Amaranthine Forever

I won! I can't believe it! I haven't done any schoolwork and haven't left my computer since seven in the morning, but I WON NaNoWriMo! They've certified me endless bragging rights, and I will use them, believe me. 50k! I can't believe it! All the stress is totally worth it! Of course, I have a lot of editing to do, but who cares?????? Proof: See! I'll be posting excerpts, maybe, and maybe even the whole thing, soon. My lovely winners certificate! The prize that I'm most excited about however, is a free published copy of my book(with Savannah's cover on the front, I still would like one without the title)! Which is good, because otherwise it takes a lot of money to print one.  Congrats to all the others who've one, and keep going, those of you which still have a little to go! Amaranthine

Savannah wins. Leia also got it too. Be sure to still call me Amaranthine! Please don't tell anyone else! Savannah's blog button for herself is coming soon. Free promotion! Her blogs: Borderline Failure Her personal blog. She went under the clandestine name of Qui-Gon, before she went ahead and disclosed everything here. She shares my rabid love of pages . I love the current "Christmas" layout on her blog. Favorite post: http://borderlinefailure.blogspot.com/2010/11/all-my-flaws-to-see-but-you-still-love.html This was fun. A Lightsaber and a Script http://lightsaberandscript.blogspot.com/   This doesn't get updated as much. I like it, even with all the Anakin fangirly-ness that happens there. Covers by Brokenbone   Branches into graphic design. Favorite post: My own, of course! But I still need a version without the title, please. Her blog button is coming soon! Starting out at the tippity-top of the sidebar. Congrats! Amaranthine...

But I said I wouldn't post. And so that doesn't count. I'm still way behind on my word count, so I should get back to writing now. Anyone find my first name/names of my dance teachers? Anybody? It's on here, I guarantee you.   Prize? If you find them first, I'll put your blog button on my sidebar. Of course, someone else will have to make it, because I am inept at such things. Link for hunt: http://amaranthineforever.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-thanksgiving.html BIG hint: It's in a mexico post. Well, not really in the post, but....you'll find out when you find out. Procrastinating on Graphjam! Separate email addresses with a comma. Oh, and we NEVER spam.   782 Votes Nov. 23, 2010 Amaranthine

..that I said I wouldn't post. But all the other NaNo'ers HAVE to watch this video. Keep working on that scavenger hunt, okay?

With this and my novel going, my creative faculties need a serious break. So I'm taking a break from AF starting today and ending Saturday. I'll still read yours, but I'm taking a posting break after this.   But I'll post my Thanksgiving post today.  This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for these things. ~God/Jesus. This year has been a super great, awesome year. ~My family and friends ~George Lucas ~The inventor of the internet ~The inventor of Google. So in honor of the holidays(and to give you something to do on my blog), I'm sending you on a scavenger hunt. I've been posting for several months now, and in the early days of my blog, I posted wonderful(I say, WONDERFU L) posts which nobody read. One thing I enjoy is sifting through other people's blogs to see what I can find out about the person who is writing this stuff. It's actually quite fun. So I want to see if you can find out about me by Saturday: 1.) My real first name. This is the ...

Come to think about it, I never did a post about dance. Hmm. I dance. And I really, really love it. I started dancing one summer doing hip hop, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, and choreography. Then, I switched to just jazz and hip hop, but the jazz instructor told me to take ballet.  And now I take ballet too. See, I know from first hand experience how it is to fail at ballet-less jazz. I dance here: http://pacificdance.net/ I have hip hop today. I have a substitute hip hop instructor, but she is doing a combo I really love(DJ Got Us Falling in Love.) However, there's this annoying kid in the class who makes it her mission to stand directly in front of me every. single. darn. time. And the sub is good, but she doesn't discipline the class at all. She's so....patient it frustrates me. About dance:   Ballet: No matter what anybody tells you, you need to take this. No good dancer started without ballet. It's the basic, it teaches you balance and flexibility. An...

