Summer Writing

I would love to get back into writing this summer.  I have a million ideas swarming through my head right now, and they're dying to get out.  Granted, a lot of those are just character designs, which means drawing them instead of writing them, but the story ideas are getting more and more elaborate.

For instance, that Wonderful Wizard of Oz retelling I've been talking about for years?  Yeah, it's expanded now to include not only Wonderland (which I think I've mentioned before), but also Neverland and the Darling children.  From the way things are going in my head right now, the Neverland story would not be modernized the way the Wonderland story would be.  Wendy and her brothers would go to Neverland back in whatever-time-period England, and their adventure would be a prelude to Dorothy's adventure in Oz and Alice's adventure in Wonderland.  How?  I have no idea, but my head is slowly working on that.

Then there's the story with characters designed loosely after all of us, with all those creatures and cryptids.  Random characters keep getting added on.  A boyfriend here, a crush there, another random-but-helpful mysterious person...Basically, there are so many that the story itself has been mentally shelved (or, at least, I've attempted to mentally shelve it) until I can make more sense of it.  I've also been entertaining the idea of setting the story in a time period similar to King Arthur's, with pretty dresses, knights, and ancient weapons.  One of the characters would be a homeless beggar making change by entertaining the public with their gift, while another is a duke or duchess who fears using their power at the risk of being dethroned.  There is an inherent flaw in this plan, however, since most of the creatures I've researched are modern myths, so I don't really know where to go from there.

So yes, lots of ideas, but nowhere for them to go right now.  My new job is pretty damn cool, though it is extremely hectic at times and makes me want to pull my hair out.  As all of you know, I live by a routine and a schedule, and when something interrupts that routine or schedule, I get stressed out.  This job, however, is nothing but interruptions.  Things change from one minute to the next, and I have to adjust accordingly.  It's stressful right now, but I think in the long run, it'll help me with my life outside of work.  I like it a lot, but I'm happy for weekends as well because I get a chance to rest.  I'm also looking forward to the judge coming back from her vacation on Wednesday.  I've missed her and her guard dog, and it's been strange trying to adjust not only to a new job, but to accommodate the visiting judges as well.

I love you guys!  I hope everyone is doing well!

Classifieds

Young aspiring (but very amateur) author, seeking other amateur authors for a summer of fun writing project(s). Open to experimentation, but most familiar with the "letter-gaming" or "Nanowrimo" format.

Yeah, I was gonna get more creative with that and then ran out of ideas. Seriously though, IT'S SUMMER (wouldn't Olaf be psyched!) I have many projects on tap for the summer, but one of the big ones is reconnecting with some of the hobbies that I had to give up on during the year - writing, for example. Trouble is, I don't have anything started, and I'm not in the mood for editing (it's a bit too close to what I do for my "job" aka being a student). So, I was wondering if one of you beautiful ladies would be interested in embarking on a summer-long writing project. I have one condition: it has to be done (or able to be put on hold) as of August 22nd, because I cannot guarantee time to work on anything other than school once it starts back up again. I am happy to try a letter game (or a modified letter game - wouldn't it be interesting to do a letter game through a blog?), trading of prompts/chapters, or any other writing thing you wish to suggest, as long as it falls within the time frame. I honestly just want to get excited about writing again.

I know we're all busy "adults" now. I would love to do this with one of you lovely ladies, but if, say for example, you can't, but you have a friend who was just saying the other day how they wished they could do something similar, I would be most grateful if you would pass that info along. If nothing else, perhaps I'll sign up for July's Camp Nano this year.

Hope you are all doing well, I miss you dearly, and I apologize for going MIA for a bit. I needed to detox after the semester and had exactly zero ideas for topic suggestions.

P.S. Anyone know anything about Maggie or Tori? I haven't heard from either in a really long time.

Job Stuff

So, I failed to post on my own topic. But after reading Katie's post (yay! job!), I thought I'd talk about my own new job. I just started on Monday, and at first I was a little unsure about it. I'd been trying to get into Clemson since I graduated, and right after accepting the new job, Clemson had given me a call to interview for a part time, grant money sensitive position.

I decided not to interview for Clemson, mostly because I was really excited about working with Peggy, my supervisor, and from whom I'll be taking over certain responsibilities. The position is also full time as a contractor with the possibility of being hired by the company, and I really wanted some stability vs what Clemson was offering.

I didn't realize until I started working there, but the company is global. It's HUGE, and that's a little overwhelming. The drive is also an hour through heavily populated traffic, and that's not fun at all. But I'm really liking working in a communications department and putting my degree to work.

James and I will be moving in June, which will cut the drive in half. I'll still have to deal with heavily populated traffic, just not as much of it. The work schedule at the office is also flexible, and I'm getting into the office at 7:30 most days just to beat the really bad traffic. So once I get more situated in job responsibilities, I'll be seeing if I can move my hours to 7:30 to 4 with a half hour lunch. I'll also have the option to work from home twice a week.

So, I'm expecting to get cozy here. And I'm excited to see what the future weeks bring.

My Octopus Brain

NEW JOB.  I want to blog about my new job first.  I was hired this past Monday as Chief Bailiff for one of the local Municipal Courts.  I can already tell that I'm getting used to my new place, and that I'm learning.  I was really worried when I accepted the job because my part-time Deputy Bailiffs are all at least 40 years older than me, retired cops, and they've worked at the courthouse as bailiffs for years.  I was worried because I was told that they're old-school, so they might not take kindly to having a twenty-something, five-foot-one female as their boss.  Thankfully, I can tell it's not going to  be an issue.  All of "my guys" are great, and they've been very helpful teaching me the ropes and helping me adjust to my new job.

