Hey, y'all! As you probably guessed from the title, I wrote a guest post on Poorwa's amazing blog!! Please take a minute to check it out! She writes the best posts! Here is the link to my guest posting that I did on her blog! I hope all of you like it. It's my first guest posting ever!!! :) Have a fantastic day! P.S. Click here if y'all want ideas for this month's short story contest! :)
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Hello, everyone! Today's post will not be just any post, but a guest post by Katherine herself! *applause* Let me remind y'all that she won as a first place winner of this contest, that's why she got this oppurtunity!! Now, let's get on with her post, shall we? 😉 𝑯𝑶𝑾 𝑰 𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝑬𝑿𝑪𝑰𝑻𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑶 𝑾𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑬 Thank you so much, Mahitha, for letting me guest post on your blog!!!!!!! You’re AWESOME, girl!!!!! For today’s post . . . When we first start writing our brand new idea, we’re just SO EXCITED, am I right? But what about after you’ve been in it awhile and you start to lose your motivation and excitement to continue writing? Let’s face it, it’s hard to write when we’re not excited about it. That brings me to today. I will be sharing with you some tips, tricks, and things I have done to get myself into the world/zone/mood of my story (which, basically, gets me excited to write). Trick 1: write a fun piece or scene with your characters. This is basically where you write about your characters or your world, but the scene doesn’t add to the plotline of your story. Writing a fun scene can help you understand your characters or world better so that when you do actually write the parts that go into your story you’ll already know what the world may look like or your character’s personality. Currently, I’m writing a scene where I am talking with my MC. It’s been fun to see how my MC would react to me, and writing this scene also helped me to know some of my MC’s secrets that I didn’t know when I was writing the first couple chapters. Trick 2: write a poem to get into the head of your character. This can be any form of poetry. What I did was create a book-spine poem for one of my characters. It was a lot of fun trying a different form of poetry than what I am used to and this also helped me hear my characters voice through the words I had put together with the spines of books. Trick 3: create a playlist. This is a great way to put together all the songs that inspire your story. Trick 4: design collages, mock covers, bookmarks, or anything else you want to design. This one is a lot of fun and great visuals to inspire you to write. You can even create a digital or non-digital scrapbook for your story. Trick 5: draw. You can draw scenes from your story, places in your world, or even your characters themselves. Drawing is a great way to visualize your story. Trick 6: make or print a map. You don’t just have to be a fantasy author to create a map. You can make one even for real places. And if you don’t feel like making one, then you can print a map for the setting of your story world. Trick 7: make other items that are inspired or important to the story. This is the trick that I probably use the most. So far for my WIP, I have made a necklace inspired by one of my MCs (who’s a princess). I am also working on creating a model for the castle (̶I̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶’̶v̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶s̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶m̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶s̶ ̶F̶O̶R̶E̶V̶E̶R̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶). Making the castle model is a lot of fun. Plus, seeing the model of the castle helps me to describe it in my WIP. And those are some ideas on how to get excited to write. (Though, I’m starting to wonder if I just taught you guys how to procrastinate your writing. XD) Again, thank you, Mahitha, so much for letting me guest post today!!!!!!!! :D I hope everyone enjoyed the post and maybe found these tips helpful or got some new ideas. In the comments, you can tell me what you do to get excited to write. Until I hear from you . . . *puts on cool black sunglasses* Kat out! Thank you, for your time today, Katherine! All of your tips were amazingly helpful for me and I'm sure everyone else would agree!! Have a fantastic Friday everyone!!! 😊 P.S. Remember that y'all still have time to enter March's short story contest! 🙃
What's up, y'all!! Today's time for a NEW contest for all of us! *doubled the confetti shoots out of nowhere* Well then, let's start, shall we?
