Liebster Award

Thank you Cait, for nominating me! <3
Check out Cait's twitter and blog

Here's how Liebster works:

1. I list 11 random facts about myself.

2. I'll answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated me.

3. I will then nominate my 11 picks for the award, along with my 11 questions for them to answer when they post a response.

4. If you’re nominated, your name/link will appear at the bottom of this post along with the questions I come up with.

5. Follow the same format; paste the award badge to your blog, give us 11 random facts about yourself, answer my 11 questions, and choose your nominees…but you cannot nominate the blog who nominated you.

A lot of my more obvious random facts were listed here.

My 11 random facts:

1. I was raised by people who are not my biological parents and I have long lost siblings.
2. I have a little-known spiritual side. I've studied a lot of comparative religion.
3. I was a "goth" in high school. I do have some photographic evidence.
4. I can bend my thumb back behind my hand so it's over my knuckle.
5. I am in love with Leon Kennedy from the Resident Evil games. My husband has cosplayed as him.
6. I am also in love with Shane from the L Word.
7. The only time I ever won NaNoWriMo it was by writing 20k of steamy romance scenes in the last couple days.
8. I have not recovered from David Tennant leaving Doctor Who. I'm really trying to like Matt Smith. I am. o_o
9. The only thing I've ever had published (no pay) was in my university's LGBT literary/arts magazine. It was a contemp short story about two girls falling in love in orchestra.
10. I love every single song on Powerman 5000's "Tonight the stars revolt" album.
11. I have a lot of regrets. I identify with Florence + the Machine's "Shake it out" more than anyone knows.

Now for Cait's questions:

What category/genre do you write, and why?
I've written a variety of genres in the past but right now I'm focusing on YA. Specifically fantasy. More specifically "science fantasy." If you've ever played the Final Fantasy games I could compare it to those. Airships, cities, magitech, but not steampunk.

What category/genre do you wish you wrote, but just doesn't speak to you?
I wish I wrote historical romance or historical fantasy, if I ever get an idea that really seems like it would fit there, I'd do it, but so far my ideas tend to come with their own crazy worlds.

Tattoos/piercings/hair dye?
I have no tattoos. I have three piercings in my ears, two on the left, one on the right. I dye my hair all the time, right now it's near-black brown.

Big 5, Indie, or Self? And why?
I'll think about this more when I actually have something ready to query. Right now I'm sort of assuming I'll try for the Big 5 unless I find a reason not to.

What's your weirdest/most interesting talent?
I think karaoke is my most interesting talent. It certainly seems to entertain the most people at parties.

Dog or Cat?
Both. I grew up with two cats and one of them still lives at my parents' but Jeff and I are thinking when we get our house we're going to get two puppies. He grew up with a dog and I have never had a dog and do like them too.

What inspires you to write?
Music. When I listen to music I see characters doing things, I seriously can't stop it. It's probably due to watching a great deal of anime music videos from a young age.

What is your favorite character you've written?
Lucifira. She was an anti-hero, one POV character in a book with multiple POV's. She wasn't meant to be the main character but she stole the show and stole my heart. She is one source of inspiration for a character in my current WIP.

What is your favorite character you didn't write?
I started listing some but I realized I was just going through my Awesome Characters list, so if you want to know, go read some of those. I will give a shout out to Mason, Kat's character, because I'm not allowed to do an Awesome Characters post on him until he's published, but he is waaaay up the list and would already have one if he wasn't under wraps.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
I honestly have no desire to leave the Pacific Northwest. I wouldn't mind living in a mansion somewhere here though. :)

What is your favorite book of all time?
I can't choose. I tried to decide and I just can't!

My questions for my nominees (shamelessly ripped off from Cait and Kat mostly)

1. What category/genre do you write, and why?
2. What music are you listening to the most right now?
3. Plotter or pantster or what?
4. Big 5, Indie, or Self? And why?
5. What's your weirdest/most interesting talent?
6. Dog or Cat?
7. What inspires you to write?
8. What is your favorite character you've written?
9. What is your favorite character you didn't write?
10. Which book do you wish you'd written?
11. Name three things you will do this year.