  I critique stories for my homeschool groups writing club, and other stories, and this is what I'm seeing a lot of: Starting out with TRUCKLOADS of angst This is called an "Angsty Sue", and starting with 10 italicized pages of her inner torment, eating disorders, and how she wants to kill herself isn't going to make us care about her. We live in a jaded culture, and if you want to make us cry, at least tell us her name and what happened to her first! " I stared at my crystal chandelier, smartphones, and really expensive clothes, wondering where to go. Life is so unbearable, I wish I could just sink into my satin comforter and die....." No. Please no. Most stories start out simply, quietly and nicely. (but NOT boringly.) Including tons of description  This is mostly a girl problem. We love to add tons of description about our characters beautiful red hair, pooly-cerulean-green eyes, nose, mouth, feet, and don't get me started on her clothes! Be...

  Update: Post it on your blog with "Stolen by....."  The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets, songwriters and screenwriters included) who've influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. 1.) Karen Traviss 2.) Esther Forbes 3.) Elizabeth George Speare 4.)Aaron Allston 5.) J.R.R Tolkein 6.) Shel Silverstein 7.)Mark Twain 8.) Marissa Moss 9.) Norton Juster 10.) Lewis Carroll  11.) O. Henry 12.) The Brothers Grimm(do they count?) 13.) Adeline Yen Mah 14.) Harper Lee 15.) Laura Ingalls Wilder Please post yours! I want to see what you put! Amaranthine

 Homeschooling quips! xD You Must Be Homeschooled If... You have attempted to teach yourself physics. Your favorite activity is reading.  The only bully you ever run into is your big brother. You don’t have to be entertained because you know how to use your imagination. All you want for Christmas is a Barnes & Noble gift certificate.  You'd rather buy books than clothes.  Amen for the second to last one! That's all I want! I can get the DNT!   Short post. I'm not in a post mood now. When I'm not in a post mood, my posts are ranty, whiny, sarcastic, and clipped. Lets see the stereotypes I'm under: ~Nerd/geek/fangirl(Ugh, I hate that word. I used it once, though.) ~Homeschooler(Come on guys! Homeschooling has gone a long way since the prairie days and is quite sophisticated now.) ~Teenager(We aren't all like that rude boy who pushed roughly past you in the parking lot! Or that bratty girl who spends 4 hours on makeup and hair and texts all the tim...

Since I've been so behind on TCW, I won't even bother trying.  I'd rather review series first, before I review individual books. But first: Has anyone heard of Star Wars: Frames? It's a book. One copy costs $4000, which is a ton, even if it is autographed by George Lucas. Anyyyone? Anyone want to buy one for me?   Nano update: Yeesh. I'm on the verge of falling behind. Everyone should have 30k today. I hope to catch up a lot during thanksgiving break, since I'm not going anywhere. I should probably get off Blogger and work on writing. NJO:   Pretty much all of the NJO covers mushed together.   One of the most controversial and longest series in the SW EU history.  It's so hefty, many people don't even bother starting it. It's worth the ride though, even if the ride does seem like a plodding, slow, tortuous journey at some point. The early books are dark. Violent. Scary. Often unenjoyable. Sometimes discourage people from reading SW EU a...

    This was my favorite bible verse when I was younger: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 Because, being a SW fan, I automatically assumed that being a really good Christian enabled you to use telekinesis to pick up mountains and move them. Never mind that Jesus never did that. Every time I prayed to "grow in faith" I imagined myself rearranging the face of the earth. I tried moving the mountain near my house almost every day.  When I got a little older, my Sunday school teacher said it was metaphorical for obstacles in life. Oh. I always thought that you wouldn't need to fix problems in life if you could move mountains and other similarly large landmarks. Getting bad grades in school? Crush school with the Himalayas. Kid picking on you? Squish him with the Empire State Building. ...

I want to award shout-outs because....umm....well, I just like blog sharing, okay?(even though my opinion counts for nada in the online world)  Best SW blogger/wordpress: Club Jade It would be just like another SW news site, except for the stylish, hilarious, thoughtful posts and design.  Best SW Tumblr: Rebecca Crane @ Rogue Leader She hasn't been posting as often as she used to, but she has been back home in Seattle for these past couple weeks and is busy. She recently gained fame for her "United States of Star Wars" post. Best random blog: Just Add Kaleena . It's really hard to blog if you don't have a particular topic, but she's nailed it. (I know you don't like misuses of the word "random", Kaleena, but I thought it applied to your blog. xD ) Best NaNo blog: "Now he's spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."  Speaks for itself. Best "dead" blog: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/     She giv...