Rules for this Contest (and all of the other ones in the future)~ 1. Whatever you submit must be your own work!! Which means, you are not allowed to copy anyone else's work and pass it off as your own. That's plagiarism and it's very bad!! 2. Your story must be entered with the correct genre of that month. 3. Your story must be a maximum of 1,350 words. 4. The short story that you write must be appropriate for ages 14 and under. 5. The story must be submitted before the deadline. 6. Only one entry per person allowed. If you submit more than one entry, then your first entry will be the only one I will count. 7. Follow all of these rules, or else your story will not be counted as an entry. (No matter how good it is!!) Disclaimer: I won't be making any exceptions for anyone!! The Prizes for this Contest (and most of the Other Ones in the Future)~ First Place Winner:- A guest posting on my blog, a sneak peak at Mute, a collage made by me for the story you enter, and a customized email signature!!! Second Place Winner:- A sneak peak at Mute, a collage made by me for the story you enter, and a customized email signature!! Third Place Winner:- A sneak peak at Mute and a collage made by me for the story you enter! The Genre for this Month:- Sci-Fi (Thanks to Chloe for recommending this genre!) The deadline for this contest is March 31 at 11:59 PM (PST) I will announce the winners sometime during the week of April 1st. Can't wait to read everyone's stories! (And I hope I get more people to enter. XD) Here is a link to the form for y'all to submit your entries! I hope all of you have a fun time writing! Happy writing!! 😊 This is it y'all, the moment you've all been waiting for. (And no, I am not talking about COVID-19 being over, so sorry about getting your hopes up if that's what you thought.) It is time for...THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS!!! *echoes* *throws confetti* *cheers and applause heard* Yes, that is right. I have decided the very special winners for this contest!!! Right now, I want to make sound effects, but unfortunately, I cannot...because this is a blog post, not a YouTube video. Before I announce the winners, big shoutout to everyone that participated!!! It really meant a lot to me. :) Now, the third place winner of this contest is...*drumroll* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Issabelle's right, this is fun. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Okay, I'll stop now... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Congratulations, Issabelle!!! *confetti shoots out of nowhere* You are our third place winner for this contest!!! Your prizes:- A sneak peak at Mute and a collage made by me for the story you entered! You should get your prizes by next week! If you don't, please let me know!!! :) Now, the second place winner!! *drumroll* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I don't wanna stop. XD - - - - - - - - - Maybe I should stop now... - - - - - - - - - How about now? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Okay, okay, I'll stop - - - - - Congratulations, Alexa!!! *confetti, once again shoots out of nowhere* You are our second place winner for our contest!!! Your prizes:- A sneak peak at Mute, a collage made by me for the story you enter, and a customized email signature!! You should get your prizes by next week!! If you don't, please let me know!!! :) Now, last but definitely not the least, the first place winner of this contest!!! *drumroll* - - - - - - - - - - - - - I should do this more often. XD - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I'm gonna do more than before...just for the sake of suspense. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Should I stop now...?...Nah! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How about now? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Okay, fine, I'll stop - - - - Congratulations, Katherine!!! *confetti shoots out of nowhere* You are our first place winner for our contest!!!
The prizes:- A guest posting on my blog, a sneak peak at Mute, a collage made by me for the story you enter, and a customized email signature!!! You should get your prizes by next week!! If you don't, please let me know!!! :) Congratulations to all of the winners! I loved your stories!! And once again, THANK YOU to all of you who participated! This contest would be nothing without y'all! :) Now, I will share Katherine's story with y'all! Here it is~ >>><<< The Missing Wand: A Fairy Mystery “Have you seen my wand?” I asked Evergreen when he found me in my garden. He sat on a toadstool. “Do I look like I’ve seen it?” he asked, raising his honey-colored eyebrows. I let out an exasperated sigh. Evergreen may have been my best friend but he wasn’t always helpful. “It’s missing, Evergreen! Someone stole it!” “You probably misplaced it.” He shook his head. “That’s what I thought early this morning,” I said as I continued searching the ground. “Until I found clues that led me to believe it was stolen.” The end of my flower-petal dress got caught on a twig. I tried to get it loose but it didn’t work. If I had my wand it would make it easier to get my dress unstuck. “Pineapple,” Evergreen called my name as he came over to help me. He waved his wand and my dress broke loose from the twig. “Thank you,” I said. Evergreen nodded his head then continued talking, “Why would anyone want to steal your wand? All the fairies have their own wands already.” Why wouldn’t anyone want my wand? It’s intricate design was one of the finest for wands. Not to mention it’s gorgeous golden color. “I don’t know for sure,” I replied, “but I need to get my wand back.” “Alright, I’ll help you. What were the clues you were talking about?” “The first clue I found was that the plants had been trampled on.” I pointed around my garden where certain places of the grass and plants were smushed. Evergreen’s eyes were wide like he didn’t notice that earlier. “The other clue was long, bright-red hairs lying everywhere.” I picked up a hair that was underneath my feet and showed it to Evergreen. He took it in his hands and inspected it for a long time. Finally, he looked at me and said in a firm voice, “I know who took your wand, Pineapple.” “YOU DO?” I shrieked. “Who is it?” I stood on tiptoes and anxiously waited for his answer. He nodded his head. “The person who took your wand was a human.” Evergreen gazed around, probably to see if he could find where the human was now. “How do you know it was a human?” Evergreen