Happy 4th of July (Or Independence Day) to everyone in America!
To celebrate, here are some drawings I drew. I decided to draw some of the historical figures from the American Revolutionary War. Considering that I only had paintings and engravings to work with, this was somewhat difficult. (But, I will be including links to the references that I used for the portraits)
This is actually the second drawing I drew, but I like the way it turned out. I think I succeeded in making his facial expression somewhat serious. (The reference I used to draw it was this portrait of George Washington .)
I decided that I would draw Deborah Sampson when she is in disguise. I used the same reference here as I did for the one at the very bottom of the drawings.
In every book I've read, the Patriot uniform she is wearing, is shown as mainly blue, along with different colors, sometimes red, sometimes brown. This is of course referring to the uniform color, not the first Continental Army's clothes, where everyone just wore their normal clothes.
I like how this turned out. Even though she didn't fight in the war, I felt it was necessary to include her in this post.
This drawing isn't a drawing of any particular historical figure. It's a drawing of a modern girl wearing a Fourth of July themed outfit. I rather liked how it turned out, especially drawing the sparkler.
This is the first drawing I drew of Deborah Sampson. This is The engraving that I used as a reference for my drawing. This isn't my favorite since I prefer the second drawing (above), since I think it turned out better. Plus I like that in the second she is in uniform as opposed to wearing women's clothes.
But if you don't celebrate Fourth of July (because you live in Ireland, or China, or somewhere else),
here are some drawings that are unrelated to Fourth of July:
This is a drawing of my character, Riona "Fire." She can shape-shift back and forth between a phoenix and a human. I like how this drawing turned out, and I like her facial expression.
I like the way this drawing turned out.
This is a drawing of an elf character who I haven't fully figured out yet,
but I like how it turned out because I tried to make it look as if she was lying down on the grass.
This character doesn't have a name yet, but she is a sorceress.
Hello everyone and happy Father's Day,
It seems like in most fantasy stories both parents are either dead or are just never mentioned.
So, I thought for Father's Day I would make a post containing fathers of fictional characters, not necessarily the fathers of characters from my most recent projects, but father characters I came up for my other characters:
Sycamore
He is the father of Elm, and is a dryad who possesses nature magic.
Wherever he walks plants grow, and birds and other animals come out of hiding.
He is a very calm person, and doesn't really fight, unless he has to.
And when he does fight, he ties his enemies up in vines or has animals tackle them.
Ferdinand
He is the father of Arnia.
He is a sorcerer who keeps the blue jewel safe. He was given this duty a long time ago
and has persisted in it since. Over the years people have tried to steal it,
so they can figure out how to use the jewel's abilities. Only one knows how to use it
but the one hasn't come yet...or so he thinks.
Ardan
He is the father of Riona.
He trains and breeds phoenixes for a living in the green hills of Ireland.
His daughter went on a quest years ago, but hasn't returned.
He isn't sure if something happened on the quest that caused her not to be able to return
Hello everyone,
I wanted to give you an update on The Silver Key (which I might make a blog post about soon), I reached my goal of 12,000 words:
(Image downloaded from Camp NaNoWrimo's winner page.)
Every month I rotate which novel I am writing (going back and forth between TheSilver Key and The Mystery of the Body Thief), so I thought I would share what I am working on this May:
The Mystery of the Body Thief: Annabelle's Return Just like Charles Dickens labels the parts in his stories, I am labeling mine, and calling it Annabelle's Return because...
I finally got to the point in my story where Annabelle is awake!
She has lost her memory unfortunately, and she converted back to what she was like in book one. She is not willing to take risks, and sadly is acting like a "damsel in distress." However, that doesn't mean when she regains her memories she won't start taking risks and solving mysteries again.
New songs that remind me of the novel:
The Beauteous Maiden by Derek and Brandon Fiechter (with vocals)
I can't exactly say what part of the story this reminds me of, because of spoilers,
but it does have to deal with something rather large that is going to happen in the romance portion of the plot.
Blue and Gold (I don't know if this is the real title or not yet)
The inspiration for this story was Gulliver's Travels, which I am still reading. It had a huge impact on this novella, though it doesn't follow the exact same plot. My characters are travelling by boat, but instead of having islands represent dystopias, there is a sort of hidden dystopia that will be revealed in my novella.
All I can say at the moment is that these songs remind me of my novella:
**warning slightly strong language: usage of the word d*** ***
I love that this song has many singers singing it,
and I could imagine the protagonists singing this as a group.
Plotting The Silver Key
Even though I am not currently writing The Silver Key I have been plotting it out and working on the world building (which includes working on the mythology for it) and character development which so far has been successful.
Before I leave you a question for the comments section, I have one final thought to say, which is that I have been trying to find a way for my characters to continue going on adventures after they are married and have children (since I know they probably will get married at some point in the series). So...