And the nominees are (drumroll please)...

Megan

Marieke 

Jason

I don't know who else to tag, lots of people have already done it so you get 3 not 11.

2012 Thank you's and highlights

2012 was a year of changes for me. My personal life was a roller-coaster, something I'd rather not go into details about in public, but in the end I am in a better place, so it has had a happy ending. :) My writing life saw a great deal of change too and that's what I'm going to write about here. Here's what happened:

By the beginning of 2012 my in-person writing group fizzled out and I found myself able to be more disciplined about writing at home, whereas I had been frequenting our meeting place coffee shop to write even when no one else was there because I couldn't resist the distractions of home. I spent a lot more time planning out novel ideas and discarding them for new shinier ideas than I spent on any actual writing. My sole remaining partner in crime was Taliesin and we were both struggling to get any projects off the ground.

In March I think I must have gotten a spam comment or a "inactive deletion pending" notice on my defunct livejournal, because I got the idea that I was going to restart my livejournal as a writing journal. I honestly can't remember how I got from there to blogger, but I know it had something to do with Karen Mahoney's KazNo (a NaNoWriMo look alike happening in April) I decided I was going to participate, but when push came to shove I felt unprepared and fell back into my usual rut of planning and not writing. The important thing about that event was that it lead me to befriend my darling Jani Grey.

Jani had put a call out for a beta reader and even though I was still a dysfunctional writer, I was already a decent beta, so I volunteered. She appreciated my work and introduced me to the insane and wonderful world of Twitter. I was a bit shy of Twitter at first, it wasn't until my second go around that it really took off for me, in large part thanks to Cait and Kat who were lovely enough to include me in their conversations and before I knew it they were my friends too.

I can hardly say how influential Jani, Cait and Kat have been in my writerly life. They've dragged me kicking and screaming from my little safe bubble of always planning and never writing, and thanks to them I got a fair amount of writing done in 2012. I've become a better writer in large part thanks to them. And I've greatly enjoyed reading and critiquing their MS's. I can't wait until the day that I get to present them with something of mine and I'm convinced that it is going to happen in 2013! I adore you all!

Kat especially is my idol and I want to be her when I grow up. <3

Also from twitter came Marieke who has a passion for Doctor Who and David Tennant that even surpasses my own! I love her and she's another friend who let me crit her MS and I can't wait for her to read mine.

I can't make this post without mentioning Leigh Ann Kopans who is an inspiration to me and is constantly supplying me with new fuel for my writing journey. Just the other day her blog about fast drafting inspired me to try it and it's going better than any other writing method I have tried before. So, THANK YOU LEIGH ANN!!!

I also want to shout out to Juliana and Megan who are both sweethearts and brighten my day all the time. <3

Looking forward to a bright 2013 in Writer Twitterland.

Back From The Dead!

No, this isn't a post about zombies. ;)

I thought I'd say a little something about the break I took from my "public" life. At the beginning of November, I went through some things in my personal life that left me reeling. It was sort of a perfect storm of different problems and I needed to give them my full attention. I'm happy to say that the matters have been dealt with sufficiently enough that I am able to return to my blog and twitter and--most importantly--I'm able to return to my novel writing. I'm even feeling refreshed--like my creative well filled up while I was busy elsewhere.

Time to get working! It's good to be back.

A fearsome thing to behold

In the past, I've been affectionately accused of being a "Renaissance woman." Today I had a sudden craving to read in Japanese and to play the cello, and I was reminded of this, and of a part of Pride and Prejudice from chapter 8:

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant [Miss Bingley], "no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved."

"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

There was a line added in the film version to the original "I never saw such a woman" reply by Lizzie, they had her say "she would certainly be a fearsome thing to behold." I liked this addition. ;)

Something I've found as I've been struggling to be a more consistent writer these past months, is that sometimes if I burn out on writing, resting/goofing off can help, but what often helps even more is engaging my brain in a different way, whether that be editing a friend's work, watching or reading something in Japanese, drawing, or playing the cello, each thing uses my brain in a different way, almost like a brain massage or stretching a brain muscle.

