for a moment, trying to see what was occurring.

     A young man came flying into the alley and fell to the ground with a thud. He moaned and rubbed his head in pain. Racing over to him, I pulled out my ever present pouch of different herbs known for all sorts of healing.

     His head was bleeding from a wound that had been inflicted on the side of it, but thankfully, it didn’t look serious. I applied some herbs to it before wrapping his head with some soft cloth to absorb the blood.

     Standing, he shook his head and rubbed the bandage. He grinned lopsidedly at me and said, “Thank you.”

     I nodded in reply.

     A band of soldiers galloped by the alley, plowing down whatever was in their path. I gasped and the young man pulled me further back.

     “Princess, you must get out of here while there is still time. We can hold them off without you here,” he pleaded with me.

     “But where am I to go? I know of no villages around here that would accept me. Most of them know that I am the Princess, so they would kill me on sight!”

     He looked around cautiously and whispered, “There is a place. The village of Noapeh will take you. It is not a commonly heard of village. It is a few hours ride to the north. If you hurry, you can probably get there before dark. Now, hurry!”

     “I will go, but I’m coming back as soon as I can. I need to make sure you all haven’t died!”

     I thanked him as he raced out of the alley to continue the fight. Screams of anguish and pain still filled the air as I looked around, trying to find an opportunity to dash across the road to the stables.

     Seeing my chance, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me and threw myself into the stables. A pitchfork decided to step in the way as I landed on the floor and speared my arm. I gasped in pain and gritted my teeth as the warm blood flowed down my arm.

     I stood and the herb pouch bounced against my hip. I took its contents out with my good hand and started to bandage the wound. It probably didn’t take a long time, but it sure seemed like it in light of the circumstances.

     Refastening it to my waist, I raced to the stall of my horse friend, Blair. She lay snoring on the ground, obviously oblivious to the commotion outside. I rolled my eyes in annoyance at how well she could sleep and yelled down to her to wake up. After several attempts, she finally awoke and stood to her feet.

     A war cry pierced the air, followed by screams of grief. I winced as I imagined what could have happened. Looking back at Blair, I saw that she was confused. She started to say something, but I stopped her in mid-sentence.

     “There is no time to explain this right now. We need to get to Noapeh as quickly as possible. I will explain to you on the way. Hurry!”

     She raced through the swinging doors of the stable and almost ran over a soldier. She reared to keep from hitting him and I barely stayed on. I was glad for the pockets I had sewn into my dress that kept my dagger from falling.

     She veered right onto the street at a steady canter, easily dodging the fighting people and animals. Feeling myself slipping, I squeezed harder with my legs to steady myself. My arm throbbed in pain with each step that Blair took.

     Blair plowed on ahead and raced out towards the main gate of town. I looked back, pleased with our escape. The gate was getting closer and closer until we stopped suddenly. I glanced around to see why Blair had stopped and saw the soldier I had challenged originally standing in front of me.

     He smirked and pulled his sword from his sheath. Taking a deep breath, I slid off Blair and whipped out my sword. The polished steel glistened in the sunlight. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and pointed it at the soldier.

     “No one threatens this village and gets away with it, even you.”

     “We’ll see about that!” he yelled as he swiped his sword at my legs.

     I jumped to avoid the slash and brought my sword around, slicing his arm. He grimaced in pain and grabbed his arm, momentarily dropping his sword. This was all the time I needed to get away.

     Blair started away as I jumped onto her back, grabbing her mane to pull me up. I swung my leg over her side and kicked her sides, urging her on. She galloped as fast as she could out the gate.

     Blair surged up the hill and into the densely populated woods. Tree branches hung overhead and several whacked me in the face. I grimaced as I felt something wet run down my cheek. Swiping it away with my hand, I looked and saw that it was blood.

     Wonderful, I thought, now I’ve got this and my arm to worry about!

     Ducking closer to Blair’s body, I grabbed her mane and shut my eyes, wishing this would all be over. I looked up for a second and saw a stream approaching. From the speed that Blair was going, I could tell she wasn’t slowing down. No, she was going to jump it.

     She got to the edge of the stream and jumped. I grinned as we flew over the stream and for one moment, I felt free. But that moment ended. She landed on the opposite bank and I fell off, not prepared for the force of her jump.

     I hit the ground – hard. Gasping for breath, I saw a soldier come racing at me. I tried to stand, but when you’ve gotten the wind knocked out of you, it’s quite hard to do. I pulled out my sword and sucked in a deep breath of air. I stood once more and this time was able to remain standing.

     Pointing my sword at him, I advanced forward. A look of terror appeared on his face and he turned and ran away. I looked after him, confused and still holding my sword. A rustling sounded behind me and I turned to see a bear.

