Wattys and Camp NaNoWrimo July 2018 project: The Mystery of The Body Thief (+ 100th post!)

Hi everyone, last April I made a post about this project so I thought that I should make another post about it considering I am still writing it and I entered it into a writing contest called the Wattys. (Also, this is my 100th post.)

Anyway, here is the post:


Synopsis- 

Ever since Horatio woke up from being in a coma, things around the castle have been going from normal to strange. 

He is also trying to solve a murder that now is beginning to seem more complex than he thought. 

Characters-
Since I made a whole list of the characters before in my last post about this project, I am only going to do some of the main characters and not the minor ones.
                                                                  Horatio 

A servant who works in the castle, who lost his memory.


Vonivera  (previously known as Veronica.) 

Lady Annabelle's lady in waiting, and friend to Horatio and Phillip.
Unlike the other ladies in the castle, Vonivera is a fairy, and she finds it hard to fit in.

                                                                            Phillip 
                                                                    

The captain of the guards and the only dwarf in the castle. Also 

a friend of Annabelle's who is helping Horatio and Vonivera solve a recent murder.

                                                Detective Inspector Time & Marigold 

From left to right, Detective Inspector Time, Marigold. 

Two detectives who are trying to solve the recent murders of royalty.

                                                             Lady Annabelle 

A princess who is in a coma, who fell unconscious at the same time as Horatio. 

Excerpts-

Vonivera had very annoyed looking expression her face, that she normally had when she was talking about the gossipers and how they talked about Horatio, and the things he had done wrong. 

“I am worrying about it, because I care about you, unlike everyone else in the castle.” she said. 

-from Chapter 10, Vonivera to Horatio. 

“Are you alright?” Vonivera asked. 

“Yes…I’m fine..” Horatio said, as he picked up the burnt fire wood, and swept the chimney, which was sooty but not quite as sooty as it had been when he first cleaned it. 

“Are you sure?” asked Vonivera, who like usual was hanging around where Horatio was working. She rather liked to talk to him… 

“Yes I’m sure…” sighed Horatio, who rather was concentrated on cleaning the chimney… 

“You don’t look sure…” said Vonivera. 

Horatio sighed, “That’s because I’m cleaning the chimney!”

- from unidentified Chapter. (Though I am pretty sure it is after the events of chapter seven though, but I am unsure...since the labeling of the chapters got confused.) 

You can also read the seven chapters that are up here (though I do plan to self-publish it eventually.)

the official story soundtrack- 
Last time I posted songs that reminded me of the story. But now here is the official story soundtrack:


 
You can also listen to it here 

Some of the songs in this are songs you have heard before in the previous post.

A sneak peek at future songs that will be added into the story soundtrack (playlist):


                                       As The World Falls Down by David Bowie. 

You can listen to it here

 This song goes really well with a (romantic) ballroom scene in my book. ;)

Kiss and Break Up by Meghan Kabir 

You can also listen to it here 

This song went perfectly with a scene from my story. 

(I am not going to say what scene though ;) ) 

Money, Money, Money by ABBA 

                                                 You can also listen to it here
                                I am not sure whether this song will be added to the story soundtrack or a playlist describing one of my characters, but either way it still reminds me of what the servants may think of royalty and money.

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Have you ever entered your book into the Wattys? Also, how was your Camp NaNoWrimo? 

Love,
Quinley

August Drawings (It's Been Awhile Since I Made a Drawing Post)

Hello everyone, I realize it's been awhile since I've made a drawing post. So I thought today was the perfect day to make one. So, let's begin. 

Here are the drawings: 

A drawing of Florence from Death in Paradise.

I hope in the near future to draw more drawings of the characters from that TV show. 

I like the way this drawing of Rapunzel turned out, I tried to make her outfit look a little like it looks in the TV show. 

A drawing of Merida. I like the way it turned out.

Annabelle's hair in this drawing is a little bit more curly than I normally draw it. 

A drawing of a mermaid, 

this is the first time 

I've drawn a mermaid with scales on her face and skin. 

This is a drawing of a character I made (that I hope to use soon), who can shape shift into a unicorn. When she is human she tends to have rainbow hair (like her mane when she is a unicorn) and a horn, though it can be rather awkward when she is close to people and accidentally bumps them with the horn. 

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                                        Which drawing is your favorite? 
                                               -Quinley
P.S. I wanted to say thank you to everyone for the amazing comments (on both my blogs) I will respond to all of them soon.