Though my current aim is to become a professional writer, at heart I want to end up accomplished in all of these fields: writing, reading fiction, reading non-fiction (whether it be history, science or biography), watching fiction (I believe in quality television and film), editing (my own and others' works), drawing, singing (karaoke of course ;) ), playing musical instruments (cello, bass and piano), listening to music (classical and contemporary), language (Japanese), philosophy, physical strength (I lift weights and do cardio), cooking (I love cooking Italian and Japanese) and even dancing (probably my area of least talent among the categories listed)

It can be difficult to make time for all of them, and obviously some get prioritized over others, but there are so many rich experiences to be had in life that I want to go after them all! <3

Awesome Characters: Genjo Sanzo

Today I'd like to talk about Genjo Sanzo from the manga/anime Gensoumaden Saiyuki. It is a story based on the classic Chinese tale "Journey to the West" but drastically alters the characters and plot. The "west" mentioned in the title is India. The story has the characters making their way from Sanzo's home temple in China to a location in India where dark forces are trying to resurrect an ox-demon king. Sanzo is actually a title, rather than a name, it's the highest rank of buddhist priest, but his group of fellow travelers call him that like it's his name.

Sanzo isn't what you would expect from a priest, he swears and smokes and is almost always in a bad mood. He has a revolver known as a banishing gun which works significantly better than a regular gun on youkai. The English translation of youkai is often demon, but they're not creatures from hell, they're kind of like evil elves, they're just another race that lives alongside humanity and is generally more powerful than humanity. There was actually peace between most of the youkai and humans until the experiments to resurrect the ox-demon king started. It sent a "minus wave" out that causes youkai to lose their minds and go on murderous rampages. Sanzo's group is constantly battling crazed youkai on their way to India.

Sanzo is a complex character. His motivations are mixed. On the surface, it looks like he's going on the trip to India because he's a priest and the Three Heavenly Aspects ordered him to go, but he's only a priest because his mentor, Koumyou Sanzo, found him as an orphan, raised him, and when Koumyou was dying, he made him the next Sanzo. Sanzo is determined to avenge him and take back the seiten scroll the enemy youkai stole, which was supposed to be passed on to Sanzo along with the maten scroll which he still has and which the enemy wants. He's pretty obsessed with his goal and pretends like he doesn't care about anything or anyone else. But along the way, he does end up saving a lot of people from crazed youkai, and though he won't formally lecture as a priest, he does drive home some philosophical points to people when they need some sense knocked into them.

His fellow travelers is another area where appearances are deceiving. Despite the fact that when the group meets someone new, Sanzo will refer to his three fellow travelers as his servants, the reality is, they are his friends and he cares about them, and they have no obligation to follow him at all. He also respects them because all three of them are badass enough to take care of themselves. In fact, it's pretty common for them to have to rescue him. That's another thing I like about him, he's an aloof badass, but he's not over-powered.

Really, the dynamic between the four main characters is one of the best reasons to watch the show. They joke, they fight amongst themselves, they back each other up, they help each other deal with issues (each of them has a dark past of course) and they kick a lot of ass together.

I've realized writing this that Saiyuki is hard to explain in a few paragraphs, but I hope that was another interesting Awesome Characters post regardless. Sorry it's been like a month. :)

Beautiful Blogger and Reader Appreciation Awards

The very lovely Kat tagged me with 2 blog awards: the Beautiful Blogger Award and Reader Appreciation Award. Thanks Kat!

The rules say I'm supposed to tell you 7 random things about myself. Kind of like Kat's TMI Monday, so I'll put it up now.