     I held tightly to my sword as I stared up into the face of the bear. He was at least ten feet tall and his fur was matted and hairy. My heart beat wildly and I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself.

     The bear looked at me, then started towards me. I gritted my teeth, preparing to be ripped to shreds.

     I hope it doesn’t last long. How much will it hurt?

     Something whooshed past me and I opened my eyes slightly to see what it was. The bear had not been going after me, but after the soldier! I almost fainted from relief, but steadied myself by holding onto a tree. Looking around, I saw that Blair had vanished.

     No doubt she’s probably hiding in the trees, I thought. I don’t blame her.

     The bear chased the soldier farther and farther into the woods until I could no longer hear them. I let go of the tree I was holding to and started off to find Blair. The leaves rustled overhead and I shivered in the cool breeze. I could still hear the sounds of fighting in the village and tried to block them out.

     Blair stepped out from behind a large bush, burrs sticking in her mane and making her look rather ridiculous. In spite of the circumstances, I couldn’t help by laugh. I walked over to her and, still laughing, started to pull the burrs from her mane.

     “Kacia, will you explain now what is going on?” Blair asked.

     After relating the entire story to her, including that we needed to go to Noapeh, we set off. The morning sun was already hot and sweat was running down my face in what seemed like torrents. I wiped the sweat from my eyes and squeezed my legs around Blair as we took off at a canter.

~*~

     It was almost dark when we reached Noapeh. The village looked deserted and I could see the charred remains of where houses used to stand. Jumping off Blair, I walked into the village. The streets were empty and the doors and shutters were open on the houses that weren’t burnt down.

     Blair and I silently walked down the abandoned main road. Seller’s carts still stood on the sides of the road, the produce rotting. Rats scurried around, looking for something to eat. I looked around, pleading for any sign of life. The smell of cooking food reached my nose and I started towards it. As I got further down the road, I saw a house. It was the only one that wasn’t burned to the ground and there was a pleasant smell coming from it, along with lights burning in the windows.

     I looked at Blair hopefully and raced towards it. Reaching it, I banged on the door. I heard a slight yelp from inside, followed by a crash.

     “Who goes there?” a female voice asked.

     “My name is Kacia. I’ve come here to seek refuge. The Lipatovian guard attacked my village and I was told to come here.”

     The door opened with a creak and I saw the silhouette of a woman. She looked to be about my age and strangely familiar. After looking at both Blair and I, she nodded her head and opened the door all the way. She motioned for me to come inside and I stepped in, standing awkwardly inside the door.

     Her hut looked much the same as mine back in Tira. The only difference was that she had a loft. She shut the door and turned to me. I gasped in shock as I realized why she looked so familiar. It was my cousin, Tamira!

     “Tamira! It’s you!” I said.

     She looked at me confused for a minute before realizing who I was. After a few moments of hugging and crying, I pulled away from her and grinned.

     “I never thought I’d see you again! Imagine that the king would be so silly as to put the two of us close together when he banished me.”

     The king, who is actually my uncle on my father’s side, banished me after my father died. He was supposed to help me learn how to become queen, as he promised my father that he would, but he was too drunk with his greed to be king. He banished me and anyone in my family who resided at the palace. This included Tamira, who is the daughter of my mother’s brother. We were forced out of the palace and taken to villages. The locations were unknown to the other family members, that way we couldn’t possibly get together and try to reclaim the throne.

     “What happened here?” I asked. “Why are all the houses burnt down?”

     Tamira looked at the ground and wiped an unseen tear from her eye. “It was the plague. It wiped out over half the village in just a few days. Those who were still healthy left for other places, to avoid getting sick. The only way to stop the spread of the disease was to burn the houses after the people died.”

     “Oh. That’s terrible.”

     She nodded and wiped yet another tear from her eye. “There is no time to think about that though. We need to figure out how to get the throne back.”   

     I looked at her, shocked that she would even suggest such a thing. “What do you mean? Two girls can’t possibly best the army of Lipatov!”

     “I’ve heard rumors that the king is going to kill everyone in his labor fields. He’s tired of having to worry about the poor and destitute. The people working in those fields are against the king and would surely help us.”

     I sat back in my chair and thought over this. I hadn’t planned on taking over the throne – I just needed some place safe to stay. Inwardly, I kicked myself. How could I be so selfish? The people of Lipatov need my help! I’m their princess – they are relying on me!

     “We will go, but I need to go back to Tira. I have to make sure that the soldiers didn’t completely wipe out my town. Perhaps we can find someone there who would be willing to help us.”

     Tamira sighed and nodded. “Alright Kacia, if you wish then that is what we will do. Right now though, let’s some sleep.”