looked back at me. “This is human hair. I can tell because it’s not as fine and soft as fairy hair. Logically speaking, whoever took your wand was probably a little girl who was excited to find an actual fairy wand.” I let out a deep breath. “How am I going to get it back?” Evergreen thought for a moment. “Alright, I’ve got a plan. You make a replica of your wand while I track down the human who took it.” I nodded in agreement. Evergreen began searching for footprints or anything that would lead him to the culprit. I grabbed the twig that had gotten stuck on my dress earlier. Then I went inside my tree-stump house to forge a fairy wand. First, I sanded the twig so it would be smooth. Then I carved a design that was similar to the one on my wand. Carving the design was not easy though. I got a couple of scratches from it. Once I was done with the carving, I painted the twig gold. After a while, Evergreen came back. “Is the false wand ready?” he asked. “Yep!” “Great! Follow me and I’ll show you where the girl is.” I raised my eyebrows. “So you were right? It really was a human girl who took my wand?” Evergreen nodded. Then he turned to lead the way to the human girl. Evergreen and I flew for what felt like forever before we reached a white house with a girl playing in the backyard. We landed on a tree branch not too high above the girl. Sure enough, the red-headed girl, who looked to be about six-years-old, was waving my wand in the air. I wanted to fly straight down there and get my wand back, but Evergreen held me off. “Here’s what we’re gonna do,” he whispered. “I’m gonna distract the girl by making a bird-call sound. Then you’re going to switch wands.” “Alright. That will work . . . except for one thing. What if she doesn’t put down my wand?” “I’ve got to distract her well enough for her to put it down,” Evergreen said and then flew to another tree. He whistled his bird call and the girl immediately turned her head to the sound. He continued and the girl walked toward the sound. With her curiosity increasing, she tried to climb the tree that Evergreen was in. In doing so, she dropped my wand and I seized my opportunity. I flew to the ground, replaced my wand with the false one, and flew back to the tree I had come from. Evergreen stopped his bird call and flew to my tree. We watched the girl realize the “bird” was gone and climb down from the tree. She then bent down, picked up the forged wand, and happily skipped away. I was happy to have my wand back. But I was even more thrilled that I could make the little girl happy. >>><<< I hope y'all loved her story as much as I did!! Once again, congrats to the winners!!! I love ALL of your stories! Hope y'all have a wonderful day, today! The next short story contest will start tomorrow so stay tuned! :) Henlo my reading friends! Today, I've got a special post planned out for y'all!! As you probably guessed from the title, it's a book review for The False Prince by my favorite author, Jennifer A. Nielsen. *Throws confetti* Alright then, let's get on with the post!! 😉 I could stare at that cover for millenia. XD Okay, first I'm gonna start with the summary. (Since this is my first time writing a summary, please don't judge.) Sage is a fourteen-year-old orphan at Mrs. Turbeldy's Orphanage who means nothing but trouble. He comes across a nobleman known as Bevin Conner who prefers to be called Sir or Master Conner. Conner is looking for boys from orphanages all over Carthya that resemble Prince Jaron (who supposedly died when pirates attacked his ship four years earlier) who will take his place. The boy that Conner chooses will be the prince that will take over the throne of Carthya and will do as he says. If not, the "chosen prince" will exposed by Conner himself. Conner has chosen four boys (one of which he's already executed). Now three boys remain; Tobias, Roden, and Sage. These three boys have to prove that one of them is the ideal fake prince for Conner. The only thing on Sage's mind now is to become the prince, or he will be killed. Of course, Tobias and Roden have their own plans as well. Yay! Done with the summary! I thought I'd never get done with that! 😌 Also, since we got that out of the way, I'm just going to share my favorite quote from this book! “In a crowd of a thousand boys claiming to be the prince, there would be only one with the same look of trouble in his eye.” I like this quote 'cause I feel like it literally relates to the entire book. I'm not sure if all the people that read this book would agree though. Oh, and also, I made a collage too! And this time, no, I did NOT make it in the last minute! 😉 Yes, very simple...probably a bit too simple, I guess... What I Think About This AMAZING Book:- I think it should be rated for ages 11 and up. My star rating for this book is definitely ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars). This is definitely one of THE BEST books I've ever read and recommend it to ANYONE looking for a great book to read, or just simply reading this review. Another thing that I love about this book is the humor and sarcasm. I think that's what helped me become a bit more light-hearted about things. (You can also say that I picked up a few ideas for comebacks 😏.) It's also what made me even more interested in the book than I already was. Sure, it would've been interesting without the humor, but it was EVEN better with it! (Does that sentence make sense?) Also, as much as I LOVE this book, readers who are a bit sensitive about what they read might not like this book. There isn't much violence, but there are injuries and murder mentioned. So if you are (sadly) one of those sensitive readers I do not think you'd like this book very much because of the little violence. Anyway, all of those things being said, I'm telling y'all, this is THE best book ever!!!! I promise, that as soon as one of you read this book, there's no stopping you from wanting more! I'm sure the people who decide to read this book will want to recommend it to as many people as they can (like me!). This book is a real page-turner (and I used to think books like that doesn't exist! 😂). So, what are you waiting for!? Go and somehow get ahold of this amazing book! It's been waiting for you since forever! Have a marvelous day, everyone! P.S. Thank you to everyone who submitted their short stories! Can't wait to announce the winners! :) P.P.S. Can y'all fill out this form? It would be super helpful!! Thanks! :) |
Photo used under Creative Commons from Scouse Smurf