Heather Ostler's Blog, page 16

A little Random, but always Fun.

Hello! How was your Thanksgiving? I had a great time, so much so that I wasn't a very dedicated blogger. I did however keep getting little sparks of inspiration for blog posts that I wanted to write. I'd hurry and scribble down, Write blog post on Christmas recipes, or Reminder: write blog post about magic, basically a lot of random stuff. I even made a note about doing a post while I was watching my favorite Boy Meets World episode...but now that just seems weird...well, maybe I'll just post one picture.

Hee hee. Okay, moving on. 
So during the break I had a great book signing, started reading two new books that I'm loving so far (more on those later), and I got to spend a lot of time with family. Honestly this Thanksgiving was one of the funnest I can remember. 
My family is pretty silly, and I loved spending time with them while watching old home videos and laughing--and eating pie, can't forget about the pie! Though I try and tell them, I feel like I never can say enough how truly thankful I am for all of them. 

I love this boy so much and I'm so thankful that I'm married to him!

I also love all these crazy, cute, fun sisters of mine and had a blast spending time with them. 
I have so much to be grateful for, and I try to always keep that in mind.
 Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well and that you're looking forward to December as much as I am!
P.S. I've been listening to Michael Buble's Christmas Album for weeks now and it's been great. What other Christmas Albums can you recommend? I hope to make the ultimate Christmas music playlist!

Books

“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” 
― Anna Quindlen, How Reading Changed My Life

Breaking Dawn Twist! What did you think?

I'm posting about Breaking Dawn Part 2, but before you read any further please know that this contains SPOILERS. So if you haven't seen the movie yet, don't read this! I don't want to ruin the ending for you.

Also, if you don't like Twilight or Vampires that is perfectly fine. I read the series when I was in college dreaming about becoming an author and I always admired Stephenie Meyer's imagination. So if Twilight isn't your cup of hot chocolate (my preferred beverage), then please don't feel like you have to read this. I've read the books, seen the movies, and been involved with the series for a long time, so I like talking about them.

All right, am I safe to talk about the ending now?

SPOILERS ahead. Sorry, one last warning!

So all that's on my mind is the battle scene! WOW. WOW! Ahem, sorry, I'll try to stay collected here.

I remember seeing the trailer for Breaking Dawn last week when it advertised a "surprise" ending. I thought, how can it be a surprise? We all read the books, we know what happens, right?

Wrong! How very, very wrong I was. The beginning is a little slow, then there's the gathering of the vampires across the world, which by the way, I LOVED the cast.



At the end, everyone lines up to potentially battle the Volturi.  Every vampire and every werewolf is ready to attack, even though the books tell us no battle ever takes place. But then, TWIST. *GASP* Alice tells Aro that it doesn't matter what she shows him, the volturi will fight against them no matter what. Then the mind blowing battle begins...

Every vampire and werewolf faces off. Good verses the Volturi. Good verses evil. The BIG ENDING. The fighting, throwing, and limb tearing leaves you in shock. I kept thinking, this ins't in the book, this isn't in the book, this isn't in the book!

Then the ultimate shocker. Carlisle dies. My jaw dropped and my heart raced. Suddenly the movie theater felt much too warm. The girl next to me started bawling. Even though my husband denies it, I know he was surprised!

Next Jasper dies. Carlisle and Jasper? Come on, they can't die! I felt a little numb at that point, I thought, okay, well then, they just decided to rewrite the whole ending. But the only part that almost made me come to tears was seeing the werewolves fight. When Seth died I was so disappointed. Why did he have to look like a dog?! I'm such a dog person and seeing Seth whimper and die just broke my heart. I had to pull a "it's not real, it's just a movie."

Luckily though, with all the sadness and shock of losing such lovable characters, you also get the satisfaction of seeing Volturi members go down. When Jane (Dakota Fanning) died brutally, the whole movie theater broke out into applause. Then, the ultmiate Volturi death: Aro dies. The face of evil is finally gone!

Still in shock, and wondering why the ending was so different than the book, everything ends. Suddenly a new scene flashes. NONE OF THE BATTLE REALLY TOOK PLACE. It was all in a vision.

Everyone in the audience cheered again. They all took a deep breath (and secretly wiped their eyes). No Cullen or werewolf died! YAY! Everyone realized it was all a vision between Alice and Aro. AMAZING.

But, wait, a vision!? I thought one of the biggest rules of writing was NEVER ever have an epic scene and then flash back and say, never mind, it was all a dream (or a vision). I thought that was against the rules!