     I nodded and replied, “Sleep sounds wonderful. We’re going to need it. We’ve got an army to raise.”

Moonbeam now available in eBook format!

Moonbeam is now available on Lulu in eBook format! Click here to go to the Lulu page. This is the same book that I self-published a few weeks ago. Please pass the information on to anyone you think might be interested.

Freedom's Bonds - Jedrec's Tale

My first novel is called Freedom's Bonds. It's about a hidden princess named Kacia who has to take back the throne of her country. Yes, it's pretty cliche, but fun to write. I started a branch off of that story from the Love Characters perspective. Here is part of Chapter 1:

Chapter 1:

     The house erupted into one big ball of flame. I jumped back, pulling my sister along with me. She clung to my side, sobbing hysterically. The house crashed in on itself and continued to burn. Looking around, I saw that the other houses in our village had met the same fate.

     People stood outside their doors, sobbing for the loved ones lost inside. The Lipatovian soldiers surrounded the village, many of them laughing at the doom that had befallen the villagers. Anger boiled inside me and I struggled not to lash out at the nearest soldier. Images of me beating him to a pulp raced through my brain as I took a deep breath to calm my anger.

     “Jedrec…what is going to happen to us?” my sister, Daria, asked me.

     I looked down at her and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.” I answered truthfully.

     This wasn’t the answer either of us wanted to hear, but we both accepted it, knowing it was true. The soldiers around the village started to come closer and closer to the center of town, where everyone had gathered after their houses caught on fire.

     Grabbing Daria’s hand, I put her behind me. As the soldiers got closer, one marched ahead of the others and started to speak.

     “You have been shown the power of the king of Lipatov,” he intoned.

     Some king, I thought, What sort of king kills his own subjects?

     “Since you have nowhere to go, the king will let you reside in the labor fields. You will have food and a shelter, but you will be required to work for it. If you refuse to go, you will be killed instantly,” he finished.

     A new wave of angry feelings swept through me. They were forcing us to work there! Knowing that there wasn’t any place for us to go, since they had burned it down, the king no doubt felt that he was doing us a favor. I let go of Daria’s hand and stepped forward.

     “What are you doing, boy?” snarled the soldier.

     “You can’t force us to work in the fields. We have nowhere to go because you burnt it down. You’re not doing us any favors. That horrible king of yours just needs a good excuse to get us there.”

     The soldier bristled and walked towards me. Eyes glinting, he stood directly in front of me. He seemed like a giant when compared to my slim and rather short twelve year old frame. I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he hovered over me, glaring with more hatred than I thought possible.

     “You speak well for one so young,” he said. “But there will be no arguing. All of you will work in the labor fields, or it is instant death. Is that clear?”

     My only response was a glare. I felt a tug on my arm and looked back to see Daria. She frantically tried to get me to back down from the soldier. I yanked my arm away and got as close to the soldier as I dared.

     “I will go, but only because I could not leave my sister alone. Otherwise, I would rather die than work for your king,” I spat.

OYAN Novel Contest

Last night was the annual novel contest for One Year Adventure Novel students. I had three other OYANers over to my house to celebrate the occasion and watch the contest webinar. We were all excited to sit down and watch it, although only two of us (me and Madcow) had entered our novels. With all the excitement of such a momentous occasion, Mr and Mrs. S opened up the webinar, with Mrs. S stalling it sometimes, as is typical. Finally they got to announcing the finalists. They went in alphabetical order so I was thinking Oh, well at least I'll be near the beginning if I get anything. Then I won't have to wait for it. They announced the first finalist and for each finalist, they decided to read an excerpt of their first chapter. As they started to read, a strange feeling filled me. I knew that my first chapter, compared to that of the other's, couldn't have possibly made it into the finalist round. Still, I held on to the hope that I would get something. The S' started to announce the next winner...and went from 'B' to 'D'. My last name starts with a C.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't disappointed. For a few moments, I actually thought I might start crying. But then I realized something important. There are more things that are important than winning the OYAN novel contest. As I thought about it the rest of the night, I thought about all the things that OYAN had given me. I have wonderful friends and the opportunity to post my work for critiques whenever needed. There is always someone to talk to if that's needed and I try to be there in return. God definitely gave me a wonderful gift when my mom bought the curriculum

So I'm just writing this post to the rest of the people who weren't finalists. Don't stop writing. The more you write, the better you get. And if you start to get down about not being in the contest, just think of all the wonderful, lasting things you have. Eventually, trophies will be forgotten, left on shelves with dust. The iPod touch (although I admit it would be cool to have one) will someday break. I liked the quote that Mrs. S said last night, "If you want to be a writer, then write!" Don't stop writing just because of one contest. Whatever happens, whether you win the contest or not, you will always be able to write.