(mumbles in sleep) (turns over) (opens eyes and is blinded.) AAAAAARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!! You see, the sun shines right through my window. And that's not bad, because I sleep right under my window.  I would be okay if I hadn't replaced my closet doors with full-length mirrors last summer.... I drew a diagram to show you how it works. Seee????? Anyways... (grunts) (groans) (slowly grabs a random tee-shirt and shorts from mirror closet, goes to bathroom and showers.) (comes downstairs and sleepily eats waffles) (logs on computer. This is the order that I check. Email, Darths and Droids, Blogger.) (checks on Organa Major. sees hater's comment. leaves witty response.) (checks back a little later to see hater's response to witty response) WHAT!? BLOG IS GONE! So I have dedicated a whole post to you, Leia to say:  Dude. What happened to your blog? This wouldn't have something to do with the hater, would it? You deleted your whole blog because of him/her?...

  This picture is out of order, by the way. Oh my gosh. This series.....it's just amazing. The most amazing series EVER. I previously said NJO was my favorite, but it's so long...and sometimes it just....drags on. This series...wow. It's heartfelt, well written, and touching. It makes you burst out in laughter and tears....at the same time.  All three authors have previously written Star Wars, and many actually have combat experience. This post is a mess, and that's because I have so much to say. Attempt at organization(thinks up organizing skills). AHA! BULLET POINTS! You really, really have to read a previous series to get the full effect. One of the things this series does best is characterizing characters that weren't previously developed( Boba Fett is one). It makes otherwise-background characters seem like real people Unfortunately, the main characters Jaina, Jacen, Mara, Luke get sorta skipped over. You really have to read NJO and YJK first. Invincible eve...

 UPDATE: I made a card for Qui, for finishing my cover. I drew it myself, to further demonstrate my fail artistic ability. Aw man, the tip of the tulip(yes, it's a tulip) is cut off.   First off: My book cover is finished! It's called Or Die Trying for now, but Qui-Gon will get me the cover without the title so I can change it whenever I want. (Could I also have a version of the first one in color, too? The one with the braid?Thanks.) She made two. I personally like the first one better:   How about you? Black and white: coolness. Thank you soooooo much, Qui!I am the least artistic person I know. Back to the post: I was learning in Psychology class about internet addiction. Ouch. I'm definitely one of the candidates for that. While other people feel that the internet gets in the way of life, addicts feel that life gets in the way of the internet. I couldn't have said it better myself. Part of internet addiction is the allure of creating an online p...

 My post about Star Wars Books= http://amaranthineforever.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-wednsday-where-to-start-reading.html   Disclaimer: I wrote this post a while ago, but I just realized you don't know barely anything about Jacen.  Hmm. That's trouble. Oh well, you'll just be easier to convince, then. Jacen Solo=epic fail. Read on. PS. Darth Caedus: Jacen Solo. Yeah, he(highlight for spoiler.) turns to the dark side. Stupid, huh? Scientific Exhibit to Prove Jacen Solo was Doomed to Fail. We all know Jacen Solo as a.) a super-awesome tragic philosopher-"sith lord" who sacrificed his life for his lover or b.) a stupid jerk who failed miserably. You can guess which side I'm on. But look. I have proof. All these quotes are REAL. Exhibit A: His confidence varies drastically At 5 years old: Jaina: " What are you doing? Did something bite you? " Jacen: " Bite me? " Jaina: " Someday something will. " Jacen: " Not...

Hey guys- Since I've had so many uberposts, I thought today we'd just chill with quotes. After all, there's no school today. Random quotes collected from all over the EU: " Oh, well. Just another boring day saving the universe. " ― Obi-Wan Kenobi [src] indeed...................... Tahiri : " That's funny. "   Corran : " Funny ha ha or funny we're about to die ? " ― Tahiri Veila and Corran Horn , sizing up the situation on Yuuzhan'tar [src]   Both Fi : " You can live without an arm, they can always bolt on a new one. "   Boss : " What about my head ?   Fi : " Like I said, they can always replace nonessential parts. "   Boss : " I love this guy. He'll make such great target practice. " ― RC-8015 ("Fi") and RC-1138 ("Boss") banter [src There's a new target born every minute. Tahiri : " Remember, you're supposed to be training me. What does t...