Bianca Rowena's Blog, page 3
October 18, 2016
Connecting with the fans <3
When I first watched the new Star Wars movie The Force Awakens in theaters, it was my first time ever watching a Star Wars movie. I didn’t grow up as a fan but I had friends that were interested in seeing the movie when it came out. I never thought I’d become so excited about it! Adam Driver’s portrayal of Kylo Ren sparked my imagination and I suddenly got swept up in the Fandom online. So many people were ‘shipping’ Kylo Ren and Rey at the time that I caught the Reylo (Rey and Kylo) fever too!
There was no doubt how I wanted the next movie to play out but since I knew there was also no guarantee it would be anywhere close to what I envisioned I decided to write my own version of the sequel. It started out purely for fun and soon consumed my life for a month and a half. In that time I wrote/edited/published 3-4 chapters daily, 6 days a week, and completed (and posted online) a 75,000 word novel on Wattpad in less than two months! My fans kept me going, waiting for my daily updates. Some wanted to read the moment I posted and would stay up until late at night or wake up at 5am to read (I posted in the evenings here, but most of my readers were from overseas and in different time zones).
Connecting with the fans was an amazing experience, and writing daily for them was a thrill! Even now I get daily comments and views on my fan fiction novel from new readers and the updates come to my cell phone. I love reading the comments. When my fan fiction hit over 50,000 views I celebrated. It was the most views I had ever had on Wattpad. Now it has hit over 117,000 views and growing!
Below are some of my earlier comments from my original readers following the drama as it unfolded daily in my mind.
As the comments rolled in I couldn’t keep track of them all. Just yesterday I discovered one that I hadn’t seen before and it made me smile, it said something similar to: “I don’t want to read the next chapter, because then I’ll only have 3 chapters left and I don’t want the story to ever end!”
That made me so happy!
I haven’t made any money on this novel and can’t publish it as a Star Wars novel (I’ve looked into the possibilities and it’s quite impossible), but it has definitely been my most rewarding written work so far in my writing career.
Reader Comments:
Read Count 117K
Celebrating Words Festival 2016
Come out to Celebrating Words Festival this weekend! I will be doing a reading from one of my new and upcoming teen novels at the Medicine Hat Public Library this Saturday at the city’s first annual Celebrating Words Festival running from 10AM-5PM.
“A writing festival of workshops, storytelling, performances, entertainment and activities for all interests and ages. This unique festival of learning, listening and sharing offers something for everyone!”
And you can come visit me at my booth!
April 25, 2016
Event Notice: Author Reading!
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Event Notice: Local Author’s Open Mic
Come out this Wednesday, April 27th to hear some great local authors read at the Medicine Hat Public Library! I will be attending this event and will be available for meet and greet after the readings. The Open Mic starts at 7PM at the Medicine Hat Public Library and I will be doing a reading from one of my Fan Fiction novels! So come and say hello ^_^
January 22, 2016
The Art of Connecting
The Art of Connecting
This beautiful art on my blog today was created by a talented artist who said simply to credit her via her tumblr site: http://dollgirls.tumblr.com/
The ‘About Me’ section on one of my writing sites (wattpad) used to say “One day I want to be a New York Times Bestselling Author”, and that’s still true. But I feel differently about why I write now, ever since I started writing fan fiction and experiencing that connection with others who are fans of the same movie, and with the readers who are desperate for more stories to be written about their favourite characters!
I read a post on Tumblr where a girl explained how her favourite characters in a movie (and the fan fiction she reads about them) help her to escape her depression and anxiety, even if only temporarily. It makes her life better and gives her a ‘safe place’ to go.
I realized this is what I want to do with my writing, to create a written work that takes people away from their difficulties and gives them a safe place they can escape to, to feel the emotions they can’t face in their real lives, to experience the emotional connections they don’t have in their own relationships, between characters they grow to love and care about, connecting in a way they haven’t been able to in the real world (something I’m always searching for in my own life).
Seeing all the Fan Art out there, of my own personal favourite movie character couple (Reylo) makes me realize even more how every person has a voice to express themselves, whether by drawing, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry or fiction stories, to inspire others, either by their own creations or by enjoying the creations of others and thereby encouraging the artists/writers to keep going.
If you’re interested in my new fan fiction venture, a Star Wars romance between Kylo Ren and Rey, you can find it on both wattpad and fanfiction.net here:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/59895395-a-reylo-romance-don%27t-be-afraid-i-feel-it-too
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11737011/1/A-Reylo-Romance-Don-t-Be-Afraid-I-Feel-it-Too
Thanks for being part of my writing journey. And I’m grateful to all the authors out there who have taken me away into their stories, and the artists who’ve been creating beautiful fan fiction art for me to enjoy seeing! It brings a smile to my face.
Happy writing everyone,
Bianca
January 1, 2016
2016 Contest Winner!
Winner!
Congratulations to Samantha Donnelly for winning my online New Year’s contest for a signed book of the Virgin Diaries! (and a shell necklace and Ogopogo plush). Keep an eye out for your mail Samantha!
December 31, 2015
A New Year's Letter
A New Year’s Letter
Happy New Year!
I was planning to write a blog post for New Year’s about New Year’s Resolutions and all the excitement of making plans for 2016 (and putting them into motion for reaching our goals and accomplishing our dreams), but I think the best way to encourage all you artists out there is to post this letter I wrote to my friend in Taiwan whom I met at the London Screenwriter’s Festival 2015. She has the same hopes and dreams as me and what we took from the Festival was that our dreams are truly in our hands.
Dear new friend,
In Canada we make wishes on the seeds of Dandelion flowers and then blow them into the wind, to send out our dreams in hopes they will come true. One thing I’ve learned is that wishing and hoping don’t make dreams come true.
I am sending you a necklace. Inside of it are the seeds of a flower. They represent your hopes and dreams and wishes. Only, they are no longer floating around in the world, hoping for someone else to discover and make them come true. They’ve been captured in this necklace so that you can make them come true yourself. The wishes are in your hands! Not in someone else’s. You will make them come true, with hard work, and friendships, patience, dedication, perseverance, faith in yourself and your abilities, as well as trust in God for your health and safety.
Keep this necklace until your first screenwriters Award you receive, then wear it to the Awards Ceremony when you go on stage to get your award. And I will do the same! I have the same necklace and the same dreams. And now we have them in our hands and in our power!
I will encourage you to keep going! You have the talent and the skill. I’m so glad to have met you in London. We will see each other again at the premiers of our films some day.
With love,
Bianca