Which drawing is your favorite?
And, have you seen any examples of married couples in fiction who still go on adventures or missions?
Hi everyone, before you begin, I should say it's necessary to read part one of this post before continuing reading this one, because there are some things I said in the previous one that may not mentioned in this one. Synopsis-
(I figured out a little bit more of the plot than I did last post.)
At the age of twenty every young man and woman finds out what they were in a past incarnation.
Phoenix has reached that age and went to the record keeper's building, where he received his scroll,
and a silver key. The key seems to have a mysterious feel to it, he just can't place it.
At the same time, however, Princess Ashalena has to deal with a problem. A loyal servant of her parents' has been found turned completely to stone, and she doesn't know who or what did it.
And most of all, why would they do it?
The characters-
Phoenix
Phoenix is an orphan who writes poetry and short stories.
He has a dislike for love poems and romance novels -- he just can't stand them.
Princess Ashalena
Despite the fact that she will rule a kingdom one day, Princess Ashalena passes her time drawing, since it helps her calm her nerves.
Silverling
Silverling is a fairy, who I can't say much about without accidentally spoiling the story.
She will show up in the Silver Key...sometime.
(My currently unnamed character)
Though I do not know her name yet, I have a feeling it will come out when I am writing the story.
She is a trained martial artist, and hopes she can use her skill to help people.
(My other currently unnamed character)
I also have a feeling I will find out his name later.
In a way he is a comic relief character,
because he hums theme songs that he makes up for the other characters. And he hums them at the worst possible times.
The world- The world has grown since I last posted,
currently there are many creatures other than humans. However, I haven't figured out all of them yet... Creatures: Humanoids- Humans Shape-shifters*
Fairies
(Fairies' real forms are unknown, and they are known to be seen
in multiple ways by many different mortals. The drawing above is one
of the many forms in which a mortal may see a fairy.)
Mermaids and Mermen
Sirens
Demigods Non-Humanoids- Phoenixes** *As well as human shape-shifters there are also animal shape-shifters in this world. In a way all shape-shifters fit into both the humanoid and the non-humanoid category, but the shape-shifters that are born in human form fit into the humanoid category, because the human form is their true form.
** Phoenixes kind of had to exist in this world, because I had to explain why phoenix was Phoenix's name. Plus phoenixes are awesome so why not have them?
And as I said before there are 32 hours in a day which makes the world run a on 16 clock:
(The reason the numbers are moving is that this clock has entered the fairy realm.
Most of the clocks don't act that way unless that happens.)
The fairy realm
(Unlike the rest of the fairy realm, the purple object in the distance never seems to change.
It remains the same for everyone who enters the realm and no one knows why.)
The fairy realm is connected to the world, but very few people can reach it. Some are said to have accessed it through dreams.
If you do manage to get into it, you will find it is quite whimsical, and that the fairy realm will be different for each person.
No one exactly knows what fairies actually look like, all they know is what they have seen themselves.
Story soundtrack
Last time I posted songs that were part of the story soundtrack, but I didn't post the playlist because I didn't feel like it was ready. Now I feel that it is ready, so enjoy: The Silver Key (story soundtrack)
You can also listen to it here **A warning for I Hate Love Songs: slightly strong language (usage of the word "H---"), so if you are uncomfortable with it you can skip that song**
Since I decided that I would be combining two posts together, I'll get to the plotting progress part of it....
More of my character's Casting Choices
With this novel, I feel as if casting is in the air, since my characters seem to be a little (over) obsessed with casting actors to play them, or at least to look like them, so...
here are some of my character's most recent casting choices...
Gates McFadden as Silverling
(original un-cropped Image from Wiki, https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Beverly_Crusher?file=Crusher_and_Picard_imprisoned.jpg)
So, despite Silverling being a relatively new character, she seems to have already made up her mind about who looks like her and she immediately chose Gates McFadden.
(Gates McFadden has acted in Star Trek: Next Generation, and in several other films and movies. She also choreographed the dancing for Jim Henson's Labyrinth.)
David Tristian Birkin as young Phoenix
(images from wiki, https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/David_Tristan_Birkin?file=Jean-Luc_Picard%2C_age_12.jpg,
and https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Newton_Scamander?file=Newt_with_Grindelwald.jpg)
No, Phoenix did not change actors on me! The actor Phoenix chose this time is no longer a child, so Phoenix is using that actor's younger self. As you can see from the picture both Eddie Redmayne and David Birkin look pretty similar, but I went along with it, since my characters seem to be controlling the story more than I am.
God of comedy in plays, literature, and songs, etc.
Both the goddess of tragedy and the god of comedy were born at the same time.
He rejoices in making mortals (and gods alike) laugh, and loves helping mortals craft their
plays, songs, and stories.