It worked though. Everyone was so sad with the battle that it made it that much more marvelous when everyone was still alive. Best of all, we got to see all the vampires fight and use their gifts. An awesome battle scene, plus no one really got hurt? Yes, I believe that qualifies for an epic twist of an ending.




The Twilight series is far from perfect, and there are a lot of scenes I could do without. But lets all admit that the ending of this movie was amazing. At least that's how I felt about it.

I want to hear your thoughts! What did you think? Were you as shocked as I was with the ending?

P.S. I'm sorry if any of the names or events are mixed up or out of order, it was midnight after all.

Sequel, sequel, sequel!

I'm happy to announce that I've signed the contract for my sequel, The Siren's Secret, and it will be released this summer! Woohoo!

Get ready for more adventure, romance, werecats, and....sirens! 

Interview and Giveaway

Writing Snippets is a wonderful site with lots of great advice for writers. They were kind enough to interview me for a podcast and also host a giveaway for The Shapeshifter's Secret. Click the link below to listen to the podcast and enter the giveaway. 
http://writingsnippets.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/podcast-interview-author-heather-ostler-talks-about-networking/
These ladies are such talented authors as well as great friends of mine. Enjoy!
P.S. I get really nervous listening to my own voice, in fact it makes me cringe. Does that happen to anyone else?  I've got a lot to learn about interviews and public speaking! 

Have a Magical Halloween!

Edit until you die...

I'm sorry for my leave of absence! I hate when I check a blog to find that the author hasn't written anything new. Not that I'm saying people check my blog often. And if anyone does, well, you just made me the happiest author in the world.

My time away has been spent on two things. Number one, my little sister just got married this past week and it's been a whirlwind of wedding plans, family, cake, and glitter (More on that later). The second reason I've been away is because I've been editing. A LOT. So much so that I believe I started looking like this...


However, I may have been influenced from being tired (after pulling all-nighters to edit) and continually glancing at my skeleton candelabra Halloween decoration. Sometimes my imagination just runs away. 
Anyway, through the experience of writing my sequel, I've realized there is a specific formula I follow for completing novels. I've recorded the formula below. 
1. Get an awesome idea.

2. Spend 934574954058409 hours writing it down and typing it up. 
3.  Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit,  Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit, Edit.

4. Edit some more. 
There you have it, that's my formula. Hopefully you have your own tailored, editing plan that you use when writing. Maybe you edit as you go, or perhaps you can finish a novel in a month or two. For me, I have to take my time. I need to read every single line and make sure it's something I can feel good about. Writing is my dream job, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity's I've been given. Editing is hard for me, but after it's done and I have the final, finished product, it's well worth the blood, sweat, and tears. 

Words to live by

My Reading List

I've inhaled a large variety of books this month, so I've complied my list and posted them here:


I absolutely loved A Year Down Yonder. It was lighthearted, funny, and very entertaining. It's a middle grade novel about a girl who goes to live with her hilariously unpredictable grandmother for a full year. It's a short read, something you can read in a day, and it received a Newbery Medal. This one was gold to me, and I will definitely be reading more Richard Peck books. 


I try to make sure that I reread as many classics as I can. I'm not sure I quite appreciated classics when I was in high school, but now I see the importance. It's remarkable to see where we've come from and how we've developed overtime. Mark Twain of course is one of the greatest authors of all time, and his southern voice is contagious. Every time I read a chapter I suddenly have a southern accent.  


The Twelve Dancing Princesses by The Brother's Grimm. Overtime it seems that Hollywood changes fairy tales. That's why I like reading the original, even though often they're more, well, grim. You know the general story of most Grimm fairy tales, but why not read the true versions? Plus if you have a kindle they're free to download. 


Have you ever read or watched The Secret? It's about changing your life for the better using laws of the universe. I'm definitely a big fan of positive thinking, so I always love reading this kind of stuff, but I understand it's not for everyone. This book is similar to the Secret, but talks about using the magic of gratitude and happiness to give you a better life. Inside you'll read chapters about magic dust, magic mirrors, and even magic wishes. 
So there you have it. That was my array of books I've read this month. Have you read any of these books? What's on your list this month? 

A Child's Imagination

I think it's so important for children to have a good imagination. It supports intellectual growth, helps children build self-confidence, gain social skills, and even work out fears. Reading is a huge step in building a child's imagination, and I think that Einstein had it right.