1. Everything I write will be in some way influenced by Sailor Moon. That show got to me right around age 11 and implanted itself in my mind and it will never, ever come out.
2. I do not understand what it would be like to be straight or gay. It's like asking me to forever choose between cheesecake and chocolate. How could I ever choose????? (I'm married so in a sense I've limited myself, but it's not to men, it's to one person who I love who happens to incidentally be a man, which is a different concept, to me. But my brain still works the same way. And I still enjoy writing f/f romances. ;) )
3. Japanese: I have lived in Japan twice and been there four times. I can watch most anime without subtitles, it generally has to have a lot of jargon or business lingo for me to need the subs. I sing karaoke both in English and in Japanese.
4. I love to draw. I have had two different webcomics, but they are SO time consuming that I always quit. I often draw pictures of my friends or their characters.
5. As my blog title says, coffee and music are my biggest source of fuel for writing, I have difficulty writing if I lose access to either one.
6. I play the bass in an amateur rock band. We write our own songs, as well as practice with covers of things as widely ranging as "Dreams" by the Cranberries, "One more soul to the call" from Silent Hill, and "The Royal We" by Silversun Pickups. We are planning on playing a short set list at the Halloween party this year. Our first performance in front of more than 2 people. o_o
7. I played the violin for years in school and I am self teaching myself to play the electric cello.

Tagging people with these awards! They are:

• Taliesin
• Audrey
• Yvonne

Have fun! ♥♥

Awesome Characters: The Doctor

I've decided to make Thursdays my Awesome Characters day. Today I'm going to talk about the Doctor from the BBC TV show Doctor Who. Specifically, the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. (You might be thinking "but there are a million people out there who've already talked about the Doctor," and you're probably right, but I'm going to anyways :D ) As usual, Awesome Characters includes spoilers.

The Doctor is the epitome of a complex character. He's a scientist, he's a romantic, he's a hero, he's someone who carries a deep pain that never really goes away. One of the Doctor Who spinoff novels put it well when they described the Doctor as having a Tigger side and an Eeyore side. Add in a righteous fury side and you've got a basic description already.

In the new 2005+ series, the Time Lords have been sealed away in a "time lock" so that their war and all the crazy shit that had come down on their home planet couldn't destroy the rest of the universe (see the last Ten special for details). The Doctor is the one who did this. This gives him a lot of mixed emotions, to say the least. On the one hand, he saved the universe, on the other hand, he essentially destroyed his race. So you might think he'd be Eeyore-Doctor all the time, but he's not, he copes and he moves on to the best of his ability. His profound sadness comes out from time to time and reminds us that he cares so deeply about people.

One of the best attributes of the Doctor, for me, is his ability to see the universe with wonder and joy, even though he has already seen so much of it and already knows so much about it, and has a lot of good reasons to hate everything, he is still able to revel in the beauty of life. It isn't limited to conventional beauty either, he sees a werewolf and thinks "you beauty," he sees a crazy clockwork robot and thinks "you beauty," he's the quintessential joyful nerd. This is his truer Tigger side. He has another Tigger side which is more his version of a misdirection attack on whoever he's dealing with. He acts sort of crazy to distract the person from whatever he's actually doing. This also comes out in his tendency to act like he is in charge of everything which gets people used to taking orders to do what he says.

Righteous fury Doctor is just what you'd expect: he's a hero. He won't put up with aliens endangering the Earth, or cruelty, he doesn't like to kill and he's ready to sacrifice himself to save the day. He's also a nerd hero in that he saves the day with science-y shenanigans instead of combat (most of the time).

Another interesting facet to the Doctor is that he needs people. This is where Nine and Ten are mirror images in a way. Nine is born alone at the end of the war and he becomes happier when he takes on Rose. He dies happy saving her. Ten, on the other hand, is born happy, surrounded by people who care about him. But Ten walks a path of loss and the more alone he becomes the more unbalanced he becomes. He dies unhappy and alone. (Don't worry that's not the end, there's still an Eleventh Doctor after all :) )

The Doctor is so multifaceted that even this description is just the beginning. I can't recommend enough that anyone who wants to write awesome, complex characters, especially in genre fiction, should watch the 2005+ Doctor Who.