Basically, my first and foremost concern is the judge's safety and happiness.  Whatever she needs, I am in charge of getting it or delegating someone else to get it.  I am required to be armed, so I'll be looking into CCW classes and purchasing a gun.  There have already been a couple of defendants who have made me nervous, and all I could think was, "If he charges the bench, there's nothing I can do."  I hate feeling so helpless, so getting that firearm cannot come soon enough.  Luckily, the judge has a ninety-one-pound German Shepherd that she takes into the courtroom with her because she's had some threats, and I love this dog.  Whenever someone gets too close to the bench or goes where they're not supposed to (with the exception of the bailiffs and court personnel), she goes ballistic and barks her pretty head off.  Good girl!

I already have some plans for how I'm going to run things, so we'll see how it goes.  Wish me luck!

SCHOOL.  My Paralegal Certificate is over, and although I haven't checked grades yet, I'm pretty sure I did well.  I'm glad it's over.  I am registered right now for a class in the fall, but I'm probably going to drop it.  I love to learn, but I'm a little sick of school right now.

MEDIA.  Just last night, a teaser trailer hit YouTube for a live-action version of Cinderella!  I hear Cate Blanchett is in it.  I am excited.

I have also gotten myself to be excited about Maleficent.  I really dislike Angelina Jolie, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go and see it, but the more trailers I see, the more I like it.  It's dark, the special effects look killer, and Jolie sounds like she nails this role.

I would like to gab about Once Upon a Time and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I'm behind on both of those shows, so I can't say much =(

I'm sure there's more, but that's all that I can think about right now.  Everyone in the family is doing well.  My little sister is in the police academy, her boyfriend is a full-time cop for a busy jurisdiction, and all the pets are happy and healthy.  Mom and I are both working all day now, so we're trying to make that work.  It's harder to get things done now, since there isn't someone at the house all day anymore =P

Love you guys!

Fan-Canon and Experimental Storytelling

Anything we want, eh? Okay. I'm gonna talk about Kissing in the Rain. The webseries, that is. Not the act of kissing in the rain.*

Kissing in the Rain is a twelve-episode webseries in two parts, produced by Shipwrecked Comedy, and created and directed by one Yulin Kuang. It stars Mary Kate Wiles (from LBD), Sean Persaud, Sinead Persaud, and Sairus Graham.

The premise is simple: two couples keep finding themselves kissing in the rain. The fun part? Both couples are actors, filming scenes from movies where they keep finding themselves kissing in the rain. Then the director yells "Cut!" and we get to see the actors interact with each other.

The first seven episodes follow Lily and James (yes, that's a Harry Potter reference), who hate each other, and the last five follow Audrey and Henry, who are the most adorable dorks ever of all time. An episode is posted every Monday, and a short drabble accompanies each episode.

But here's where it gets really fun.

Yulin, the creator, wanted to create an experiment in how fandom contributes to a story. And so, with the first episode, she initiated a fan-canon experiment. She invited the fans of the show to watch, then write fiction or commentary or headcanons about the characters and post them all to a common tag on Tumblr.

Then, each week, before the new episode airs, she goes through the tag, reads all the posts, and chooses ones to become canon. These get reblogged to the official Tumblr and become part of the reality of the universe.

This project is fascinating to me. And it's not quite as overwhelming as it sounds.

Here are a bunch of links!

Shipwreck on Youtube, where you can find the episodes
Shipwrecked on Tumblr, where you can find the canon elements
The KitR tag on Tumblr, where you can find all the fan contributions
The KitR archivist tag on Tumblr, where you can find weekly summaries of canon info
Yulin's Tumblr




*Personally, I think the act of kissing in the rain is a bit overrated, you know? I mean, I enjoy kissing as much as the next non-asexual person, but I much prefer to do it without getting drenched, if such a thing can be at all avoided.

Topic: Anything

This week's topic is talk about anything you want! Whatever is on your mind / tickles your fancy. Go!

Missing Plots

I'm going off topic here, but I wanted to talk about stories I'd love to write but that I don't currently have any plot ideas for.

I want to write Albus Potter's first year at Hogwarts where he goes through this identity crisis as he ends up in a house different from his parents and older brother. And now that he knows the two people he was named after, he tries to find out who they are. He in turn spends a lot of time trying to figure out who he is - taking certain risks - and learning that he doesn't have to live up to anyone, just be himself.

I want to write about one year during Teddy Lupin's education at Hogwarts where he's particularly moody and his grades and personal life is slipping. Remus and Tonks are "sent back" so that only Teddy can see them, and they try to help him pick up the pieces and build a relationship with him among all the anger he has toward them.

I want to write a modernization of the Music Man set in high school, where Harold is this rebellious teen who charms all the teaches into giving him passing grades before he moves on to the next school and Marian is a tutor who sees right through him.

I want to write a Frozen fanfic where one of Han's older brothers visits Elsa kingdom to ensure relations between their two kingdoms is stable, and eventually they fall in love.

Grad school math

3 papers + 1 exam + 1 presentation / 4 days = 0 blog posts from Anne.

 Sorry! We'll catch up this summer, I promise.