Sabrina Giles's Blog, page 18

Marianas Trench – Celebrity Status

 

This is a band not many know about. They are Canadian, and if we get enough people to like them, maybe we can get their CDs over here!

Farewell

There are a few positives and a few negatives to everything in life, that I have learned. Life for me is very stressful right now, and I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. There is a light at the end of the tunnel that we can finally see, so hopefully everything will change for the better.

My fiance, Roibien, has shipped out to Air Force basic on Lackland Air Force Base. Of course I’m extremely proud of him, but I’m a little nervous also. I know he’s going to be dealing with some things he’s not going to like, but I also know he’s strong enough to handle them.

I’m going through different difficulties. I had to move in with some family for the time being and ended up having to get rid of my dogs. I still don’t have a car, and I really really really need a job. I don’t even get a tax return because I haven’t worked all year.

But you know, everything happens for a reason. God takes such good care of us, even in these hard times. He’s always taken care of us and he always will. I’m very thankful, for everything.

The idea behind the title isn’t that I’m saying farewell to you, my followers. I’m saying that to Roibien, my poor dogs, and I’m saying it to my old life because my new one is going to be amazing!

~ Alexis -_^

 

How to Create 3D Characters

To make a character real, and I mean real, you must know more than just their description and a little snippet of their personality. You must know them as you know yourself. Even if you never divulge their favorite color, you need to know this. Trust me, it helps.

Here are some questions you can ask your character:

 

Basics: (Be as detailed and specific as possible. Even if you never share some of this information in your stories, you need to know even if your readers do not.)

 

What is their hair color? Is it dyed or natural? Do they have natural highlights or treated?

What is their eye color? Do they wear contacts?

What is their body build? Are they skinny, too skinny, regular, little overweight, overweight, or obese?

Describe their face, and don’t leave anything out.

What is their skin color?

What is their skin texture? (smooth, rough, or in between?)

Do they wear glasses?

Are they right-handed or left-handed?

 

Extras:

 

What is their favorite color? Colors?

What is their favorite food and drink?

What are they attracted to? Whether it be a red-head or the certain style of an object, attractions are important.

What are their hobbies and why? Is one of them particularly special to them?

What is their dressing style? Conservative? Punk/Emo? Sexy?

Is there a piece of clothing they wear with everything? Why?

What are their values towards family, friends, etc.? Are they a loner?

What is their living situation?

What do they do for a living?

What kind of car do they drive?

What kind of car do they want?

What do they like doing in their spare time?

What are the traits of their personality? Sassy? Secretive? Hot-headed? Loud or quiet? Clumsy or graceful? Are they a hypochondriac or do they have good self-control?

Are they out-going or are they self-conscious? What are they self-conscious about?

What are their flaws? Do they chew with their mouth open, do they not think things through clearly, or maybe they don’t clean up after themselves?

When is their birthday?

What is their favorite season?

Do they like to dance? Do they know how?

Can they play an instrument?

Do they work out?

 

These are just some of the ones I can think of right now. I know it’s a lot, but just think; it takes this and more to get to know a real live person. So why not do the same for a fake person?

 

~ Alexis Cain

Testing

I’ve been thinking about……. pseudonyms.

Technically, I’ve been thinking about them for a loooooooonnggg time, but even after banishing the idea a while back and keeping my real name as my author name, I keep coming back to it. Should I do it? Would it be better? have been a part of writing since its beginning.

I’ve researched it a bit and come up with this:

1) Having a nom de plume (pseudonym) is useful in the following situations; when you’re writing in more than one genre; you want to separate your writing life from your regular life; you’re already known for something else and don’t want both worlds to collide; or something is wrong with your name whether it be spelling, it’s already been used, or is unmemorable.

It’s also useful if you get really popular, because it allows you some privacy. I read about one author who started using a pen name after having a stalker. So, privacy is a good thing, plus, I’m not sure how great of an author name Sabrina Baxley sounds. It just sounds regular to me, but you might think different. Pen names need to be something people can easily remember and easily spell. Sometimes you can get away with difficult spelling if the name is memorable enough.