(He was inspired by Thaila the god of pastoral poetry and comedy from Greek mythology.)
The goddess of music
Goddess of songwriting and singing.
The deity who is favored by singers and songwriters.
(Inspired by Apollo and the Nine Muses from Greek Mythology)
The goddess of tragedy
Goddess of tragedies in plays, literature,
songs, etc.
She is the exact opposite of her twin brother in many ways, but is willing to join with him for a comedic tragedy, when one is needed.
The words that she inspires are about tragedy, and she delights in seeing a mortal do a tragic ballad, story, or play.
(Inspired by Melpomene the muse of Tragedy.)
(I have not figured out what to call them yet...)
They are the four gods that decide how a mortal's life will play out.
The first of them sculpts and creates the bodies of all animals and creatures.
Two of them, a twin brother and sister, write out the lives of mortals, one of them writes the beginning the other writes the end.
And the last one combines all of the things they did, and breathes the soul into the body,
and sends them to the stage of life.
(Inspired by the Fates (from Greek Mythology) and the Norns (from Norse Mythology)
and inspired by the gods and goddesses from Hinduism or Buddhism)
Other Gods and Goddesses
I also recently started working on another culture's mythology for my fictional world.
It's for the race of shape-shifters, who are around nature enough that I thought they would see their gods and goddesses as half human/half animal (like the Egyptian gods from Egyptian mythology).
Here are the ones I have so far (they don't have names so I will be referring to them as the animal they look like):
The white stag
Creator of the world, and the animals and creatures in it.
The first god to ever exist, and out of loneliness created the earth,
the forests and the people and creatures in it.
Also, while doing that she made the other gods as well.
The Rabbit
Goddess of love, marriage, and natural beauty
She is a very gentle goddess, who loves seeing people
happily in love. She also loves seeing mortals with natural beauty,
and not forced "beauty."
The Peacock
Goddess of vanity, and narcissism and unnatural beauty.
She is sister to the goddess of love, but is the opposite kind of love or beauty.
She represents narcissism, unnatural beauty, and the vanity that some people
are prone to show.
The Butterfly
Giver and creator of reincarnation
She noticed while flying in butterfly form through the world,
that mortals lives were so short and they never got to finish what they wanted to do.
So, with a little talking to the white stag,
she was granted permission to find a way to fix it without making the mortals immortal.
She came up with a solution which was reincarnation. It didn't make the mortals live forever,
but allowed them to fix mistakes they had made before, and finish what they wanted to finish.
And a question for Phoenix:
And since I most recently got a comment from another blogger in the comments section for part 1, I thought I would allow Phoenix to answer it...since it was directed at him (I should mention that Phoenix thinks people from our realm are fairies.):
Phoenix: "The reason why I don't like food is-- "
Another character interrupts and causally takes food from Phoenix's plate.
Phoenix: "Hey!"
Other character: "You just said you didn't like food, so I thought it was alright
to take the food from your plate--"
Phoenix: "No, it is not!"
Other character: "So you like food?"
Phoenix: "No, of course not, anyway, stop eating my food, please."
Other Character: "You said you didn't like food...but I'll stop."
Phoenix: "Thank you, anyway as I was saying, I do not like food, but I like some foods, such as the ones you were eating! But, food is rather difficult to chew--"
Other character: "I disagree."
Phoenix: "For me, it is. Alright fine, if you aren't going to allow me to answer this question, I'll...go answer it somewhere else."
Phoenix walks away from the table and leaves the room, and closes the door behind him.
Phoenix: "Thank goodness, now I can answer this question in peace."
Decides to read the question five different ways before answering again...
Phoenix: "As I was saying before, food is difficult for me...to chew.
And the eating of food, is difficult and not enjoyable, unlike what other people think...
I still don't know why they enjoy eating it. But there really is a deeper reason to this..." (side note: the reason is not a spoiler but merely a fact about Phoenix) "I was sick when I was younger, from a disease of sorts, and no one knew what exactly it was, even I don't know, the disease only went away after a long while. It involved lots of vomiting, and a few other symptoms as well...but the vomiting made it difficult to eat food. Hence why....I don't like it.
I hope that answers your question, fairy of the other realm."