Why Choosing Actors and Actresses to "Play" Your Characters Helps You See Them Better

Hi  everyone.
Now, as it happens my characters don't always want to look like actors/actresses, but some do, and those who do tend to completely decide who they look like.

Why it helps 

I have found this happening in one of my stories that I did not have a clear vision of what my character's face looked like. I knew what their hair and their entire body looked like except for their face. It was like they were turning away from me. (Which I may add they probably were.)

One of the characters that actually introduced me to choosing actors and actresses to play my characters was Lady Annabelle. It took her several books to finally decide what she looked like. And in one of them she decided she looked like Emma Watson. Here is a photo edit I made of her:

(original image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beauty_and_the_beast_2017#&gid=1&pid=h-136537 ) 

 As you can see from this picture choosing an actress or actor to "play" your character does not change their hair color, or if they are human or an elf or whatever you had in mind for them.

Also with my main character Horatio it took me a long time to find an actor to "play" him,
until after rewatching a few episodes of the TV series Death in Paradise and watching the movie adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (2004), where the actor Kris Marshall plays both Gratiano and Humphrey Goodman. He caught my eye as being like Horatio. (Horatio had more control of what he looked like than I did.)

(Image from Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/death_in_paradise?#&gid=1&pid=t-270000) 

After Horatio suddenly decided that he looked like that it actually influenced the way I drew him.



A Older drawing of Horatio:                   And a newer one: 

As you can see from my drawings, Horatio got quite developed because of choosing an actor. 

How it helps with writing 
Sometimes I have found that when I am (pretending) to talk to a character that my voice is the one responding to me, not my character's. (This mostly happens if the conversation is taking place in my head.) But if it is my voice responding to me instead of the character's voice then it can be kind of annoying. It's like I am talking to myself and not my character. Now this is where choosing actors/actresses to "Play" your characters comes in handy. If of course you decide to choose the actor or actress because of their acting and not because they look like how you imagine your character. (Though it is important to choose an actor or actress that looks like your character even if only in the face.)
If you have seen the actor or actress act before even if it is only once or even just in a trailer it can help you to understand what your character's voice sounds like. (Even if you decide to slightly modify the actor or actress's voice to go along with your character.)
But if you haven't I recommend at leaast watching a movie or TV show that they are in, but if you don't have the time for either then just watch a trailer from a movie they are in.

How this could help with writing screenplays 
 I've never really written a screenplay or script before, even though I do want to. But let's say you are a writer for a movie, TV show, etc. And you have a famous actor or actress who was asked to play the main character in the movie or TV show. As you write the script (if it wasn't already written) you probably would imagine the actor or actress playing the character. So before you get into writing screenplays for plays or movies or TV shows, these recommendations might be good to do in the meantime.

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Do you choose actors and actresses to "play" your characters? If so then which ones? 
-Quinley

Story Ideas I have floating through my head that I want to write sometime

Hi everyone,
This is a list of mostly fan fiction story ideas that I had floating through my head. I don't know when I am going to write the stories, but I want to write them sometime. I thought I would share some of them, here they are:

A young Charles Dickens murder mystery 
Genre: historical fiction/murder mystery
After I read The Secret of the Sealed Room (a mystery with young Benjamin Franklin), I was slightly disappointed to find out that it was not a book series. I thought it would be fun to write a story involving young Charles Dickens solving a murder mystery with another character, like in both books Wicked Will and The Secret of the Sealed Room. Even though Charles Dickens was not a murder mystery writer, I could imagine him solving a mystery.


Jareth's past and how he became the Goblin King 
Genre: fan fiction
What sparked this idea was really the movie Labyrinth, and the fact that Jareth looked human compared to the other goblins. One of the theories for this that I came up with was that he was possibly one the kidnapped babies, whose sibling had either really meant their wish or failed to get him back. And then later Jareth (if that was his name before he became the Goblin King) became the Goblin King.

The Man Who Invented Christmas 2 
Genre: fan fiction/ historical fiction
At the end of the movie, The Man Who Invented Christmas, the story was left at a point where it felt like there could be a second movie about how Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield. I thought it would be fun to write a fan fiction about this.

Deborah Sampson the musical 
Genre: screenplay/ musical/ historical fiction
I have never written a musical before, however, I thought it would be fun to try writing one.
And maybe even a screen play to go along with it. As for the historical figure of choice, I thought Deborah Sampson deserved her own musical. She is not as well known a historical figure from the American Revolutionary War. She disguised herself as a soldier and fought in the war.