2) Pen names can be a hassle at some times. Legally, that is. There are a lot of things that require you use your legal name, even if it is something involving your pen name. Something else I read about was that it’s getting harder to have a pen name now than it used to be. We are so connected through social media, and if you have more than one name and more than one account for each name, it can get confusing. You could accidentally post on facebook or make a tweet as the wrong person. What happens when both of your pen names get booked at the same book signing?

And then, there’s the problem you face when deciding who to tell. Do you want your pen name to be completely secret? Do you want to make your pen name completely separate from yourself? Are some people allowed to know your secret identity? Or are you okay with openly displaying your pen name? It all matters to you in the end, but I’m having trouble deciding.

I know I’ve already published a book under my legal name, but this first book is a test run. I’m testing the waters with “Ensuing Darkness”, and I think if this book doesn’t do well, then I’ll use a pen name on my next one.

Here are the ones I’m choosing between:

Shaylynn Wolf

Alexis Cain

Aurora (need last name)

Phoenix Ryder (my fave but could change last name)

If you could help me choose, I would love to see which one everyone likes. Whichever names are not picked will be saved for later characters in upcoming novels. Depending on the name, I might make it my alter-ego. I read about a woman who did this and even went so far as to wear a wig. I think it sounds fun, like making a character you can act out in real life. Exciting!

I look forward to seeing which name you all like! Until next time.

~ Sabrina (for now -_^)

A Day in the Life

I have only eleven days until my fiance leaves for basic training in the Air Force. I’m so proud of him, but I’m going to miss him too. Our puppy, Persephone, has been seriously sick these past couple days, puking everywhere. The only thing I can think of that made her sick is eating something bad outside or eating the cat poop, which I’ve caught her doing a couple times. Thankfully, I think she’s starting to get better. I really hope so, because I’m tired of cleaning up poop and puke every five to ten minutes.

On another note, I’ve made tremendous progress on both the problems with “Ensuing Darkness” on both my

Resolutions and A Writrer’s Workout

I have a few new things for you today, probably something you haven’t seen or heard of before. Before we get to that however, I wanted to share with you my resolutions for this brand new year.

1) As usual, I want to stay healthy and continue making exercise a part of my daily routine

2) I wanted to try something this year I’ve never done before. I know I don’t read as much as I should (since I’m always writing), I want to set a reading goal of 30 books this year. I wanted to start out small since I’ve never really counted how many books I read in a calendar year.

3) This may be a stretch, but I would like to finish my next book within a year’s time and hopefully have it published then as well.

4) I want to be the best wife and friend to my fiance (soon husband) I can possibly be. He means everything to me, and I always want to make sure he knows it.

5) No matter how hard it gets juggling work, writing and having a life, I want to stick with college. I know a lot of people don’t, and it becomes a waste of time and money. I desperately don’t want to be one of those people.

6) I want to become more involved in my memberships on other sites. Sometimes, I’m writing so much, it just seems like that’s the only thing I do. It takes over my mind occasionally and won’t let go until every last drop of creative juice is gone.

7) I want to enjoy life, and stop worrying so much. I am an over-thinker and therefore and worry-wart. I don’t want to make mountains out of mole hills anymore. I just want the mole hill to be a mole hill so I can pass it and get it over with. I want to relax and roll with the flow. I want to focus more on the positive aspects of my life instead of worrying about what negatives might come about at any given moment.

8) I want to learn something new. I want to be amazed by something, in awe and wonder. Whether it be learning martial arts or any defensive skill, learning a new any kind of skill, going somewhere magnificent and learning about its history, or just finding out something amazing I never knew before.

You know, this would be the part where I show you what things I accomplished from last year’s list, but would’ve had to have made one. I mean, I knew the things I wanted to do, but sure as hell don’t remember them all now. I can tell you, however, that I did do at least a few things, both on and off the list.