Hello "blog" readers, this is Horatio and... Phoenix and... Lady Annabelle and... Tess Short. As you may have noticed, Quinley never has characters like us, make posts--- Oh, so we will have our own characters that we make up, write a "blog post" in their point of view?? That's actually not what I meant...but, as I was about to say, her dolls have posted before on her doll blog and to show we are equal to her dolls, we as main characters have decided to make one big blog post. We don't exactly know how to use a "computer"(something used by non-fictional people), so we are using a magical spell to write this, hence the reason each of us have different text colors when we speak. Also, if you are wondering why Lady Annabelle is able to talk, well, we used the spell to do that, unfortunately it doesn't work in my story-- Your story (that you're writing) has no magic in it? No, it does. Why would you think I'm writing it? I'm the main character! Oh...never mind.... Hello again "blog" viewers. Getting to the point: we are making this post because Quinley's blog's anniversary is rolling around. We thought instead of her making a blog post for it, we, the main characters, would make the post...though I am still upset with her because my first book came to an end, and I was enjoying it so much. (Don't tell her.) Well, you can write a new story then. Phoenix that's not what I was talking about, never mind... So, in the post we will talk about what the author has done to us, of course without spoiling the stories.Though that won't be too hard because we have no idea what will happen in the stories she hasn't finished. Unfortunately, the author is scary in that way. You could just plot it, you know. Phoenix! What? You sound like a writer! I am...well, I am a poet, and do sometimes write short stories, but what? You...you...anyway, let's get to the post. The writer has a fellow main character offer you a chance to go on an adventure what do you do? I actually, never had this happen to me, I was never offered go on an adventure. I was offered a chance to solve a mystery though...but that sort of just happened. I tried to avoid it at all costs...but that sort of failed. What?? Um...I am not sure how to answer this, first of all what do you mean by "fellow main character"? And what on earth!? I...well, I...I think I must be dreaming, or something. But, I am not exactly sure how to answer this, I still think I'm dreaming...but an adventure sounds fun! The writer threatens the life of your best friend, what do you do?
Yell at the author at random times, especially when they are doing random things like watching a "movie", taking a shower or bath, or trying to sleep. Once that happens, they probably won't hurt my friend. Bother...I should have done that when she was writing the story. I probably should do that when she is writing Tess Short (Book Two), and then she wouldn't do awful things to my friends or uncle. Uhh... I have had characters in my short stories and poems complain about this to me, but only for a short amount of time, but...what on earth is going on? Why would a fellow writer threaten my best friend? Probably complain, or talk to the author if possible...but I think I am most definitely dreaming. Author kills off a minor character you like? Cry, and then complain. Oh, I should have done this, but no one died, so there was no reason, but I assure you NEXT TIME I will. If it adds to the plot then, it's fine, but you can't just kill off all the main characters in the first sentence or first chapter (if it is a novel) without a reason. Also, if it is a character I like and know well in the story, even minor, I would be upset. I'd probably talk to the person writing it, send a letter to them, perhaps, but character deaths can be sad for sure, and definitely worth crying over.
(Aside:
I think....the author did something to him Me too)
Complain to the author, and demand they bring the minor character back to life! Author gives you a love interest, but doesn't let you kiss them for the entire story? It would be improper to kiss them, if we aren't married or engaged. But all the same, that is just unfair. Ummm...I should probably add I am not old enough to start courting yet. Love stories? Oh great, not love stories...kissing scenes can be so...disgusting. That....would be awful for that character... Author then gives you love interest but kills them off? I do hope that never happens to me. I'm still too young to court! Tragic ending? Interesting... if both love interests die, well, that is the end to the love story. So yay!
(Aside:
Something is most definitely wrong with Phoenix... Perhaps he was brainwashed.)
Oh, that would be awful for them...the character that is, the one who died. Author decides to kill everyone off? Alright, I just want to say that I do not want to know what the character after life is like. Particularly because I still want to have a happy ending to look forward to, that does not end in death. I agree with Horatio, and really author, why does death have to be the end of the story? Umm...if every character dies in the first chapter, without reason, it isn't really...um...well done, there has to be a reason for them to die. First of all, that's awful, how could an author do such a horrible thing to their beloved characters!?
Are you happy about Adventure Await's Blogiversary? Let me see, I suppose I am, since I wouldn't really be around in a way, if it weren't for the blog. Since I am around, the author can...do stuff to me in my story, but at least the post about the novel I am in got in "popular posts" on the sidebar. Same...though I admit I should have talked to the author before my story ended. Well, guess I will have to bother her while she is going through editing. Beg your pardon, but what on earth is this Adventure Awaits? And what is a "blogiversary"? I admit, I agree with Tess and Horatio. So, fellow characters, I hope you get to see how other characters have been treated by their author from this post...and how one of them seems to be very ignorant of the fact that there is an author. So for now, our magical connection is a tiny bit unstable, but...here are some "conversational questions" for the comments section.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is by far the worst thing your author has done to you? And question from the real blog author: Would you like to see my characters make blog posts in the future?
Farewell!
-Horatio
-Tess
-Phoenix
-Lady Annabelle
P.S. (a note from (the real) blog author) Character text colors:
Horatio's color is Light Blue
Phoenix's color is green
Tess's color is Purple
Lady Annabelle's color is Dark blue (Keep in mind that Annabelle is sort of unconscious at the moment, and lost her memory, so her answers may be different than usual.)