Tauriel's Quest 
Genre: fan fiction
I was upset about the ending of The Hobbit, and I wanted to know what Tauriel does after it. I decided I would eventually write a fan fiction about what happens to Tauriel after The Hobbit.

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Which idea is your favorite? 
-Quinley

Different Ways to Talk to Your Characters

Your characters can be like butterflies, they seem just out of reach until you are patient and learn things about them. (And maybe even try talking to them.)
Anyway In some of my writing posts I talk about pretending to talk to your characters, but I only mentioned a few ways to do it. (And there are a lot of ways to do it.)

Act out a scene from your story 
This helps especially if you are stuck on a scene, or want to play it out outside of your head. Sometimes just going out and pretending to be your characters in a quiet space is the best way to understand a scene. Don't feel bad if you mess up the scene the first time, because you are practicing the scene.

Interview them 
This is more writing than actually talking out loud to them. You ask them questions on paper or on your computer, and then they can answer (you have to write their answer though).
Here is an example:
Writer: What are some of your favorite things to do (character's name)?
Character: (lists things they like to do)

and then you continue from there.

Argue or talk to your characters 
I have mentioned this idea a number of times in my posts, but I never mentioned the arguing part. The arguing part I found out about when a character went off script and made their own choices.
Which is good and that means they are developed (beyond your control). However, that doesn't mean having a friendly argument with them wouldn't be good. It helps you talk to them in a different way other than "Hello" and "How are you?".
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What ways do you like to talk to your characters? Any other way that I didn't mention? 
-Quinley
P.S. I will be doing Camp NaNoWrimo this July, so I won't be posting as much as I normally do. I will working on my novel The Mystery of the Body Thief. 

Father's day drawings

Hello everyone,
I hope you are having a happy Father's Day!
To celebrate I drew some Father's Day drawings:

Mr. short and (young) Tess, I rather like how it turned out... 

it was quite fun to draw. 

Elm and her father, I actually didn't know what Elm's father looked like (or if he even existed) 

but he turned out well. 

A drawing of Marigold (who is the adopted daughter of D.I. Time) and Detective Inspector Time, 

I like how it turned out. 

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Which drawing is your favorite? And what are your character's fathers like? 

Love,
Quinley  

Mr. Robertson's letter (A short story.)

(Before reading this post, just so everyone knows when I say The Legend of Sleepy Hollow I do not mean the horror movie, I am talking about The Novella by Washington Irving, this story I am posting is not a horror story.)  

Hi everyone, even though it is not October I decided I should share one of my short stories about Mr. Robertson... (Also this one isn't very "Halloweeny," it's more the romantic subplot side of the story.) This is a test story to get to know my character Mr. Robertson a little bit better...
anyway here is the story:

My dear sister Jennifer,

Love songs, and ballads of woe are often sung in the presence of Katrina Van Tassel. She is the daughter of the rich farmer, who hosted the autumn ball after which Mr. Crane was allegedly chased by the Headless Horse…thing. Twas but a year ago, yet the townsfolk are still talking about it, and gossiping among themselves about what happened to Mr. Crane. 

I am afraid I am going off-topic for what I started telling you about was Ms. Van Tassel. She is the most beautiful girl in Sleepy Hollow and every young man wants to marry her, unless, of course, they were already married or had their mind set on someone else. Ever since I've been in Sleepy Hollow, Brom Van Brunt (for that is his real name, though everyone calls him “Brom Bones,” which is quite a silly name if you ask me) has thought that I too want to marry Katrina, which I have no desire or longing to do. 

From what I heard Mr. Van Ripper, father of one of my pupils, Isabella, and owner of Gunpowder the horse, which Mr. Crane rode on that fateful night, has told me that Brom is known for punching suitors of Katrina. Brom wants Katrina for himself and only him. I do believe that Miss Van Tassel hates being thought of as an object, prize to be won, or a damsel in distress, though when I talked to her she showed no signs of that. 

Besides meeting Katrina, I have also met another young woman. Her name I can not place (However if do remember it I shall tell you). She is quite skilled with the musket and is equal in skill to Brom (she is possibly even better than Brom). Some townsfolk even claim that she disguised herself as a solider and fought in the Revolutionary War (against England), though I can not verify, if this true or not, for she tends to keep to herself and has no desire for love. 

How are things going in England? And how is your book going? 

Your loving brother,

Mr. Robertson 

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What do you think? What do you think of the woman who Mr. Robertson says is better at shooting a musket than Brom? 

Love,
Quinley