- I published my first book. Yay!

- I enjoyed an entire year with the love of my life.

- I got engaged.

- I made it through some very hard times that made me grow as a person.

- I learned that nothing will ever happen in your life if you don’t give it your 100% best effort. This was a hard one for me, especially since that also means that nothing happens overnight. I’m not an especially patient person and am still dealing with this.

Now, for a “Writer’s Workout”!

I know what you’re thinking, “I can just workout before/after I write”, and I agree with you. You absolutely could do that, but if you still feel it’s lacking, because you spend so so long sitting at the computer, it wouldn’t hurt to give these a try.

These are just your basic tensing exercises with a little use of weights thrown in, but they really do work.

1st:

Tighten your buttocks and hold for a count of three, then release. Keep repeating this until the burn is at a medium intensity, and then do ten more, holding the last one as long as you possibly can.

You can do this anywhere, at your desk at work, on the couch watching TV, even in the car! (Be warned, however, because now that you know this, there is no excuse for not having a tighter behind.)

2nd:

Sit up straight, back off chair, and tighten your abs, making extra sure not to forget about the lower ones as most people do. Hold for a count of three or five, your choice, and then let loose. Do this until the burn is at medium intensity, and then do ten to fifteen more.

With so much fat that is directed towards your abdominal area, it doesn’t hurt to do a little extra.

3rd:

This one requires you have hand weights. You can do this anywhere as well, except maybe at work. Take the weight in your right hand and do twenty to thirty bicep curls. Exchange weight with the other hand and repeat, doing three reps on each arm. Another exercise you can do with the hand weights is lifting them straight out to your side or straight up.

4th:

This last one, you can do with or without ankle weights.

If you’re at a desk you may have to turn to the side. Lift your leg straight out, holding it slightly off the chair by half an inch if you can, and hold for a count of three. Repeat with other leg, continuing this until each leg reaches a medium burning intensity, then do ten more.

You can also do this with your leg bent at 90 degrees if you don’t want to turn to the side, but make sure your leg is off your chair by at least half an inch either way if you can. I find that instead of holding your leg slightly out like a lot of people do, if you hold it slightly inwards toward your other leg, it helps to work the outside of your thigh as well.

With:

Whether you turn to the side or keep your legs bent at 90 degrees, this is the same. Lift your leg away from chair by half an inch if you can and hold for a count of two before putting back down and lifting the other. Do this 30 times or more, until the burn is at medium intensity, and then do ten more. Don’t forget to hold your leg slightly in to work that outer thigh!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this, and I would love to hear from you after you’ve given these exercises a try for a while! I’ll report back on how well these work for me after I’ve been doing them for a few weeks as well!

~ Sabrina

 

Finally Finally FINALLY!!!

Hello everyone!

First of all, I want to wish all of you a very happy new year! I hope 2013 brings many wonderful and fabulous things to you!

Second, I want to apologize for the annoyance you must all be feeling about going to see my book’s paperback page only to find it saying it’s out of stock. I attribute that to many tiresome and frustrating days of fighting with the publishing program and the sucky internet connection that kept disconnecting before I could finish. Finally, however, I am done. My files are in review, and I will come out victorious!

~~~

Meanwhile, I have been working on the second book in the series, which has yet to be named, or the cover decided for it. Here is what I’m currently deciding between.

Illuminate the Night

Luminous Night

Darkness Illuminated

I was thinking at first that the title should somehow include the word “Dark” or “Darkness” because it’s “The Dark Chronicles”, but maybe not? “Luminous Night” has a nice ring to it, rolling off the tongue smoothly, but I like the other two too. Hmm… I will probably come up with something better the closer I get to the end of the book, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to comment below. It has have something to do with ‘Darkness’, ‘Moon’, or ‘Luminous’ in some way.

I’m having a hard time advancing past the second chapter, having hit a roadblock of sorts. With all the extensive changes I made to “Ensuing Darkness” it has caused me to reconfigure everything for the second one. Then, while doing that, I came to the conclusion that I was going to have to extend the series beyond just three books. There is going to have to be at least four, because if not, there would be so much information in the second book it would be twice the size of the first, and the third even bigger than that! No, way way too much!

I am so excited to be writing this second book! There is so much excitement and so much more action. Plus…… lots and lots of new creatures.

Until next time!

~ Sabrina

Stuck in the Snow

Hey everyone,

I wasn’t going to post anything until I got back home from Missouri, but things have gotten delayed a little. Looks like I won’t be going home tomorrow like previously planned. If any of you have seen the weather forecasts for southern Missouri and down to Texas, you know how bad it sounds. I’m happy I’m here, I’m happy I visited, but I’m ready to be home now.

I only have a few weeks left to spend with Preston before he ships out to boot camp for the Air Force. The funny thing is that it’s only snowing at the house where he is and between there and where I am. It’s not snowing here. He was bragging to me today that there would be a white Christmas this year, which was a first in several years. He’s such a smarty-pants.

You know, the closer it gets to him leaving, the more I want him to stay. I hate the thought of having to go without him and his wonderful, sarcastic self for two and a half months. However, I know it’s small compared to how many years we’ll be together after that, so that helps lessen the pain, and I know that it’s the best for both of us. I am so proud of him and I support him all the way. The Air Force is lucky to have such a man, that’s for sure.

Also, I wanted to add that I fixed the issues we were having with the Kindle version of ‘Ensuing Darkness’, but the internet connection here isn’t fast enough to fix the errors with the paperback, so I’m going to have to wait until I get back to fix that. That’s another reason I’m really eager to get back home.

Hey, at least this way we’ll finally get to make those bonbons my grandmother promised. ^_^ Mmmmmmm….. strawberry and cherry filled bonbons

Merry Christmas Everyone! And a Happy New Year!

~ Sabrina Baxley

 

Merry Christmas Missouri!!!

I am in Missouri visiting my wonderful grandparents! Today we went running around Forsyth at ‘The Landing’, which is a long street with tons of stores on each side. It was amazing! I took some pictures of some of the things I thought you would like to see. The above picture is of me showing me off my fuzzy Russian looking hat (that I’m still wearing ^_^). I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first two pictures you see are purses, the next three are candles (aren’t they amazing?), the next four are some of the cuter crystal figurines I saw. I want the dragon one for Preston, and I also found a lion figurine, but the picture turned out all blurry. This stuff is so cool, and this wasn’t even half of what was in all the stores we went in.

I am so happy to be here, and I think I might have to live here one day. Just gorgeous.

P.S. I realize I just put my books up, but I am actually in the process of taking them down and updating them because of some errors, like how the kindle edition turned out for example. I don’t know what happened, but I assure you the interior of the book didn’t look like that when I uploaded the file. Also, I am going to find a way to lower the price of the paperback version and find out why it is suddenly only allowed to be $15.20 and up. What an insane price for a paperback!

Merry Christmas,

~ Sabrina Baxley

 

The Paperback is here!

Merry Christmas book lovers!

I was just looking up my name on amazon, checking to see what tags brought up my book, when I noticed something else below the cover of my e-book. It was the cover of my paperback! Ensuing Darkness is now available in paperback on Amazon!!! Yes! I am so excited!

This is so awesome and I’m so relieved it came out before Christmas! *phew*

Well, I’m also happy to announce that I am now starting on the second book in The Dark Chronicles series, “Title Name Here” (haha, still working on that). I am predicting this book to be almost double the size of its predecessor. This is going to be some series jam-packed with mystery, action and adventure, lots and lots of danger with a few twists and turns thrown in along the way.

You can now go to the page “The Dark Chronicles” and find a link that will take you to either my